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	<title>The Japan Times &#187; BACKSTREET STORIES</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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		<item>
		<title>Solitude is where you find it</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/09/28/travel/solitude-is-where-you-find-it/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=solitude-is-where-you-find-it</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/09/28/travel/solitude-is-where-you-find-it/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 28 Sep 2013 14:12:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kit Nagamura</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Japan travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tokyo travel]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Under cartoon-blue skies washed by early-autumn typhoons, I stand at Sendaizaka-ue (summit of Sendaizaka Slope) in Tokyo&#8217;s Minato Ward. Sendaizaka was named for daimyo lords from Edo Period (1603-1867) Sendai, now in Miyagi Prefecture, who maintained a yashiki (suburban home) on the slope that today hosts the newly rebuilt Embassy of South Korea. At the [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Log-jamming in Shin Kiba</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/07/27/travel/log-jamming-in-shin-kiba/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=log-jamming-in-shin-kiba</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/07/27/travel/log-jamming-in-shin-kiba/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 27 Jul 2013 14:15:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kit Nagamura</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[agaHa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Boom Boom Satellites]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hitomi Motoki]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kabukiza]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Studio Coast]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Last month, readers of this column found me frolicking in the sawdust and lumberyards of Shin Kiba &#8212; meaning &#8220;New Wood Place&#8221; &#8212; which arose on reclaimed land in Tokyo Bay in the 1970s when the city&#8217;s timber businesses were moved there from their traditional home in nearby Kiba to make way for rapid urbanization. [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Blazing a woodland trail through Shin Kiba</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/06/30/travel/blazing-a-woodland-trail-through-shin-kiba/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=blazing-a-woodland-trail-through-shin-kiba</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/06/30/travel/blazing-a-woodland-trail-through-shin-kiba/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 29 Jun 2013 15:13:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kit Nagamura</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Edo fire]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[timber]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/?post_type=life&#038;p=397029</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Even if you can&#8217;t read the kanji for Shin Kiba, you&#8217;ll sniff out its meaning of &#8220;new wood place&#8221; the moment you arrive. The Yurakucho subway line&#8217;s terminus there in eastern Tokyo smells like a cedar closet. Inside the station, a display of Japanese carpentry — including beams featuring dovetail, mitered and tenon joints — [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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		<title>Wisteria wanderings in Kameido</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/05/26/travel/wisteria-wanderings-in-kameido/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=wisteria-wanderings-in-kameido</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/05/26/travel/wisteria-wanderings-in-kameido/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 25 May 2013 15:04:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kit Nagamura</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[daikon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kannon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Turtleshell]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/?post_type=life&#038;p=370838</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Each year, I tell myself I have to make time to enjoy the famed trellises of wisteria blossoms at Kameido Tenjin in Tokyo&#8217;s eastern Koto Ward. Then, I blow it. This year, I enlist my mother-in-law, who&#8217;s savvy about such things, to get the timing just right. &#8220;It&#8217;ll be really crowded,&#8221; she warns. Sure enough, [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/05/26/travel/wisteria-wanderings-in-kameido/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Suites, treats and backstreets of the Imperial Hotel</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/03/31/travel/suites-treats-and-backstreets-of-the-imperial-hotel/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=suites-treats-and-backstreets-of-the-imperial-hotel</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/03/31/travel/suites-treats-and-backstreets-of-the-imperial-hotel/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 30 Mar 2013 15:02:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kit Nagamura</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Frank Lloyd Wright]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Imperial Hotel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tokyo]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[The Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, or "Teikoku Hotel," has occupied the same privileged location, across from Hibiya Park and minutes from the Imperial Palace, for over a century. ]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/03/31/travel/suites-treats-and-backstreets-of-the-imperial-hotel/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
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		<title>Spring training in Mukojima</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/02/24/travel/spring-training-in-mukojima/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=spring-training-in-mukojima</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/02/24/travel/spring-training-in-mukojima/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 23 Feb 2013 15:00:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kit Nagamura</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Hyakkaen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kikuu Sahara]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mukojima]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shigemoto Sahara]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/?post_type=life&#038;p=171610</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s hard to think of February as springlike, what with snowfalls, freezing winds and a dusting of dead leaves everywhere. But I know from experience that the intrepid Prunus mume, or plum tree, blooms this month, and a trek to see some blossoms seems de rigueur. From the Tobu Isesaki Line, I get off at [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/02/24/travel/spring-training-in-mukojima/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Mining gems in Okachimachi</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/01/26/travel/mining-gems-in-okachimachi/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=mining-gems-in-okachimachi</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/01/26/travel/mining-gems-in-okachimachi/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 26 Jan 2013 09:59:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kit Nagamura</dc:creator>
		
