She even erected an artificial tree just inside the door for the birdsto play on. Visitors would see the birds jumping and flying aroundthe tree when they stepped inside. Some friends jokingly labeled herapartment as “a three-park home”—Beijing Zoo Park， Beijing BotanicalPark and Panjiayuan Park. “It is hard for a journalist to keep a tidyhome，” Haraguchi said by way of excusing herself. “When friendsvisited， I greeted them with ‘have a seat’ and they would ask me， perplexedly， ‘where’？
So I had to make roomfor them.” I cannot butlaugh upon hearing herstory. Anyway it is rarefor a foreigner to displaythe essence of Beijing’sthree parks inside a singleapartment.
Using public transportationwhen she wasliving in Panjiayuan was terribly inconvenient， since her home was farfrom any subway station. Wanting a better location， Haraguchi rentedout the old apartment for 3，500 yuan a month and moved into herpresent apartment at SOHO Modern City. Here in her new home， youcan still see glimpses of Panjiayuan Park， with an artistic glass vasehere and a pair of stone-carved fu dogs there. She still keeps the “zoo”，symbolized by the cats. She had to give up “the botanical park”， however，since the two naughty cats destroy any plant that she tries togrow.
The two female cats， Mimi and Tuola （Tiger in Japanese）， havebeen living with Haraguchi for more than a year. Naming a female catTiger is a little strange — it sounds too fierce for a cute cat. “Tuola hascolorfully striped fur and looks like a tiger，” Haraguchi explains. “Andof course there are female tigers anyway.” Mimi， in heat， cries constantlywhile I talk with Haraguchi. “I want to have them spayed. ButI can’t make my mind because I think it would be too cruel to them. 198 Mimi， more active than Tiger， now sniffs at our shoes and then jumpson to the armchair. Haraguchi says Mimi is not only active but also“scholarly”。 “She likes watching TV and will stand upright when she seessomething exciting on the screen.” Haraguchi loves Mimi so much thatshe has managed to put her photo in LuLuBu Beijing magazine. “Thephoto has nothing to do with my article and the magazine was reluctantto carry it. I didn’t have any other reason either. In the end myexcuse was that she was born in Beijing.” She shows me the photo in acopy of the magazine， and looks very pleased.
Born in the 60s， Haraguchi doesn’t have any children of her own.
Asked about her future plans for having children， she says that shehas no plan in particular. “No special plans to have children or not. Iam busy every day and feel happy enough to the kittens with me.” Itseems that Haraguchi truly regards the cats as her kids.
Timeliness， Favorable Location and Good RelationsDuring our two-hour interview， Haraguchi frequently refers to thetopic of “Timeliness， favorable location and harmony.” （The concept istaken from a well-known Chinese classic： Heaven’s favorable weatheris less important than Earth’s advantageous terrain， and Earth’s advantageousterrain is less important than human unity.）
Junko Haraguchi and her husband Ari Haraguchi were schoolmatesat Japan’s Keio University. After graduation in 1985， Junkoworked as an editor in a Tokyo publishing house and later worked asa publicity agent in a film distribution company. As a member of thefirst generation of female professionals， she didn’t have other women’
s experiences to learn from， and had to forge her own way and rely onherself for everything. It was a life unavoidably full of sorrows as wellas joys. Luckily enough， she enjoyed relative equality with her malecolleagues in terms of personal growth. During her work assignmentsabroad， she met many foreign female professionals， particularly inParis. She found that many middle-aged French women in mass mediahad had outstanding careers and at the same time led colorful lives.
But Japanese women at that age usually quit their jobs and stay athome as housewives， doing nothing but taking care of their husbandsand kids， even if they are highly educated. At most， they performsado， or tea ceremonies， as a pastime. “It’s a pity！” sighs Haraguchi.
The independence of European women has greatly touched her andopened her eyes： “They can lead such a wonderful lives， why can’t I? Junko Haraguchi came to Beijing with her husband in 1993. Atthat time， the Japanese public media didn’t carry much news aboutBeijing. You would find that most news reports， if there were any atall， would be on political and economical topics， nothing about everydaylife in Beijing. “To be frank， I had a fearful image of Beijing inmy mind before I came！ Since she settled down in Beijing， Haraguchi has been surprisedto find so many amazing things in the ancient Chinese capital： deliciousfoods， delightful places and other splendid things， all of themnew to her. Life in Beijing is without doubt a great enjoyment forHaraguchi， who is fond of architecture， good food， fashion and travel.
Gradually， she has fostered an intense aspiration to introduce life inBeijing to her Japanese readers. Starting with small columns in Japanesemagazines， she dispatched articles one after another depictingwhat she saw in the Chinese capital. No one else was doing this at thattime， because many thought that it would be out of the question thatBeijing’s everyday life might appear in fashion magazines.
