Akira Okubo - The Japan Times

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Akira Okubo

For Akira Okubo's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

Japan Times

Events / Events Outside Tokyo

Jul 24, 2014

Sakaiminato — the city of fish and festivities

Sakaiminato in Tottori Prefecture is a city that is ideal for tourists. It's one of the biggest fishing towns in Japan, and as the hometown of Mizuki Shigeru, author of the yōkai (Japanese folklore monsters and ghouls) manga series "GeGeGe no Kitaro," it's known as the birthplace of some of the country's most popular cartoon monsters.

Japan Times

Events / Events In Tokyo

Jul 9, 2014

The Miraikan is going down the pan — in a good way

Using the toilet is an everyday part of our lives, yet it's something we rarely talk about in public. But it is of such importance, involving health, sanitation and human dignity, that perhaps it should become a topic of general discussion.

Japan Times

Events / Events In Tokyo

Jul 9, 2014

Visit Japan's prehistoric past

It's hard to imagine, but millions of years ago elephants roamed Japan. Although they died out long before civilization, Tokyo's National Museum of Nature and Science can help us imagine these majestic creatures and other prehistoric mammals through a display of Japan-specific fossils. The "Ancient Mammals Exhibition" showcases 170 rare specimens collated from various Japanese museums, and it is the first large-scale exhibition to focus on extinct mammals that once inhabited Japan.

Japan Times

Events / Events Outside Tokyo

Jul 2, 2014

Battle it out in Shinshiro

During the Sengoku period (1482-1573), the Takeda family was one of the strongest clans in Japan, known in particular for its successful cavalry charges. Yet in 1575, it found itself up against something that rendered it powerless — the new western technology of firearms.

Events / Events In Tokyo

Jun 26, 2014

Everyone's having a laugh in Kinokuniya

Rakugo, a traditional form of comic storytelling in Japan, deals with anecdotes about human nature. Described as a "performance of imagination," it is usually done on an empty stage with the artist kneeling on a large cushion and acting out the roles of all characters in the tales, expressing their actions using just two props — a fan and handkerchief.

Japan Times

Events / Events Outside Tokyo

Jun 26, 2014

Osaka's Aizen Festival begins

Even though it is mid-rainy season, the Aizen Festival anticipates the hot summer ahead with a parade of women wearing cool and attractive yukata (light kimono). As Osaka's first summer festival of the year, this is held from June 30 to July 2 at Shoman-in, also known as Aizendou, a 1,400 year-old temple commissioned by Prince Shotoku. On the first day of celebrations, palanquins bearing young women in yukata are carried through the streets and toward Shoman-in. Every year, 12 women are chosen from numerous applicants to join the parade, which takes place before a beauty contest at the temple on July 1.

Japan Times

Events / Events Outside Tokyo

Jun 19, 2014

Royal purple surrounds majestic Mount Fuji

Among the photo opportunities featuring Mount Fuji, there's one that shouldn't be missed: The majestic icon towering behind Lake Kawaguchiko in Yamanashi Prefecture, with a bed of vibrant purple lavender in the foreground.

Japan Times

Events / Events Outside Tokyo

Jun 12, 2014

Niigata's 2 km of festival fun, food and drink

A summer festival wouldn't be complete without an ice-cold drink as you take in the sun and have some fun, and in Japan a popular traditional summer drink is cider — not the alcoholic fermented apple drink, but a fizzy soft drink similar to lemonade.

EDITORIALS

Dec 16, 2010

The empty chair in Oslo

Ever since Mr. Liu Xiaobo was named recipient of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize for promoting democratic change in China, the government in Beijing has ensured that he receives maximum publicity — not deliberately, of course. The Chinese government did everything it could to intimidate the awards committee so that it would not name him and then exploded in fury when that campaign failed.

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

Historically, kabuki was considered the entertainment of the merchant and peasant classes, a far cry from how it is regarded today.

For Japan's oldest kabuki theater, the show must go on

By Lance Henderstein

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Vol. 34: Tokyo, a vanguard city for sustainability

Vol. 34: Tokyo, a vanguard city for sustainability

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