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Angela Jeffs
After 26 years in Japan, Angela is currently test driving the Scottish winter. Describing herself as a “people person,” she wrote weekly profiles and features for The Japan Times between 1987 and 2011. For writings since 3/11/2011, see www.embrace-transition.com/. Her first book, "Chasing Shooting Stars – A South American Paper Trail into the Past," was published in paperback in January 2013.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 11, 2003
Prepared to stand by his principles, pay the price
Francis Higashiki is on the move, passing through Tokyo's Hamamatsucho on his way to Haneda Airport. He works near Oita in Kyushu, in a home for 35 abused children. "After the war, orphanages were full of orphans. Now most children have parents, but sadly there is so much domestic violence."
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jan 7, 2003
Drunken driving, unhappy holidays, and shaping up
Under the influence Glen refused a drink with us on Christmas Eve with more than his usual reluctant zeal. He had just heard of someone who had been arrested in a car being driven by someone else. The acquaintance was relatively sober; the driver was not.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 4, 2003
Banish bad habits with hypnotherapy and healing
Erik Bragg had said to look for a beard and a big blue coat. And here he is, though not quite as hirsute as imagined, and wearing an anorak rather than the more theatrical style somehow envisaged. He has traveled in from Kashiwa, in Chiba Prefecture, where he practices as a certified clinical hypnotherapist...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 28, 2002
Japan being led into war again, this time by U.S.
For years, ever since leaving Doshisha University, Shinpei Ishii worked for TV Man Union Inc. Then in 1989, tired of kowtowing to authority and wanting to write and speak out freely, he went freelance. It was a good move. He won an award for a program made for NTV and acclaim for literary translations,...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Dec 24, 2002
Clothing homeless volunteering and kids' art classes
Donating old clothes Being the season of good cheer and giving rather than receiving, here are some ways to help those less fortunate than ourselves.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 21, 2002
World of Gorgles and other prehysterical things
Any visitor this weekend to the Hirabayashi coffee shop opposite Yokosuka's Shioiri Station in Kanagawa Prefecture might be excused for thinking they had wandered onto another planet. They would be right. Until Monday, it is Clara Birnbaum's world: her World of the Gorgles.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 14, 2002
When massage goes far beyond just feeling good
After an exhausting move from one house to another, followed by weather that defies description and not a single greeting card yet written, it is good to find myself in healing hands.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Dec 10, 2002
Last-minute mailing over Christmas
Greetings Oh Lord, it's nearly Christmas again, and those of us (and I include myself here) who still have packets and cards to be mailed abroad need to get our skates on.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 7, 2002
Journeying back to tribal roots with eagle feather
Two years ago, after more than a decade in Japan, Shirley (Blackstar) Macdonald and her husband, Chris, decided it was time to go home. Now they run Eagle Feather Gallery in Victoria, British Columbia, with a magnificent cedar house in deep forest north of the city. A long way from working in Tokyo,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 30, 2002
Celebrating 'washi' in tune with Kyoto winters
Traditional farmhouses amid wintry landscapes. Schoolchildren under brightly colored umbrellas cross snow-covered paddy fields. Footprints mark an otherwise pristine street scene after a snowfall. Then, as if to remind us that summer will soon be coming round again, a woman bearing a child on her back...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 23, 2002
Marketing Cardiff as cultural capital of Europe
This is quite a month for Bet (Elizabeth) Davies. On Nov. 28, she will receive an award from the Japanese ambassador in London on behalf of the government for services rendered to to the Japanese community in Wales, and her work in bridging Japan and the U.K. in general.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Nov 22, 2002
Finding a place and food for Thanksgiving
Finding a place Andrew in Kanagawa-ken wants to know how to help his daughter's French boyfriend get accommodation.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 16, 2002
East meets West moves over for East meets East
While accepting that cultural exchange is hardly a new concept, Astrid (de los Rios) Nishimaki has her own very individual slant on the subject. "My aim is to bring Latin America, Arab countries and Japan closer together through the lingua franca of artists and creators."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 9, 2002
Restoring hemp to natural place in Japan's culture
Even as a child, Yasunao Nakayama knew of the importance of hemp, called "suna" in Japanese but most commonly known as "asa." His grandfather grew a plot of the stuff, for use in ritual Shinto ceremonies.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Nov 8, 2002
Culture shock, elusive stats, hairy insurance
Culture shock Phew. Here I am by the skin of my teeth, just back from Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Victoria, where touching base with non-Japanese friends met here was sobering to say the least.
COMMUNITY
Nov 2, 2002
Design consultant draws on stores of good sense
If you see a conservatively dressed Englishman pop a plastic bag over his head as it begins to rain, it's most probably Tim Toomey: "I'd rather turn up for a meeting dry and comfortable than arrive sopping wet in some misguided attempt to preserve my image."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 26, 2002
Social entrepreneur targets cross-cultural themes
Ken Nakamori has a dream: a vision of deepening the understanding between people of different countries and creating a new bridge of communication through digital media communities.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Oct 25, 2002
For the right and the wrong kind of break in Japan
Tourist redress Sheila from London, wants to sound off about a ryokan (traditional inn) she stayed at in Kyoto in early October.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 19, 2002
Crime writer racily exposes seamy side of Japan
It's a bit confusing when an author is called Guy Stanley but his card reads Stan Guy in English and Gai Stanri in katakana on the back.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 12, 2002
When determination, focus overcome all obstacles
Walking around 'Exodus," the heartrending exhibition of photographs of refugees on view until Oct. 20 at Shibuya's Bunkamura in Tokyo, Kim Chi Tran stops in front of pictures of Vietnamese boat people. "See that refugee camp?" she says. "Twenty-one years ago I was there."

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