(英語の後に日本語が続きます。) Many people in Japan do not have a clear idea what to expect when hearing the name of Joetsu. The city does not have much of an image and its exact location is a mystery to many. Actually, its location is quite unique. The region Joetsu is the Western part of Niigata prefecture. Joetsu …
Category: story
The image of Joetsu, or the lack thereof…
(英語の後に日本語が続きます。) From many people in Joetsu who I meet for the first time, as well as from friends and acquaintances in Tokyo, I often receive the same question: “Why Joetsu”? I can give them a fairly rational explanation. The response becomes a little more difficult if the same friends and acquaintances in Tokyo ask the …
THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM -If supermarkets sell more diapers for adults than for babies, you know there is a problem.
(英語の後に日本語が続きます。) With the change of the seasons the elections are coming to Japan. The LDP presidency on September 29, the Mayor of Joetsu in October and finally the House of Representatives on October 31, 2021. The season of elections but at the same time the season of electoral promises. Incidentally, “Promises to keep” was the …
YOSHIKAWA HIGH SCHOOL – The cradle of sake brewing in Niigata
Niigata-ken is the prefecture with the largest number of sake breweries and home of the Echigo touji (brew masters) guild. Support for the brewing industry is well organized. Starting at the top, the Sakeology Center of Niigata University, followed by the Niigata Sake Research Institute (managed by the Niigata Sake Brewers Association) and the Niigata …
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TAKADA SEKAIKAN – The rehabilitation of a blue movie theater
Set back from one of Takada’s main streets, Honcho-dori, you will find the “Takada Sekai-kan”, one of Joetsu’s hidden treasures. It is one of Japan’s oldest running movie theaters with a history going back to 1911. It shows a broad range of Japanese and foreign movies. “Sekaikan” translates into “outlook on, or appearance of the …
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KUMIKO – K-INO Inomata Art
The prestigious “Cool Japan Award 2019” was recently added to a list of other domestic and international recognitions of the products of K-Ino Inomata Art. Mr. Inomata, its principal owner proudly showed us the certificate and talks about the background of his business. Basically a woodworking craft, he has managed to turn what is known …
URA NIHON
The Chubu, or central, region of Japan consists of nine prefectures, lying to the west of the Kanto region. The region is characterized by high mountains. The Japanese Alps, as they are called, are the divider between the economically dominant Pacific side, known as the front of Japan, or Omote-Nihon, and the climatologically very different …
JOETSU cont’d
Joetsu has not remained untouched by the blatant commercialism that spoils so many small and large Japanese cities. It has also not been able to escape creation of what Alex Kerr in his “Dogs and Demons” describes as demons. Large infra-structural projects benefitting the construction industry more than ordinary citizens. Passing through Joetsu is the …
JOETSU
Having moved from Tokyo to Joetsu towards the end of last year, I often have had to explain to friends and acquaintances in Tokyo where exactly Joetsu is located and what, if anything, is special about it. The majority of people living in the major cities along Japan’s Pacific Coast are generally not very familiar …
OUT OF THE TUNNEL ….
“The train came out of the long tunnel into the snow country. The earth lay white under the night sky.” Kawabata, transl. Seidensticker (英語の後に日本語が続きます。) A nice and sunny day in Kanto. Typical late autumn weather. I was on my way to Joetsu by car on the Kanetsu Expressway. Beautiful colours of the changing leaves in …
JOETSU STORIES 