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/?post_type=life&#038;p=100900</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[On early maps of Edo, as Tokyo was known prior to 1868, Okachimachi is rendered as a town (machi) densely packed with the tiny dwellings of okachi — low-ranked, poorly paid samurai infantry.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/01/26/travel/mining-gems-in-okachimachi/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The fall fires of Nishigahara</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/11/25/environment/the-fall-fires-of-nishigahara/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=the-fall-fires-of-nishigahara</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/11/25/environment/the-fall-fires-of-nishigahara/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 25 Nov 2012 00:00:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator></dc:creator>
		
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/11/25/%life_category%/the-fall-fires-of-nishigahara/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Burning to see fall colors, I head to Tokyo&#8217;s northern Kita Ward, where Kyu Furukawa Teien, the former estate of copper magnate Ichibei Furukawa, features not only a traditional Japanese garden but also Western-style flowerbeds of autumn-blooming roses. At this time of the season, it should be ablaze. Emerging from the Nanboku Line&#8217;s Nishigahara Station, [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/11/25/environment/the-fall-fires-of-nishigahara/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Seeking out what&#8217;s in store for Kuramae</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/10/28/environment/seeking-out-whats-in-store-for-kuramae/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=seeking-out-whats-in-store-for-kuramae</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/10/28/environment/seeking-out-whats-in-store-for-kuramae/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 28 Oct 2012 00:00:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kit Nagamura</dc:creator>
		
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/10/28/%life_category%/seeking-out-whats-in-store-for-kuramae/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Back when Tokyo was Edo and Tokugawa shoguns ruled the land (1603-1867), the burgeoning city&#8217;s most vital staple, rice, was protected in kura (storage houses) along the right bank of the Sumida River. Then, by the simple expedient of adding mae (in front of) to &#8220;kura,&#8221; the area facing the white-washed, thick-walled granaries came to [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/10/28/environment/seeking-out-whats-in-store-for-kuramae/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Casting around for the past on Fish-basket Slope</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/09/30/environment/casting-around-for-the-past-on-fish-basket-slope/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=casting-around-for-the-past-on-fish-basket-slope</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/09/30/environment/casting-around-for-the-past-on-fish-basket-slope/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 30 Sep 2012 00:00:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kit Nagamura</dc:creator>
		
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		<description><![CDATA[Hoping to find traces of the fishing village that was Edo (present-day Tokyo) before the first Tokugawa Shogun chose the site for his new political capital in the early 1600s, I head to Gyoranzaka (Fish-basket Slope) in the city&#8217;s central Mita district. I don&#8217;t expect the piscine pizzazz of Tsukiji fish market, but on exiting [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/09/30/environment/casting-around-for-the-past-on-fish-basket-slope/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>All the fun of the fair &#8212; and that&#8217;s just the temples</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/08/26/environment/all-the-fun-of-the-fair-and-thats-just-the-temples/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=all-the-fun-of-the-fair-and-thats-just-the-temples</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/08/26/environment/all-the-fun-of-the-fair-and-thats-just-the-temples/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 26 Aug 2012 00:00:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kit Nagamura</dc:creator>
		
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/08/26/%life_category%/all-the-fun-of-the-fair-and-thats-just-the-temples/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Inspired by this summer&#8217;s Olympic quest for gold medals, I opt to go for the gold myself. Toshimaen amusement park in Tokyo&#8217;s northwestern Nerima Ward is home to Carousel El Dorado, one of the world&#8217;s oldest hand-carved wooden merry-go-rounds. Named for an imaginary city of gold sought by 16th-century Spanish conquistadors around the Amazon basin, [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/08/26/environment/all-the-fun-of-the-fair-and-thats-just-the-temples/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Over the top ambitions in Mukogaoka</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/06/24/environment/over-the-top-ambitions-in-mukogaoka/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=over-the-top-ambitions-in-mukogaoka</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/06/24/environment/over-the-top-ambitions-in-mukogaoka/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 24 Jun 2012 00:00:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kit Nagamura</dc:creator>
		
