When the Dead Pause and the Japanese Say Goodbye By Marie Mutsuki Mocket (New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc., 2016, 336 pp., $16.95, paperback) “Perhaps it is possible, then, to see through more than one set of eyes …” Expected to speak and behave as a Japanese once she boarded the plane from America, […]
Bay Area welcomes Tohoku students
August 9, 2012 by Leave a Comment
George Suzuki will never forget March 11, 2011, the fateful day that Japan was slammed with three disasters — a 9.0 earthquake, followed by a devastating tsunami that killed thousands and a nuclear meltdown that shook the nation to the core. He knew something was wrong, terribly wrong. His family’s home in Miyagi Prefecture began […]
Northern Japan’s fancy foods
February 23, 2012 by 1 Comment
Some 17,000 attendees swarmed the 1,300 companies that exhibited across 206,000 square feet of San Francisco’s expansive Moscone Center during the Winter Fancy Food Show. The specialty foods trade show, now in its 37th year, was held from Jan. 15 to 17. The National Association for Specialty Food Trade (NASFT) is a New York-based nonprofit currently celebrating […]
MIYAGI FOOD: Healthy, delicious and safe
November 25, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Since the tragic earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan’s Tohoku region more than eight months ago, Japan has seen substantial decreases in foreign tourism. Many areas directly affected by the disaster are also experiencing decreased domestic and foreign sales of local food products amid concerns for radiation safety. The Consulate General of Japan in San […]
REFLECTION ON JAPAN: Growing stigma against victims of Fukushima
April 29, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Editor’s note: A month after the Tohoku disaster, a quasi-nationalistic “love it or leave it” attitude has gained currency, putting pressure on people to stay and face potential dangers for the sake of group solidarity. A wrenching dilemma has emerged in the midst of the nuclear radiation crisis afflicting Japan. A quasi-nationalistic “love it or […]
Shaken, but always majestic
March 18, 2011 by Leave a Comment
One of my regrets from the two years I lived in Japan was that I didn’t get outdoors enough. While teaching English on the JET Program, I stayed in a small city called Yuzawa, located in southernmost Akita Prefecture and nestled in a peaceful countryside of profound natural beauty. I’ve never lived in a place […]
Grateful Crane Ensemble’s goodwill tour to Tohoku, Japan
“How was your trip to Japan?” It’s a question I’ve been asked several times since we returned from our Goodwill Tour to Tohoku last month. “It went really well,” I would say. But after that, I would have a hard time finding the words to describe it. “It wasn’t like your typical tour of Japan,” […]