RSS Podcast Feed – MP3 TOKYO – On this edition March 21st 2006, 11 years since AUM, women’s rights in Japan, and complaints over the color of the Italian Cultural Institute’s building.
This week marks the 11th anniversary of the Tokyo subway gassing. On March 20th 1995 as thousands moved through the city’s mass transit system, members of the cult AUM Shinrykyo released crude sarin mixtures that killed 12 people and injured over 5000. Many remember that black day and the uneasiness it generated. Is Japan a safer place, has it learned anything, and will it be ready for another wayward group like AUM?
March 8th was International Womens Day. Coincidentally Japan’s only medal at the Winter Olympics in Turin, a gold, was won by a woman, Shizuka Arakawa.
The Italian Cultural Institute of Tokyo is a grand red building, but the neighbors don’t think so. They are demanding the the Italian embassy paint over the 12 story structure. This calls in to question, the city’s beauty in general, and the attitude to city planning.
