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May 02, 2024
 

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Amy Chavez

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Amy Chavez
For Amy Chavez's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 25, 2018
Japan has a reputation for cleanliness — just don't look in our closets
The cleanliness of the Japanese is known worldwide. Thanks to the internet, videos of Japanese students cleaning their schools have gone viral, as well as a memorable clip of how the JR staff clean an entire shinkansen train in under seven minutes. The Japanese have further left their indelible mark at world sporting events by taking their garbage away from stadiums, something unthinkable in most other countries.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 31, 2018
The death of a Japanese countryside festival
Ancient rites bend to an aging, shrinking population, but how much longer can local traditions hold out?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Sep 23, 2018
'My Year in Japan' books offer reassuring words to armchair travelers, but expats need more
The most successful works remain true to both the author's time abroad and to Japan itself.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 29, 2018
In Japan, the most important rule for language translation is often broken
As Japan continues to court more foreign tourists, the nation must learn to respect foreign languages as much as its own.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jul 29, 2018
One man's labor-of-love museum captures Seto Inland Sea island's storied stone history
Build a stone museum and they will come? That's the idea behind the K's Labo museum on Kitagi Island in Okayama Prefecture.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jun 27, 2018
Minpaku law could leave tourists to Japan without beds
Onerous licensing process for private lodging won't stop bad operators, but it will put off honest would-be entrepreneurs.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
May 27, 2018
Japan's public policy is killing rural entrepreneurship
While big-ticket tourism projects in Japan thrive, those involved in smaller-scale projects can feel starved of government support.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Apr 29, 2018
Chichibu: Steeped in tradition, but challenged by industry
The city of Chichibu, about 90 minutes by train from Ikebukuro, Tokyo, has a population of approximately 60,000. The region, which sits in the shadow of Mount Buko and alongside the Arakawa river is steeped in tradition with more than 300 festivals taking place each year.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 25, 2018
What's behind Japan's enduring love of Emily Bronte's 'Wuthering Heights'?
Emily Bronte's only novel, 'Wuthering Heights,' set in the moors of Yorkshire in the late 18th century, has long held a special place in Japanese hearts.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Feb 25, 2018
High-tech Pyeongchang Olympics needed more low-tech support for foreign tourists
Attending the Pyeongchang Olympics in South Korea reminded me of what Japan still needs to do as it gears up to host one of the world's most prominent sports events.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jan 28, 2018
Launch a tourist-friendly Seto Inland Sea ferry system and they will come
The 250 or so inhabited islands scattered like pebbles between Honshu and Shikoku have been unfairly relegated to guidebook sidebars labeled 'Off the beaten track.'
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Dec 23, 2017
Short Kyoto hike packs in plenty to stimulate the mind and palate
The last trail in this series is short and sweet — just 4 kilometers. For years I'd been hearing good things about the two-hour hike between the mountain towns of Kibune and Kurama north of Kyoto. The restaurants in Kibune are known for their terraces built out over the river, a tradition that serves to cool diners in the hot summertime. It was time to hike, eat and discover.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Dec 17, 2017
What do Western tourists want from Japan? Try asking one
How many other countries would attempt to lure Western tourists without at least having a tete-a-tete with a woman in their target audience who has lived for over 20 years in the very place they're hoping to attract people to?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 26, 2017
Edo Period 'post town' in Okayama re-imagines its past and reaps tourism dividends
Yakage is the only preserved town along the Sanyo Road that survives in it's near-original form, and tourists are flocking there.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Gourmet Trails
Nov 25, 2017
Slow food and easy pedaling along Seto Inland Sea's Shimanami Kaido
Japanese-Western fusion cuisine abounds along this six-island cycle path connecting Hiroshima to Ehime.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 29, 2017
Business cards in Japan: So many rules, so easily and often broken
One of the first things visitors learn about Japan is the importance of business card etiquette. Yet when it comes to the content of cards, many Japanese let rip and get creative.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Gourmet Trails
Oct 21, 2017
Six temples, 60 km and countless bowls of Sanuki udon in Kagawa
For foodies, Kagawa can mean just one thing: the prefecture's signature noodles.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Sep 25, 2017
Alex Kerr recalls 1970s Japan and David Kidd, the mentor whose influence never fades
Author and Japan hand Alex Kerr remembers the 'larger than life, outrageous, tall, skinny, blond' David Kidd and the 'golden age.'
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Gourmet Trails
Sep 23, 2017
Eating a way through the Nakasendo's lower Kiso Road
The Nakasendo was an Edo Period (1603-1868) road used for travel between the capital of Edo (Tokyo) and Kyoto, the former capital. The 69 post towns along the way provided accommodation and services to daimyo and their entourages, who passed through on their sankin kōtai biennial visits to the Tokugawa shogunate.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 27, 2017
Blame for 'bad tourists' to Japan lies with the advice they never receive
The answer to holidaymakers' poor behavior isn't shutting out 'bad tourists' but educating all tourists.
'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.
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.
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.

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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