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November 22, 2024
 

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Andy Couturier
LIFE / ALTERNATIVE LUXURIES
Dec 7, 2000
Traditions found anew
"It's only recently that the great mass of Indians have begun to feel that rising in the world and becoming rich was a good thing, a valuable thing," says Asha Amemiya.
LIFE / ALTERNATIVE LUXURIES
Oct 5, 2000
A dance of color, space and line
"Sometimes just to touch the ground is enough for me," says Wakako Oe with all the warmth of her plenteous years, "even if not a single plant grows in the garden."
LIFE / ALTERNATIVE LUXURIES
Sep 7, 2000
Seeding philosophy in the rice paddies
The zapping racket of cicadas rising and falling, undulating in and out of sync wakes me up soon after sunrise. Although it's not yet 7 a.m., the thick, steamy heat pours in through the open window in waves, and seems fused into one substance with the yazz and clatter of the insects.
LIFE / ALTERNATIVE LUXURIES
Aug 3, 2000
Lessons of the past inspire a future
Calligraphy by Nako Oizumi The evolution of a single human neither starts with their birth, nor stops with the end of their childhood. Each of us has been given pieces of the past by previous generations from which we make new meaning and, in turn, hand it on to the young.
COMMUNITY
Aug 2, 2000
Making peace between humans and Earth
The upcoming Festival of Life (Inochi no Matsuri) in the mountains of Nagano Prefecture takes as its theme "symbiosis," or the coexistence of humans with all other life forms.
LIFE / ALTERNATIVE LUXURIES
Jul 6, 2000
Mixing traditions in a quest for freedom
A frog smokes a cigarette in this detail from "The Waiting" by Taeko Takezawa. "I am a totally different type from the other people you've interviewed," says painter Taeko Takezawa as she lights up a clove cigarette. "I am not living my life with any kind of issue consciousness. I'm just trying...
LIFE / ALTERNATIVE LUXURIES
Jun 1, 2000
Our planet, our teacher
In conversation with writer Masanori Oe, one hears the word "discovery" quite often. It's no wonder. Since the days of his translation of the Tibetan Book of the Dead into Japanese and his film documentaries on the psychedelic movement in New York City in the late 1960s, he has pioneered new directions...
LIFE / ALTERNATIVE LUXURIES
May 4, 2000
Threads of culture weave picture of a wider world
One of the great paradoxes of world travel (especially that which is slow and makes intimate contact with the peoples of other lands) is that the traveler returns with a greater appreciation of what is valuable and troubled in her own native land. Talking with fabric artist and mother Keiko Haraguchi,...
LIFE / ALTERNATIVE LUXURIES
Apr 6, 2000
The alchemical way of self and bamboo
"The etymology of the word 'God' in English is totally different from the Japanese word kami, and has a completely different sense," says master charcoal burner Hironori Takebayashi, in his deep, laconic voice.
LIFE
Mar 30, 2000
A gathering of cultures and characters
Surrounded by trees, birdsong and a riot of cherry blossoms as you head up the hill into the nature preserve surrounding Tokurinji Temple, you can easily forget that a moment ago you were in the middle of Nagoya, one of Japan's largest cities. When you enter the temple grounds during the annual Hana...
CULTURE / Art
Mar 19, 2000
Feeling the past through your skin
How can we be intimate with the past? Human beings have always yearned to know the ways and feelings of those who came before. History books, old folk music, paintings and petroglyphs: All of these tell us about how our ancestors thought and felt. For textile craftswoman Eiko Noda, the way to feel what...
LIFE
Mar 16, 2000
Slowing down to the pace of nature
When he first came to Rebun Island, wilderness guide and temple carpenter Miyuki Kobayashi was struck speechless with the natural pageantry before his eyes.
LIFE
Mar 2, 2000
Breaking from shame into song
When Tama Ozaki left for India at 19, she felt that she would never want to come back to Japan. "I was in a real emergency situation at the time," she says in a warm but powerful voice. "I was eating compulsively, and drinking too. I was completely unhappy."
LIFE
Feb 17, 2000
Exploring sutras of sound
After two decades of journeying through Asia, the Middle East and Europe and living in the steep mountain ranges of the Himalayas and Japan, Kogan Murata finally chose his path in life: playing the bamboo flute as an itinerant beggar monk, a komuso.
LIFE
Feb 3, 2000
Harvesting the world's profusion
"In Japanese, we call that shrub an asebi," says botanist and potter Gufudo Watanabe. Without a pause, the sinewy man with the graying goatee tells me the two other common names in Japanese, the Latin name (Pieris japonica) and the English common name (Japanese andromeda).
LIFE
Jan 20, 2000
Living within the abundance of less
When Osamu Nakamura is not in the mountains of Nepal studying woodblock print making, he's almost always in the small farmhouse among the terraced rice fields in the interior of Shikoku that he calls home. He has no telephone, so if you want to visit, you have to stop by to see if he is in.
LIFE
Jan 6, 2000
Lives spent in high and low places
Having recently returned from six months in a monastery in Tibet, Ruriko Hino is eager to talk about how she first became interested in devoting her life to the study of Tibetan Buddhism and eventually to becoming a Buddhist nun. "I was 19 years old, and working in a hostess bar," she says, making a...
LIFE / ALTERNATIVE LUXURIES
Oct 7, 1999
Taking time to simply stop and think
We are sitting up late sipping plum wine from small glasses at Atsuko Watanabe's dinner table next to the woodstove in an old farmhouse deep in the mountains of Shikoku. Her husband, Gufudo, is washing the dishes (the Watanabes' own handmade pottery) from tonight's seven-course Indian vegetarian meal....
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Russia fired experimental ballistic missile at Ukraine, Putin says
Ukrainian firefighters work on a spot following an airstrike in Dnipro on Thursday.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
'Tokyo Swindlers': Get deep into the minds of real estate con artists
In Ko Shinjo's "Tokyo Swindlers," a group of con artists manipulates real estate giants into falsified deals within the highly competitive, quick market.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?
By Kathryn Wortley

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

mission sustainability vol.12 : Kose Corp.Kose takes pride in creating beauty in the world
mission sustainability vol.12 : Kose Corp.Kose takes pride in creating beauty in the world

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