Kobe                We were all excited about meeting with a community leader who had been active in the ‘push and shove’ of getting citizen input within the Kobe planning process.  We had read the pre–publication chapters of Professor Olshanksy’s book, so we knew that citizens were only able to find any voice at all late in …

Kobe, Japan                Kobe is a port city below Osaka about 3 hours on the bullet train from Tokyo.  From the edge of the hills looking down as your eyes travel towards the water, it is really a very pretty town.   It is hard to believe today that almost 12 years ago on January 17, 1995 …