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May 04, 2024
 

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BACKSTREET STORIES

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 / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Jun 28, 2009
Creative boho blooms in Jingumae
The area known as Jingumae, literally "shrine front," hugs central Tokyo's Meiji Shrine and is bifurcated by chic Omotesando street, the shrine's main approach. Roiling with well-heeled fashionistas, foreigners and photo hounds chasing the hottest new looks, Omotesando's stores showcase global mega-brands — think Gap, Zara, Benneton, etc.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
May 31, 2009
Where whimsy meets wonder
Antiques tell tales of values, past and present. It's a good guess that whatever survives for a century or so in the tight confines of a Japanese home is either a work of art, a tool of cunning design, or an item of great sentimental value.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Apr 26, 2009
Lost in construction
If you ever have a hankering for nikka-zubon and jika-tabi, the outre puffy pants and split-toed booties rocked by Japanese carpenters, construction dudes and painters, supply store Mannenya in 3-chome (district 3) of Nishi Shinjuku has got you covered. The building is hard to miss: it's acid yellow, decorated with old hard hats, and has a four-story turtle climbing up its side (a painted one). It's also, incongruously, just around the corner from the sleek Park Hyatt in Shinjuku, the hotel where much of Sofia Coppola's "Lost in Translation" (2003) was filmed. But nothing gets lost in translation at Mannenya; the manager speaks fluent English.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Mar 29, 2009
Catch a falling star
Overhung by funky plastic streetlights, enlivened by piped music, and flanked with small stores, Shinohashi Shirokane Shotengai is exactly the kind of shopping street that once served as the commercial hub of many postwar Tokyo neighborhoods.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Feb 22, 2009
Cruising the Sumida for sights
However hidden behind built-up banks it may be, the Sumida River is not exactly a "back street." But as it's said that one of the best places from which to view cherry blossoms in Tokyo is from a water bus plying the river, I resolved on a reconnaissance better referred to as a "back stream" story.
ENVIRONMENT / BACKSTREET STORIES
Jan 25, 2009
A west side love story
With Valentine's Day approaching, Tokyo's lovers dust off chocolate-tempering pots, scope out sweet shops and reserve bouquets of roses. Of course, savvy romantics know a midwinter stroll along a back street, with requisite snuggling for warmth, works nearly as well to stoke affection as edible or olfactory aphrodisiacs. Better still if the chosen route includes the "Shrine of Love."
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Jan 25, 2009
A west side love story
With Valentine's Day approaching, Tokyo's lovers dust off chocolate-tempering pots, scope out sweet shops and reserve bouquets of roses. Of course, savvy romantics know a midwinter stroll along a back street, with requisite snuggling for warmth, works nearly as well to stoke affection as edible or olfactory aphrodisiacs. Better still if the chosen route includes the "Shrine of Love."
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Dec 19, 2008
Let's pray to the Great Black One
In Tokyo, it's prudent to pray to the Great Black One if you want to improve your financial outlook for the coming year. Putting in a good word for U.S. President-elect Barack Obama wouldn't hurt as well, once you arrive at the Slope of the Great Black One, or Daikokuzaka, a back street minutes from Azabu Juban.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Nov 21, 2008
'Tis a gift to be simple
The best holiday presents wrap themselves — in your arms, that is. The rest of your gift-list responsibilities, whether for Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah or Japanese oseibo (yearend gifts), can be taken care of near Asakusabashi Station. I'm usually way behind schedule getting presents together, but this year I'm worried about jumping the gun as I head off to southeast Taito Ward.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Oct 17, 2008
In the realm of fall's senses
With autumn nipping at the air, deciduous trees are primed to put on a color display known in Japanese as koyo. Though usually written with Japanese characters for "crimson" and "leaves," koyo can also be written with the characters for "yellow" and "leaves" when describing varieties of trees such as those turning just now. Rikugien, in northern Tokyo near the Nanboku and Yamanote lines Komagome Station, is considered the capital's finest Edo Period (1603-1867) garden for viewing koyo, no matter how you write it.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Sep 19, 2008
Daimyos and deluge around the Kanda River
Most major stretches of greenery in Tokyo are tax-trimmed remainders of massive estates once owned by Edo Period (1603-1867) feudal lords, or daimyo. So, in the wake of this summer's torrential rain and dodging some early autumn typhoons, I set out to find a daimyo domain or two.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Aug 15, 2008
Good cool hunting in Edogawa
In Tokyo, when the going gets hot, the cool go to Hawaii, or flee to mountain resorts. Others plunk down their yen for a dip in a hotel or amusement-park pool. The rest of us steam in the stupefying humidity and hope our flip-flops don't fuse to the tarmac. Surely there's some inexpensive, convenient, and not-ridiculously-crowded relief available?
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Jul 18, 2008
I ain't afraid of those ghosts
There are lots of yureizaka (phantom slopes) in Tokyo, and at least seven of them have been spooking lily-livered pedestrians since the Edo Period (1603-1867). The slope I head for, in broad daylight, slants through the somnolent graveyards of old temples from the early 1600s. It's a beastly summer day, so I'm hoping for some chills.
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, or a huge ball of cedar twigs. The eggs? What eggs?
Biden calls ally Japan ‘xenophobic’ along with rivals China and Russia
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks in Syracuse, New York, on April 25.
Yen swings stir talk that Japan is in the FX market once again
An electronic screen in Tokyo displays the yen exchange rate against the U.S. dollar and the graph showing its recent swings, on Thursday.
Harajuku strives to reclaim its former glory — and surpass it
Laforet Harajuku, which celebrated its 45th anniversary last year, has been a witness to the district's evolution over the years.
Weak yen fattens tourist wallets in Japan
People visit the Ameya Yokocho market in Tokyo's Ueno district during the Golden Week holiday on Tuesday.
Japan's May 1 intervention may have cost ¥3.66 trillion, BOJ data suggests
An electronic screen displays a graph showing Japanese yen exchange rates surging against the dollar amid signs of intervention by authorities, in Tokyo on Thursday.
Kishida sets sights on energy and climate in South America trip
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will use a policy speech in Sao Paulo to set out his vision for ties between Japan and South America, almost 10 years after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe advocated for stronger ties between the two in the same city.
Yellow sand allergy: A health issue made worse by climate change
A screenshot of the Meteorological Agency's satellite image of clouds and yellow sand (in pink) on Sunday.
Climate change, chalky grains and the risks for Japan’s rice farmers
A farmer plants seedlings in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s self sufficiency rate for rice is nearly 100%, compared with 38% for food overall, on a calorie basis.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.

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