Since the year 2000， the content of Japanese magazines hasgradually changed. Friends in the Japanese news media have askedHaraguchi for articles on daily life in China. Nowadays， all Japanesefashion magazines carry slice-of-life news from Beijing， along withsimilar reports from New York， Paris， London and Milan. As a freelancer，every year Haraguchi contributes between 50 to 100 articles toJapanese magazines， newspapers and websites about China’s publicfigures， travel， architecture， interior design， fashion， cuisine and soon. She has also written books， such as “Smart Chinese Kitchen” and“Anecdotes from the Streets of Beijing and Shanghai”， which are wellreceived in Japan.
200 One day， she met a Japanese “grandpa” at a dumpling restaurantshe had recommended in a Japanese magazine. The grandpa asked herif she too had found it after reading Junko Haraguchi’s article. “I amHaraguchi herself，” she answered. Her surprised country fellow wasso excited that he insisted on having a picture taken with her， and remainedin contact with Haraguchi even after he returned to Japan. Thisgave Junko great gratification.
During a chat with an American correspondent， she learned thatthe American news media mainly concentrates on political and economiclife， with very few articles on daily life. It was all quite colorlessand boring， the admiring correspondent told her， adding “I wouldlike to write about such daily-life stuff and Chinese dumplings toowhen I am retired.” I can see Haraguchi feels a sense of accomplishmentas she says “There are more news reports on China’s daily lifein Japan then in the USA， and I think Japan must be No.1 in this respect”。
Haraguchi attributes her accomplishments mostly to her “timely arrival in Beijing. “It wouldn’t have worked if I came here ten years earlier or ten years later. coming in 1983 would have been too early， Iwouldn’t have had much to do because Japanese press circles weren’
t paying much attention to China. And it would have been too late if Icame after 2003， when there was already a great deal of news reportson Beijing’s daily life — there wouldn’t have been much elbowroomleft for me. If I hadn’t come at the right time， I wouldn’t have beenable to see the sharp-contrast changes and to write on so many interestingsubjects. The Chinese people talk a lot about ‘Timeliness， favorablelocation and good relations’。 I think I have grasped the advantageof ‘Timeliness’。 Speaking pure， fluent Mandarin， Haraguchi amazes me with herfrequent quotes of recondite Chinese classics. Occasionally during theinterview， she comes across a word or two that’s not easy for her topronounce perfectly. Then she earnestly asks me to help her with thepronunciation. Nobody would believe that she spoke no Chinese whenshe came more than ten years ago.
Her husband Ari Haraguchi came to China in 1989 and spent ayear studying Chinese at Beijing Normal University. He sent his wifeto the same school to take the same course after she joined him inBeijing. So the couple became alumni in Beijing. “I like Beijing becauseof its artistic atmosphere，” she tells me. “At the beginning， whenChina adopted its reform and open-door policy， people here didn’twork so hard to keep pace with the tempo of modern life like Japanesepeople.” Haraguchi recalls. “At that time， there were many salons fordifferent circles of cultural life. You had salons for painters， sculptors，musicians， etc. Members would frequently get together， chatting andenjoying music， and then go to restaurants for quick-boiled lamb. Itwas all very interesting.” Before long she’d made many friends， improvingher Chinese in the process. “Chatting is very important andbeneficial and should be taken as part of the work. I have talked withentrepreneurs， farmers and cultural workers. They all have their ownspecial words and expressions. I have learned most of my Chinesefrom them. In 1999， at the recommendation of a friend， Haraguchi took a job202 as a language expert at People’s China， a monthly Japanese-languageperiodical. There she experienced firsthand the institutional culture ofChinese organizations， broadened her knowledge of the country， andgreatly improved her Chinese. Sometimes she would go with otherreporters to cover events. By doing so， Haraguchi gained a thoroughunderstanding of the changing country. Now， though no longer a fulltimer，she still carries out her duties as an expert， writing articles，opening columns and creating ideas for the magazine.
Haraguchi has greatly bettered her Chinese over the years. Fullof a sense of humor， she often amuses her Chinese colleagues withwitty remarks and even the latest slang. Her co-workers call her “JunkoSang”， or Ms. Junko， and she likes this intimate form of Japanese address.
When she sees others working overtime， she would blithelycalls out “comrades， thank you for working hard！” a pet phrase commonlyspoken by Chinese leaders， which makes her colleagues bubblewith laughter.
Working for a Beijing magazine aimed at native Japanese readers，Haraguchi has access to the latest information on China’s reforms.
That should be considered one of the advantages of “favorable location”。
While working in China， she has made many Chinese friendsand friends from other countries. And this， to her mind， is the advantageof “good relations’。
Haraguchi， so to speak， has all the advantages of “timeliness， favorablelocation and good relations”。 That’s why she is in her elementworking in Beijing and enjoys a successful career and a smooth lifehere.
Beijing， a Place Worthy of ExploringAs a well-known connoisseur of fine food， Haraguchi always surprisesher friends at the dining table with the delicacies she orders andobscure dish names that trip off her tongue.
