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July 16, 2024
 

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Kit Nagamura
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / BACKSTREET STORIES
Oct 30, 2011
Yea! As I walk through the valley of Todoroki . . .
Todoroki Valley Park, a protected green swath along Tokyo's only ravine, strikes me as an interesting and possibly quite sheltered destination on a brisk and breezy fall day.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / BACKSTREET STORIES
Sep 25, 2011
Discoveries to delight on the very doorstep of The Japan Times
There's an expression in Japanese — Todai moto kurashi (The base of the lighthouse is dark) — which occurs to me as I leave the headquarters of The Japan Times in Shibaura. Though I regularly dock here, I realize I'm in the dark about the surrounding area, Minato Ward's manmade flatlands...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / BACKSTREET STORIES
Aug 28, 2011
Building excitement in Shirokanedai
Exiting the Nanboku Line at Shirokanedai Station in west-central Tokyo, my sandaled feet immediately start to sizzle. So instead of walking to Meguro's Institute of Nature Study as planned, I bolt down the first shaded slope I find.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Jul 31, 2011
Shooting galleries in Nihonbashi
Summertime, and the living's less easy than queasy as Tokyo's temperatures and humidity soar. It's like that as I exit the Hibiya Line's Kodenmacho Station, in Chuo Ward, headed for Jisshi Koen, the area's sole park.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / BACKSTREET STORIES
Jun 26, 2011
Morishita: treats in place of the trees
Sometimes it's hard to see the forest for the trees. According to Akinori Saito, a historian in Tokyo's Koto Ward Office, the area known as Morishita (lit. "forest below") was most likely named for woods that surrounded the yashiki (residence) of a feudal lord named Saemon Sakai (1564-1619), a retainer...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
May 31, 2011
The edified and TEDified in Japan
On May 21, Tokyo's third annual TEDx event was held at Miraikan (the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation) in Odaiba. Though officially closed until June 11 due to the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake, Miraikan hosted 300 guests to this year's event: TEDxTokyo 2011: Enter the Unknown.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
May 29, 2011
Casting around in Tsukudajima
From Tsukishima Station on Tokyo's Oedo subway line, I launch myself northward toward Tsukudajima. A mere sandbar in the early days of the Edo Period (1603-1868), Tsukudajima long ago began to be expanded with boulders and landfill on the way to creating the area we now know.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / BACKSTREET STORIES
Apr 24, 2011
Gaming Moto Azabu
Rather than dwell on the dark side of life at this time, I decide to get my game on by heading to a store just off Azabu-Juban's main shopping street in central Tokyo's Minato Ward. Max Game, at the foot of Kurayamizaka (Dark Slope), is surrounded by kids of all ages sitting at tables, strategizing and...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / BACKSTREET STORIES
Feb 27, 2011
Notes from the underground
When my yoga class was canceled recently, I decided to explore Yoga instead.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / BACKSTREET STORIES
Jan 30, 2011
Aoyama warmth beats the cold
Kotto-dori (Antiques Avenue), a pin-straight link between Aoyama and Roppongi avenues in Tokyo's Minato Ward, was once a melange of pricey boutiques and high-end antique stores. Word has it that the street is going through changes, so I set off to see what's up.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / BACKSTREET STORIES
Jan 9, 2011
The narrow roads of Senju
In the frantic yearend season known as shiwasu (lit. "teachers running"), when even dignified people grow harried, a friend invited me to play hooky from the madness and take a ramble together around her Tokyo neighborhood. Since the gift of time together is a great one, I hopped the next train to Senju...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Dec 19, 2010
'Candy man' conjures up art to eat
Children and adults swarm the sanzun (small street cart) of Takahiro Mizuki as he creates traditional ame zaiku (candy sculptures).
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Nov 28, 2010
Eats, shoots and leaves in Hakusan
It's hunting season in Tokyo. I kit up and trek out to the Hakusan area of Bunkyo Ward, hoping to shoot (with camera) the wild shades of autumn.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Oct 31, 2010
Crafts meet art in Nihonbashi
