Decades ago, the mid-1980s to be exact, I complained to my mom that my dad worked too much. Like legions of middle-aged Japanese salarymen, my father was never home before 9 p.m. and spent his weekends on 海外出張 (kaigai shucchō, overseas business trips). He ...
Becoming an actress was a way to liberate Mari Yamamoto from a salaryman way of life.
Spring is the time for new life, the new school year, new coworkers and, in 2019, a new Imperial era.
A good way to start a conversation in Japanese at this time of year is to talk about allergies and hay fever in particular. Learning the vocabulary for sore eyes and runny noses can also help at your local pharmacy.
Digital currencies and smartphone apps are changing the way we do business with the yen, but some monetary habits die hard.
Albert Einstein once said that the "important thing is not to stop questioning." A similar aphorism applies to composer and classical musician Yoko Hamabe Wylegala, whose life has been defined since the age of 7 by studying and questioning one subject or another. "My parents ...
Iranian director Ida Panahandeh's fourth feature, "The Nikaidos' Fall," took her way beyond her comfort zone. She didn't speak Japanese nor had she ever visited the country, and yet there she was with a Japanese crew and cast, filming a story about the Japanese ...
Filmmaker Luca Guadagnino cites categorization as one of his enemies, and the sudden fierceness in his eyes shows he's not kidding. "I feel uncomfortable putting ideas and thoughts into boxes," Guadagnino, 47, tells The Japan Times. "As soon as you categorize something, it starts to ...
Traditional Japanese footwear and European jazz make a bizarre but successful combination at the Sawano Kobo store in Osaka.
With the Golden Globes finished, the race to the Oscars is on. It's time to try out your Japanese on the topic of movies.
