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	<title>The Japan Times &#187; Stephen Mansfield</title>
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	<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp</link>
	<description>News on Japan, Business News, Opinion, Sports, Entertainment and More</description>
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		<title>Stroll through 1,000 years of history in one Nikko garden</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/09/28/travel/stroll-through-1000-years-of-history-in-one-nikko-garden/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=stroll-through-1000-years-of-history-in-one-nikko-garden</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/09/28/travel/stroll-through-1000-years-of-history-in-one-nikko-garden/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 28 Sep 2013 14:10:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Stephen Mansfield</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Japan travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Japanese gardens]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nikko travel]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Even before seeing the great sights of Nikko, the visitor cannot fail to be impressed by the luxuriance of the area&#8217;s moss. Towering cryptomeria trees, allowing filtered light to penetrate ground cover, provide ideal incubation zones and levels of exposure and protection for the flourishing of moss in this part of Tochigi Prefecture&#8217;s damp summers [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/09/28/travel/stroll-through-1000-years-of-history-in-one-nikko-garden/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Dutch banker turned writer finds a home and inspiration in Japan</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/09/27/our-lives/dutch-banker-turned-writer-finds-a-home-and-inspiration-in-japan/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=dutch-banker-turned-writer-finds-a-home-and-inspiration-in-japan</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/09/27/our-lives/dutch-banker-turned-writer-finds-a-home-and-inspiration-in-japan/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 27 Sep 2013 13:45:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Stephen Mansfield</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Hans Brinckmann]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[writer]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[The first taxi driver really didn&#8217;t have a clue, going as far as to suggest that the address given him was a fabrication. The second driver, with the aid of a car navigation device, had more luck in finding the Fukuoka apartment of Dutch writer Hans Brinckmann. &#8220;You should have mentioned the name Sadaharu Oh,&#8221; [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/09/27/our-lives/dutch-banker-turned-writer-finds-a-home-and-inspiration-in-japan/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Toba and Kashikojima: pearls of tranquillity beside Ise Bay</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/08/10/travel/toba-and-kashikojima-pearls-of-tranquillity-beside-ise-bay/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=toba-and-kashikojima-pearls-of-tranquillity-beside-ise-bay</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/08/10/travel/toba-and-kashikojima-pearls-of-tranquillity-beside-ise-bay/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 10 Aug 2013 14:25:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Stephen Mansfield</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[ama-san]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cultured pearls]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ethel Mannin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kokichi Mikimoto]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/?post_type=life&#038;p=428545</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In places where land submerges itself beneath water, modes of transportation immediately change and, in some cases, endings become beginnings. The Kintetsu Line train to Toba in Mie Prefecture deposited me practically in front of Ise Bay, which is less known for its fish than for its artificial-pearl industry. The absence of sea-facing shrines suggested [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/08/10/travel/toba-and-kashikojima-pearls-of-tranquillity-beside-ise-bay/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Revealing the landscaped gems of North America</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2013/08/03/books/revealing-the-landscaped-gems-of-n-america/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=revealing-the-landscaped-gems-of-n-america</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2013/08/03/books/revealing-the-landscaped-gems-of-n-america/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 03 Aug 2013 14:02:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Stephen Mansfield</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Japanese gardens in North America]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/?post_type=culture&#038;p=422985</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[North America is not a land mass one immediately associates with gardens. China, Japan, Britain and France, perhaps, lay claim to the mind's strongest landscape associations.