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Liane Wakabayashi
For Liane Wakabayashi's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
LIFE
Dec 22, 2016
Get the latkes out for Hanukkah in Japan
When Binyomin Edery, the chief rabbi of Japan, was a child growing up in the farming village of Kfar Chabad in Israel, the nine-pronged menorah could be seen everywhere during the winter Hanukkah festival.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Mar 8, 2015
Labor of love left to wither and die in Fukushima
Forced to abandon his life's work, the 72-year-old creator of a renowned rose garden in Fukushima wants Tepco to compensate him and allow him to start over.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Feb 2, 2015
Going the extra mile for fair-trade fashion
Tokyo fashion industry insiders push the message that what we choose to buy and wear has consequences.
COMMUNITY / Voices
Mar 10, 2014
Three years after 3/11, how is the Tohoku recovery effort going?
In the waiting room at Tokyo Station, Liane Wakabayashi asked passengers en route to Tohoku for their opinions on recovery efforts since the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, which devastated the region three years ago.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Feb 10, 2014
Tokyo model community melds fashion and compassion
Male model Dean Newcombe runs what surely must be the most photogenic all-volunteer organization around. And although some of the volunteers are indeed fashion models, the 'model' in Intrepid Model Adventures refers to role models as well as the catwalk variety.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / LEARNING BY HEART
Mar 1, 2002
For special kids, his music is the message
Ramsey King Montana's funky fashion sense might be a bit overwhelming for some parents who sign their children up for his family music classes. He wears checkered pantaloons, a fierce studded leather belt, a pierced earring that belonged to his mother (a Blackfoot Indian) and braids in his beard.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / LEARNING BY HEART
Feb 15, 2002
Shitamachi schoolmates still together at 70
What is the secret of lifelong friendships that form in elementary school? I would never have thought to ask myself that question until my father-in-law announced he wouldn't be home for Sunday's family dinner because he was attending a party. Though he put it quite casually, the amazing thing to me was that Toshihiko Wakabayashi was meeting up with his fourth-grade classmates.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / LEARNING BY HEART
Feb 1, 2002
Kids learn from embracing the differences
The first thing you notice about the students at Musashino Higashi Secondary Vocational School is their uniforms. No matter the subject -- be it gymnastics or computer science -- the learning is done in a light-blue tracksuit.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / LEARNING BY HEART
Jan 18, 2002
Fostering family togetherness on the rink
As my daughter stepped out onto the ice, I held my breath. Her steps were small. She moved slowly, with focus and balance and seeming assuredness. One -- two -- one -- two.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jan 4, 2002
Medic's lifesaving mission
Human rights activist Dr. Masaki Tada leads a double life. He has just returned from Peshawar, Pakistan, where he struggled to save the lives of Afghan refugees with the meager resources at his disposal. In Japan, he plays a very different role -- as president of Josai Hospital, a modern, fully equipped hospital in Ibaraki Prefecture.
LIFE / Lifestyle / LEARNING BY HEART
Dec 21, 2001
Children learn life's hardest lesson
On a recent Friday, I swung open the gate to my daughter's school yard. I was expecting to find the usual crowd of mothers milling outside in the garden. But I knew something was dreadfully wrong when a teacher solemnly ushered me toward a full, but silent classroom. Inside, the mothers sat, wiping their eyes and weeping at the news that a pupil and his mother had been hit by a car while cycling to school. The mother had died instantly. The 5-year-old boy was in a coma.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / LEARNING BY HEART
Dec 7, 2001
New b-boys and b-girls on the block
The hippest of hip-hop dancers perform pure magic. They do somersaults, cartwheels and flips. They're dramatic, eccentric, funny and highly creative. They slide in any direction, send electric shock waves through their limbs, glide across the ground like moonwalkers and twirl into body-punishing spins.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / LEARNING BY HEART
Nov 23, 2001
Pioneer still speaking up and acting out
Almost 20 years ago, Teri Suzanne stood in front of a packed audience in Tokyo at the Association of English Teachers of Children, and unveiled her "English in Action" method with what was then a radical declaration: "I know that young children have the capacity to learn multiple languages by connecting words to actions."
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / LEARNING BY HEART
Nov 9, 2001
Music, dance help young minds and bodies grow
For American Amy Nanavati, the mother of 1-year-old Elizabeth, moving to Tokyo from New York earlier this year felt overwhelming. And then she discovered Kindermusik.
COMMUNITY
Aug 3, 2001
Togetherness with calisthenics
School is out for the summer but still, remarkably, kids in this fitness-savvy society turn out -- at 6:30 a.m., no less -- at parks, shrines and quiet streets across Japan for NHK's daily "Radio Taiso" workout, a 15-minute live broadcast of morning calisthenics.
COMMUNITY
Jul 20, 2001
Checklist of things to look for in a swimming school
A good school should build self-confidence, teach safety precautions in water and create a warm, friendly and happy atmosphere among students and instructors. Visit a few fitness clubs or private swimming schools in your neighborhood and consider some of these points:
COMMUNITY
Jun 10, 2001
Turn on to feng shui for good vibrations
For 12 years, April Perkinson, a jazz pianist, has lived in a spacious, old apartment in Kawasaki City. Once sunny and inviting, her south-facing residence was recently blocked by the construction of a skyscraper next door. What to do?
COMMUNITY
Jun 10, 2001
Home (not so) sweet home
"The word 'home' comes from the Nordic and Germanic languages and means a place of comfort, a warm fire and a place to sleep," said Colleen Lanki, artistic director of Kee Company, a Tokyo-based bilingual theater group.
COMMUNITY
Jun 10, 2001
Feng shui tips for beginners
Inspired to try a little feng shui around your own home? Here are some tips to help you get started:
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / LEARNING BY HEART
Apr 27, 2001
Toddlers' dance: freedom within structure
In fluffy tutus and silky ballet slippers, a circle of pink angels do back-bends in a circle. They dance like storks, skip to my lou and fly backward. It's obviously fun, but the pace is quick.

Longform

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