author

 
Menu
Search
 
November 22, 2024
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access
Amy Chavez

Meta

Twitter

@JapanLite

Amy Chavez
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 21, 2009
A guide for femurs visiting Japan
Finally, what you've all been waiting for: a guide for femurs visiting Japan.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 14, 2009
Nature is indeed a creepy thing
Something was fishy. Whenever I heard a knock at the door, no one was there. When my cell phone rang, no one was on the other end. In addition, there was no record of anyone having called.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 7, 2009
Japanese — a language of tall tales
At times, Japan seems to be an alarmist country. Topics like immigration, terrorism, and the latest strain of influenza can be blown out of proportion and reactions can appear over the top. But is it any wonder when you consider the Japanese language?
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 31, 2009
For your amusement — Ferris wheels everywhere, but why not?
Japan can be a confusing place for tourists, so I would like to take this opportunity to explain some things about Japan that no one has ever attempted to explain before, such as "Why are there so many Ferris wheels in Japan?"
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 24, 2009
Concretology — getting lost inside a mammoth structure
Japan is the home of concretology. This form of architecture started in the 1960s as a way to use molds, iron bars and rendering to form structures that make people say, "Whoa!"
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 17, 2009
Japan's gifted children
There are many gifted children in the world, but Japan would have to have the highest number. I'd estimate that nearly 100 percent of Japanese children are gifted. It's not hard to be a gifted child in Japan though.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 10, 2009
Breakfast deja vu — have we met before?
Hot dogs for breakfast anyone? If you order a "Western breakfast" in Japan, you're likely to get breakfast that includes either hot dogs or salad. This is the image of what foreigners eat. No wonder the Japanese think we're strange.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 3, 2009
Welcome to autumn, and the insect world
Welcome to autumn, the spider season. Spiders are everywhere on our island. Should you dare to go hiking or walk the pilgrimage there will be elaborate spider webs, constructed by the best Japanese spider engineers, hanging taut across your every path.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Sep 26, 2009
Maybe it's time for some age-old wisdom
The cover of a Japanese magazine recently showed a photo of Shiraishi Island along with a title that urged people to come and relax in shima no jikan (island time). This, of course, is the image outsiders have of our island.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Sep 19, 2009
What is it that makes things 'Japanese'?
The other day I walked along the road to the far side of the island. Kio-chan, who I hardly recognized without his trademark red Hawaiian shirt and red cap on, could be seen in the distance being walked by his dog. When I approached him, he was huffing and puffing. "Kio-chan," I said, "I didn't know...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Sep 12, 2009
What gomi problem?
There is a growing concern in Japan about gomi yashiki, or trash houses, created by people who hoard useless stuff. Eventually, their collections start overflowing from their houses onto the streets. Such people often have more feline friends than human. I never realized that cats shared this same predilection...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Sep 5, 2009
Flying octopuses of thanks
"Amy-san!" yells one of the neighborhood obaachan while standing in my genkan holding out a plate of warm shrimp tempura. "Thank you so much for helping my husband the other day."
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 29, 2009
Gasoline stations? Pumping gas is really a physical job
Whenever I go to the mainland, I am reminded of how different life is from our small island in the Seto Inland Sea.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 22, 2009
Oscar the Grouch would be homeless here
"That Japanese guy looked at me as if he wanted to kill me," the foreigner said to me while we were standing on the beach.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 15, 2009
Appreciating a sense of space — a Japanese fine art
"Your relax space," "Life style space," space this, space that. What was I saying?
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 8, 2009
How to get lost in Kyoto
A young couple from Norway were talking about their travels in Japan. "We weren't that impressed with Kyoto," they said. "It was too hard to get around."
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 1, 2009
Answers to some slippery fish questions
"Do you eat the green stuff?" asked a tourist, referring to the very end of the snail-like insides of the sazae.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jul 25, 2009
Welcome to the caldron
"Atsui desu, ne?" (It's hot, isn't it?) This is the universal summer greeting in Japan. You can be in a crowd of complete strangers when someone will sidle up to you and, as an "ice-breaker," say, "It's hot today, isn't it?" And you agree with, "So desu ne." (Yes, it is).
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jul 18, 2009
Putting the bugs out to sea
Last weekend, we threw all the bad insects off our island in a ceremony called Mushi Okuri (seeing off the insects).
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jul 11, 2009
The rainy season — it's not just snails on hydrangeas
The rainy season can be kind of gloomy with the lack of sunshine, but the weather may be more a reflection of Japan's economic forecast. The Land of the Rising Sun is in many ways, not so sunny anymore.
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

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

SWCC keeps changing with keyword ‘new challenges’
SWCC keeps changing with keyword ‘new challenges’

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER