For Richard Smart's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
The United States Navy has taken action against staff involved in the case of former Lt. Cmdr. Anthony L. Velasquez, a doctor accused of sexually abusing a number of women while based in Japan and Kuwait between 2007 and 2009. "On Feb. 17, 2011, (Rear ...
Sri Wahyuni Researcher, 40 (Indonesia) If the book describes how he dodged the police for so long, then that could be a problem. But from a publisher's point of view it's a freedom of expression issue. And the police may discover evidence of what Ichihashi was ...
Kazue Kawaguchi Company owner, 64 (Japanese) I want to create a new system for the care homes and clinics that I run that involves younger people much more in the operations of the business. Isao Okuyama Retired, 92 (Japanese) My New Year's resolution is to make a lot of ...
Mayumi Kaneko, 34Business controller (Japanese)Hanging out with good people here in Tokyo makes for the best time for me. I don't feel Christmas is so important but I would still like to get a present from Santa. Sam Bridges, 35Teacher (English)The perfect time for me ...
Over drinks with a former Tokyo-based promoter recently, our conversation turned to the state of the city's nightclub scene. In Europe, nightclubs can usually guarantee a certain number of patrons to show up on any given night, which is great for DJs who are ...
This summer, a U.S. Navy doctor, Lt. Cmdr. Anthony L. Velasquez, 48, walked free after serving seven days in the brig at the Yokosuka base in Kanagawa Prefecture. He had admitted to two counts each of wrongful sexual contact and conduct unbecoming an officer. ...
"Salarymen are fantastic," says DJ and producer Takkyu Ishino. "If there weren't so many of them doing their thing, then people like me would not be able to exist. If more people acted like me (outside the norm), then I wouldn't have had the ...
The collapse of the Geos eikaiwa (English conversation school) chain earlier this year came as a cruel blow to an industry still struggling to restore its credibility years after Nova's high-profile implosion. Since the Nova bankruptcy of 2007, the financial situation at the major schools ...
Few artists can claim to have had as much impact on popular music as Brian Eno. His solo pieces and work as a record producer have influenced the way pop, punk, rock and dance music are made and listened to. Eno's newest album, "Small ...
Billion Dollar Boys Club is the creator of 4 The Love, a Tokyo party featuring everything from house to R&B to hip-hop. The Japan Times asked him about his favorite songs. Recent classic: Culoe De Song — "The Bright Forest" (Innervisions) This song treads ...
