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MULTIMEDIA
Feb 6, 2009

Simple beauty

Fashion photographer Aram Dikiciyan recognizes that his work is hard to define. "I can't really decide if I'm a fashion photographer or an artist," he explains over coffee in Tokyo's fashionable Omotesando district.
EDITORIALS
Feb 5, 2009

Act independently on IRENA

The world took a step forward in its efforts to fight climate change with the Jan. 26 inauguration of the International Renewable Energy Agency in Bonn, Germany. Member states hope that IRENA, the first global organization dedicated to renewable energy, will become the world's "new mouthpiece for renewable...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 5, 2009

International Red Cross returns to Japan

It all began with one man's eyewitness account of the atrocities committed in the aftermath of the Battle of Solferino in present-day Italy in 1859. What Swiss businessman Henry Dunant saw was the horror of war — thousands of dead and severely wounded soldiers lying on the battlefield without proper...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 5, 2009

Japan-U.S. FTA vital: ACCJ chief

Getting a free-trade agreement between Japan and the United States is a much-needed goal, but it will require close multilevel exchanges, according to a top executive of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Feb 5, 2009

Creative dialogue

While it's not unknown for practitioners of the fine arts to gain fame and fortune almost overnight these days, (even through notoriety rather than talent), only a handful of artists in the graphic design field have gained worldwide recognition. Britain's Neville Brody is one.
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Feb 3, 2009

2channel: the bullies' forum

Bullying in Japan is a big problem. The victims have limited recourse. Too often they are told to suck it up and self-reflect. Or if they fight back, they get criticized for lashing out. It's a destructive dynamic, causing much misery and many a suicide.
Japan Times
Events / WHERE IT'S AT
Feb 3, 2009

Yokohama Chinatown lions roar in new year

With the beating of drums, the clang of cymbals and the popping of firecrackers, Yokohama's Chinatown welcomed in the new year, with festivities reaching a peak on Chinese New Year's, Jan. 26.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Feb 3, 2009

Finding the silver lining

The difficulties encountered as a foreigner can be sources of ideas for business opportunities. This belief is demonstrated by Park Tae Moon's 18 years in Japan — and his successful transition from a newspaper delivery worker to the owner of a 20-staff magazine publishing/consulting business.
Reader Mail
Feb 1, 2009

Clarity on dual nationality

I was a little confused after reading Kristy Kosaka's Jan. 27 Zeit Gist article, "Half, bi or double? One family's trouble." She writes that under Japanese law those with dual nationality must abandon one nationality before the age of 22. After reading that sentence my heart skipped a beat and with trembling...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 1, 2009

Popularity's dead! Rebellion against brands starts now

Recently I ran into a friend who works at a TV station in Tokyo. The conversation turned to Johnny's Jimusho, the most powerful talent agency in Japan, whose stable of male singers has dominated television for almost two decades. When I asked her if she had run into any of Johnny's stars, she said she...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Feb 1, 2009

Pet vet mystery, 'character' wear on youth fashion show, post-war cop drama

Pet lovers get their turn in the suspense drama spotlight in "Dobutsu Byoin: Ayako no Jiken Karute" ("Animal Clinic: Ayako's Case Charts") (TV Tokyo, Wednesday, 9 p.m.). Veterinarian Ayako (Yasuko Sawaguchi) works at the Enoki Animal Clinic. One day she sees Tokie, the owner of one of her former patients,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Feb 1, 2009

High life mixes with the wildlife on Australia's Great Barrier Reef

T he bed at the Reef View hotel on Hamilton Island is so large that I can't resist executing several flamboyant somersaults across its width, after which I unpack, flinging my belongings about the gigantic room in wild abandon. Used to the confines of life in Tokyo, I'm feeling a little giddy at being...
LIFE / Travel
Feb 1, 2009

High life mixes with the wildlife on Australia's Great Barrier Reef

T he bed at the Reef View hotel on Hamilton Island is so large that I can't resist executing several flamboyant somersaults across its width, after which I unpack, flinging my belongings about the gigantic room in wild abandon. Used to the confines of life in Tokyo, I'm feeling a little giddy at being...
JAPAN
Jan 31, 2009

Cabinet Office to aid foreigners caught in recession trap

The Cabinet Office announced Friday it has compiled steps to support foreigners with permanent resident status who have lost their jobs and are facing financial hardships.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 31, 2009

