For Cai Evans's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Ask any question you want in Langkawi and you will get a friendly response. But you may not get an answer. Take the following exchange I had with a musician who was leaving the Beach Garden restaurant as I was strolling in there in ...
Adored by large sections of the Japanese public, reviled in equal measure by the foreign community and courted tirelessly by the domestic media: There are few more divisive figures in Japan today than Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara. The septuagenerian populist can rarely open his mouth ...
There is a scene in the screwball British movie "Carry On . . . Follow that Camel" in which Jim Dale and Pete Butterworth are buried up to their necks in the desert after they upset the local sheikh. As they are slowly being ...
And why did the cops take 1,772 calls before deciding that someone was pulling their chain? We don't know. And we don't know why, or even if, the following people did these strange things, but heaven forbid we'd let the truth stand in the ...
Jonny Wilkinson The England fly-half is often described as the best-pound-for pound player in the world -- and who in their right mind could argue? He kicks better than Neil Jenkins, he tackles harder than Butch James and he reads the game as well as ...
On the face of it, the languorous suburb of Nippori must have a tough time vying for attention with its more brazen rivals on the Yamanote Line. "This area is famous for its tombs," declared Hiro Mochinaga, one of two hosts who showed me around. With ...
This week, Notes From the Smoke features a saucy deviation from the usual format. Instead of being shown around a Tokyo suburb by a stranger, I welcomed two old friends to my place in Takadanobaba for an instant-noodle orgy. While this may strike some as a ...
The irresistible force of spring has swept through the Kitanomaru National Garden in Kudanshita. Bathed in iridescent sunlight, swaying daffodils dominate lush embankments while plum blossoms punctuate the woodland with tantrums of Burgundy. Alarmed (justifiably) that this pastoral scene might reactivate my dormant Alan Titchmarsh gene, ...
If ever an amphibious mammal was catapulted to the forefront of a nation's consciousness, Tama-chan, the bearded seal who has taken up residence in Yokohama's Katabira River, is that animal. Following the cosmopolitan rumpus that greeted plans to grant Tama-chan local residency status (he was ...
A recent visit to the suburb of Koenji reminded me of my JET program orientation in Kansai; I visited a temple, learned some outlandish local customs, ate sushi, and was shown around a vintage toy store with cosmic price tags. Except on this occasion, I ...