Perhaps all writers love paper — it's in our fiber, so to speak — and when it comes to paper, Japanese washi rules. So, off I head to Ozu Washi store in central Tokyo's Chuo Ward to take a class in how to make it.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Sep 26, 2010
Moving pictures of Shibamata
I change trains three times before boarding one of Tokyo's shortest lines, the 2.5-km Keisei Kanamachi. I'm bound for Shibamata, which isn't precisely a backstreet, but it's tucked so far from most major thoroughfares in the back-beyond of Katsushika Ward that I imagine it will fit the bill.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Jul 25, 2010
Brilliant facets of Nishi-Ojima
Setting off to explore Nishi-Ojima (West Large Island) and Kita Suna (North Sand) in Tokyo's downtown Koto Ward, I know better than to expect a seaside resort.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Jun 27, 2010
Cool (old) Japan flourishes along flowing rivers of Edo
In blistering midday heat, traffic blasts by, spitting out exhaust and grit at the busy intersection of Yotsume and Shin Ohashi Avenues. I've exited Sumiyoshi Station on the Toei Shinjuku Line, eager to find Sarue Onshi Park, said to be pretty with streams and water features. About to produce a water...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
May 30, 2010
Miso happy in Nakamurabashi
I hear somewhere near Nakamura in Nerima Ward, miso is still made in the age-old traditional way. I figure I'll just wander around the tidy little neighborhood and find it.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Apr 25, 2010
Horsing around in Shinjuku
...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Mar 28, 2010
Thatched spring in Setagaya
To slough off winter sluggishness and get into step with spring, I set a course from Seijo Gakuen-mae on the Odakyu Line to Jidayubori Minkaen — a compound of late-Edo Period (1860s) thatched farmhouses in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward — and ending at Futako Tamagawa Station, about 4 km away as the...
Bloodied Trump survives assassination attempt at political rally
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is surrounded and evacuated by Secret Service agents at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday. Trump was rushed off stage at the rally after shots rang out.
How to beat Japan’s summer heat in ways better for the planet
Tenugui towels hang up to dry at a dyeing company in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on May 8. The durable and versatile tenugui, which many people have in their homes, can be used in many ways to cool one’s body.
The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'
Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.
Amid same-sex marriage ban, LGBTQ couples opt for 'photo weddings'
A lesbian couple, consisting of a 35-year-old woman (left) and 40-year-old woman, cover their faces with bouquets as they pose for wedding photos in Yokohama on Nov. 1.
China and Russia conduct joint Pacific military patrol
The Russian corvette Gromkiy enters the Chinese port of Zhanjiang as part of a joint China-Russia naval exercise on Saturday.
How to beat Japan’s summer heat in ways better for the planet
Tenugui towels hang up to dry at a dyeing company in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on May 8. The durable and versatile tenugui, which many people have in their homes, can be used in many ways to cool one’s body.
After Trump shooting, U.S. presidential race might take a violent turn
United States Secret Service Counter Snipers stand guard on a rooftop during a campaign rally for U.S. President Donald Trump in Avoca, Pennsylvania, in 2020.
No AC this summer? No problem (for me).
Think air conditioning is a requirement for a Tokyo summer? Think again.
She’s paying ¥1 million to help behind the scenes at the Paris Olympics
Mai Tarumi, who previously volunteered at the postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, has a travel budget of ¥1 million for her trip to volunteer at the Paris Games.
How to tweak your diet when temperatures spike
Most people think of hydration as a strictly liquid-based concept, but eating foods with high water content is an essential part of making it through a Japanese summer unscathed.

Podcast

You can often see generations of families enjoying performances together at Fuji Rock Festival.
Japan’s summer music festivals are feeling the heat in more ways than one

Longform

Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.
The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'
By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Exploring Japanese culturevia Tohoku’s festivals
Exploring Japanese culturevia Tohoku’s festivals

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