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/06/24/%life_category%/over-the-top-ambitions-in-mukogaoka/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The neighborhood of Mukogaoka &#8212; literally, &#8220;Yonder Hill&#8221; &#8212; huddles under clouds clustered like violet hydrangea blossoms the morning I arrive to explore. From Hon-Komagome Station on the Nanboku subway line, I head east with a cautious eye skyward through a rust belt of shuttered stores, by a sundries stand of lightly grimed goods and [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/06/24/environment/over-the-top-ambitions-in-mukogaoka/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Rolling around Sendagi</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/05/27/environment/rolling-around-sendagi/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=rolling-around-sendagi</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/05/27/environment/rolling-around-sendagi/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 27 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kit Nagamura</dc:creator>
		
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/05/27/%life_category%/rolling-around-sendagi/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Yanesen district of central Tokyo, whose name features bits of the names of the three neighborhoods it comprises (Yanaka, Nezu and Sendagi), charms visitors with its temple-studded streets, craft shops and prewar architecture. Oddly, though, maps in either Japanese or English rarely guide visitors west of the Chiyoda subway line&#8217;s Sendagi Station, which is [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Foxtrotting around Asukayama</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/04/29/environment/foxtrotting-around-asukayama/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=foxtrotting-around-asukayama</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/04/29/environment/foxtrotting-around-asukayama/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 29 Apr 2012 00:01:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kit Nagamura</dc:creator>
		
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/04/29/%life_category%/foxtrotting-around-asukayama/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Rising amid flat farmland, Asukayama had long been an untended haunt of foxes and their small prey when, in 1720, Yoshimune Tokugawa, the eighth shogun to rule in Edo (present-day Tokyo), had the hilly upland planted with 1,200 cherry trees, 100 maples and 100 pines, to create a public park for flower-viewing. It still draws [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/04/29/environment/foxtrotting-around-asukayama/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Plum nuts about Ikegami</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/03/25/environment/plum-nuts-about-ikegami/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=plum-nuts-about-ikegami</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/03/25/environment/plum-nuts-about-ikegami/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 25 Mar 2012 00:00:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kit Nagamura</dc:creator>
		
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/03/25/%life_category%/plum-nuts-about-ikegami/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Whether you call the Prunus mume a plum or an apricot (it is related to both), the flowers are plum elegant on their leafless, shiny branches and help cheer us through winter&#8217;s finale. To enjoy them to the full, I seek out Ikegami Baien Garden in southern Tokyo&#8217;s Ota Ward, having hopped the Tokyu Ikegami [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Venturing into the zone on Showajima</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/02/26/environment/venturing-into-the-zone-on-showajima/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=venturing-into-the-zone-on-showajima</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/02/26/environment/venturing-into-the-zone-on-showajima/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 26 Feb 2012 00:00:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kit Nagamura</dc:creator>
		
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		<description><![CDATA[In his &#8220;Meditation XVII,&#8221; the English Metaphysical poet John Donne wrote in 1623 that &#8220;no man is an island, entire of itself.&#8221; Well, yes &#8212; but some islands are entirely more manly than others. Take Showajima (Showa Island) in Tokyo&#8217;s Ota Ward, for example. Zoned exclusively for heavy industry, it has no shops, dwellings, schools [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Blazing trails in Chiyoda&#8217;s gardens</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2011/11/27/environment/blazing-trails-in-chiyodas-gardens/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=blazing-trails-in-chiyodas-gardens</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2011/11/27/environment/blazing-trails-in-chiyodas-gardens/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 27 Nov 2011 00:00:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kit Nagamura</dc:creator>
		
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		<description><![CDATA[With November drawing to a close, I head to the East Garden of the Imperial Palace and the adjacent Kitanomaru Koen park, hoping for fall colors and a mental breather before the season goes nutcrackers with parties and shopping. Despite being at the city&#8217;s epicenter, both these Chiyoda Ward locales remain as mysterious as backstreets [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Yea! As I walk through the valley of Todoroki . . .</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2011/10/30/environment/yea-as-i-walk-through-the-valley-of-todoroki/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=yea-as-i-walk-through-the-valley-of-todoroki</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2011/10/30/environment/yea-as-i-walk-through-the-valley-of-todoroki/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 30 Oct 2011 00:01:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kit Nagamura</dc:creator>
		
