Summer Diaries   

Clear evidence that these ‘occasional essays’ started off in life as a (projected) weekly series. This extended sequence covers life in and around Ozasa between June and August 2002. Extensively illustrated, and – as these essays must be – full of entertaining digressions.

Merging Away   

We are part of a worldwide trend: of municipal governments subject to various pressures for change. We should watch these trends carefully: municipal government is often neglected, and this neglect can have dire consequences.

Fukuoka walks,
talks with the animals   

Items in the local news support the hope that we will find a way to muddle through after all, and attain a homespun kind of grace. This essay collects the details of a selection of such stories.

Living with the North   

Early May 2002 saw another crisis develop in relations between Japan and China. Chinese police detained a group of North Korean asylum seekers at the Japanese consulate in Shenyang, forcing questions no one much likes to face.

Whale Stories   

The International Whaling Commission was in the neighbourhood in May 2002. At the same time, as usual, whale was in the supermarket up the street. Some notes on why people at the IWC just can’t get along.

Date posted: 2003-09-15