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Events / Events Outside Tokyo
May 7, 2010

Understanding the bank crisis via the stage

"If you want to understand the banking crisis, you should go to the theater" — this isn't a blurb for an economics book, it's from a review for "The Power of Yes," the latest work by English playwright David Hare.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 7, 2010

The Bawdies: "There's No Turning Back"

In the middle of The Bawdies' "There's No Turning Back," is "Sad Song," a lament of lost love that comes dangerously close to being a Matchbox 20-styled ballad better suited for a breakup scene in some cheesy romance flick than a rock 'n' roll record. And while by no means their best material, the credit...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 7, 2010

Isolation brings The xx out to the world

LIVERPOOL, England — Every so often a band arrives, seemingly from nowhere, out of left field and fully-formed, with a sound, image and narrative so flawlessly off-kilter that once discovered, you wonder how you ever did without them.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 7, 2010

Jamaica in Japan: One Love festival

This weekend (May 8 and 9), Tokyo celebrates its continuing love affair with all things Jamaican. The annual One Love Festival takes place in Yoyogi Park, and this year it will be bigger than ever. Expect to find rocksteady reggae rhythms on the sound systems, Red Stripe lager in the ice boxes and plenty...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 7, 2010

The accessories that fanned the flames of screen painting

Given the relative dearth of fan-painting exhibitions, it seems a relatively minor art commensurate with its small-scale format. In reality, it was the most abundantly produced kind of painting in Japan for many centuries, giving birth, or at least standing as precursor, to the large-scale golden screen...
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
May 4, 2010

Nara marks its long history, but not without a few snags

Over the past few months, you may have noticed a cartoon character — a boy Buddha wearing deer antlers — appear on signs in stores, arcades and train stations. This is not a new attraction at Disneyland or an advertisement for some other theme park but Sento-kun, the official mascot of the Nara Heijo-kyo...
JAPAN
May 1, 2010

Government, industry join to promote luxury travel

From a helicopter ride to see the crater of Mount Fuji to an exclusive entrance to a renowned historic temple, luxury travelers demand rare experiences.
EDITORIALS
May 1, 2010

Monju reactor set to restart

The test run of the prototype fast-breeder reactor (FBR) Monju in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, is now expected to start after Golden Week, after prefecture Gov. Issei Nishikawa on April 28 gave the go-ahead for test runs to be conducted. The 280,000 kW reactor — an important part of Japan's planned nuclear...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 30, 2010

A cloud over airplane safety

PRINCETON, N.J. — When airports across Europe reopened after the closure caused by the eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano, it was not because the amount of ash in the atmosphere had dropped, but because the risk that the ash posed to airplane safety had been reassessed. Was it new scientific...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / INSIDE ART
Apr 30, 2010

Japan's modern art gets an online boost

T he Bank of Japan has come under a lot of fire of late, but there's at least one thing it can be proud of: the work of former employee Rasa Tsuda.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 30, 2010

Only got 4Minutes to take the world

T he five young members of 4Minute sit dressed in tight, black leather outfits at a luxury hotel in Ebisu, Tokyo. It's one day before their Japanese debut, but they show no signs of nerves.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 30, 2010

Acid Mothers Temple

Since being formed by band leader Makoto Kawabata in the mid 1990s, Osaka's premier purveyors of heavy psychedelic rock and modern kosmische musik have existed in an ever-mutating series of iterations, incorporating dozens of members, collaborators and former members. The intimidatingly- titled "Battle...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 30, 2010

Arabaki Rock Fest

Boasting its biggest lineup to date, the 10th edition of Miyagi Prefecture's Arabaki Rock Fest includes nearly 120 acts. Attracting an average annual weekend crowd of 35,000, the outdoor concert features six stages of live music from morning till night on Saturday and Sunday. Those staying overnight...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 30, 2010

In the hope that death does not do us part

In "Do Not go Gentle Into That Good Night," the 20th-century Welsh poet Dylan Thomas famously defied death with the words, "Rage, rage against the dying of the light." In a more conceptual art way, the Japanese-born New York-based Shusaku Arakawa (b.1936) is similarly indignant. He wants to make dying...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 30, 2010

Rising from the ashes of Pompeii

In the Christian era that succeeded the pagan one, the destruction of the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD was always thought of in apocalyptic terms, much like the Biblical destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah by "fire and brimstone." It was felt that the...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Apr 29, 2010

Why cook food when it is better for you raw?

Sixteen years ago, the Boutenkos were a family in crisis. Mother Victoria was overweight and depressed. Her husband, Sergei, had arthritis. Their teenage son was battling diabetes, while their daughter suffered from asthma.
COMMENTARY
Apr 28, 2010

U.K. overdoses on change

British politics has been turned upside down by recent events. The traditional two-party battle between Labour and Conservatives has been thrown into confusion by a big surge in support for a third party, the Liberal Democrats. The likely result could be a "hung parliament," with the Conservatives being...
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Apr 25, 2010

Will arrogance and ignorance doom our biosphere?

This year, 2010, is the United Nations' International Year of Biodiversity — which is a very good thing. But why this critically important global concern gets just one year is seriously worth debating.
Japan Times
LIFE
Apr 25, 2010

Tabi-maker steps out in style

Ryo Yonehara is the 30-year-old president of Tabi-ji, a Nara-based company making and selling tabi (traditional Japanese split-toe footwear).
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2010

'Cove' director reacts to base ban

The director of "The Cove" said Thursday that a decision by a U.S. military base in Japan to ban the Oscar-winning film on dolphin killings and protests at the local distributor's office won't silence the film's message on saving dolphins.
EDITORIALS
Apr 23, 2010

Let campaigning join digital age

Momentum has increased in the Diet to allow use of the Internet during election campaigns. The ruling and opposition parties are now engaged in consultation over the matter.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’