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April 28, 2024
 

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Hugh
For Hugh's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Nov 17, 1999
Journey to the land of the Exodus
As I stood in front of the bush that burned in Exodus 3:2 but was consumed not, a voice shouted loudly to make itself heard. It was the guide. And he spake unto me (and my tour group), and said, "That is the holy burning bush. It grows nowhere else on the Sinai Peninsula. All attempts to grow cuttings elsewhere have failed!"
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Nov 3, 1999
Kauai -- the director's cut
Remember that incredible rain-forest waterfall in "Jurassic Park?" Don't search for it in the movie's fictional location off Costa Rica. It's on Kauai Island, the self-styled "garden isle," State of Hawaii.
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Oct 20, 1999
Nature scenes pure eye Kandy
If you visit the Sri Lanka hill capital of Kandy and fall in love, be content. You are in illustrious company.
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Oct 6, 1999
Nature nurtured by the Dead Sea
"There is nothing, absolutely nothing alive in this sea; neither fish nor algae nor molluscs, only rocks and salt, candid saline formations that rise from the water like ghostly coral."
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Sep 1, 1999
Walking into the millennial sunrise
If you still haven't made up your mind about where you're going to be come sunrise of the year 2000, here's one to contemplate. How about Barrow, Alaska followed by a leisurely stroll 14 km to Point Barrow at the utmost north of the Americas?
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Aug 18, 1999
A big bang, and then there was life
Five days and 116 years ago, a small island in the Sunda Straight between Java and Sumatra exploded.
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Aug 3, 1999
Endangered turtles vs. encaustic tourists
Something happened to the face of the Greek car rental man when we mentioned that we'd come to Zakynthos to see loggerhead sea turtles. His easy smile slipped.
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Jun 2, 1999
Among the ruins of the Mayan Paris
You wouldn't have wanted to watch a ball game at the close of the season in the ancient Mayan city of Copan.
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
May 19, 1999
Journeying into the valley of death
"Death Valley," noted our guidebook, "is an inhuman environment: barren and monotonous, burning hot and almost entirely without shade or water." In short, the ideal antidote to Japan's rainy season, which is why we went.
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Apr 7, 1999
The savage splendors of Singapore
SINGAPORE -- In 1907 a tiger was discovered hiding beneath the billiard table in the Long Bar of Raffles Hotel. Probably. Some have questioned the tiger's authenticity. Particularly if they have visited the Raffles Hotel's Long Bar. It is on the second and third floor. Not traditional tiger country.
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Mar 17, 1999
The hills are alive with wild fungal growths
The Field Studies Council (FSC) is a British not-for-profit organization that has as its slogan: "Environmental understanding for all!"
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Mar 3, 1999
Belize offers cay to a good vacation
Belize City (population 60,000) sucks. Crack addicts, muggers, deranged loafers, unprovoked verbal abuse of the anti-whitey variety. A spoonful of water from its rancid canals, if strategically distributed, would wipe out the People's Republic of China. Belize City's got the lot.
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.
In Japan, regional revitalization fails to halt population decline
Sakiyama elementary school in Tamba, Hyogo Prefecture, in March .Over the past decade, the government has directed efforts toward policies designed to give young people incentives to base themselves in rural areas.
Number of homeless in Japan hits record low
Homeless people sleep on the street in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward in August 2021.
Ukraine is far from doomed
When comparing Ukraine’s military situation in 2024 to Europe’s in 1941, Russia’s defeat seems entirely possible.
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.
Tokyo's Koto Ward by-election a race unlike any other
Natsumi Sakai, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan’s candidate and one of four female candidates running in the by-election, touts her experience as a cancer survivor and midwife as having prepared her to tackle issues that women currently face.
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.
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.
Casa del Cibo: A thriving jewel born from Tohoku’s harsh past
When chef Ryohei Ikemi moved to Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, and opened Casa del Cibo in 2011, it was the first proper Italian restaurant in the city.
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.

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

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Vol. 34: Tokyo, a vanguard city for sustainability
Vol. 34: Tokyo, a vanguard city for sustainability

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