As a young woman, the poet Takako Arai watched helplessly as her family's 400-year-old heritage was literally demolished.
"One day a shovel car came to our family's textile factory and destroyed almost everything, not only the physical constructions but the forests, the gardens, everything, even the gods," she says. "Of course, this was not just my family's reality, as modernization affects many communities across Japan and the world."
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.