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December 04, 2024
 

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Amy Chavez

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Amy Chavez
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 25, 2018
Japan has a reputation for cleanliness — just don't look in our closets
The cleanliness of the Japanese is known worldwide. Thanks to the internet, videos of Japanese students cleaning their schools have gone viral, as well as a memorable clip of how the JR staff clean an entire shinkansen train in under seven minutes. The Japanese have further left their indelible mark...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 31, 2018
The death of a Japanese countryside festival
Ancient rites bend to an aging, shrinking population, but how much longer can local traditions hold out?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Sep 23, 2018
'My Year in Japan' books offer reassuring words to armchair travelers, but expats need more
The most successful works remain true to both the author's time abroad and to Japan itself.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 29, 2018
In Japan, the most important rule for language translation is often broken
As Japan continues to court more foreign tourists, the nation must learn to respect foreign languages as much as its own.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jul 29, 2018
One man's labor-of-love museum captures Seto Inland Sea island's storied stone history
Build a stone museum and they will come? That's the idea behind the K's Labo museum on Kitagi Island in Okayama Prefecture.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jun 27, 2018
Minpaku law could leave tourists to Japan without beds
Onerous licensing process for private lodging won't stop bad operators, but it will put off honest would-be entrepreneurs.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
May 27, 2018
Japan's public policy is killing rural entrepreneurship
While big-ticket tourism projects in Japan thrive, those involved in smaller-scale projects can feel starved of government support.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Apr 29, 2018
Chichibu: Steeped in tradition, but challenged by industry
The city of Chichibu, about 90 minutes by train from Ikebukuro, Tokyo, has a population of approximately 60,000. The region, which sits in the shadow of Mount Buko and alongside the Arakawa river is steeped in tradition with more than 300 festivals taking place each year.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 25, 2018
What's behind Japan's enduring love of Emily Bronte's 'Wuthering Heights'?
Emily Bronte's only novel, 'Wuthering Heights,' set in the moors of Yorkshire in the late 18th century, has long held a special place in Japanese hearts.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Feb 25, 2018
High-tech Pyeongchang Olympics needed more low-tech support for foreign tourists
Attending the Pyeongchang Olympics in South Korea reminded me of what Japan still needs to do as it gears up to host one of the world's most prominent sports events.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jan 28, 2018
Launch a tourist-friendly Seto Inland Sea ferry system and they will come
The 250 or so inhabited islands scattered like pebbles between Honshu and Shikoku have been unfairly relegated to guidebook sidebars labeled 'Off the beaten track.'
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Dec 23, 2017
Short Kyoto hike packs in plenty to stimulate the mind and palate
The last trail in this series is short and sweet — just 4 kilometers. For years I'd been hearing good things about the two-hour hike between the mountain towns of Kibune and Kurama north of Kyoto. The restaurants in Kibune are known for their terraces built out over the river, a tradition that serves...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Dec 17, 2017
What do Western tourists want from Japan? Try asking one
How many other countries would attempt to lure Western tourists without at least having a tete-a-tete with a woman in their target audience who has lived for over 20 years in the very place they're hoping to attract people to?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 26, 2017
Edo Period 'post town' in Okayama re-imagines its past and reaps tourism dividends
Yakage is the only preserved town along the Sanyo Road that survives in it's near-original form, and tourists are flocking there.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Gourmet Trails
Nov 25, 2017
Slow food and easy pedaling along Seto Inland Sea's Shimanami Kaido
Japanese-Western fusion cuisine abounds along this six-island cycle path connecting Hiroshima to Ehime.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 29, 2017
Business cards in Japan: So many rules, so easily and often broken
One of the first things visitors learn about Japan is the importance of business card etiquette. Yet when it comes to the content of cards, many Japanese let rip and get creative.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Gourmet Trails
Oct 21, 2017
Six temples, 60 km and countless bowls of Sanuki udon in Kagawa
For foodies, Kagawa can mean just one thing: the prefecture's signature noodles.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Sep 25, 2017
Alex Kerr recalls 1970s Japan and David Kidd, the mentor whose influence never fades
Author and Japan hand Alex Kerr remembers the 'larger than life, outrageous, tall, skinny, blond' David Kidd and the 'golden age.'
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Gourmet Trails
Sep 23, 2017
Eating a way through the Nakasendo's lower Kiso Road
The Nakasendo was an Edo Period (1603-1868) road used for travel between the capital of Edo (Tokyo) and Kyoto, the former capital. The 69 post towns along the way provided accommodation and services to daimyo and their entourages, who passed through on their sankin kōtai biennial visits to the Tokugawa...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 27, 2017
Blame for 'bad tourists' to Japan lies with the advice they never receive
The answer to holidaymakers' poor behavior isn't shutting out 'bad tourists' but educating all tourists.
Japan’s 2024 buzzword of the year urges a reevaluation of past norms
Sadao Abe, who played the role of a time-traveling Showa Era teacher transported to present day in a popular TV drama, receives the 2024 buzzword of the year award for the word "futehodo," the nickname of the series.
Princess Aiko, only child of emperor, turns 23
Princess Aiko on Nov. 22 ahead of her 23rd birthday on Sunday at the Imperial Palace
Ishiba questioned on political reform, social issues and the economy
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks in the Lower House in Tokyo on Monday.
Nearly 90% in Japan and China have negative views of other
Chinese people's sentiment toward Japan is believed to be impacted by their use of social media platforms such as Weibo and Douyin, as well as whether they have visited Japan.
Bear that attacked Akita supermarket employee captured
A brown bear in Hokkaido. In the city of Akita, a bear that attacked a supermarket employee over the weekend was captured in a box trap on Monday morning.
Can Japan's scientific community rebound from a Nobel nosedive?
The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo is a popular place to foster curiosity in the natural sciences.
Europe eyes 'boots on the ground' in Ukraine as possible peace deal option
A serviceman with the Ukrainian Army's 24th mechanized brigade fires a machine gun during an exercise, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the country's Donetsk region on Friday.
Seven strangers and an algorithm: Can this new dinner app help you make friends?
Timeleft uses an algorithm to match its users with five or six strangers in an effort to prompt “human connection” over dinner at a restaurant. It determines the attendees with the help of a simple personality quiz available when you sign up for the service. 
Don’t worry, you can still use your Japan health insurance card — for now
A My Number card reader at a pediatric clinic in Tokyo. While the government will stop issuing new health insurance cards on Monday, most people will remain unaffected by the move in the short term as existing health insurance cards can still be used for another year.
The Geisha bean is the leading lady of Tokyo's coffee scene
Discovered in the 1930s, the Geisha coffee plant came to worldwide fame in the early 2000s and now represents some of the best coffee on the planet — Tokyo's top cafes included.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo is a popular place to foster curiosity in the natural sciences.
Can Japan's scientific community rebound from a Nobel nosedive?
By Tomoko Otake

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