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April 18, 2024
 

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Chris Cook
For Chris Cook's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jul 26, 2019
Nagano's famed Jonen mountain hut celebrates 100 years of stunning vistas
First opened in 1919, the Jonen-goya mountain hut is still going strong at 100 — offering adventurous hikers in Nagano Prefecture's Japan Alps a place to rest and recharge.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / RECENTLY PUBLISHED BOOKS ABOUT JAPAN
Aug 25, 2018
'Birds of Japan': More than a guide, a labor of love
Mark Brazil's 'Birds of Japan' will be a birders' Bible for the foreseeable future and fills the niche for anyone who plans to search out the wealth of birds that this country has to offer.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WEEK 3
Apr 21, 2013
Thunderbirds to go and meet on high
It seemed like a good idea at the time: With a four-day vacation over New Year's, why not head off to the North Alps in search of ptarmigans, Japan's quintessential birds of its loftiest heights.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Dec 3, 2010
Works of songwriter Berlin showcase love, friendship
"I Love a Piano," an off-Broadway musical penned by famed songwriter Irving Berlin (1888-1989), is enjoying its first run in Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Apr 16, 2009
Clemens en August's high-flying sales tour touches down in Tokyo
Our events are a happening — part social, part business, part elegance," says retail revolutionary Alexander Brenninkmeijer.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jun 13, 2008
Getting high with ease
The goal was a lofty one, figuratively: To climb the highest peak within the Tokyo metropolitan area.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Mar 28, 2008
Finding the real Okinawa in Yanbaru
The three baby goats frolicking in their enclosure, hewn out of northern Okinawa's itajii (evergreen oak) forest, were having a great time.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jan 11, 2008
In praise of picture-postcard Japan
As Ana and Roberto, my two good friends from Brazil, and myself gorged ourselves through the multicourse kaiseki dinner at the very pleasant and relaxed Tachibana Shikitei, a Japanese-style inn in Ishikawa Prefecture's Yamashiro Onsen, I convinced myself that food, when served on quality pottery — in this case, local Kutaniware — really does taste better than if served on a regular plate.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 15, 2007
Out of exile, into a Tokyo art space
For artist Morio Matsui, life has almost turned full circle. After four decades in "exile" in France, this currently Corsica-based Japanese artist's ties with his homeland have strengthened with the opening earlier this year of an art space, Espace Morio Matsui, in Shimo-Meguro, Tokyo.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Aug 24, 2007
Love you and you're green
It seems that when Amami-Oshima, an island in southern Kagoshima Prefecture, was created, there was just one color left on the palette: green.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jun 22, 2007
An inside track on the Japan Alps
As the overnight buses roll into the car park at Kamikochi at six on a summer's morning, disgorging disheveled and sleep-deprived long-distance travelers from as far afield as Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka and Kyoto, the whole area is already buzzing with people.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 27, 2007
Under the lonesome trees
Picnic areas. Fishing holes. Camp grounds. Onsen. Hiking trails galore. The Okutama area, with all that it has to offer, might be called the playground of Tokyo, and a weekend visit proves that the great outdoors on the capital's doorstep is a crowd-puller.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Feb 9, 2007
Treading on thick ice
Among the places in Japan where, over the years, my trusty old backpack and I have poked about in Japan -- from the southern tip of Okinawa Island, to the far-flung Ogasawaras 1,000-km south of Tokyo, and to Wakkanai and Rishiri Island in northern Hokkaido -- very high on my list of top 10 destinations would be eastern Hokkaido in February or March.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Dec 15, 2006
Go green in Tokyo
It's a great day, the sun is shining, it's not too cold, so how about a day of hiking in Tokyo?
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Oct 20, 2006
On a trail out of the real world
The fellow passengers on the weekend "holiday special express" from Shinjuku to Okutama or Musashi-Itsukaichi -- an hour northwest of Tokyo -- are a strange melange: There are lots of young men -- often much the worse for wear -- going home after a night of heavy drinking; there are young girls heading home after dancing the night away; early risers off to work; and clear-headed kids heading off to school sporting events.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Aug 18, 2006
Navigating through a lost world
As the single flashing beam of the lighthouse struggled to make itself seen in the misty half-light, the Toppy 2 high-speed ferry bumped its way across the waves on the east side of the island of Yakushima, southeast of Kyushu.
Japan Times
Features / JAPAN FASHION WEEK FALL/WINTER 06-07
Mar 26, 2006
Half a century of fine memories made from an impeccable 'fusion'
A stroll around Hanae Mori's retrospective, being held until April 11 at the New National Theater in Shinjuku, is for me like wandering back down memory lane: I remember admiring the floral dresses -- peonies or wisteria -- when, in a flash of brilliant color, they burst onto the catwalk for the first time in Paris in 1998.
Japan Times
Features / JAPAN FASHION WEEK FALL/WINTER 06-07
Mar 26, 2006
Rochas re-mixed
Among the new kids on the block at Japan Fashion Week in Tokyo this season, the only one in the menswear department was the Rochas line by Masatomo, whose elegant but unpretentiously tailored pieces are created under an agreement between Tokyo-based Renown Inc. and the venerable Paris-based Rochas.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Mar 8, 2006
'Paradise found' -- but not a single panda to be seen
FOPING PANDA RESERVE, China -- "There! In that tree, a month ago, the Netherlands lady saw a baby panda. She was so excited!"
Features
Apr 24, 2005
Grande dame of haute kuchuuru
In the fickle world of fashion, where players come and go with the regularity of the seasons that their working lives are firmly pinned to, there are fortunately just a few who hang in there to lend some sense of continuity.
Magnitude 6.6 quake strikes off Shikoku
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck southern Japan on Wednesday. The area marked in red recorded a weak 6 on Japan's seismic intensity scale.
Why hasn't Japan moved to prop up the weak yen?
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Tuesday.
U.S. deploys midrange missile system in Indo-Pacific for first time
A U.S. Army Mid-Range Capability (MRC) Launcher arrives as part of the capability’s first deployment into theater on Northern Luzon, Philippines, April 8.
Snake on a train: Discovery of serpent delays Tokyo-Nagoya shinkansen
A Tokaido shinkansen. It is unclear whether the snake was venomous or how it ended up on the train, and there was no injury or panic among passengers.
Unpacking the chaotic by-election in a scandal-hit Tokyo district
People listen to a campaign speech in Tokyo's Koto Ward on Tuesday.
Benefits and risks: AUKUS looks to take gamble on Japan
U.S. President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and British leader Rishi Sunak deliver remarks on the AUKUS partnership, after a trilateral meeting, at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego in March last year.
Kyoto’s demon night parade lives to haunt another day
In a Kyoto long past, the "hyakki yagyō" (100 demon night parade) haunted a sleepy corner of Kyoto. Now, one enterprising monster enthusiast has won a small batttle to keep the march alive.
Japan’s best and brightest designers set to shine in Milan
Adal’s Look into Nature brand, on show at Salon del Mobile 2024, rethinks "igusa" (Japanese rush grass), traditionally used for tatami, as a sustainable material for furniture.
U.S. deploys midrange missile system in Indo-Pacific for first time
A U.S. Army Mid-Range Capability (MRC) Launcher arrives as part of the capability’s first deployment into theater on Northern Luzon, Philippines, April 8.
Unpacking the chaotic by-election in a scandal-hit Tokyo district
People listen to a campaign speech in Tokyo's Koto Ward on Tuesday.

Podcast

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Longform

Historically, kabuki was considered the entertainment of the merchant and peasant classes, a far cry from how it is regarded today.
For Japan's oldest kabuki theater, the show must go on
By Lance Henderstein

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