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.
Review Sep 28, 2013
Biography of Masaoka Shiki excels in the expanded details
by David Burleigh
Haiku, the short Japanese poem now proliferating overseas, scarcely needs an introduction anymore. Its three great pillars, widely read even in translation, are the poets Matsuo Basho (1641-1694), its first creator, then Yosa Buson (1716-1784) and Kobayashi Issa (1763-1828), who renewed it. THE WINTER ...
National Sep 20, 2013
Haiku penned by EU chief Van Rompuy set to music
Seven haiku composed by European Council President Herman Van Rompuy have been set to music by Belgian compatriot Dirk Brosse, local media said. “I am honestly embarrassed. I am aware of the great disparity in quality between the poetry that I write as a ...
Review Jul 13, 2013
Illuminating the interplay between Japanese poetry and pictures
by David Burleigh
This cleverly titled book combines two subjects, for the “art” that it describes is not just the art of haiku composition but that of the pictures that frequently accompany the poems, often by the same person. “If haiku is a worldwide phenomenon, haiga (haiku ...