Arigatou Gozaimasu
I barely knew anyone at the beginning of this trip with the UM to Fukushima group from the University of Montana. Sure, I’d spent the...
Montana's sister school Tohoku University
Montana Journalism Abroad made Tohoku University’s library our work site during our last week in Japan. The campus couldn’t be any more...
Hope and a Hello Kitty pen
The dark room felt cold and unwelcoming until it was filled with voices and people. In my head I had pictured small, neatly handwritten...
Forest food testers: A measure of safety
From June 1st to the 3rd, Katy Spence and I took a side trip to Kawauchi Village, away from the main group. We traveled to the small town...
In transit
I was literally in an old-time storybook adventure. A choo-choo train had carried me deep into rural Japan, where I was now in search of...
Through the no-go zone
Noriko Ikeura starts the workday as a bus guide. Her day is about the same as for most people. She gets up early in the morning, gets...
Hot water runs deep
Photo by Katy Spence-Miyuki Ishida says her daughter was discriminated against at her high school in Yumoto after the nuclear accident...
Underdogs of Iwaki: Naraha's return to sports
A 14-year-old junior high school student catches the 6 a.m. train in Iwaki in order to make it to school in the town of Naraha on time....
Wrapped up in Hisanohama
Shizue Satou, 68, smiled and said something to me in Japanese. She held up a light blue silk in her arms. It was a yukata, a more casual...
Follow the sea
The air is hot and heavy in the packed train car leaving Tokyo. As the trolley continues its melodic movement south from Kamakura to...