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2013/08/03/books/revealing-the-landscaped-gems-of-n-america/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Okinawan musician, club owner keeps folk traditions going strong</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/07/12/our-lives/okinawan-musician-club-owner-keeps-folk-traditions-going-strong/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=okinawan-musician-club-owner-keeps-folk-traditions-going-strong</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/07/12/our-lives/okinawan-musician-club-owner-keeps-folk-traditions-going-strong/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 12 Jul 2013 14:05:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Stephen Mansfield</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Misako Oshiro]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Okinawan folk singer]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/?post_type=community&#038;p=409348</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The back streets of Naha were dark, making it more difficult to find Shima-Umui, a music club run by Okinawan folk singer Misako Oshiro. The torpid air and smell of papaya rinds from a nearby bin spoke of the subtropics. A small sign, barely visible from the street, directed customers to the basement venue. It [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/07/12/our-lives/okinawan-musician-club-owner-keeps-folk-traditions-going-strong/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Small is beautiful in a Kanazawa garden</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/06/30/environment/small-is-beautiful-in-a-kanazawa-garden/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=small-is-beautiful-in-a-kanazawa-garden</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/06/30/environment/small-is-beautiful-in-a-kanazawa-garden/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 29 Jun 2013 15:04:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Stephen Mansfield</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Kobori Enshu]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nomura Denvei Nobusada]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oda Nobunaga]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Toshiie Maeda]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/?post_type=life&#038;p=397038</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It is always heartwarming to come across a historical preservation area where people actually live and go about their daily lives. Such is Nagamachi, one of several older districts of Kanazawa, the capital city of Ishikawa Prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast. Less visited than the tea-house districts of Nishi and Higashi Chaya, the [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/06/30/environment/small-is-beautiful-in-a-kanazawa-garden/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Reflections on two cities</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2013/06/23/books/reflections-on-two-cities/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=reflections-on-two-cities</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2013/06/23/books/reflections-on-two-cities/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 22 Jun 2013 15:02:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Stephen Mansfield</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Kyoto travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tokyo travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[travel guides]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/?post_type=culture&#038;p=389491</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Having written over 10 guidebooks myself, I speak from experience when I say that working on these projects is a mixed blessing. Writing a first-time guide to a little-known part of the world, with the freedom to innovate with format and content, can be a rewarding task, but where there is a rigid template, it [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2013/06/23/books/reflections-on-two-cities/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Old school potter goes native in the wilds of southeast Okinawa</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/06/22/our-lives/old-school-potter-goes-native-in-the-wilds-of-southeast-okinawa/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=old-school-potter-goes-native-in-the-wilds-of-southeast-okinawa</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/06/22/our-lives/old-school-potter-goes-native-in-the-wilds-of-southeast-okinawa/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 21 Jun 2013 15:03:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Stephen Mansfield</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Paul Lorimer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[potter]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[It took a devil of a time before finally managing to locate the home of potter Paul Lorimer, the building tucked into a rural lane on the fringes of the Sashiki community on Okinawa Island&#8217;s southeast coast. This is wild country, the fertile, well-watered flatlands coming to an abrupt halt against steep cliffs, limestone caves [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/06/22/our-lives/old-school-potter-goes-native-in-the-wilds-of-southeast-okinawa/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Ranpo&#8217;s novella of a desecrated grave continues to send shivers</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2013/05/19/books/ranpos-novella-of-a-desecrated-grave-continues-to-send-shivers/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=ranpos-novella-of-a-desecrated-grave-continues-to-send-shivers</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2013/05/19/books/ranpos-novella-of-a-desecrated-grave-continues-to-send-shivers/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 18 May 2013 15:10:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Stephen Mansfield</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Edogawa Ranpo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Japanese literature]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[literature in translation]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/?post_type=culture&#038;p=366147</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There has long been a taste in Japan for the bizarre and abnormal. The experimental Taisho Era was no exception. A desire for sensory experience existed even in cinema. During a funeral scene, for example, an attendant might light sticks of incense in the theater, drawing the audience into the ritual. Strange Tale of Panorama [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2013/05/19/books/ranpos-novella-of-a-desecrated-grave-continues-to-send-shivers/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Taking it easy on stroll-size Omi-jima</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/05/19/travel/taking-it-easy-on-stroll-size-omi-jima/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=taking-it-easy-on-stroll-size-omi-jima</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/05/19/travel/taking-it-easy-on-stroll-size-omi-jima/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 