Highlighting JAPAN

through images

Using photographs, illustrations, and videos, this online magazine helps people throughout the world know more about Japan from a variety of aspects.

April 2010

A New Sense of Community

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COVER STORY
A New Sense of Community

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Brief but powerful, the 1995 tremor that shook Kobe ultimately claimed the lives of 6,434 people. But Kobe has rebounded from the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake. Kobe's revival was driven with concerted action by the people who pulled together and who helped and supported each other to survive. Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has emphasized the need for more of this sentiment, calling for building up the power of people to help one another, which he has termed a "new form of public sector." The spirit of this new sense of community is already incipient, having taken root in the minds and hearts of people during their efforts to reconstruct Kobe.

ON THE COVER: Bereaved family members and citizens observe a silent prayer on January 17 at a park in central Kobe at 5:46 a.m., the exact time when the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake occurred 15 years ago. At the park stands a monument with plates on which are inscribed the names of 6,434 people killed in the temblor. Candlelight in bamboo lanterns forms the date and year when the quake struck.

TOPICS / Tokyo Girls Collection
REAL GIRL FASHION SHOWCASED

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"Cute" and "cool" are keywords when it comes to young, fashion-conscious Japanese women. To showcase these latest real "everyday fashions" to the rest of the world, the 10th Tokyo Girls Collection (TGC) was held on March 6 at Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture.

TOPICS / Children`s Books
JAPANESE CHILDREN'S BOOKS GOING ABROAD

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Japan is one of the treasure houses of children's literature. Taking a hint from this and to mark the 10th anniversary of its 2000 opening in this National Reading Year, the International Library of Children's Literature has launched an exhibition titled "Children's Books Going Overseas from Japan."

TOPICS / Attractive Souvenir in Japan Contest
LOOKING FOR SOUVENIRS? LOOK NO MORE!

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The Japan Tourism Agency conducts a contest that recognizes especially attractive Japanese souvenir goods. One facet of the Visit Japan Campaign, tasked with determining winning products are some 25 judges, of whom 13 are foreigners. The grand prize for 2010 went to the "Olden Imari Ceramics Altered Wine Cup Set."

PEOPLE / Art Encouragement Prize
DIRECTOR UYAMA STAGES MARATHON SHAKESPEARE PERFORMANCE

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Director Hitoshi Uyama's masterful and mammoth staging of Shakespeare's monumental "Henry VI" trilogy has won him high praise and, over his career, his efforts have landed him the Education Minister's Art Encouragement Prize.

TOURISM / Yokoso! Japan
MAKING AKIHABARA A GLOBAL BRAND

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"Akihabara is a district and a brand, and it is my job to further boost the Akihabara brand," says a visibly determined Tomio Izumi, secretary general of the Akihabara Tourism Promotion Association. He has a point. Akihabara has rapidly morphed into a preeminent sightseeing spot that attracts two million foreigners a year.

NATURE / Okinawa
CULTURAL TREASURES, NATURAL WONDERS

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Okinawa Prefecture is made up of the Ryukyu Islands, the southernmost waters of Japan some 2,000 kilometers southwest of Tokyo. About 160 islands, both small and large, are scattered in these waters. Okinawa is the nation's only prefecture with a subtropical climate.

all of the documents (6,180KB)

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