courtesy of EDAW and Robin Chiang

"Guest Commentary"
By HIROSHI FUKUDA

Stephen Engblom, the representative for 3D Investments, the new owners of the Miyako and Kintetsu malls in San Francisco Japantown's Japan Center, informed the Japantown Better Neighborhood Area Plan Steering Committee that there are only two plans which are viable because the Peace Plaza configuration must be retained or only slightly changed. To drastically change the configuration would require a ballot measure.

"Keeping Posted"
By FRED OSHIMA
Nichi Bei Times Columnist

The year that was — 2007, some of the Japanese American highlights.

Significant news and happenings, particularly around Northern California and or otherwise across the country — that have linked the JAs during the past year.

Nichi Bei Times Special Report
LOS ANGELES — Voters in southern Los Angeles County elected Democrat Warren Furutani, a Los Angeles Community College District board member, to fill the 55th Assembly District seat left vacant by the election of Assemblywoman Laura Richardson (D-Long Beach) to Congress in August of 2007.

"The Great Unknown & The Unknown Great"
By GREG ROBINSON
Nichi Bei Times Contributor

This is the first of three columns that trace unexplored aspects of the life of Samuel Ichiye Hayakawa (1906-1992), a complex and colorful figure who was arguably the most controversial Nisei of the 20^th Century.

Himeji Castle image courtesy of the Japan National Tourist Organization/JNTO

By JEFF ASAI
Nichi Bei Times Columnist

From the point of view of young people (from their 20s to their 30s), there aren't too many interesting guidebooks for Japan. I have traveled to some places recommended by travel guides only to be bored or disappointed. Yes, I know I say this at the risk of sounding horribly uncultured, but it's true. So here's a quick break down, so you know what to include in your itinerary and what you can skip.

By THE KAERU KID
Nichi Bei Times Columnist

Bill Matsushima of Torrance got the travel bug when he was in the army stationed in Europe.

He bought "Dollar a Day in Europe," Arthur Frommer's first book geared toward GI's, and he has been hooked on budget travel ever since (wow, prices have sure changed since then).

photos by Kenji G. Taguma

By KENJI G. TAGUMA
Nichi Bei Times

Kobe may not get the same recognition as its nearby Kansai area neighbors — Kyoto, the heart of Japanese culture, or Osaka, the trendy metropolis. But the city perhaps best known for its delectable marbled steak and horrific natural disaster is actually quite an interesting, if unheralded, destination point in itself.

courtesy of Ken Yamada

By APRIL ELKJER
Nichi Bei Times

At an altitude of roughly 1,000 meters (3,281 feet), the resort town of Karuizawa at the foot of active volcano Mt. Asama in Nagano Prefecture is a cool get-away from the sweltering Tokyo summers. Among its lush greenery with larch trees and mossy rocks and streams, one almost expects Totoro, Studio Ghibli's woodland animation, to peek out from behind a tree.

photo courtesy of Kota Morikawa

"Kota's Kitchen"
By KOTA MORIKAWA
Nichi Bei Times

Cooking ramen may be considered easy. The packaged variety has been a very convenient friend for starving college students for years; just put the dry noodles in boiling water for a quick meal.

However, while making ramen from scratch is very time-consuming, the results may satisfy your appetite more than what comes out of a package.

By KATSUHISA SAITO
Asahi Shimbun

In 2006, for the first time in 21 years, Japanese movies generated more revenue than foreign films released in this country. But this was short-lived.

A survey by the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan Inc. of 2007 ticket sales, released Jan. 31, shows that foreign movies accounted for 52.3 percent of combined box office revenue.