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July 16, 2024
 

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Amy Chavez

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Amy Chavez
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Sep 27, 2008
Tell me 'taint so!
Dear Prime Minister Aso,
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Sep 20, 2008
Coordinating human life
While I was in the city the other day, I saw a sign on a building that described a certain company, in English, as "human life coordinator." I suppose life is something like a pant suit — you've just got to coordinate it.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Sep 13, 2008
Learning how to duck
For a long time I had noticed a strange absence of wild birds in the back of my house. The front of the house, facing the port, has plenty of seagulls, blue herons, and wild ducks. In the morning I wake up to quacking, cawing and arguing herons.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Sep 6, 2008
Land of the Great Pumpkin
The last time I went to Naoshima was in June of 2001, when it was just an island with a museum, a hotel and some tents. It was called Bunkamura (culture village). The museum was Mr. Fukutake's own private art collection of mostly modern art. In 2004 came Claude, Walter and James (Monet, De Maria, and...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 30, 2008
The Awashima crab murders
Matsumoto-san bellied up to my bar and said, "Amy, I've started Moooo! Bar II on the beach at Awashima Island. You must come see it!" I wasn't really sure what to think about this, not having planned on expanding anything except my beer belly by owning a bar. This being Asia, however, it is supposed...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 23, 2008
Reaping summer's rewards
In July, a package arrived on my genkan doorstep like all packages arrive at my house — with a thud. I could hear the postman grunt out a greeting before he shut the screen door behind him. I went downstairs to investigate the thud.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 16, 2008
Get back to where you once belonged
The countryside in Japan has a reputation for being backwards. This is partly true. In the countryside where I live we walk backwards, we drive backwards and sometimes we even do our laundry backwards — by drying it out first, then washing it.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 9, 2008
Putting Cool Biz to the test
Here we are in the middle of Kuuru Bizu. Cool what? you say. There is nothing cool about the hot and humid summer in Japan. Perhaps they meant "cool busy" as in busy trying to find someplace cool to hang out.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 2, 2008
In the cool lap of luxury
I first met Uncle earlier this year at the cherry-blossom-viewing party on Shiraishi Island. He seemed kind of young to be an uncle, but his beard made him look a little older. Uncle was passed out under the cherry trees.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jul 26, 2008
In need of a beach for snails
The more I travel around Japan, the more I realize I don't live in Japan. Nor have I for the past decade. I guess I've gotten so used to my safe, comfortable island life, that when I go to some other places in Japan, I am astounded to find it is not the same warm 'n' fuzzy place I'm used to.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jul 19, 2008
A well-armed goddess
On July 2, at the lowest tide of the year, my neighbors and I prayed to the goddess of the sea. The islanders call her Benten (also known as Benzaiten), and she lives on her own special island, just off the coast of Shiraishi Island. Here she convenes with the sea and brings us luck, prosperity (well,...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jul 12, 2008
Climbing Mount Misen
I recently took a group of tourists on a sail through the Seto Inland Sea for three days. Our destination was Miyajima, home of the Great Torii Gate and Itsukushima Shrine (built in A.D. 593), a World Heritage site since 1996.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jul 5, 2008
Truly, it's a jungle out there!
While the rest of the brave world is out fighting terrorism, on my island we are fighting a different kind of evil: age, sickness, and most recently, weeds.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jun 28, 2008
The rainy season, brought to you by snails
Aspersa: Nothing like a nice slither in the rain. That dry concrete is so hard on the foot.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jun 21, 2008
Gaijin of the Inland Sea
Believe it or not, I am not the only foreigner living on an island in the Seto Inland Sea. Allow me to uncover other insane gaijin "doing it" island style. And these are no ordinary people, mind you.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jun 14, 2008
Pilgrimages done on the run
Welcome to the hood: the Buddhahood. Some sects of Buddhism believe you can attain Buddhahood by chanting certain purification chants over and over. Others, such as Shingon, use pilgrimage as a method of achieving divine enlightenment and understanding of the world.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jun 7, 2008
A new kind of ambassador
I recently woke up to my cat staring me down. "Hello, kitty," I said.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
May 31, 2008
'Rusting olive trees' of peace
With the goal of (eventually) visiting every island in the Seto Inland Sea, I set out last weekend on an island explorer trip. (For the record, I've only visited 28 out of about 200!)
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
May 24, 2008
Invitation to a spawn party
In any well-known Japanese garden in Japan, you are bound to come across a pond full of carp, large decorative fish that look like they had orange paint spilled on them. Koi, as they are called, also come in black and white, in which they look more like Holstein fish.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
May 17, 2008
Buddha's birthday prompts call to temple
May 12 was Buddha's birthday. Don't tell me you forgot about it! You didn't even send a card? How about a gift? Well, don't feel too bad. I forgot about it too. But luckily, on the morning of the 12th, an announcement came over the loudspeaker saying "Attention Shiraishi Island residents, today is Buddha's...
Who needs AI when you have Hatsune Miku?
Over the first six months of 2024, a handful of songs using Vocaloid singer Hatsune Miku’s voice have enjoyed widespread attention, underlining a global interest in the character and the technology she represents.
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.
Shooter came within inches of killing Trump, but left few clues as to why
An aerial view shows the stage where Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump had been standing during an assassination attempt the day before, and the roof of a nearby building where a gunman was shot dead by law enforcement, in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Sunday.
Yen’s woes seem too big for even a BOJ hike this month to solve
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo
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.
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.

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

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Exploring Japanese culturevia Tohoku’s festivals
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