contents

samurai special
takasugi shinsaku ・
鍍o think while on the run!・

kabuki versus hollywood
different demands
kidney moneymakers
human organ farm

free gifts
the greenpeace story; beating around the bush

kidney moneymakers

japan痴 first gaijin mp japan痴 first gaijin mp
coming in from the cold

loose lips
what the japanese are saying


tokyo faces
yanagibashi

aids
peace of mind in one or two weeks

helicopter ride
rising above it all


tokyo faces - yanagibashi

spiral/wacoal art center
spiral/wacoal art center
interview with tsutomu okada

film reviews
chicago
all or nothing
far from heaven
8 mile
maid in manhattan
about schmidt


events calendar
where do you want to go today?

music heads
fuji rock festival and summer sonic

cd reviews
555 recordings compilation ・555cd55
susumu yokota ・overhead
jairamji ・kindred spirit

book review (bilingual)
bush in wonderland
Events

modern tea ceremony (bilingual)
don稚 lose this article
finding your way through tokyo痴 斗ost and found・

classifieds
from schools to housing to services

modern tea ceremony (bilingual)
green tea for the 21st century

book reviews
japanese movie posters
secrets of the ninja
cosplay girls

foundation stones
history in Meiji Mura

horrorscope
predictions and predilections
foundation stones



editorial

the right thing

One of the pleasures of life in Tokyo is that it痴 so safe. People who have lived here all their lives may take safety for granted, but for those of us who came to Japan from other places, it痴 something special. For us, it痴 a gift when we forget our wallet in a taxi and the driver brings it to our door an hour later. We feel thankful that we can walk around almost any Tokyo neighborhood late at night without feeling threatened. Even the sex is safer, when you consider how much lower the rate of HIV is in Japan compared to both its Asian neighbors and other developed countries.
In articles in this issue, TJ looks at safety and doing 鍍he right thing.・In the piece titled 電on稚 loose this article,・new TJ contributor Alice Gordenker explains Tokyo痴 amazing system for returning lost items to their rightful owners. We hope this information will help you the next time you lose or find something. In a separate piece, she explains where to go for free and anonymous testing for the HIV virus that causes AIDS. We hope this will encourage you to do 鍍he right thing・and get tested to protect yourself, your partners and the community at large.
Actually, Japan is at a critical point in its fight to contain AIDS. Until the early 1990s, most cases in Japan were due to HIV-infected blood products that were imported for the treatment of hemophilia patients. But in recent years, there has been an increase in the number of infections through sexual contact, most often among men who have sex with men. To date, here has been little spread to the general population, and Japan has one of the lowest rates of HIV in the world. According to the latest estimates from the United Nations, 0.02 percent of the Japanese adult population is infected with HIV, compared to 0.6 percent in the United States, 0.1 percent in China, 1-2 percent in Thailand and 2.7 percent in Cambodia. But Japanese health officials are very concerned about low condom use in Japan, both in the general population and high-risk groups such as female sex workers and men who have sex with men. They are also concerned by the recent drop in the number of people in Japan who go for HIV testing...

Stephan Hauser