MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY HOLIDAYS 2022

we touched this same spot with our hands, our feet, our gaze and our dreams

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Monday, November 22, 2010

10 THINGS YOU MUST DO IN TOKYO


10 THINGS THAT WILL
MAKE YOUR EXPERIENCE
 IN TOKYO INCREDIBLE


1- Eat a sushi breakfast at the Tsukiji Fish Market.

2- Take a boat ride on the Sumida River from Asakusa.

3- Lose yourself in the dazzling neon jungle outside major train stations in the evenings. Shibuya and east Shinjuku at night can make Times Square or Piccadilly Circus look rural in comparison — it has to be seen to be believed.

4- Enjoy a soak in a local "sento" or public bath. Or one of the onsen theme parks such as LaQua at the Tokyo Dome (Bunkyo) or Oedo Onsen Monogatari in Odaiba.

5- Go to an amusement park such as Tokyo Disney Resort, which consists of Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea which are the world's most visited and second most visited theme parks respectively, or the more Japanese Sanrio Puroland (in Tama), home to more Hello Kitties than you can imagine.

6- Check out the hip and young crowd at Harajuku's Takeshita-Dori(Takeshita Street) or the more grown up Omotesando.

7- In the spring, take a boatride in Kichijoji's lovely Inokashira Park, and afterwards visit the Ghibli Studios Museum (well-known for their amazing movies, like Spirited Away, and Princess Mononoke), but you will need to buy tickets for these in advance at a Lawson convenience store.

8- Take the Yurikamome elevated train across the bay bridge from Shimbashi station to the bayside Odaiba district, and go on the giant ferris wheel — the largest in the world until recently.

9- Watch a baseball game, namely the Yomiuri Giants at the Tokyo Dome, or the Tokyo Yakult Swallows at Jingu Stadium. Nearby Chiba hosts the Chiba Lotte Marines.

10- Take a stroll through the Imperial Palace's East Gardens (open to the public daily at 9AM, except Fridays and Mondays).

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Chalmers Johnson dies at 79

OBITUARY

Japan revisionist scholar Chalmers Johnson dies at 79

LOS ANGELES —
Chalmers Johnson, an international politics scholar known as the original ‘‘Japan revisionist,’’ died Saturday at his home in California aged 79, people close to him said. The cause of his death was not immediately known.
As a revisionist, Johnson considered Japan different from other developed countries and his book ‘‘MITI and the Japanese Miracle’’ on Japanese economic development had a great impact on both Japanese and U.S. authorities. MITI, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, has since been renamed the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
After teaching at institutions including the University of California, Berkeley, between 1962 and 1992, he founded in 1994 the Japan Policy Research Institute, a think tank devoted to public education concerning Japan and international relations in the Pacific, serving as its president.
Born in 1931 in Arizona, Johnson received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. His other works included ‘‘The Sorrows of Empire’’ and ‘‘Nemesis.’‘
In an article that appeared in the online edition of The Los Angeles Times in May, Johnson called on the United States to withdraw its troops from the Futenma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture, the relocation plan for which has sparked local opposition.
‘‘I would strongly suggest that the United States climb off its high horse, move the Futenma Marines back to a base in the United States (such as Camp Pendleton, near where I live) and thank the Okinawans for their 65 years of forbearance,’’ he wrote.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Tourists to be barred from Tsukiji tuna auctions Dec 1-Jan 22

TOKYO —
Tsukiji fish market will shut out sightseers from its popular tuna auctioning area from Dec 1 to Jan 22 to ensure that auction activities can be conducted smoothly, the Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market said Wednesday. The auctioning area will be made off-limits to sightseers around the New Year holidays for the third straight year, according to the market run by the Tokyo metropolitan government.
The measure was introduced in 2008 as activities such as flash photography on the part of some tourists disturbed tuna middlemen and since the area will be particularly crowded around New Year due to an upsurge in tuna transactions, according to market officials. The market will continue to give sightseers access to the wholesalers’ area, a zone that accommodates wholesale outlets for some 850 middlemen, after 9 a.m.
Sightseers will also be allowed to visit restaurants, the entity said.