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November 22, 2024
 

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Sumiko Enbutsu
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Dec 2, 2005
History rises up in Shibuya
The accompanying wood-block print is a panoramic view of Shibuya about 180 years ago, seen from the top of Dogenzaka hill.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Nov 11, 2005
Investigating the history of Hiroo
The Shibuya River starts at Shinjuku Gyoen. Running southward, it makes a big horseshoe curve near Ebisu and heads north to Roppongi. At Ichi-no-hashi, it abruptly bends east to eventually pour into Tokyo Bay. The river's upper reaches are now culverts, but water emerges just south of Shibuya Station...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Oct 7, 2005
Battle losses to fashion victims
Shibuya has many faces: a glitzy youth-oriented fashion center as represented by the 109 Building, a mass transit terminal handling 1.77 million passengers a day, a fast growing village of IT niche market players, and so on. With a complex network of large and small streets, the versatile town offers...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Sep 2, 2005
Wander where the wise ones wink
Buddhist statues we usually see at temples and museums represent enlightened beings that have transcended their worldly existence and entered the Buddhist pantheon. They stand or are seated on pedestals of lotus flowers symbolic of the Buddhist paradise, and are depicted in poses particular to their...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Aug 5, 2005
Ready for a party?
The city of Edo -- first designed by Shogun Ieyasu -- was limited to the east by the Sumida River. No bridge was allowed to span the river except Senju Ohashi at the river's head in the far north. (See this column, June 3, 2005)
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Jul 1, 2005
Walking the path of a legendary poet
The accompanying 1830s woodcut print is the image of the great haiku poet Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), rendered by Hasegawa Settan (1778-1843). Depicting a legendary scene in which the poet was inspired to pen one of his masterpieces, Basho is seated at his writing desk in a humble cottage thatched with...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Jun 3, 2005
A bridge through time
The arched bridge highlighted in the accompanying wood-cut print is Senju Ohashi on the northern perimeter of Edo City. Built in 1594 at the head of the Sumida River, close to its junction with the Ara River, Senju Ohashi was the only bridge Shogun Ieyasu allowed to be built across a major river around...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Apr 1, 2005
Pining for things past
The accompanying 1830s woodcut print depicts Shirahige-jinja Shrine nestling in a pine grove beside the upper reaches of the Sumida River. In the center of the print is an embankment where pilgrims would descend the stone stairway on the left to a torii gate and then pray at the modest shrine to the...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Mar 4, 2005
Happy in the haze of a hanami hour
The 1830s wood-block print below depicts hanami (cherry-blossom viewing) on the banks of the Sumida River. A group of young women and girls are on an excursion, and, with their elaborate hairstyles and fancy, uniform kimono, it appears they are apprentice geisha from licensed quarters nearby. Like teenage...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Feb 4, 2005
Ancient Asakusa still central to community
The day in Asakusa begins with the tolling of the Senso-ji bell at 6 a.m. The temple bell, located behind two bronze bodhisattva statues dating back to 1678, is one of the nine official Time Bells of Edo, established in 1692.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Jan 7, 2005
Old Asakusa lives on
Asakusa is a magnet for those who love old-time Tokyo. Like a theater full of excitement and festivity in praise of old Edo, Asakusa Kannon Temple and the surrounding business district are vibrant year-round, attracting on average 35 million people a year. This two-part article will take an in-depth...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Dec 3, 2004
It's a stroll in a park to find the old Yoyogi
The town of Shinjuku dates from the late 17th century, when a post-station was set up there on the Koshu-kaido on the northwestern edge of Edo (present-day Tokyo). To the south, Yoyogi was then mainly sparsely populated hills that rolled on as far as the eye could see.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Nov 12, 2004
Shinjuku blossoms in many ways
Modern Shinjuku claims to be the new heart of Tokyo. With futuristic skyscrapers emerging as early as the 1970s, the town has been at the vanguard of Tokyo's urban renewal. City Hall has moved in and new hotels and new office buildings have mushroomed to accommodate the needs of businessmen from all...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Oct 1, 2004
Up and down the byways of Yotsuya
Koshu Kaido, one of the five official highways laid by Shogun Ieyasu in Edo (present-day Tokyo), which is now known as Route 20 or Shinjuku-dori, runs west from Hanzomon, the rear gate of the Imperial Palace, formerly Edo Castle, heading straight toward the Province of Koshu (now Yamanashi Prefecture)....
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Sep 3, 2004
Enshrined in the modern world
The accompanying woodblock print depicts Hiyoshi Sanno Shrine, better known today as Hie-jinja in Chiyoda-ku. A stairway on the left ascends through a thick pinery, leading the viewer into the spacious precincts of the shrine.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Aug 6, 2004
A feel of the real Edo
The Marunouchi business district, the national government center of Kasumigaseki, and the Diet building in Nagatacho all stand on land that in the Edo Period (1603-1868) was reserved exclusively for daimyo lords.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Jul 9, 2004
Dancing in the streets
South of the Chinzanso/Four Seasons Hotel on the Kandagawa -- where our walk finished last month -- Kagurazaka is a vibrant town named after its sloped main street, The Kagurazaka. This hilly area has a maze of lanes and short but steep hills, making it a thrilling adventure for urban walkers. In pockets...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Jun 4, 2004
Down by Edo's lost canal
The landscape in the accompanying 1830s woodblock print depicts the valley of the Kandagawa River.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
May 7, 2004
Celebrating the spirit of mystical Edo
When Tokugawa Ieyasu decided to make Edo his new political capital in the early years of the 17th century, he had the city laid out according to mystical beliefs about auspicious locations and lucky or unlucky directions.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Apr 2, 2004
Echoes of Edo's entertaining past
The 1830s woodblock print by Hasegawa Settan (right) might at first look like an abstract picture jammed with squares and diamond forms. In fact, it shows the bustling kabuki theater district in the Sakaicho and Fukiyacho districts of Edo.
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.
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.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
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.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

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

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