18 May 2013 15:06:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Stephen Mansfield</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Nagato]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Omi-jima Seaside Hotel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yamaguchi Prefecture]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/?post_type=life&#038;p=366456</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Mr. Hirohisa had made it clear when I called him from the nearest mainland city to the island — Nagato in western Honshu's Yamaguchi Prefecture — that there would be no supper provided that night; nor would he be able to pick me up from the station as expected. ]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/05/19/travel/taking-it-easy-on-stroll-size-omi-jima/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>A double dose of guidance offers more than usual information</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2013/04/28/books/a-double-dose-of-guidance-offers-more-than-usual-information/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=a-double-dose-of-guidance-offers-more-than-usual-information</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2013/04/28/books/a-double-dose-of-guidance-offers-more-than-usual-information/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 27 Apr 2013 15:11:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Stephen Mansfield</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Kyoto]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[machiya]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shinto]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shinto shrines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[travel guides]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/?post_type=culture&#038;p=354425</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[SHINTO SHRINES: A Guide to the Sacred Sites of Japan&#8217;s Ancient Religion, by Joseph Cali with John Dougill. University of Hawaii Press, 2012, 328 pp., $24.99 (paperback) KYOTO MACHIYA RESTAURANT GUIDE: Affordable Dining in Traditional Townhouse Spaces, by Judith Clancy. Stone Bridge Press, 2012, 261 pp., $16.95 (paperback) Irrespective of whatever faith you might hold, [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2013/04/28/books/a-double-dose-of-guidance-offers-more-than-usual-information/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Daytime in Kin Town&#8217;s nocturnal city</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/04/28/travel/daytime-in-kin-towns-nocturnal-city/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=daytime-in-kin-towns-nocturnal-city</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/04/28/travel/daytime-in-kin-towns-nocturnal-city/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 27 Apr 2013 15:11:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Stephen Mansfield</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[awamori]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kin Town]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USMC Camp Hansen]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/?post_type=life&#038;p=354422</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The three drunken U.S. Marines who stumbled into my motorbike headlamps were clearly combat-trained, as their agility in shifting from advanced inebriation to performing a nimble leap onto the sidewalk suggested seriously attuned reflexes.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/04/28/travel/daytime-in-kin-towns-nocturnal-city/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>An era of Tokyo art worth another look</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2013/04/14/books/an-era-of-tokyo-art-worth-another-look/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=an-era-of-tokyo-art-worth-another-look</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2013/04/14/books/an-era-of-tokyo-art-worth-another-look/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 13 Apr 2013 15:09:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Stephen Mansfield</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[art]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[avant-garde art]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hiroshi Katsuragawa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hiroshi Teshigahara]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yukio Mishima]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/?post_type=culture&#038;p=347574</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Like Britain, Japan is subject to the polarizing forces of the orthodox and radical, the two balancing the flabby middle.]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The &#8216;eternal modern&#8217; gardens of Matsuo-taisha</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/03/31/travel/the-eternal-modern-at-matsuo-taisha/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=the-eternal-modern-at-matsuo-taisha</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/03/31/travel/the-eternal-modern-at-matsuo-taisha/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 30 Mar 2013 15:12:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Stephen Mansfield</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Kyoto]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Matsuo-taisha Garden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mirei Shigemori]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/?post_type=life&#038;p=335236</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When new buildings were constructed in 1971 at Matsuo-taisha in Kyoto, one of Japan's oldest shrines, the largely self-taught landscape master Mirei Shigemori was commissioned to create a series of gardens on the site.