Our Lives | JAPAN LITE Oct 31, 2018
The death of a Japanese countryside festival
by Amy Chavez
Ancient rites bend to an aging, shrinking population, but how much longer can local traditions hold out?
NEWSWORTHY
Our Lives | JAPAN LITE Jul 29, 2018
One man's labor-of-love museum captures Seto Inland Sea island's storied stone history
by Amy Chavez
Build a stone museum and they will come? That's the idea behind the K's Labo museum on Kitagi Island in Okayama Prefecture.
Our Lives | JAPAN LITE May 27, 2018
Japan's public policy is killing rural entrepreneurship
by Amy Chavez
While big-ticket tourism projects in Japan thrive, those involved in smaller-scale projects can feel starved of government support.
National / Crime & Legal Apr 16, 2018
Shikoku prison escapee stymies 6,600 police on small island in Seto Inland Sea
Police in Hiroshima and Ehime prefectures have been pursuing the man on Mukaishima Island since he escaped from Matsuyama Prison on April 8.
National Apr 8, 2018
A ceremony was held Sunday to celebrate Tuesday's 30th anniversary of the Seto-Ohashi Bridges, a series of bridges connecting Kagawa and Okayama prefectures across the Seto Inland Sea. The Seto-Ohashi Bridges form one of the bridge routes linking the main islands of Honshu and Shikoku. One ...
Our Lives | JAPAN LITE Jan 28, 2018
Launch a tourist-friendly Seto Inland Sea ferry system and they will come
by Amy Chavez
The 250 or so inhabited islands scattered like pebbles between Honshu and Shikoku have been unfairly relegated to guidebook sidebars labeled "Off the beaten track."
Our Lives | JAPAN LITE Dec 17, 2017
What do Western tourists want from Japan? Try asking one
by Amy Chavez
How many other countries would attempt to lure Western tourists without at least having a tete-a-tete with a woman in their target audience who has lived for over 20 years in the very place they're hoping to attract people to?
Food & Drink | Gourmet Trails Nov 25, 2017
Slow food and easy pedaling along Seto Inland Sea's Shimanami Kaido
by Amy Chavez
Japanese-Western fusion cuisine abounds along this six-island cycle path connecting Hiroshima to Ehime.
Our Lives | JAPAN LITE Dec 25, 2016
Discovering the mystery behind 'Goat Island' in the Seto Inland Sea
by Amy Chavez
There was a man living on a small island in the Seto Inland Sea who had a goat. He was not an old man, and he didn't know much about ruminants, so when his goat grew bigger, and its stubbornness exceeded its usefulness, the ...
National Oct 25, 2016
Rural Japan looks to tap repeat tourists from abroad amid slump in shopping sprees
With signs of a slowdown in foreign tourists' spending at urban shopping centers in the country, officials and businesses in regional cities are aiming to draw greater interest in their untapped tourism resources as repeat visitors from abroad increase. Consumption by foreign tourists in Japan ...
Our Lives | JAPAN LITE Oct 23, 2016
Uninvited pair of animal invaders leave island in a tizzy
by Amy Chavez
When a boar and a deer show up offering diversity and hope to repair our ecosystem, we should be honored that they'd even consider taking up residence here.
Travel Oct 1, 2016
'Alien' life forms in Japan's Seto Sea
by Trevor Williams, Tim Cleminson and Jonathan Galione
Forget the neons of Tokyo. For an otherworldly light experience visit the bioluminescent ‘sea fireflies’ on the beaches of the Inland Sea.