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May 02, 2024
 

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Sumiko Enbutsu
For Sumiko Enbutsu's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
ENVIRONMENT
Apr 1, 2000
Magnolias thrive with sakura where once warriors bled
In late March when most deciduous trees are still bare, the buds of kobushi (Northern Japanese magnolia) shed their gray fur coats and burst into bloom. Each pure white flower has six petals faintly tinted pink peeping deep inside, sending forth a delicate fragrance. Farmers in northern Japan used its exuberant florescence as the signal to get ready to start planting and gave it an alias, tauchi-zakura (paddy-tilling cherry). Kobushi should not be confused with the earlier blooming haku-mokuren, which has larger flowers and is often planted at Buddhist temples. Less celebrated than Somei Yoshino, the cherry which blooms at about the same time, kobushi allures with its artless grace.
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 29, 2000
Maintaining Shiiba's proud history
A good chance to enjoy a glimpse of visual and performing arts of rural old Japan will come to Tokyo Feb. 19-20. The Kioi Small Hall will present a special program titled "Traditional Performing Arts of Shiiba, Miyazaki" to introduce rarely seen dances and chants performed in front of a profusely decorated altar.
'So hot you can't breathe': Extreme heat hits the Philippines
A pedestrian cools himself with a folding hand fan as he waits for a ride along a road in Manila on Wednesday, as extreme heat hit the Philippines.
Did Japan intervene to prop up the yen? Analysts think it did.
A man walks past an electronic board displaying the exchange rate for the yen against the U.S. dollar (right) in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.
Number of vacant homes in Japan hits record high of 9 million
A vacant house in Tokyo is seen demolished in January 2020.
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.
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

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[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Longform

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Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree
By Alex K.T. Martin

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