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/03/31/travel/the-eternal-modern-at-matsuo-taisha/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Playing to the beat of the gods</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2013/03/17/books/playing-to-the-beat-of-the-gods/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=playing-to-the-beat-of-the-gods</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2013/03/17/books/playing-to-the-beat-of-the-gods/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 16 Mar 2013 15:21:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Stephen Mansfield</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Japanese music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Taiko]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/?post_type=culture&#038;p=316291</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[TAIKO BOOM: Japanese Drumming in Place and Motion, by Shawn Bender. University of California Press, 2012, 259?pp., $29.95 (paperback) No one can fail to be impressed by a live performance of Japanese drumming, the primal elements of stretched animal skin and wood striking a chord of ancient recognition. Shawn Bender firmly places the genesis of [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>If you do like to be beside the seaside, try Kamogawa</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/03/10/travel/if-you-do-like-to-be-beside-the-seaside-try-kamogawa/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=if-you-do-like-to-be-beside-the-seaside-try-kamogawa</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/03/10/travel/if-you-do-like-to-be-beside-the-seaside-try-kamogawa/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 09 Mar 2013 15:01:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Stephen Mansfield</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Chiba Prefecture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Japanese beaches]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Japanese temples]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kamogawa Sea World]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/?post_type=life&#038;p=257296</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Chiba is a large prefecture, something you notice while traveling from Tokyo to the southern seaside resort of Kamogawa. The journey takes a good two hours &#8212; and this by express train. Once past the city of Mobara, the JR lines enter a more truly rural landscape, marked by narrow bunds separating rice fields, forested [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/03/10/travel/if-you-do-like-to-be-beside-the-seaside-try-kamogawa/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Beyond a shadow of doubt in new Higashino mystery</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2013/02/24/books/beyond-a-shadow-of-doubt-in-new-higashino-mystery/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=beyond-a-shadow-of-doubt-in-new-higashino-mystery</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2013/02/24/books/beyond-a-shadow-of-doubt-in-new-higashino-mystery/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 23 Feb 2013 15:00:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Stephen Mansfield</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Keigo Higashino]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mystery]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/?post_type=culture&#038;p=171621</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[SALVATION OF A SAINT, by Keigo Higashino. Little Brown, 2013, 376 pp., £12.99 (hardcover) When the pregnant lover of a murder victim receives the sympathetic ministrations from the deceased&#8217;s wife at the funeral service, you know you are in no ordinary emotional terrain. This novel by Keigo Higashino follows the tried and tested format of [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2013/02/24/books/beyond-a-shadow-of-doubt-in-new-higashino-mystery/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Recommended reading</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2013/02/24/films/recommended-reading/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=recommended-reading</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2013/02/24/films/recommended-reading/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 23 Feb 2013 15:00:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Stephen Mansfield</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Donald Richie]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Japanese film]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/?post_type=life&#038;p=171635</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Donald Richie was a scrupulous writer who paid finite attention to language and content. The following are 10 outstanding choices — titles that should be on any discerning readers&#8217; bookshelf. &#8220;Tokyo: A View of the City&#8221; (1999) Here Richie manages to give the impression of someone who is encountering an utterly new city for the [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>An inclined view: The life and work of Donald Richie</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2013/02/24/films/an-inclined-view-the-life-and-work-of-donald-richie/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=an-inclined-view-the-life-and-work-of-donald-richie</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2013/02/24/films/an-inclined-view-the-life-and-work-of-donald-richie/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 23 Feb 2013 15:00:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Stephen Mansfield</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Donald Richie]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Japanese film]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/?post_type=life&#038;p=171632</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It was with a heavy heart that I heard from Donald Richie's longtime friend and editor Leza Lowitz that he had passed away on the morning of Tuesday, this week. He was 88. ]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2013/02/24/films/an-inclined-view-the-life-and-work-of-donald-richie/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
