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Is it a sign of a full-fledged economic recovery or a looming catastrophe in the monetary making? Recent spikes in Japan’s long-term interest rate, represented by the 10-year government bond, have created a stir and roused a deep sense of alarm among investors and ...
Tonkatsu is comfort food, gourmand grub — not a gourmet delicacy. So what are those hearty, unpretentious deep-fried breaded pork cutlets doing in an elegant little bar-style restaurant above one of Ginza’s temples to high-end consumption? Katsuzen has come a long way from its ...
Life in Japan just seems tailor-made for certain foreign residents, who slip into the fabric of this society as smoothly as a hand slides into a glove. American Curtis Patterson, a professional koto player and music teacher, is a case in point. Not only ...
Disgusted by corrupt local leaders, an angry miner picks up a shotgun. A migrant worker returning home looks to armed robbery to escape a life of relentless bleakness. A pretty receptionist at a sauna is driven to the limit when a gangster tries to ...
David Beckham, whose curling free kicks, rugged good looks and celebrity marriage made him one of the most famous athletes in the world, is retiring from soccer. Whether striding on the grass, the red carpet or the fashion catwalks, Beckham transcended his sport and ...
For Peter Conrad's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
How can we separate the dancer from the dance? Vaslav Nijinsky’s art was a vanishing act, and his mystique depended on gestures that lasted only a second, like his leap through a window in “The Spectre of a Rose,” or the slight but scandalous ...
This little book has a purpose that is weightily monumental: It’s a Taj Mahal made of paper, not white marble. LEVELS OF LIFE, by Julian Barnes. Cape, 2013, 128 pp., ￡10.99 (hardcover) Shah Jahan built the minareted tomb for his third wife when she ...
"The more I see of men," said Madame de Stael, "the more I like dogs." Always excepting the pit bulls and Rottweilers that slather and snap at the heels of yobs, I agree with her.
THE REAL JANE AUSTEN: A Life in Small Things, by Paula Byrne. Harper, 2013, 400 pp., $29.99 (hardcover) Jane Austen may be too likable or lovable for her own good. “Pride and Prejudice,” which celebrates its 200th anniversary this year, was recently elected the U.K.’s ...