One decade ago, after the Tohoku earthquake and resulting tsunami devastated a wide swath of Japan’s Pacific coast, Futoshi Toba — the mayor of Rikuzentakata — sent out a haunting message to the world: ”We do not want to be forgotten. This is our hope.” His city was one of the hardest hit as waves […]
Japan
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Fires and Masks
I used to love to visit the Fire Museum in Tokyo. There you could see the traditional irezumi tattoos of firefighters along with models of the tight rows of wooden houses that made up towns in Edo Japan. Woodblock prints and dioramas showed how the firefighters, roving bands of tough guys, would, instead of throwing […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Butter and Belonging at Red Lobster
My immigrant Japanese family came to America and fell in love with cheap steaks, sausage, corned beef and cabbage, lasagna and rye bread. But they drew a deep line at American seafood. In New York State in the ’70s and ’80s, this meant shrimp doused in opaque sauces, dry fillets armored in cracker crumbs, frozen […]
Posted inNews
Three Facing Charges for ‘International Conspiracy’ to Poach Succulents Near Trinidad
The growing popularity of using succulents — here and abroad — for decorative plant arrangements is resulting in what state officials are calling a “rising poaching trend on the North Coast,” including the the discovery of an alleged international poaching ring. California Department of Fish and Wildlife officials arrested Taehun Kim, 52, and Taeyun Kim, […]
Posted inNews
UPDATED: More Parks for Eureka?
UPDATE: Miles Slattery reached out to the Journal to clarify on a couple of points, first emphasizing that turning the landscaped areas into parks would not increase his staff’s workload. He also said there has been a miscommunication between the Kamisu City representatives and the Sister City Association. “We were originally told they wanted to […]
Posted inNews
A Goosenecking Sight at Clam Beach
I suspect I’m not the only Humboldt-er who finds myself meandering down the beach keeping a gentle eye out for seafaring debris from Japan’s 2011 tsunami – you know, a skiff, a soccer ball, perhaps a motorcycle? It’s fascinating to think these wayward objects, gone astray in the midst of one of this century’s worst […]