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November 22, 2024
 

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Kit Nagamura
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Apr 23, 2016
You don't know what you've got (till it's gone) in Tokyo's nagaya
After hearing rumors that one of my favorite hideaways in Tokyo, the Sanuki Club, is slated for demolition, I stand outside the hotel's front gates with apprehension. Aside from offering some of the cheapest lodgings available in Minato Ward, the property's beer and barbecue terrace — tucked under...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Feb 27, 2016
Sewing stitches of creativity in the streets of Kuramae
I'm knocking about Taito Ward's Kuramae area one chilly February morning, visiting an artisan friend, when he mentions a brand new chocolate shop has opened nearby. My ears perk up. Any good? "People are lining up," he says. I dash off to check it out, because it sounds like news. Never mind that I'm...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Dec 26, 2015
Catching the last of the season’s leaves at Shiba Daimon
When I exit the Oedo Subway Line's Daimon Station, I find myself inside an ebullient throng of Chinese tourists headed in the direction of the prominent Jodo-shu (Pure Land Sect) Buddhist Zojoji Temple. The temple's oldest structure, the elegant 1622 red-lacquered Sangedatsumon gate, is a National Important...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Nov 28, 2015
The big-ticket gifts of Kumano-dori
As November grows chilly, I warm up with an urban hike to hunt out seasonal gifts for friends and family. Tokyo is a bastion of creativity and craftsmanship, and shopping the backstreets is like touring a gallery of desires you never knew you had. I exit the Ginza Line's Gaienmae Station, and trot off...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Oct 24, 2015
Grave company at Zoshigaya Cemetery
When persimmon leaves and the tips of maples take on color, and chilly air rattles windows, composer Yoshinao Nakada's haunting song "Chiisai Aki Mitsuketa" ("A Bit of Autumn Found") floats through my mind. Having just learned that the song's lyricist, talented poet Hachiro Sato (1903-74), rests in Zoshigaya...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Sep 26, 2015
Circumnavigating joys in Kaminoge
Decades ago, I strolled around the quiet neighborhood of Kaminoge in Setagaya Ward with professor Shuichi Kato, the scholar who convinced me to come study in Tokyo. I vividly recollect, on my first day in Japan, encountering the fragrance of tiny orange kinmokusei (fragrant olive) blossoms as Kato spoke...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Jul 25, 2015
The 'other' Jizo-dori: culture set in stone
Mention Jizo-dori in Tokyo and everyone will think you mean the street in Sugamo, Toshima Ward, where the silver set combines bargain hunting with visits to the famous stone jizō (bodhisattva statue) there. Walking near Edogawabashi Station on the Yurakucho Line, I pass a less well-known Jizo-dori,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Jun 27, 2015
The custodians of culture in Koishikawa
Exiting the Nanboku subway's Korakuen Station near Tokyo Dome, I gaze up at clouds resembling bunches of purple hydrangeas. Directly overhead, a roller coaster car swooshes by, its passengers shrieking, which is a good sign, because, despite its aquatic name, the Thunder Dolphin coaster doesn't run in...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
May 30, 2015
Flora, fauna and fellows on the river
With summer's heat punching in early this year, I'm already angling for riverside relief. I trundle down to Ota Ward's Rokugodote, the southernmost train station in Tokyo's 23 wards, and a stone's throw from the Tamagawa (Tama River). The 138-km-long Tamagawa, which in this location divides Tokyo from...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Mar 28, 2015
Finding your sea legs on Tokyo Bay
It's wretched weather for putting out to sea: gusty winds, cloud banks brooding with rain and water spouts, temperatures a micro-notch above freezing and the waters of Tokyo Bay like wet elephant hide. Nonetheless, at the generous invitation of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's Bureau of Port and Harbor,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Feb 21, 2015
Finding thrills on plum blossom hill
February is a tricky month for venturing out in Tokyo. Daylight hours lengthen and the light softens slightly, but the weather itself seems controlled by a sadist at the thermostat.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Jan 24, 2015
Monkeying around in Sarugakucho
Sarugakucho — which loosely translates as "monkey fun town" — is a hot spot near Daikanyama Station in Shibuya, Tokyo. As a place to hang out, this area sets the bar pretty high: Its backstreets are a zoo of uber-cute boutiques offering exclusive jeans, aromatic drip coffee made with gourmet beans,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Nov 29, 2014
Appeasing autumn appetites in Nishi-Azabu
All the walking in the world does not, alas, burn off the binge-fests of food and drink that occur at year-end holidays. Anticipating this, I agree to a free trial lesson at a friend's gym, which she claims offers a workout that's fast, effective and comes served on a plate. How bad can that be? I decide...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Oct 25, 2014
Dead reckoning in the haunts of Honancho
Halloween in Tokyo rarely gets scarier than the price of imported pumpkins, but I've heard that Honancho — a terminal station on the Marunouchi subway line — hosts an uber-spooky obakeyashiki (ghost house). Navigating the station's dank, barely-lit stairwell at Exit 2, I'm already apprehensive.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Sep 27, 2014
Yumenoshima: Tokyo's past trash packed into pleasure
Yumenoshima (literally, "Dream Island") in Tokyo's Koto Ward is aptly named because as in real dreams, the island's narrative encompasses both bucolic and nightmarish elements.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Jul 26, 2014
Much about nothing in Akabane Iwabuchi
The nexus between Tokyo's rainy season and the heat of summer brings beastly humidity. I choose to explore Akabane Iwabuchi, an area in Tokyo's Kita Ward, for the possibility of cool breezes coming off the nearby Arakawa River. But that idea is toast the second I exit the subway; sunlight pulses off...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Jun 28, 2014
Not ducking tradition in Higashi-Ueno
With its lotus-laden Shinobazu pond, park grounds, and national museums, the Ueno area in Tokyo draws millions of visitors a year. Nearby Higashi-Ueno (Eastern Ueno), however, seems to be another world altogether. When I exit Shin-Okachimachi station, under skies portending summer heat, this low-lying...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
May 24, 2014
What's blowing in the wind around Ushigome-yanagicho
Wind gusts airborne detritus down toward Ichigaya-yanagicho, an intersection in central Tokyo infamous for having the highest density of carbon monoxide in Tokyo during the 1970s. Researchers at the time linked this poisonous gas to the area's high incidence of lung cancer, and the outcry from citizens...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Apr 26, 2014
Spring greening in Koganei
It’s time to bask in sunshine, birdsong, and blossom-filled breezes. Koganei Park, situated at the center of the Tokyo metropolis, looks like the ideal spot for such a “spring-gasm.” The JR Chuo express train whisks me from Yotsuya to Musashi-Koganei in less than 30 minutes, and I alight with glee....
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Feb 22, 2014
Arisugawa-no-Miya's no mere people's park
Tokyo's weather in February is unpredictable, so when the day I have set aside for exploring features a record-breaking blizzard, I'm not surprised. So, bundled up like Everest conqueror Edmund Hillary, I exit Hiroo Station in Minato Ward to find the air feathered with swirling flakes and the streets...
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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