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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.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Mar 23, 2004
More big sizes and outdoor pursuits
Big sizes So many of you responded to the reader looking for larger sized clothes. Here are some more tips.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 20, 2004
Landmark hosts second intensive ballet seminar
From March 30 to April 1, Landmark Hall in Yokohama's Landmark Tower will echo to the sound of classical ballet instruction in English to a Japanese piano accompaniment. Since lots of nice things were said about the first Yokohama Ballet Intensive in 2003, YBI Director Helen Price is confident this year's...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 13, 2004
Walking the talk about West Papua emergency
"I am free now," says Jacob Rumiak, having just flown from London to Tokyo under the protection of a United Nations travel document. "But if I return to West Papua, I'm a dead man."
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Mar 9, 2004
Freecycling, sun lamps and dancing
Clothes, fabrics, toys Anne recommends a charity organization in Stellenbosch, South Africa, that helps people in shanty towns to get back on their feet. "They're always looking for donations of secondhand clothes, dress fabrics and toys for the creche."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 6, 2004
'Tokyo Stories' wittily points up the expat scene
Two years ago, as a balance to researching and writing up projects for financial institutions in the U.S. and preparing reports for fund managers in Japan, Christine Cunanan-Miki began a novel -- a series of interrelated tales about expats in Tokyo.
COMMUNITY
Feb 28, 2004
Peace Winds: doing tough things in tough places
Cameron Noble, assistant on peace-building issues to the CEO of the Japanese nongovernmental organization Peace Winds, is in a state of shock. He has just been told he can say goodbye to desk work for at least six months.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Feb 24, 2004
Advice for the stage-struck and proofing
We have received a sudden clutch of enquiries from stage-struck readers this week.
COMMUNITY
Feb 21, 2004
Breathe under water with Aqua Adventure Divers
If Kevin Winchester is not covering ground on skis, or by motorbike (a mighty Honda CB1300cc, as befits a member of Tokyo Riders), he is flying high or diving deep. But don't call him sporty, or the outdoor type. "They are just things I like to do!"
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 14, 2004
Handling anger via growth, creative expression
After her father died in 1996, Chizuko Tezuka found herself more and more depressed. Eventually the emotion was so overwhelming that she took absence of leave from her post as associate professor in Keio University's International Center in Tokyo, and sought help.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Feb 10, 2004
Used books, furniture sales and clothes
More readers have been writing to say that they have lost columns cut out for future reference, so could we please relay the same information again. Happy to do so from time to time. Note, however, that that you can find back columns on The Japan Times Web site at www.japantimes.com
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 7, 2004
Two Myers-Briggs analysis sessions change lives
Californian-born Terri Nii of KNT Co. appears to have found a most agreeable and satisfying balance in her life.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 31, 2004
Preconceptions on Japan expats go out window
When Gwyneth Merner asked if she could interview me for her Division 3 thesis, we struck a deal: She could talk to me if I could talk to her. Now we are in her father's home overlooking Sagami Bay, and she is getting to know what it feels like to be on the other side of the table, so to speak.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jan 27, 2004
Saving on bills and lookingfor work
Saving energy K.K. writes: "I seem to recall Jean Pearce saying she put plastic sheets on her windows to keep rooms warm, but once they're there I guess you can't open the windows easily. Do you know anything about this subject? Also, where could I buy such sheets?"
COMMUNITY
Jan 24, 2004
Custom-made 'samue' fit tallest, widest, largest
So many foreign customers asked the owner of Good Day Books in central Tokyo where they could buy the traditional clothing she and her brother wore for work that she put on her thinking cap. "Samue" -- originally designed as work clothes for Buddhist monks -- are made in Japanese sizes only; even if...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 17, 2004
Float to travel without moving to find deep self
There are only two known isolation tanks in Japan. One is in Kyoto, for private use. The other is in Kazuo Miyabe's first-floor apartment in one of the fast-disappearing enclaves of Shirokane in downtown Tokyo, where he makes it his business to help people float away the stresses and strains of modern...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jan 13, 2004
Prize trouble, study in Oz, and a recap
Student rants Let us begin on a note of tolerance and goodwill, with two similar reactions to the letter from student J. in southern Japan with fellow student troubles (Lifelines; Nov. 25, 2003).
COMMUNITY
Jan 10, 2004
Buddha, Shinto artifacts make great new business
Having purchased a figuratively decorated enameled wall vase before Christmas for my daughter in Toronto, but not quite sure what I'd got, I headed for the home of Byron Monasmith in Tokyo's Shinanomachi.
COMMUNITY
Jan 3, 2004
Pianist launches pro solo career in 'furusato'
"Furusato" means "hometown" or "place of birth." Which is where most Japanese are right now, celebrating New Year's, honoring their roots and maintaining ties with relatives and friends.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 27, 2003
Homeless activist makes plea to save the trees
As you clear up after Christmas and prepare for New Year, spare a thought for American Vincent Dodson. He is spending his "holiday" as he passes every day, sleeping rough in the park beside the JR Yamanote line near Shibuya Station, and demonstrating against what he describes as "the wantonly wasteful...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Dec 23, 2003
Train trips, veggies and stitch-ups
Moonsky star trip Further to last week's information on where to buy tickets for the Trans-Siberian railway, Colette in Yokohama describes the trip she took in 1993 as, "one of the most amazing experiences of my life." She organized her journey through Moonsky Star, a travel agent based in Beijing that...

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