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August 15, 2024
 

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JAPAN LITE

Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jan 20, 2007
Beware roof avalanches and snow plows!
I was skiing in that famous Niseko powder snow up to my knees, floating on air, when I heard "Don't hurry love, you'll just have to wait. . . ." Ah, Phil Collins. My cell phone was ringing. I ignored it and continued skiing down. ". . . it's a game of give and take. . . ."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jan 13, 2007
Niseko -- the souls of melted snowmen
Here I am basking in central heating in Hokkaido. I came to try out Japan's rugged north for the winter where only five percent of Japan's population dares to live, along with 3,000 higuma, or brown bears. Hokkaido is famous for its wide-open spaces and dairy cows.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jan 6, 2007
Don't be a bore, go whole hog in 2007
Akemashite oink-oink! Happy Year of the Inoshishi, or wild boar. Hopefully, your 2007 will not be a wild bore, however.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Dec 30, 2006
Hakodate -- home of the Twinkle Lady
As I left Hakodate for Niseko, the whole city was draped in the first snowfall of the year. And it was one furious snowfall.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Dec 23, 2006
Keeping it short and casual in Aomori
Last week I told you about how I met Santa Claus in Akita-ken. After receiving my gift from him, I continued on my journey North in the quest for central heating.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Dec 16, 2006
Land of Akita dogs and Santa Claus
I've had it! I'm not going to sit around freezing to death in my uninsulated Japanese house again this winter.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Dec 9, 2006
Unmasking life's many battles
I finally did it. I wore one of those masks because I caught a cold. Actually, not a cold, but a vicious stomach virus. But I couldn't help wondering: Who dunnit? Who didn't wear a surgical mask and passed their virus on to me?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Dec 2, 2006
One man's trash, another's treasure
I remember my first years in Japan rummaging through the garbage on "sodai homi no hi" (big garbage day) I couldn't believe the things people threw out: perfectly good furniture, practically unused stereos etc.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 25, 2006
Living among aliens on Planet Japan
Japanese entrepreneur Daisuke Enomoto was going to pay $20 million to go into outer space. Not me. I can go into outer space anytime I want. All I have to do is walk out my door.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 18, 2006
How to tell if you are Gaijin-Japanese
In the U.S. we use the term Japanese-American to refer to Americans of Japanese descent. The Japanese use the terms nisei and sansei to denote second- and third-generation Japanese. Then there is hafu to describe those who are "half Japanese" and half something else (such as mermaid?).
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 11, 2006
The mysterious red light heeded by few
Big news for our island: They've put in a traffic light! Now, I've always been under the impression that there must be oncoming traffic to justify a traffic light. But hey, this is Japan, maybe they drive differently here.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 4, 2006
Charmers of the Inland Sea
My landlord drives a ferry. Having grown up on an island in the Inland Sea, it was only natural for him to take up a job on a boat. Many islanders become captains of ferries, cargo ships, and tug boats. Ship captains in Japan can retire at age 55 and get a very nice pension. The problem is, it's hard...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 28, 2006
Living the slow life -- at warp speed
Autumn on Shiraishi island -- the tourists are gone and weekends are for cycling, sailing and holding impromptu beer parties.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 21, 2006
Oh deer, what can the matter be?
Ah, Miyajima! One of the most photographed spots in Japan. That fantastic torii gate in the sea, the vermilion Utsukushima Shrine, magnificent Mount Misen, those damn deer!
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 14, 2006
English language disaster in the making
"Hello!" said a smiling boy next to me on the train. "Well, hello," I said, startled that anyone should actually use this phrase unaccompanied by at least a giggle and at most rolling on the floor laughing.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 7, 2006
Tell me, just whose festival is it, anyhow?
October is a great month for festivals in Japan and our island is no exception. The Shiraishi Aki Matsuri is my favorite event of the year. It's a time when you meet your neighbors at 8 a.m. and start toasting to the Shinto gods. The matsuri men come out and pull the mikoshi and all-day merriment follows....
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Sep 30, 2006
Stayin' alive in health check 'stamprary'
I was recently asked to get a health check by one of my places of employment. On my planet, the United States, one doctor does the health check in 30 minutes. How boring.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Sep 23, 2006
Sports festivals: menace to health?
It's autumn in Japan, and you know what that means -- sports festivals! Oct. 10 is Sports Day, a national holiday started in 1964 to mark the opening day of the Tokyo Olympics. Since then, autumn has been a time of year for schools and communities to hold annual sports festivals.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Sep 16, 2006
Commode confession of Sound Princess
All the talk of royalty these days has got me to thinking -- has anyone else ever wondered why so many royal words are associated with toilets? Think about it. You sit on the throne. If you're a woman in a public bathroom in Japan, you probably use the Oto Hime (Sound Princess) to cover up the sounds...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Sep 9, 2006
The Japanese Chrysanthemum Thrown
Congratulations to Princess Kiko and Prince Akishino on the birth of their baby! While the fact that it is a boy is even greater news for the royal family, it's a shame for Japan. Looking for excuses not to face modern realities, Japan may now wallow in its past of allowing only male heirs of male lineage...
Japan to revise consumption tax exemption for overseas tourists
Tourists walk through Nakamise shopping street near Sensoji Temple in Tokyo in April
Japan's tourism industry hit by cancellations after megaquake alert
A beach closed due to a megaquake alert in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, from Friday to Thursday.
Focus shifts to incoming typhoon as Tropical Storm Maria dissipates
Newly formed Tropical Storm Ampil, which is forecast to approach eastern Japan this weekend, is seen on the left side of this satellite image.
Kishida to step down in September in bid to show ‘LDP has changed’
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a news conference Wednesday at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo.
Publisher finds surprise audience after translating history textbooks
Yamakawa Shuppansha president Takeshi Nozawa holds the publisher's textbook on Japanese history — used in high schools across Japan — alongside the new English version in Tokyo on May 23.
Economic security is about strengthening and sustaining growth, former minister says
Former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi says changes in the international balance of power, along with deepening economic interdependence, have led some countries to attempt to use their economic power to impose their will on others.
Ice bandanas, convenience store breaks: Running under Japan’s summer sun
Blistering heat is becoming a fixture of summer in Japan, but a few tweaks to your routine can make your outdoor runs bearable — if not enjoyable — until cooler temperatures return.
Japan issued its first-ever megaquake alert. What does that mean?
Naoshi Hirata (center), chairman of a committee tasked with evaluating the risk of a Nankai Trough earthquake, speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Friday.
France brings down the curtain on its Olympic party with Tom Cruise and Leon Marchand
Fireworks are set off during the closing ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics at Stade de France in Saint-Denis on Sunday.
Japan fuels U.S. LNG boom even as climate targets and impacts loom
Flaring at the Cameron LNG export terminal in Hackberry, Louisiana. Flaring, a common sight at LNG plants, is a controlled burning of gas for reasons ranging from depressurizing equipment to disposing of gas that can’t be used. The practice is a "waste of money" and negatively impacts climate change and human health, says the International Energy Agency.

Podcast

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

Longform

Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.
In search of the ‘Japanese dream’
By Thu-Huong Ha

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JNTO promotes sustainable tourism initiatives

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