“…from her balcony she looked down on the city of Kobe. Michiko’s house was built on a hill. It looked over the town to the port with its cranes and the smoking chimneys of a steel works. Beyond this jumble was the sea…. She was far from the rice fields of memory here.” Michiko’s House,…

It is a cold February morning in West Tokyo and we are standing outside the house of Jake Adelstein, author and former journalist for the Yomiuri Shinbun. The only problem? Adelstein isn’t here. J SELECT’s photographer calls him. “It’s the first lesson for any journalist: check your e-mails every morning,” he tells her. It turns…

It is a little-known fact that the Thermophis baileyi (perhaps more commonly known as the hot spring snake) gets its warmth and energy not from the sun, but from slithering in and out of the thermal waters near Lhasa, Tibet. I’ve often imagined what it would be like to be one of these snakes, pondering…

The Tokyo Sky Tree. A lot has been said and written about the new broadcasting tower which is set to become the tallest artificial structure in Japan, but one thing amazes no matter how often it is heard – the sheer size of it. At 634 meters, or 2,080 feet in old world money, it…

The man on a bicycle at the end of the lane, singing shima uta  (island songs), bows as deeply as he thinks, gives me a spirited greeting and, speeding past, resumes his melody. Smiles here in Okinawa are generally of the unforced variety and greetings a daily commonality. Eye contact elicits at the very minimum…

Some people plan out their lives, setting goals for milestones they’d like to reach along the way. For such a person aspiring to be an actor, this would normally involve heading straight to Hollywood, carving out a place in the industry, networking like it’s going out of style, and waiting for a stroke of good…

In the early days of the Meiji Period (1868-1912), Hokkaido was the country’s wild frontier. Inhabited by indigenous Ainu and resourceful (and occasionally rebellious) settlers, the northern island had been largely ignored by Japan’s rulers during the secluded centuries of rule by the Tokugawa Shogunate. Opened to American ships by the Treaty of Kanagawa brokered…

Eco is the catchphrase that serenades this era’s consciousness, and given the urban density of Japan – and the alarming rate of climate change – it is one that cannot be stressed enough. In response to this impending crisis, Prime Minister Hatoyama made climate change one of his foremost topics, and at the UN summit…

It might be hard for some to keep up with the dizzying pace of fashion in Tokyo – or at least the aggressive pace Tokyo boutiques change seasons. In fact, as soon as you settle on buying that summery Marc Jacobs T-shirt you’ve had your eye on for a while, the shelves will be swept…

For several years after WWII, in the days before New Caledonia and Hawaii became de rigueur and affordable, Beppu, along with Miyazaki to the south, was one of Japan’s most popular and exotic honeymoon spots. Even the exceptionally well-traveled writer Yukio Mishima and his bride Yoko spent part of their honeymoon there. The city is…