A selection of my published articles.
Urban issues and the living environment:
Muji is redesigning Tokyo’s cheap estate housing as a hip lifestyle choice – Quartz
Tokyo designers push the boundaries of wooden skyscrapers – Financial Times
A house for all seasons – Financial Times
Where are the world’s most elderly cities, and how are they coping with ageing populations? – The Guardian
Harnessing the power of community to drive an energy revolution – On the grassroots energy initiatives going against the grain post-Fukushima, in The Japan Times
Japanese prefab tiny homes could change the way we think about disaster housing – Quartz
A greater share for the Japanese sharehouse – Nippon.com
Review of Tokyo Totem, a guide of how to find one’s rhythm in Tokyo’s urban sprawl – TimeOut
Tech:
Silicon to spinach: Japan tech helps farmers cope with climate shifts – Reuters
Deregulation at heart of Japan’s new robotics revolution – Reuters
Your fridge just texted: Japan electronics firms pin hopes on ‘smart’ appliances – Reuters
Insight: At Mt. Gox bitcoin hub, ‘geek’ CEO sought both control and escape – Reuters
Exclusive: Mt. Gox faced questions on handling client cash long before crisis – Reuters
Japanese culture, society and politics:
What Pokemon, Japanese schoolgirl punks, and cocaine have in common – A look at the psychological response to cute objects that makes Pokemon so addictive as an escapist pleasure in dark times.
The vagina, in all its ‘obscene’ glory A review of artist Rokudenashiko’s manga, which is about being arrested for making controversial art based on her genitalia.
Under the ‘Orientalist’ kimono – Exploring Japan’s “orientalisation” of the kimono, in The Japan Times
Asylum seekers find little refuge in Japan – Originally in Metropolis magazine
How Japan’s election could change the shaky balance of military power in Asia – Quartz
Japan has a cute problem – Why “kawaii” culture holds women down, in Matter
Novelist Mizumura fights to arrest fall of Japanese literature, Review of “The Fall of Language in the Age of English” in the Japan Times
A minicar named Hustler? Japan’s brand names raise eyebrows – On inappropriate Japanese brand names, for Reuters
Fukushima:
Insight: Japan’s nuclear clean-up: costly, complex and at risk of failing – Reuters
For many Fukushima evacuees, the truth is they won’t be going home – Reuters
Special Report: Help wanted in Fukushima: Low pay, high risks and gangsters – Reuters (additional reporting)
Fukushima farmer says government got it all wrong – Asahi Shimbun
Art reviews:
Yayoi Kusama: at 85, ‘the ideas just keep coming’ – The Sunday Telegraph
In the Kinky City – Review of photographer Pawel Jaszcuk in Tokyo Art Beat
If you cut into the present, the future leaks out – Review of “Post Fossil” exhibition at Tokyo’s 21_21 Design Site
Sentimental Journeys – Review of “Travel” at Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photograph
The Queasy Trinity – Review of Kohei Nawa’s L_B_S at Maison Hermes, Tokyo
Guerrillas in the Midst – Review of avant-garde Japanese art group Chim Pom
Film & Music
I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by MDMA – Fuji Rock 2010, in Heso
Stallion Rock – Review of Foals gig, in Heso
Tokyo 23rd Film Festival – in Heso
For the love of cinema – Tokyo 24th Film Festival, in Heso
Food
How to make Real Korean-Style Kimchi – Heso
Silicon to spinach: Japan tech helps farmers cope with climate shifts – Reuters
Health
Can the cold make you stronger? – On Dutch daredevil Wim Hof, The Guardian
