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David Chester
For David Chester's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
COMMUNITY
Feb 3, 2000
Tarento Shepherd bids farewell after two decades in show biz
When they walk into a room, heads turn, tongues wag, fingers point. They've got something no one can define but everyone recognizes. If anybody's got it, it's gaikokujin tarento Joan Shepherd.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 26, 2000
The menu's a long fellow at Coffee House Poem
As "the new millennium" approached, there were endless arguments over whether we actually had cause to celebrate. The "Is it 2000 or 2001?" debate continues, but certainly no one would dispute that the number 100 represents a long life, a perfect score or the number of coffees available on the menu at Coffee House Poem.
LIFE / Food & Drink / KISSA KULTUR
Dec 22, 1999
Seattle's other coffee house goes for Tokyo market share
Can we talk?
LIFE / Food & Drink / KISSA KULTUR
Nov 24, 1999
When the going gets tough, the tough drink coffee
When I was a child, my mother didn't hesitate to drag me along on her shopping sprees, and if she managed to find some bargains, she would celebrate (and reward my good behavior) by treating me to something sweet at the department store coffee shop.
COMMUNITY
Nov 13, 1999
Goodwill ambassador delivers hope
Akasaka Prince Hotel's Crystal Palace Room was filled with billowing arcs and floating columns of peach, rose and violet balloons Nov. 9 to help celebrate the opening of the stage play "Friendship (Yujo)" and the release of "The Paradise of Angels (Tenshi no Paradaisu)," a five-volume set of children's books, published by the LDH (Life, Dreams, Hope) Club, one of the sponsors of "Friendship."
LIFE / Food & Drink / KISSA KULTUR
Oct 27, 1999
The benefits of Aromas therapy
Aromas, with its Picasso-like red-and-gold logo, at first appears to be another in a long line of hip, new coffee bars from America, poised to take its place among other heavyweight "contenders" in the ongoing race to unseat Starbucks.
LIFE / Food & Drink / KISSA KULTUR
Sep 22, 1999
Green-tea cappuccino under the Ark Hills leaves
Looking for a stylish spot to meet a client? Blossoming romance needs to be nurtured over a cappuccino? Maybe, like most of us, you just need a respite from the mad rush of the city, but don't have the time (or cash) to catch the next train out of town.
LIFE / Food & Drink / KISSA KULTUR
Jun 23, 1999
A taste of real New York cool in Nishi-Shinjuku
Anyone who has survived a brutal Tokyo summer can testify that roaming the city's narrow lanes in search of a cool refreshment (not from a vending machine) sometimes seems as challenging as walking barefoot across fiery coals.
LIFE / Food & Drink / KISSA KULTUR
May 27, 1999
Old and new blended perfectly at Otani
A pebble's throw away from the Akasaka Mitsuke subway station, the Hotel New Otani (which happens to be in the midst of celebrating 35 years as one of Tokyo's premier hotels) might just offer the solution to savvy travelers' "been there, done that" blues.

Longform

When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.
Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree