Kyoto

Our disco-era Kyoto hotel redeemed itself when we found out they rent free bikes. So our 24-hour visit was topped off by a delightful morning ride through the hills of the Higashiyama district. It’s the section with the largest concentration of temples and shrines, with narrow streets lined by old shops and small wooden houses. […]

So get this: the world’s first novel came from Japan — and it was written by a woman — and it’s all about sex. Japanese literary buffs and commoners alike are celebrating the 1000th anniversary of The Tale of Genji. The author Murasaki Shikibu (c. 973 – c. 1014 or 1025) was a maid of […]

Buddhist word of the day: On the overview map of Kyoto train station I noticed this funny thing, instead of saying ‘You are here’ it simply said ‘Now’. I guess it comes to the same, except ‘Now’ would be true not just for the Kyoto train station map, but for most places you go, if […]

I was alone in Kyoto part of last week getting tape for a story. One night after doing an interview, I was looking for something to do… and I stumbled into one of the city’s gigantic pachinko parlors. The sliding doors opened to a wall of sound — a cacophony of pop music and high-pitched […]

In recent climate change negotiations, very little progress was made because of conflicts between the largest emitting countries. But with devastating storms, linked broadly to changes in climate, increasing across all corners of the globe, the least developed countries are growing louder in their demands for immediate action.