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Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Sep 11, 2011

A heartrending drive on the rebuilt roads of Tohoku

Before the March 11 tsunami, the Miyako area of Iwate Prefecture was a beloved tourist destination, famous for the beaches of Jodogahama and a national park with majestic views of coves and shimmering Pacific waters.
LIFE / Digital / Japan Pulse
Jun 10, 2011

Smartphone support just got smarter

The smartphone population growing by the day, as are the stores and services following the smart money.
JAPAN
Apr 9, 2011

Fish processors rise to challenge

SHIOGAMA, Miyagi Pref. — Fumio Oikawa is determined to clean the mud out of his small seaweed salt factory in Shiogama, Miyagi Prefecture, and reopen as soon as possible.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Feb 10, 2011

Blue moon rising over Tokyo

Comme des Garcons' Marunouchi: no longer alone
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / BACKSTREET STORIES
Jan 30, 2011

Aoyama warmth beats the cold

Kotto-dori (Antiques Avenue), a pin-straight link between Aoyama and Roppongi avenues in Tokyo's Minato Ward, was once a melange of pricey boutiques and high-end antique stores. Word has it that the street is going through changes, so I set off to see what's up.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Nov 6, 2010

Town growing, serving up cactus

The city of Kasugai, Aichi Prefecture, Japan's largest producer of cactus grown from seed, is promoting a full-fledged campaign to get people to eat prickly pear.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Sep 26, 2010

Moving pictures of Shibamata

I change trains three times before boarding one of Tokyo's shortest lines, the 2.5-km Keisei Kanamachi. I'm bound for Shibamata, which isn't precisely a backstreet, but it's tucked so far from most major thoroughfares in the back-beyond of Katsushika Ward that I imagine it will fit the bill.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Jul 27, 2010

One man's cup of tea equals a career

"Irasshaimase, dozo! (Welcome to the shop. Please have a look around!)" The high-spirited, delightful voice of a tall Frenchman echoes in the Shinjuku branch of Maruyamaen, a long-established Japanese tea shop.
Japan Times
LIFE
Feb 28, 2010

Owners extol pets' wonder

Pet Haku 2009, an exposition to showcase cats and dogs as well as pet-related goods and services, was held in Tokyo's Odaiba district in December and featured around 80 companies. Staff writer Eriko Arita was there with her camera, asking visitors how they met their pets, what their pet's personality...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Feb 4, 2010

Pop goes the cash register

Promotion-minded retailers save money on rent and go guerrilla pop-up shops in Tokyo.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / STYLE WISE
Sep 10, 2009

Time for openings, a night out and second-hand style

THE opening ceremony
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Jul 26, 2009

Hopping on through Mita

High on a hill in Tokyo's central Mita district, the Australian Embassy is easy to spot. Two national coats of arms bolted to the outside of the building feature oversize images of emus and kangaroos, designated as symbols of this self-styled progressive nation because they supposedly can't walk backwards....
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Jul 26, 2009

Hopping on through Mita

High on a hill in Tokyo's central Mita district, the Australian Embassy is easy to spot. Two national coats of arms bolted to the outside of the building feature oversize images of emus and kangaroos, designated as symbols of this self-styled progressive nation because they supposedly can't walk backwards....
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / STYLE WISE
May 14, 2009

Say hello to Belgium's best, aptform, the Land of Tomorrow and Forever 21

Bold Belgium "Avant garde" doesn't even begin to describe some of the amazing creations that have come from the Belgian fashion capital of Antwerp over the years. Intelligent designers from the city successfully fuse fantasy with reality, and the "6+ Antwerp" exhibition at Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery...
Japan Times
JAPAN / MIXED MATCHES
May 2, 2009

Sushi bar spurs good find of a lifetime for Tokyo couple

Kyle Sexton's life in Japan began in a New York sushi restaurant decades ago. It was there the Pennsylvania native developed a sudden obsession with the faraway land. On impulse, he made his way here in 1984 with no job and only $300 in his pocket.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Mar 3, 2009

Frenchman's flavorful twist on green tea has good of farmers at heart

Stubbornness and prudence seem to have paid off for Stephane Danton, a 44-year-old French entrepreneur who runs Ocharaka, a Japanese tea shop in Tokyo's trendy Kichijoji district.
Japan Times
Events / Events In Tokyo / WEEK 3
Nov 16, 2008

Scrolling past

In early November, Kazuo Yoshihara, an antiques expert with a 30-year career in the field, carefully opened a scroll painting in a room at the 14th Yokohama Kotto World fair.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Oct 17, 2008

Meet a band 35,000 years in the making

When The Cro-Magnons played at this year's Fuji Rock Festival, you could have sworn the Big Quake had hit, with its epicenter at the main Green Stage. The ground shook, minor tsunami were recorded in the streams running through the site and squirrels fell unconscious from trees as about 15,000 punters...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 26, 2008

'Be Kind Rewind'

How much cute can a straight man generate (and we're not talking about his looks here) without getting thwacked on the nose with a rolled-up newspaper? If the man happens to be French filmmaker Michel Gondry ("Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," "The Science of Sleep") the answer is: TONS. During...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 1, 2008

Suzuran: Chilling with chuka soba

Japan's infatuation with ramen can seem bewildering to the uninitiated. When you see lines around the block outside nondescript noodle joints in remote locations, with waits of up to an hour, it's hard not think the obsession is verging on the pathological.
JAPAN
Jul 19, 2008

Entrepreneur pioneers Akihabara tours

Jane Fong was one of the lucky few awarded a full Foreign Ministry scholarship to a master's program in international business at Sophia University in Tokyo — but she gave that up to become an entrepreneur in "Electric Town."
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Jun 20, 2008

Sake and sculptures in an Aoyama backstreet

Tokyo's backstreets can be dank or swank, but on the whole, they're safe. The biggest risk lies in the lure of diversion. Wander off the beaten path on your way to buy eggs or mail a letter, and you'll get sucked in by bizarre Lilliputian entrepreneurships, copper-clad fronts of prewar wooden shacks,...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jun 17, 2008

You say Nebuta, I say Neputa

Undaunted by the current state of the dollar, John and Kate are planning to visit Japan this summer.
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...
LIFE / Digital
Nov 21, 2007

Product placement seeks online consumers' wallets

Product placement within the entertainment industry has become widely accepted as commonplace. You only have to watch "Casino Royale" — the most recent movie in the James Bond series — to see that in-film advertising is big business. From cars and laptop computers to entire airlines, if it can be...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / TAKING A CHANCE
Oct 17, 2007

Florist brings affordable flowers to the masses

Hideaki Inoue, president of the company that runs the Aoyama Flower Market chain, earlier in life had no particular interest in flowers. But today, the former accountant cannot live without them.

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan