Asia-Pacific Perspectives: Japan+, January 2004, Volume 1, Number 9
 

Features:

• Community Planning: New Life for Old Schools Schools are closing down as Japan's population ages, but the facilities are being put to new uses to serve their communities.
   
• Culture: Haiku and Contemporary Art Japan's traditional haiku poetry is being combined with avant-garde art in an interesting new collaboration.
   
• Special Feature: Cars For The Future The automobile needs to change to meet present concerns about the global environment, safety, congestion, and efficient use of resources. What will the next generation of cars look like?
   
• International Contributions: NGOs in the Middle East We look at four Japanese NGOs working in dangerous conditions to help people in desperate need of assistance.
   
• Iraq: International Conference on Reconstruction in Iraq At the conference in Madrid, the international community was united in the desire to assist in the reconstruction of Iraq.
   
• Interview: Makoto Inoue Inoue has studied the ways in which tropical forests are used by the communities that live in them. He talks about how to save the forests.
   
• Traditional Art: Shaping Metal Hammering metal into decorative shapes is an ancient art, and can be used to produce a fantastic range of works.

Columns:

• Architecture

• Japan Through Statistics

• Lifestyle

• Environment

• Government

• Japan+ Questionnaire