Angela Jeffs - The Japan Times

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Angela Jeffs

After 26 years in Japan, Angela is currently test driving the Scottish winter. Describing herself as a “people person,” she wrote weekly profiles and features for The Japan Times between 1987 and 2011. For writings since 3/11/2011, see www.embrace-transition.com/. Her first book, "Chasing Shooting Stars – A South American Paper Trail into the Past," was published in paperback in January 2013.

For Angela Jeffs's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

Japan Times

COMMUNITY

Apr 8, 2006

Clothes as a threat to society from 1950s to now

Told in advance by his publisher that Paul Gorman would be waiting in the reception area of Hotel New Otani, I find him jet-lagged, with a cold, and wearing a 25-year-old T-shirt that in suitably faded fashion screams "SEX PISTOLS" across his chest.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY

Apr 1, 2006

Poems that speak in essence of time in Tokyo

Aileen Fedullo is a young American poet whose observations of people and life in Tokyo over the past decade ("Plastic seasons scraping against eyes") have been sometimes acerbic, often passionate, always penetrating and more often than not jotted down in coffee shops.

COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES

Mar 28, 2006

Cheese, eBye and reiki

Say cheese AP asks: "Where can I get a wide range of foreign cheeses in Japan? They are so expensive in supermarkets, and often not in good shape."

Japan Times

COMMUNITY

Mar 18, 2006

Speaking Circles sets natural tone for open arms

It is Saturday afternoon, and we are in a pleasantly peaceful meeting room in Tokyo's Minami-Aoyama.

COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES

Mar 14, 2006

Curves and live-in temples

Curves Kirsty has heard of a new fitness chain. "It's called Curves. Do you know anything about it?"

Japan Times

COMMUNITY

Mar 11, 2006

Good Day to hear all about Ranald MacDonald

Never heard the name Ranald MacDonald? (Not easily forgotten, for sure.) This is about to change, thanks to the book "Native American in the Land of the Shogun: Ranald MacDonald and the Opening of Japan" by American author Frederik Schodt.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY

Mar 4, 2006

Investor, philanthropist gives new name to jet set

It is 7:30 a.m. and Takaaki Kawashima has less than one hour to spare before leaving for Narita airport. He's due to take a midday flight to London, arriving in time for dinner with Prince Charles, Camilla and a small group of intimates at Clarendon House. He will leave for Japan again Friday morning,...

COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES

Feb 28, 2006

Poison, vendors and tai chi

Dangerous G wonders (somewhat bizarrely) where to begin inquiring about where people go to find poisons for the purpose of suicide. "I would appreciate some suggestions for the heroine of a story I'm planning to write."

Japan Times

COMMUNITY

Feb 25, 2006

Software aids communication in cultural context

Nils Plett, president and CEO of QE Tech, is tall. While angling my camera skyward to get his picture, walking alongside requires two steps to his every stride.

COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES

Feb 14, 2006

Meditation, donor cards, transplants

Zen meditation Paul read that it is possible to practice Zen meditation at Enkakuji Temple in Kita-Kamakura. "I live in Yokohama, so not so far away. How would I go about this. My Japanese is poor. But then the artist I read about, Hans Bauer (interviewed on the People page; Feb. 4) was German and only...

Japan Times

COMMUNITY

Feb 11, 2006

A-team imports 'water of heaven' back to Japan

Rocky Aoki and Keiko Ono are quite a team. They were in Japan just last week and now are here again, leading a tour group of 20 U.S.-based serious sake enthusiasts to taste the real stuff on the home ground of the "water of heaven."

Japan Times

COMMUNITY

Feb 4, 2006

'Land art' drives home message on environment

Imagine you are driving along an expressway and suddenly you are slicing a hare -- inscribed into the landscape to right and left -- in half. Truly a most uncomfortable and powerful metaphor for what we are doing to nature.

COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES

Jan 31, 2006

Rail passes, donor card, pawnshops

Rail pass wisdom Pam and Jacob's inquiry about the economic sense of buying a 7-day Japan Rail Pass (Lifelines; Jan. 9) when only moving around Kanto brought a flurry of useful information and advice from readers.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY

Jan 28, 2006

Belavi Facelift Massage battles time and gravity

The room is warm. The music relaxing. Aromatherapy oils perfume the air. I am wrapped in hot towels after an hour of sheer bliss. And the years have fallen away. Off my face, that is.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY

Jan 21, 2006

DNAm, 'Third Ear' offer change and learning

Hong Kong is a jungle. Which is where fluent Mandarin-speaker Chris Lonsdale is an elephant spotter, and why he is in Tokyo to take a five-day right-brain drawing course.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY

Jan 14, 2006

Helping new arrivals from India find their feet

There are some 5,000 expats from India currently in Japan, mostly working in the IT industry, and mostly in Tokyo. And if A.P.S. Mani is to be believed, the number will grow over the next few years.

COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES

Jan 10, 2006

Yasukuni, rail passes and records

That shrine again Jane says Tokyo's famed (or should that be infamous) Yasukuni Shrine has a flea market on the second and third Sunday every month.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY

Jan 7, 2006

Buddhist-Christian feminist to speak out at retreat

The Amago Sanso Retreat from Jan. 27 to 29 on the Izu Peninsula may see sparks fly! It will be the 49th annual celebratory gathering of Christian women from all over Japan and other parts of Asia, the same age -- synchronistically -- as its controversial keynote speaker, Hyun Kyung Chung.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY

Dec 31, 2005

Tsunami book gives peace to some, hope to more

Bill O'Leary is busy on Boxing Day. While back to business in Phuket, Thailand, by midday, he attends first a Muslim ceremony on the beach, and then a Buddhist service in a hotel to remember the 5,500 tourists and local people who were swept to their death by the tsunami of Dec. 26, 2004. Three thousand...

COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES

Dec 27, 2005

Real estate, a good cigar and body wax

Property in Yokohama Shirley, in Monterey, Calif., found an interesting article on buying property in Japan while browsing on the Web, and had a question.

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

Things may look perfect to the outside world, but today's mom is fine with some imperfection at home.

How 'Reiwa moms' are reshaping motherhood in Japan

By Mai Yoshikawa

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Spotlighting a Niigata castle town through sushi

Spotlighting a Niigata castle town through sushi

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