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		<description><![CDATA[Todoroki Valley Park, a protected green swath along Tokyo&#8217;s only ravine, strikes me as an interesting and possibly quite sheltered destination on a brisk and breezy fall day. An Oimachi Line local train lets me off at Todoroki in southwestern Setagaya Ward, a no-frills station level with the tracks and between bamboo crossing gates. As [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Discoveries to delight on the very doorstep of The Japan Times</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2011/09/25/environment/discoveries-to-delight-on-the-very-doorstep-of-the-japan-times/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=discoveries-to-delight-on-the-very-doorstep-of-the-japan-times</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2011/09/25/environment/discoveries-to-delight-on-the-very-doorstep-of-the-japan-times/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 25 Sep 2011 00:00:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kit Nagamura</dc:creator>
		
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		<description><![CDATA[There&#8217;s an expression in Japanese &#8212; Todai moto kurashi (The base of the lighthouse is dark) &#8212; which occurs to me as I leave the headquarters of The Japan Times in Shibaura. Though I regularly dock here, I realize I&#8217;m in the dark about the surrounding area, Minato Ward&#8217;s manmade flatlands in Tokyo&#8217;s southeast. With [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2011/09/25/environment/discoveries-to-delight-on-the-very-doorstep-of-the-japan-times/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Building excitement in Shirokanedai</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2011/08/28/environment/building-excitement-in-shirokanedai/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=building-excitement-in-shirokanedai</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2011/08/28/environment/building-excitement-in-shirokanedai/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 28 Aug 2011 00:01:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kit Nagamura</dc:creator>
		
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		<description><![CDATA[Exiting the Nanboku Line at Shirokanedai Station in west-central Tokyo, my sandaled feet immediately start to sizzle. So instead of walking to Meguro&#8217;s Institute of Nature Study as planned, I bolt down the first shaded slope I find. A chic aluminum-and-glass building with a cool and cavernous interior catches my eye. Not sure whether design [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Shooting galleries in Nihonbashi</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2011/07/31/travel/shooting-galleries-in-nihonbashi/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=shooting-galleries-in-nihonbashi</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2011/07/31/travel/shooting-galleries-in-nihonbashi/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 31 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kit Nagamura</dc:creator>
		
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		<description><![CDATA[Summertime, and the living&#8217;s less easy than queasy as Tokyo&#8217;s temperatures and humidity soar. It&#8217;s like that as I exit the Hibiya Line&#8217;s Kodenmacho Station, in Chuo Ward, headed for Jisshi Koen, the area&#8217;s sole park. My plan is to walk northeast, to the Bakuro-yokoyama district, where I&#8217;ve heard that building vacancies and low rents [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2011/07/31/travel/shooting-galleries-in-nihonbashi/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Morishita: treats in place of the trees</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2011/06/26/environment/morishita-treats-in-place-of-the-trees/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=morishita-treats-in-place-of-the-trees</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2011/06/26/environment/morishita-treats-in-place-of-the-trees/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 26 Jun 2011 00:00:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kit Nagamura</dc:creator>
		
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		<description><![CDATA[Sometimes it&#8217;s hard to see the forest for the trees. According to Akinori Saito, a historian in Tokyo&#8217;s Koto Ward Office, the area known as Morishita (lit. &#8220;forest below&#8221;) was most likely named for woods that surrounded the yashiki (residence) of a feudal lord named Saemon Sakai (1564-1619), a retainer of the first Tokugawa shogun, [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Casting around in Tsukudajima</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2011/05/29/travel/casting-around-in-tsukudajima/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=casting-around-in-tsukudajima</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2011/05/29/travel/casting-around-in-tsukudajima/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 29 May 2011 00:00:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kit Nagamura</dc:creator>
		
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		<description><![CDATA[From Tsukishima Station on Tokyo&#8217;s Oedo subway line, I launch myself northward toward Tsukudajima. A mere sandbar in the early days of the Edo Period (1603-1868), Tsukudajima long ago began to be expanded with boulders and landfill on the way to creating the area we now know. Named after Tsukudamura, an Osaka area from which [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Gaming Moto Azabu</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2011/04/24/environment/gaming-moto-azabu/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=gaming-moto-azabu</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2011/04/24/environment/gaming-moto-azabu/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2011 00:00:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kit Nagamura</dc:creator>
		
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		<description><![CDATA[Rather than dwell on the dark side of life at this time, I decide to get my game on by heading to a store just off Azabu-Juban&#8217;s main shopping street in central Tokyo&#8217;s Minato Ward. Max Game, at the foot of Kurayamizaka (Dark Slope), is surrounded by kids of all ages sitting at tables, strategizing [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2011/04/24/environment/gaming-moto-azabu/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Notes from the underground</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2011/02/27/environment/notes-from-the-underground/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=notes-from-the-underground</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2011/02/27/environment/notes-from-the-underground/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 27 Feb 2011 00:02:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kit Nagamura</dc:creator>
		
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		<description><![CDATA[When my yoga class was canceled recently, I decided to explore Yoga instead. Yoga, in southwestern Tokyo&#8217;s Setagaya Ward, was once a post stop on the old Oyama-Kaido pilgrims&#8217; road between the shoguns&#8217; capital of Edo (now Tokyo) and temples in the Mount Oyama area of present-day Kanagawa Prefecture. Today, it&#8217;s a stop on the [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2011/02/27/environment/notes-from-the-underground/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
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		<title>Aoyama warmth beats the cold</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2011/01/30/environment/aoyama-warmth-beats-the-cold/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=aoyama-warmth-beats-the-cold</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2011/01/30/environment/aoyama-warmth-beats-the-cold/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 30 Jan 2011 00:02:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kit Nagamura</dc:creator>
		
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		<description><![CDATA[Kotto-dori (Antiques Avenue), a pin-straight link between Aoyama and Roppongi avenues in Tokyo&#8217;s Minato Ward, was once a melange of pricey boutiques and high-end antique stores. Word has it that the street is going through changes, so I set off to see what&#8217;s up. Bracing against icy winter winds, I first head to the southern [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The narrow roads of Senju</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2011/01/09/environment/the-narrow-roads-of-senju/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=the-narrow-roads-of-senju</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2011/01/09/environment/the-narrow-roads-of-senju/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 09 Jan 2011 00:02:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kit Nagamura</dc:creator>
		
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		<description><![CDATA[In the frantic yearend season known as shiwasu (lit. &#8220;teachers running&#8221;), when even dignified people grow harried, a friend invited me to play hooky from the madness and take a ramble together around her Tokyo neighborhood. Since the gift of time together is a great one, I hopped the next train to Senju in Adachi [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Eats, shoots and leaves in Hakusan</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2010/11/28/travel/eats-shoots-and-leaves-in-hakusan/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=eats-shoots-and-leaves-in-hakusan</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2010/11/28/travel/eats-shoots-and-leaves-in-hakusan/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 28 Nov 2010 00:00:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kit Nagamura</dc:creator>
		
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		<description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s hunting season in Tokyo. I kit up and trek out to the Hakusan area of Bunkyo Ward, hoping to shoot (with camera) the wild shades of autumn. Of all the bright leaves I plan to bag, origami papers are last on my mind. However, emerging from Exit A1 of the Tozai-Mita subway line&#8217;s Hakusan [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Crafts meet art in Nihonbashi</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2010/10/31/travel/crafts-meet-art-in-nihonbashi/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=crafts-meet-art-in-nihonbashi</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2010/10/31/travel/crafts-meet-art-in-nihonbashi/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 31 Oct 2010 00:00:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kit Nagamura</dc:creator>
		
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		<description><![CDATA[Perhaps all writers love paper &#8212; it&#8217;s in our fiber, so to speak &#8212; and when it comes to paper, Japanese washi rules. So, off I head to Ozu Washi store in central Tokyo&#8217;s Chuo Ward to take a class in how to make it. At JR Sobu Line&#8217;s Shin-Nihonbashi Station, I take the East [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2010/10/31/travel/crafts-meet-art-in-nihonbashi/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Moving pictures of Shibamata</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2010/09/26/travel/moving-pictures-of-shibamata/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=moving-pictures-of-shibamata</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2010/09/26/travel/moving-pictures-of-shibamata/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 26 Sep 2010 00:00:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kit Nagamura</dc:creator>
		
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		<description><![CDATA[I change trains three times before boarding one of Tokyo&#8217;s shortest lines, the 2.5-km Keisei Kanamachi. I&#8217;m bound for Shibamata, which isn&#8217;t precisely a backstreet, but it&#8217;s tucked so far from most major thoroughfares in the back-beyond of Katsushika Ward that I imagine it will fit the bill. Once I leave the station&#8217;s awning, the [...]]]></description>
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