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Lee Brown
For Lee Brown's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ROAD
Nov 23, 2008
Training regime for keirin draws blood, sweat, sometimes tears
When the teenagers at the Japan Bicycle Racing School in Shuzenji, Shizuoka Prefecture, rise at 6.30 a.m. each day, they always have an appetite. The training here is tough, a regimen of cycling, studying, chores and more cycling, so a big breakfast is a must.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ROAD
Aug 17, 2008
Electric bikes charge the market
What do you buy for the U.S. president who has everything? When former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi traveled to the United States in 2006 for his "sayonara summit" with George W. Bush, he presented Dubya with a CD of Elvis numbers, sung by his good self, as well as a far more inspired gift — an electrically assisted bicycle.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ROAD
Jun 8, 2008
In the land of pimped push bikes
It would be hard not to notice that Japan's streets are jammed with fixed-gear bikes. As reported here in December, these are simple, stripped-down bikes originally built for racing around velodromes; the single gear is locked to the back wheel, so the pedals keep turning when the bike is moving. But while these machines may be minimalist at their core, having just one gear, the youths who started this craze are finding ways to take it to the extreme.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ROAD
Feb 24, 2008
New rules for cyclists go round in circles
Putting the brakes on the country's bicycle chaos requires more than just imposing bans on headphones, cell phones and umbrellas.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ROAD
Dec 9, 2007
Japan's 'fix'ation with a risky ride
A group of young men huddle around a bicycle in a small shop named Carnival on the second story of a cream-brick building peering over the Yamanote Line in Shibuya.

Longform

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