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May 04, 2024
 

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Jude Brand
For Jude Brand's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
May 20, 2001
In the living room of a rat-race refugee
Shin Takahashi is an incurable extrovert and freedom-loving spirit blessed with the knack to succeed. He walked straight out of college into an executive position at a prestigious ad agency, where he quickly earned a reputation for putting 100 percent into every undertaking. No one worried when he failed to show for work one day -- that was Shin. Three days later when he still hadn't shown, the agency received a call.
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
May 13, 2001
Last night a radio DJ saved my life
The foreign contribution to Tokyo's nightlife is not all Roppongi sleaze. Take Guy Perryman, for example, who has created a unique lounge-cum-event space around a radio station. Guy had just started his career as an FM disc jockey in Sydney when he was recruited by Virgin to spin at the opening of their first Megastore in Tokyo.
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
May 6, 2001
Shochu among bamboo
Tokyo's neighborhoods always offer one or two little bars (or sunakku) where down-home drinkers can shake off the workday blues. The greater Jiyugaoka area offers more options than most, and its most recent and welcome addition is Fukukaze.
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Apr 29, 2001
Truly, madly, deeply in Roppongi
If you thought the tag "High Touch Town" given to Roppongi meant it was glitzy and slick, you would have been way off base -- like most of the 18-year-old U.S. Marines who end up prowling its streets. Instead, the strip either side of the crossing is dotted with dives catering to foreign drinkers and lap-dance joints showcasing shapely foreign dancers.
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Apr 22, 2001
More sonic power to the people
I first met Shunnosuke when he was a gangly 19-year-old art student. We both subscribed to the "give art the flick, let's dance" school of thought. And we did.
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Apr 15, 2001
Check him out now, the funk, soul brother
If I told you I know of a great place to catch an excellent dinner show at an affordable price, you might think it a fairy tale. Well, pinch yourself, because this one is true.
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Apr 8, 2001
Mixing Iggy, Ziggy and Zepp
Meet Hiroshima-san -- a diminutive, pixie-faced bottle-blond who favors either skinny polyester shirts held half-open with a chain or grungy sweaters. He is the owner of Boys Town Cafe, a gem of a juke joint (sans box) about to celebrate its seventh year on Friday in the back streets of Naka-Meguro.
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Apr 1, 2001
Misunderstanding in the shadows, five flights up
Like many, I initially confused Gokai with Go, another fifth-floor hideout on Meiji-dori going toward Shibuya. Having ascertained that it is in the building next to the crepe shop on the corner of Takeshita and Meiji-dori, I then thought people meant Bar Poor, another cavelike perch with hobbit-sized seating on the fourth floor.
Biden calls ally Japan ‘xenophobic’ along with rivals China and Russia
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks in Syracuse, New York, on April 25.
Yen swings stir talk that Japan is in the FX market once again
An electronic screen in Tokyo displays the yen exchange rate against the U.S. dollar and the graph showing its recent swings, on Thursday.
Harajuku strives to reclaim its former glory — and surpass it
Laforet Harajuku, which celebrated its 45th anniversary last year, has been a witness to the district's evolution over the years.
Weak yen fattens tourist wallets in Japan
People visit the Ameya Yokocho market in Tokyo's Ueno district during the Golden Week holiday on Tuesday.
Japan's May 1 intervention may have cost ¥3.66 trillion, BOJ data suggests
An electronic screen displays a graph showing Japanese yen exchange rates surging against the dollar amid signs of intervention by authorities, in Tokyo on Thursday.
Kishida sets sights on energy and climate in South America trip
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will use a policy speech in Sao Paulo to set out his vision for ties between Japan and South America, almost 10 years after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe advocated for stronger ties between the two in the same city.
Yellow sand allergy: A health issue made worse by climate change
A screenshot of the Meteorological Agency's satellite image of clouds and yellow sand (in pink) on Sunday.
Climate change, chalky grains and the risks for Japan’s rice farmers
A farmer plants seedlings in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s self sufficiency rate for rice is nearly 100%, compared with 38% for food overall, on a calorie basis.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.

Podcast

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

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
By Alex K.T. Martin

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