Report
Second
annual JAGS exhibition helps define perspectives |
| |
Taiko performance by Alex Bird at the opening of the exhibit
at Karakoro-kobo in Matsue |
 |
| What is a foreigner? Is he merely a stranger
in a strange land, someone just passing through, or is he something
more? Well, truth be told, there are as many points of view
on the subject as there are minds to think them. |
 |
|
|
Feature
When
West marries East: A closer look at mixed race couples |
| |
 Despite
the growing popularity of western labels in Japan, while Britons
trust in brands such as Toshiba, and sport kimono-style tops,
there are still a huge culture differences between East and
West. Yet people each year choose to uproot and immigrate, including
Western women marrying Japanese men. So what's it like to live
and marry into a different culture? |
|
|
|
Travel
The Chiiori
project |
| |
 In
the 1970s, American expatriate college student Alex Kerr ventured
into rural Japan, seeking a refuge from the neon lights and
concrete of Japan's growing cities. His search took him to Shikoku,
one of Japan's four main islands. Hiking there in a remote river
valley known as East Iya, he discovered an abandoned, 200-year-old
farm house. |
|
|
|
|
|
| Editor's Notes |
| |
| For most people
who come to this country, whether they stay a month, a year
or five years, they are usually struck by the unique culture
that is Japan. Some people, like in our feature article East
Meets West by Christy Wyatt, find love and a new life in the
country, while still others fall in love with the culture and
the history that surrounds them, such as in the Chiiori Project. |
|
|
|
Column
Sashimi:
A harsh mistress |
| |
 I
can honestly say that after almost two years of living in Japan,
I've fallen in love with a raw fish. I've been caught hook,
line and sinker, and through amazing persistence, (not on my
part) I've been slowly reeled in. Though admittedly, it's still
a love-hate relationship for both of us, we've grown accustomed
to each other. The first time we met, I couldn't bare the thought
of touching my lips to her. Indeed, I rather thought I'd keel
over at the mere smell of the beast. But then, I'm getting ahead
of myself. |
|
|
|
Interview
A conversation
with Japan's blue-eyed politician |
| |
 Marutei
Tsurunen is literally one-of-a-kind. Being an ex-pat foreigner
in any country is difficult enough, but how about a politician
in the Japanese Parliament? Tsurunen became just that on October
4, 2002. Born to a small farm in Northern Karelia, Finland,
it was a long road he trod to become the first foreign-born
politician in Japan's Diet (parliament). |
|
|