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		<title>Japan&#8217;s animal spirits</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2013/02/10/books/japans-animal-spirits/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=japans-animal-spirits</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2013/02/10/books/japans-animal-spirits/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 09 Feb 2013 15:04:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Stephen Mansfield</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[animals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[religion]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2013/02/09/%culture_category%/japans-animal-spirits/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[BONES OF CONTENTION: Animals and Religion in Contemporary Japan, by Barbara R. Ambros. University of Hawaii Press, 2012, 255 pp., $29 (paperback) Bumping into a Japanese acquaintance on the street recently, I inquired where he was going on his day off dressed in a formal business suit. A worker at a major pharmaceutical company, he [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2013/02/10/books/japans-animal-spirits/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Sapporo&#8217;s wonders of winter</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/01/13/travel/sapporos-wonders-of-winter/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=sapporos-wonders-of-winter</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/01/13/travel/sapporos-wonders-of-winter/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 13 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Stephen Mansfield</dc:creator>
		
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/01/13/%life_category%/sapporos-wonders-of-winter/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It seemed to me on a recent winter&#8217;s visit to Sapporo that everyone was a performer: from the flamboyant gestures and bullhorn announcements of the tour guides, to the showy dismembering of crabs by vendors, to the owners of the cubbyhole restaurants in Ramen Yokocho, the alley of mostly one-man operations to which we repaired [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/01/13/travel/sapporos-wonders-of-winter/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Landscaping the doors of perception in Japan</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2012/12/30/books/landscaping-the-doors-of-perception-in-japan/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=landscaping-the-doors-of-perception-in-japan</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2012/12/30/books/landscaping-the-doors-of-perception-in-japan/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 30 Dec 2012 00:01:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Stephen Mansfield</dc:creator>
		
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2012/12/30/%culture_category%/landscaping-the-doors-of-perception-in-japan/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ZEN GARDENS: The Complete Works of Shunmyo Masuno, Japan&#8217;s Leading Garden Designer, by Mira Locher. Tuttle Publishing, 2012, 224 pp., &#36;39.95 (hardcover) Although the term zen-tei (Zen garden) exists in Japanese, its usage is a largely Western one, first coined by the American garden scholar Lorraine Kuck in the 1930s. In the work of designer [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2012/12/30/books/landscaping-the-doors-of-perception-in-japan/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Windmills on the poetic mind</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2012/11/04/books/windmills-on-the-poetic-mind/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=windmills-on-the-poetic-mind</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2012/11/04/books/windmills-on-the-poetic-mind/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 04 Nov 2012 00:01:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Stephen Mansfield</dc:creator>
		
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2012/11/04/%culture_category%/windmills-on-the-poetic-mind/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[FAREWELL TO NUCLEAR, WELCOME TO RENEWABLE ENERGY: A Collection of Poems by 218 Poets. Coal Sack Publishing, 2012, 321 pp., &#165;3,150 Japan in many ways is the land of myth, of cozy self-assurances, national delusions and unfounded assertions. Incredulous claims, such as racial homogeneity and the absence of a class system, are commonplace. In a [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2012/11/04/books/windmills-on-the-poetic-mind/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Hagi: restful cradle of a revolution</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/10/21/travel/hagi-restful-cradle-of-a-revolution/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=hagi-restful-cradle-of-a-revolution</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/10/21/travel/hagi-restful-cradle-of-a-revolution/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 21 Oct 2012 00:01:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Stephen Mansfield</dc:creator>
		
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/10/21/%life_category%/hagi-restful-cradle-of-a-revolution/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I had just been re-reading Paul Theroux&#8217;s African travelogue, &#8220;Dark Star Safari,&#8221; and was up to a part where he explains that he never books rooms on his journeys, just turns up and leaves the rest to chance. I thought I would test the strategy by not bothering to reserve a bed for my stay [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/10/21/travel/hagi-restful-cradle-of-a-revolution/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Spirits linger on storied Kudaka Isle</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/10/14/travel/spirits-linger-on-storied-kudaka-isle/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=spirits-linger-on-storied-kudaka-isle</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/10/14/travel/spirits-linger-on-storied-kudaka-isle/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 14 Oct 2012 00:00:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Stephen Mansfield</dc:creator>
		