Car crazy and lovin' the fast lane

Simon Sproule appreciates the benefits of globalization. "The world has globalized so much since I left the U.K. in 1998 that I can get access to British media or Marmite on toast almost anywhere, anytime," he says, referring to the popular yeast extract spread.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 30, 2009

Q-Tip

Widely regarded as one of hip-hop's top MCs, Q-Tip finally released his long-awaited second solo effort, "The Renaissance," late last year as the followup to 1999's "Amplified." The nine-year gap is one the American rapper might rather forget.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 30, 2009

Kyoto's Yufuna: The tastes of Tango

Outside, Yufuna looks like an ordinary after-work hangout, with a solid wooden counter lined with sake and shochu bottles and a blackboard announcing the daily specials. This unpretentious basement shop is surprisingly spacious inside though, with attractively decorated, cozy dining spaces beyond the...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 30, 2009

The tastes of Tango

Outside, Yufuna looks like an ordinary after-work hangout, with a solid wooden counter lined with sake and shochu bottles and a blackboard announcing the daily specials. This unpretentious basement shop is surprisingly spacious inside though, with attractively decorated, cozy dining spaces beyond the...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / LIQUID CULTURE
Jan 30, 2009

An intoxicating temple in Kyoto

Evil cometh from the north, they say. Maybe it was sunlight streaming from the south that gave ancient theologians such a notion. Or perhaps the Arctic is gushing malevolence (compare and contrast: Australians and Scandinavians). Regardless, it was a fear of southbound evil that prompted the construction...
LIFE / Food & Drink / LIQUID CULTURE
Jan 30, 2009

An intoxicating temple in Kyoto

Emperor Go Mizuno reportedly loved fucha ryori, and likely partook of it at Kanga-an Temple in Kyoto as he gazed at the enchanting green and gravel garden.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 30, 2009

Who says an art work must exist?

Like precious gems, Aiko Miyanaga's crystalline sculptures reflect light and shine with a brilliance that beguiles the viewer. But while diamonds are forever, Miyanaga's carefully crafted forms are not long for this world. In fact, some of her pieces are gone before her exhibitions even come to a close....
Reader Mail
Jan 29, 2009

Israel showed forbearance

The Jan. 22 front-page photo caption of the Hamas militant (titled "Youth Movement") — about U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon's visit and the sympathy toward fallen Palestinians — has broken new moral ground in the show of unbalanced reporting regarding the situation between Israel and Gaza.
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2009

MSDF told to prep for Somalia mission

Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada on Wednesday ordered the Maritime Self-Defense Force to prepare to deploy a task force off Somalia to patrol for pirates.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Jan 27, 2009

Burakumin, 'musical jobs': readers respond

Koseki at root of problem I wish to thank you for the excellent article "Breaking the silence on burakumin" on Jan. 20. I work for the Buraku Liberation Center in Osaka and was featured in the Aug. 2, 2008, issue (search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20080802a1.html). One point I would add is that it is...
JAPAN
Jan 27, 2009

Data on fish market toxin withheld

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government on Monday revealed it learned in June that the concentration of a toxic substance at the proposed site of a new fish market in Toyosu, Koto Ward, was 115 times higher than in a previous inspection but withheld the information for five months from a panel of soil pollution...
EDITORIALS
Jan 26, 2009

Safety lessons for the MSDF

The Yokohama Maritime Accident Tribunal determined Jan. 22 that insufficient surveillance on the part of the Maritime Self-Defense Force's 7,750-ton Aegis destroyer Atago was the main cause of its Feb. 19, 2008, collision with the 7.3-ton trawler Seitoku Maru, which killed the two fishermen aboard the...
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jan 25, 2009

Soft power beckons as time comes for academia to act sustainably

As I am for the most part an optimist, it seems only right to kick off 2009 with an upbeat column and, as an educator, one area I believe offers great promise is education.
EDITORIALS
Jan 24, 2009

The 'Decider' goes home

Mr. George W. Bush, the 43rd president of the United States, believes history will vindicate him. That thinking is typical of his presidency: It bespeaks an enduring optimism and faith in the future, a relentless refusal to bend to facts, and the certitude that his decisions, no matter how controversial,...

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’