Huffington Magazine Issue 48 | Page 54

Arianna gets a chopstick lesson at the Kappo Sakatmoto restaurant in Kyoto. Tokyo — Konnichiwa! Greetings from Japan, where I’ve been for nearly a week leading up to Tuesday’s launch of our latest international edition, HuffPost Japan. Japan is an amazing place — almost overwhelming in how singular and beautiful it is. And we are fortunate to be launching HuffPost here at a remarkable time. This is a time of big transitions. Japan’s spirit is being tested by the same recession and financial crisis afflicting all industrialized nations. But some of the solutions to these new and unprecedented difficulties might well turn out to be found in the most ancient Japanese traditions. Some here are finding that, to go forward, they must go inward. PHOTOGRAPHS BY DAVID FLUMENBAUM