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/10/14/%life_category%/spirits-linger-on-storied-kudaka-isle/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The 25-minute hop from Azama Port to Kudaka Island provides just enough time to glimpse back at Okinawa&#8217;s receding coast before turning to gaze at the shoreline looming &#8212; not that I expected a great deal from an island so easily and frequently linked by ferries to the much-developed mainland. Happily, Kudaka &#8212; Kudaka-jima in [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/10/14/travel/spirits-linger-on-storied-kudaka-isle/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Exploring the garden of absolute infinities</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2012/10/07/books/exploring-the-garden-of-absolute-infinities/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=exploring-the-garden-of-absolute-infinities</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2012/10/07/books/exploring-the-garden-of-absolute-infinities/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 07 Oct 2012 00:01:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Stephen Mansfield</dc:creator>
		
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2012/10/07/%culture_category%/exploring-the-garden-of-absolute-infinities/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Tenryu-Ji: Life and Spirit of a Kyoto Garden, by Norris Brock Johnson. Stone Bridge Press, 2012, 368 pp., &#36;39.95 (hardcover) If the Western garden is bulging with organic matter, the Japanese one is animate with deities, allegory, symbolism and mythology, hinting at a greater depth, a place of divine and metaphoric convergence. Like all great [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2012/10/07/books/exploring-the-garden-of-absolute-infinities/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Time seems to slow as Joei-ji Garden comes alive</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/09/30/environment/time-seems-to-slow-as-joei-ji-garden-comes-alive/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=time-seems-to-slow-as-joei-ji-garden-comes-alive</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/09/30/environment/time-seems-to-slow-as-joei-ji-garden-comes-alive/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 30 Sep 2012 00:00:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Stephen Mansfield</dc:creator>
		
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/09/30/%life_category%/time-seems-to-slow-as-joei-ji-garden-comes-alive/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;The whole countryside was full of snakes sunning themselves along the roads and swimming in the ditches and newly flooded rice-fields. &#8230; Out in Sesshu&#8217;s old garden behind the temple, the pond was starred with tiny twinkling water-lilies.&#8221; Such was, in part, how Glenn W. Shaw described the rural outskirts of Yamaguchi City in his [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Another strange tale from east of the river</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2012/08/26/books/another-strange-tale-from-east-of-the-river/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=another-strange-tale-from-east-of-the-river</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2012/08/26/books/another-strange-tale-from-east-of-the-river/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 26 Aug 2012 00:00:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Stephen Mansfield</dc:creator>
		
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2012/08/26/%culture_category%/another-strange-tale-from-east-of-the-river/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[River Road: a Novel of Six Stories, by Hillel Wright. Printed Matter Press, 2012, 146 pp., &#36;15.00 (hardcover) Writer Hillel Wright&#8217;s seedbed of ideas, fertilized in the work of American giants like Ken Kesey, Tom Wolfe and William Burroughs, also owes something to the English sci-fi writer Michael Moorcock. On the fringes of the main [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2012/08/26/books/another-strange-tale-from-east-of-the-river/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>For the sake of survival: concealing the cross</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2012/08/12/books/for-the-sake-of-survival-concealing-the-cross/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=for-the-sake-of-survival-concealing-the-cross</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2012/08/12/books/for-the-sake-of-survival-concealing-the-cross/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 12 Aug 2012 00:00:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Stephen Mansfield</dc:creator>
		
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2012/08/12/%culture_category%/for-the-sake-of-survival-concealing-the-cross/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In Search of Japan&#8217;s Hidden Christians: A Story of Suppression, Secrecy and Survival, by John Dougill. Tuttle Publishing, 2012, 272 pp., &#36;22.95 (hardcover) When you travel with a mission, a theme in mind, encounters unfold, stories are forthcoming, history uncoils. John Dougill begins his own journey into the history of Japan&#8217;s hidden Christians in Tanegashima, [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2012/08/12/books/for-the-sake-of-survival-concealing-the-cross/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>A heavenly retreat amid the bustle of Kyoto</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/07/29/environment/a-heavenly-retreat-amid-the-bustle-of-kyoto/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=a-heavenly-retreat-amid-the-bustle-of-kyoto</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/07/29/environment/a-heavenly-retreat-amid-the-bustle-of-kyoto/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 29 Jul 2012 00:00:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Stephen Mansfield</dc:creator>
		
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/07/29/%life_category%/a-heavenly-retreat-amid-the-bustle-of-kyoto/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[On my first visit to the ancient pond garden of Kajuji, it took me a devil of a time just to locate it. Alighting at Ono, a subway stop on Kyoto&#8217;s Tozai line, there was nothing to suggest the area might be of interest to visitors, that it could have any serious historical or cultural [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
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