Economy | ANALYSIS
Households to take hit from tax hike
by Tomoko Otake
The consumption tax increase will hit every household in Japan hard, with many people’s financial future hanging on whether their wages rise enough to offset the hike's impact.
Event Topics
Events Outside Tokyo Jul 11, 2013
Resort offers movie night under the stars
by Magdalena Osumi
You don’t need to be an outdoors-type person to enjoy lying down and gazing at the stars. And you don’t have to be a indoors-type to enjoy a good movie. Combining both is The Luigans Spa & Resort during its Cinema Night Fukuoka event. ...
Events In Tokyo Jul 11, 2013
Avant-garde NHK film to get rare screening
by Tai Kawabata
In the early 1960s, Japan’s television industry harbored an experimental spirit that was free from restrictive institutional ideology. It was a time of hope according to Inuhiko Yomota, professor of film history at Meiji Gakuin University. An academic screening in Tokyo will offer a ...
Events Outside Tokyo Jul 4, 2013
Good, clean fun at Ito tub race
by Mio Yamada
The seaside town of Ito, Shizuoka Prefecture, is well known for its dark, sandy beaches, hot springs, giant koi carp and spectacular summer fireworks displays. But it also holds one of the strangest and silliest traditions in the region — the Tarai-nori Kyoso, otherwise ...
Events In Tokyo Jul 4, 2013
'The Deep' to feature ocean's oddities
by Magdalena Osumi
While some companies have started to offer trips to the Moon, there is still more to be discovered hidden on our own planet. The depths of the ocean still hold a trove of mysteries. At a distance between 200 meters and 10,000 meters from ...
Events In Tokyo Jun 28, 2013
Festival flea markets are a treat
by Natasha Vik
The Japanese have a knack for putting hard-to-describe feelings into words. A good example is the word “mottainai,” used when expressing regret over wasting a resource or opportunity. It’s an expression that’s getting good use recently, as society makes a push to be more ...
Events In Tokyo Jun 28, 2013
Car friendly Tokyo stays, and plenty of international cuisine treats
Car-friendly Tokyo accommodation The Hyatt Regency Tokyo is offering a special accommodation plan called Summer Stay, through Sept. 30. The special plan allows hotel guests use of the parking lot, swimming pool and fitness gym without any additional charges. Ten percent discounts will also ...
Events Outside Tokyo Jun 28, 2013
Reptiles take center stage at scaly sale
by Alisa Yamasaki
Going to the zoo is a great way to spend time with the family, but in this season the idea of trudging through the heat to stare at exhausted animals may be taxing. The annual Reptiles Fever, however, will be like going to a ...
Events Outside Tokyo Jun 28, 2013
Fire and Violence Festival to kick off series to be held on Noto Peninsula
by Magdalena Osumi
The kiriko of Noto Peninsula will swing again in the sky of Ushitsu, Ishikawa Prefecture. These few meter-tall, box-shaped Shinto lanterns are paraded around the town every year to the sounds of vigorous chanting and the pulsating rhythm of taiko drums. Abare Festival, roughly ...
Events Outside Tokyo Jun 21, 2013
June blooms decorate Japan
by Tomoko Otake
While the ongoing rainy season means staying indoors to some people, for others, it is a chance to get out and enjoy the beautiful tapestry of ajisai (hydrangeas), whose colors vary from white to blue to pink to purple — and all shades in ...
Events In Tokyo Jun 21, 2013
Irish poet to be focus of Yeats Day at Waseda
by Edan Corkill
One of the first attempts to combine the literary traditions of the English and Japanese languages occurred in 1916, when Irish poet William Butler Yeats tried his hand at a noh play. The result, “At the Hawk’s Well,” tells the story of a mythological ...
Events In Tokyo Jun 21, 2013
Turn the lights out for a piece of 'me' time
by Natasha Vik
“Turn off the lights, and take it slow tonight”: If this reads like advice on how to pamper yourself at the end of a long work week, that isn’t entirely off the mark. The phrase is the tagline for Candle Night, which, while eco-friendly ...