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Michael Kleindl
For Michael Kleindl's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / TELLING LIVES
Feb 14, 2014
Storied family-run toy shop 'sells dreams' to Tokyo tourists
"Continuing a small toy shop for five generations is a kind of miracle,u201d says Masaki Terao, 58, proprietor and purse-string holder at Toys Terao, which his family has been running on Nakamise-dori in front of Asakusa's Sensoji Temple for nearly 130 years.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Sep 20, 2013
Expat ambient musician and artist prefers not knowing what he's doing
Sitting in his home recording studio in Tokyo, surrounded by dozens of instruments that he has collected over the years, Morgan Fisher is in the center of his universe.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Aug 16, 2013
Akiko Kuraoka's documentaries find fresh relevancy amid Fukushima crisis
For Akiko Kuraoka, filmmaker, lecturer and freelance French translator, films have always been her passion. Over a span of nearly four decades, Kuraoka has made three documentaries and is now deep into her fourth. Her films have dealt with chromium pollution, nuclear radiation, war, and the displacement and suffering of people living intimately with those dangers.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
May 4, 2013
Master craftsman carries on sashimono tradition
On the floor of an eight-tatami workshop sits master craftsman Yoshio Inoue in a spot he has occupied for decades. His atedai, the long, low slab of wood that serves as a workbench, is in front of him, and within easy reach are scores of tools — chisels, planes, hammers, saws, clamps and other implements of the Edo sashimono.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 30, 2013
A son of Lyon brings his native conviviality to the heart of Tokyo
When Lyon-born French chef Christophe Paucod arrived in Japan in 1998, he came on a one-way ticket with no job prospects and no idea of what he would do.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Feb 23, 2013
Akiko Kuno's strength as a woman stretches back through generations
Akiko Kuno, 72, believes her destiny is tied with a red string to the United States. So she says as she speaks of her and her family's life at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo, where as a child she first tasted Coca-Cola and a hamburger.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 8, 2013
Horsemeat fan vs. the neigh-sayers
A few dabs of equine DNA found in so-called "beefburgers" caused quite a kerfuffle last month, shocking unsuspecting customers of the British supermarket chain Tesco (and then other stores) into outrage.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Dec 8, 2012
In era of skyscrapers, group lobbies to keep Tokyo's traditional buildings
Sitting at a wooden table in the glass-enclosed sun room of the miraculously preserved 95-year-old Yasuda House, Sumiko Enbutsu, a very youthful 78, radiates enthusiasm.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Dec 8, 2012
In era of skyscrapers, group lobbies to keep Tokyo's traditional buildings
Sitting at a wooden table in the glass-enclosed sun room of the miraculously preserved 95-year-old Yasuda House, Sumiko Enbutsu, a very youthful 78, radiates enthusiasm.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Sep 29, 2012
Canadian musician pens piece for 'Tsunami violin' performances
Four months ago, Miguel Sosa, a composer, concert pianist, conductor and teacher was asked by Taizo Oba, organizer of the Bond Made of 1,000 Tones project, to write an original composition for one of the two "tsunami-debris" violins.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jul 7, 2012
In wake of 3/11 disasters, successful Italian helps those who helped him
After 21 years in Japan and for most of that time working 15 hours a day, Calabrian restaurateur Elio Ermanno Orsara has achieved a certain measure of success.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
May 19, 2012
Grateful architect has grand designs in store for disaster-prone Japan
The first thought that tumbled through architect Albert Abut's head as he sat in his car watching an intersection in Shibuya undulate last year during the Great East Japan Earthquake was "Is my family safe?" A quick call to his wife confirmed she and their 6-year-old daughter were fine.

Longform

A statue of "Dragon Ball" character Goku stands outside the offices of Bandai Namco in Tokyo. The figure is now as recognizable as such characters as Mickey Mouse and Spider-Man.
Akira Toriyama's gift to the world