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November 22, 2024
 

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Stephanie Gartelman
LIFE / Travel
Sep 27, 2000
Mysteries and majesties of Mount Hiko
The Mount Hiko region has long been an important training ground for yamabushi, itinerant Buddhist monks. Today, other pilgrims on quests of naturalism, heroism or masochism join the white-clad mountain mystics climbing the steep, forested flanks of 1,200-meter Mount Hiko.
ENVIRONMENT
Sep 14, 2000
Fisheries crashing from pollution in Ariake
The cuisine of the Ariake Sea in northern Kyushu, featured recently in quarterly cultural magazine Fukuoka Style, is a strange one. It's dominated by grotesque, unusual-tasting fish and shellfish simmered heavily in sugar and soy or wrapped in dense layers of seaweed.
LIFE / Travel
Aug 30, 2000
Cool, clear cascades in a citadel of water
Early each spring, the magnificent Mount Aso region in Kumamoto Prefecture opens its sightseeing season with a bang in the rituals of the Aso Fire Festival, and giant characters for "fire" are blazed into the area's hills.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 16, 2000
The hippies were right -- go macrobiotic!
FUKUOKA -- Is it possible to re-create the clean, almost-vegetarian Japanese cuisine of the past?
LIFE / Travel
Aug 2, 2000
Sun, sand and surf are just a train ride away
Luckily for avid beachgoers, the Fukuoka Weather Bureau has predicted even more hot, sunny weather for August and September - as if it hasn't been enough of a sizzling summer already. In Kyushu, beachgoing choices range from long, curling waves at Miyazaki to the glorious peace a few hours away by ferry...
CULTURE / Music
Jul 16, 2000
Latin beats to turn up the summer heat
FUKUOKA -- In case you haven't noticed, a boom in Latin culture is currently sweeping the globe. The most visible reverberations were seen at this year's Grammy Awards where Latins Carlos Santana, Ricky Martin and Mark Anthony walked away with major awards. But it doesn't stop there.
LIFE / Travel
Jul 5, 2000
Get back to the garden, the perfect summer oasis
There's a reggae-loving bar owner in Fukuoka who loathes the stereotype that reggae is "summer music." Truth is, though, his business does extremely well during summer. It seems that atmosphere-building is still an essential part of the seasons in Japan.
LIFE / Travel
Jun 29, 2000
Take the sunset road to Fukuoka's natural lifestyle zone
"Everyone wants to head west," an architect friend told me recently. "It's natural. That's where the sun sets, and where thoughts of relaxation turn to at the end of the day."
LIFE / Travel
Jun 7, 2000
A magical world of wonder on the urban fringes
Hotaru (fireflies) are one of nature's smaller, yet sublime occurrences. The tiny, 15-mm-long bugs live only two weeks after hatching, but are blessed with phosphorescent rear ends which make clusters of them a captivating sight on summer nights. Their almost-fluorescent glow also ensures the continuation...
LIFE / Travel
May 24, 2000
Lazy days on Yanagawa's canals
Yanagawa, in Fukuoka Prefecture, almost doesn't feel like a castle town. After all, the castle's remains (several heavy stone walls covered with greenery) now have two schools sprawling over them, and today the city is more associated with water, willow trees and writers. However Yanagawa's most distinctive...
LIFE / Travel
May 11, 2000
Firing up Fukuoka's hippest corner
FUKUOKA -- A long feature on Fukuoka in a recent issue of Toyo Keizai magazine examined three different areas that represent development in the city. Two of these, the reclaimed land of Momochi, and the city's historic Kawabata area, have seen much growth in the last 10 years, boosted by giant government-funded...
CULTURE / Art
Apr 26, 2000
The home of Japanese porcelain
Arita is a fine spot for porcelain pots -- and cups, vases, buttons, wall sockets and even denture-holders. Need a cartwheel-sized ashtray (useful at Japanese banquets), or a 1.8-meter-high urn to brighten up a castle somewhere? You'll find them in all shapes, sizes and colors in this peaceful town,...
COMMUNITY
Apr 13, 2000
Striving to fulfill a real whale of a task
FUKUOKA -- Each year during the colder months (about December to February) a variety of whales pass northern Kyushu on their way south to warmer waters and richer feeding grounds, following the Tsushima Warm Current down from Okhotsk along Japan's west coast. Larger whales tend to trail the Pacific Ocean...
LIFE / Food & Drink
Apr 8, 2000
Bicultural relations of the palate
FUKUOKA -- Think about how you enjoy red wine. With a tasty pasta dish or rich gamey stew, perhaps? Well, how about sushi? Few would answer yes to this one -- unless they were culinary ninja, as creative director Daisuke Utagawa of Washington, D.C.'s first sushi restaurant Sushi-Ko, describes himself....
LIFE / Travel
Apr 5, 2000
Bacchanalian bliss under the blossoms of spring
Dozens of spring perennials are in bloom right now, but none are revered so much in Japan as sakura, or cherry blossoms. The pale pink blossoms hail the true arrival of spring, and their brevity (the shower of petals lasts about a week only) has symbolized the fragility of life for centuries.
LIFE / Travel
Mar 22, 2000
Dejima getting back into shape
First-time visitors to Dejima, Nagasaki's historic artificial island, are usually puzzled on arrival. Looking around for water, they find only a kitsch scale model of the island and several oldish buildings. Although Dejima's front sea wall looks authentic enough, landfills have gradually enclosed the...
COMMUNITY
Mar 15, 2000
More than a pit stop in the Hita of the moment
It may not be on the typical tourist itineraries, and its name may sound almost like a home appliance, but Hita is a lovely town. It sprawls between two highland rivers in a lush valley at the back of Oita Prefecture, surrounded by forests and fruit trees. Hita is just 70 minutes from Fukuoka, and easily...
LIFE / Travel
Feb 23, 2000
Heaven in Beppu's hot spring hells
The Lonely Planet's Japan edition pans it, but the onsen (hot spring) town of Beppu in Oita Prefecture provides a fun glimpse of somewhat dated Japanese sightseeing rituals -- and of course, with perhaps the most diverse array of hot springs in Kyushu, it has some great places to take a dip.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 9, 2000
Fresh and fragrant -- Kyushu's new spring sake
Kyushu may not be as famous for its sake as for shochu, but historical findings tell us it's probably been drunk here since the rule of Himiko -- around A.D. 300. While northern Japan is more famous for sake, Kyushu brewers too produce some fine labels, meeting changes in consumer tastes. Kyushu's sake...
COMMUNITY
Jan 26, 2000
Bright lanterns, big New Year
Chinese New Year is always explosive, and that has nothing to do with Y2K. It is a three-day whirl of festivities, dancing dragons and lions, prayers, fiery lanterns, "lucky money" for children and mountains of exquisite dishes.
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.
The slow-burn success of ‘A Samurai in Time’
A 19th-century warrior gets struck by lightning and wakes to find himself in 21st-century Kyoto in Junichi Yasuda’s surprise hit “A Samurai in Time.”
Around a quarter of Japan married couples in their 20s met through dating apps
A survey released by an organization promoting “Good Couples Day” shows that 24% of couples in their 20s met their marriage partner through a dating app.
'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.

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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