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Mari Yamaguchi
For Mari Yamaguchi's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 17, 2006
Daughters also unable to reach Asahara
When she was finally allowed to visit her father, she found him in a wheelchair, wearing a diaper. A prison guard took notes throughout the 30-minute encounter, which took place in a small, barren room, through a plate of thick, transparent plastic. It was, for her, a dream come true, but yet a nightmare.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 16, 2006
'Waribashi' from China to end
Walk into any noodle shop or restaurant and chances are high you'll soon be eating with a pair of disposable wooden chopsticks from China.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 25, 2006
Weather services compete in blossom forecasting
One would think Eishin Murakata has a pleasant, relaxing job. Every spring, he strolls each day to the same cherry tree in central Tokyo and gazes up at its boughs. When he spots a full bud on the verge of blossoming, he carefully snaps a photograph.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 8, 2006
Rise in elderly offenders graying prisons
There are still plenty of metal bars and handcuffs. But prisons these days have some new features -- like wheelchair-friendly stair ramps, handrails in the bathrooms and nurses trained to spoon-feed inmates.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 12, 2004
War criminals' poems uncovered
The themes found in a newly uncovered collection of traditional Japanese verse would be familiar to any reader here: the melancholy passing of the seasons, fleeting beauty, the inevitability of death.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 30, 2003
Appeal a given if Asahara gets death
After a 7 1/2-year trial, the chief lawyer defending doomsday cult guru Shoko Asahara, charged with masterminding the 1995 nerve gas attack on Tokyo's subway, is about to wrap up his case and await a verdict, which may come in February.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 7, 2003
Japan considers a flutter on casinos
It was a rare taste of Las Vegas in Tokyo, and for two days the casino crowds -- hosted by Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara -- pumped the handles of slot machines and betted feverishly on the roulette wheel.

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