Where’s Voldemort?

Every time the focus is on the events of seventy and eighty years ago, it means a loss for Japan and a win for China

Thoreau in Hokkaido

Tancho cranes have successfully marketed themselves as Japanese icons to rank with Mount Fuji, sushi and Hello Kitty…

Fishy Business

The man behind the counter preparing his food was the god-like Jiro Ono, creator of the Jiro-nigiri sushi style.

Lucifer Rising in the Eurozone

Crowley died a penniless heroin addict, but it could be argued that today’s world is more congruent with his thinking than that of Marx, Mill or any of the great religious leaders.

Reflating Japan

The triple disasters of March 2011 – earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear contamination – offered a stark depiction of Japan’s strengths and weaknesses to the world and perhaps to the Japanese themselves.