NEWS

IN THE EYE OF ERIC RECHSTEINER

© Eric Rechsteiner Sugawara-in shrine, Kyoto In Chinese astrology, 2021 is the year of the ox (buffalo), what’s more, it’s an ox made of metal. This magnificent specimen, which can be seen at Sugawara-in shrine in Kyoto, should remind us that we are entering a time of hard work. The ox – meth[...]

No.83 IN THE EYE OF ERIC RECHSTEINER

© Eric Rechsteiner Sai Shrine, Ikijima, Nagasaki Prefecture More than any other country in the world, Japan needs places like this shrine dedicated to fertility to help boost its birth rate that has been decreasing for nearly three decades. The events of 2020 did nothing to help matters. While the [...]

No.81 IN THE EYE OF ERIC RECHSTEINER

© Eric Rechsteiner   Tono, Iwate Prefecture The city of Tono, in the northeast of the Archipelago, is the centre of hop production in Japan (see pp. 20-22). Just like other rural regions in the country, there has been a large increase in its ageing population. This not only impinges on its pro[...]

No.80 IN THE EYE OF ERIC RECHSTEINER

© Eric Rechsteiner   Naha city, Okinawa Prefecture The spring of 2020 will be remembered by the Japanese as a period during which they found themselves alone without the sometimes noisy presence of foreign tourists for whom Japan has become a favourite destination in recent years. It’s all t[...]

No.79 IN THE EYE OF ERIC RECHSTEINER

© Eric Rechsteiner   Fukushimagata Nature Education Garden, Niigata Niigata, the main city of the prefecture which bears the same name, is one of those provincial cities that, despite every effort, has not been transformed into a sprawling metropolis. Designated as a port open for internationa[...]

No.78 IN THE EYE OF ERIC RECHSTEINER

© Eric Rechsteiner   Shinsekai, Naniwa, Osaka A veritable institution in the picturesque district of Shinsekai, in Osaka, the Kokusai Gekijo is famous for its handpainted posters that evoke nostalgia for a time that is now long gone. Built in 1930, it reminds one of the Japanese fascination fo[...]

No.77 IN THE EYE OF ERIC RECHSTEINER

© Eric Rechsteiner   Yurakucho, Chiyoda district, Tokyo The 88-year-old film-maker YAMADA Yoji (see Zoom Japan no.30, April 2015) is one of the most popular figures in Japanese cinema. Creator of the longest film series in the world, he opened the Tokyo Inter- national Film Festival by present[...]

No.76 IN THE EYE OF ERIC RECHSTEINER

© Eric Rechsteiner   Jiyugaoka, Meguro-ku, Tokyo In the past few years, one of the most popular of the many activities enjoyed by young Japanese women has been tasting sessions. Whether it’s food or drink, nothing daunts them, not even wine, which they are discovering in increasing numbers. [...]

No.75 IN THE EYE OF ERIC RECHSTEINER

© Eric Rechsteiner   POLITICS Abe’s cabinet reshuffle anxious to speed up reform of japan’s pacifist constitution, aBe shinzo reshuffled his government on 11 september and altered the direction of the Liberal Democratic party. His grandfather KIsHI Nobusuke had already tried to achieve thi[...]

No.74 IN THE EYE OF ERIC RECHSTEINER

© Eric Rechsteiner   Shibamata, Katsushika district, Tokyo Often in competition with konbini (convenience stores), mini-markets that open 24/7, small independent neighbourhood shops are finding it very difficult to survive in large cities, particularly in the city centres. In the outlying dist[...]