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November 22, 2024
 

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Sumiko Enbutsu
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Mar 5, 2004
Doing the business in old Edo style
The 1830s woodblock print by Hasegawa Settan shown here depicts Surugacho, now in the neighborhood of the Mitsukoshi department store one block north of Nihonbashi Bridge in the center of Tokyo. Rendered with excellent visual accuracy, it seems to be humming in praise of the wealth and prosperity of...
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Feb 6, 2004
Spanning eras at Edo's vibrant hub
First of three parts Nihonbashi -- "Bridge of Japan" -- is the most famous and important bridge of Edo Period Japan. Designated by Shogun Ieyasu in 1603 as the hub of the country's highway network, with all distances measured from there, the small wooden structure with a 50-meter span was where journeys...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Dec 5, 2003
Plying the watery margins of old Edo
The accompanying 1830s woodblock print by Hasegawa Settan, titled "The Rokugo Ferry," shows a ferry that has just embarked on a crossing of the Tama River, taking about a dozen passengers and a horse to Kawasaki on the far shore. The two men dashing in vain to get on the boat will not be disappointed...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Nov 7, 2003
Meandering in time beside the Tama
From its source in the high mountains to the northwest of Tokyo, the Tama River flows southwest before emptying into Tokyo Bay. The upper reaches in Okutama are part of the Chichibu-Tama National Park. The lower reaches separate Tokyo from Kanagawa Prefecture, with Haneda airport at the river's mouth....
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Oct 3, 2003
Drenched in history: scenic Senzoku Pond
The 1830s woodblock print shown here depicts Senzoku Pond in a southwestern suburb of Edo that is now part of Ota Ward, Tokyo.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Sep 18, 2003
Step this way, pilgrim
This 1830s woodblock print by Edo Period artist Hasegawa Settan depicts the grand view of a temple on a wooded hill with a low-lying town in the foreground and peaceful Edo Bay in the distance. The picture is actually the right half of a sweeping landscape depicting Hommon-ji, an enormously popular Buddhist...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 31, 2003
Enjoy it while you can
The Ibaraki House in Bunkyo Ward (above) is a fine -- and rare -- example of Tokyo's prewar residential architecture.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Aug 21, 2003
Tracking down the old Tokaido
The old itinerant monk in "Oi," the 1830s woodblock print by Hasegawa Settan shown here, is admiring a gushing spring on a forested hillside. Apparently impressed by the joyous flow of water, he is speaking to a local temple apprentice who is pointing away to the right, possibly to another spring nearby....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 10, 2003
Waterways of Edo life
For centuries, the boastful citizens of Edo lorded it over country bumpkins by saying, "I'm an Edokko [native of Edo] 'cause I was cleaned with pipe water when I was born and I've grown up drinking pipe water ever since."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 10, 2003
The ones who got there first
Four centuries before Tokugawa Ieyasu arrived at Edo, a fierce band of mounted warriors had already fortified the hill where Ieyasu would build his magnificent Edo Castle, and on which the Imperial Palace now stands.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Jul 17, 2003
Exploring a once bleak, medieval upland
In 1601 Tokugawa Ieyasu established a nationwide highway network radiating from Edo and designated post stations on the roads to serve the needs of travelers. Shinagawa, on the city's southwestern perimeter, was the first of these post stations on the Todaido, the most frequented route between Edo and...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Jun 19, 2003
Strolling in a dream
This 1830s woodblock print by Edo artist Hasegawa Settan shows the vast precincts of Tokai-ji, a Zen temple in Shinagawa. Built by Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu (1604-51) and donated in 1638 to Abbot Takuan Soho (1573-1645), Tokai-ji prospered as the third-largest temple in Edo, second only to Kan'ei-ji in...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 18, 2003
Living the papermaker's art
Tsutomu Kono's life is all wrapped up with washi, the handmade Japanese paper made of pure, natural fiber.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
May 15, 2003
Where the Tokaido left the town
Eastern Shinagawa, on the western side of central Tokyo, is fast being transformed from a decaying industrial area of warehouses and rail marshalling yards into a modern business hub. One step beyond the forests of shining new high rises, however, the area's history as an Edo Period post-station town...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 27, 2003
A last look before doors close
The Yasuda House, a Japan National Trust property set amid thick woods on the heights of Sendagi in northwest Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward, will be open for public viewing on April 29, 2003 (Greenery Day national holiday). Marking the finale of a series of fundraising events by concerned citizens who, together...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Apr 17, 2003
Tokyo's own stairway to heaven
The 1830s woodcut print by Hasegawa Settan depicts the steep, densely wooded hillside of Atago-yama topped in the haze by the Shinto shrine of Atago-jinja, which visitors reach either by a stone stairway thrusting straight to the summit, or another zigzagging round the side. In the foreground, a torii...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Mar 20, 2003
Walking on waters that were
Tsukiji, now famous as home to the world's biggest fish market, was reclaimed from the sea in the 17th century. Its transformation from seabed to seashore came after the magnificent first city of Edo, designed by Shogun Ieyasu in 1603 and completed around 1650, was destroyed by a fire in 1657. Then,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 23, 2003
Taisho treasure
Tokyo is in the throes of a particularly bold face-lift. In the cause of urban regeneration, massive high-rises are shooting up in Shinagawa, Shinbashi, Roppongi and Shinjuku, transforming the skyline of metropolitan Tokyo. On the ground, wrecking trucks clear more land, demolishing old homes and felling...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Feb 20, 2003
Down by the Edo riverside
The 1830s woodcut prints by Hasegawa Settan depict an amazing panorama of Edo as seen looking southeast from Edo Castle. The unobstructed view must have been the one the shogun enjoyed from his castle in what is now the Imperial Palace's East Garden, introduced in this column last month.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Jan 16, 2003
Tokyo's refreshing oasis of history and nature
As the most important festival on the Japanese calendar, New Year is an occasion to make wishes and resolutions, and to wish others happiness in the coming year. Most people also like to visit a Shinto shrine or Buddhist temple, and to gather together with family and friends. On Jan. 2, crowds also visit...
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 launched intercontinental ballistic missile during attack on Ukraine, Kyiv says
A Yars intercontinental ballistic missile is launched during a test from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in Northern Arkhangelsk region of Russia, in this still image captured from video released on Oct. 29.
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.
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

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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