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Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 23, 2009

Stuck on cellotape

Ryo Sehata is that often- mentioned but seldom- encountered individual, a truly unique artist. His art is so uncommon that his fame has now assumed viral form, spreading through the Internet via blogs, vlogs, Twitters, links, Diggs and other clickable whatchamacallits. The young artist and his unusual...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 23, 2009

Crossing borderlines of consciousness

Most of us have experienced waking up in a strange room, perhaps in a hotel or a friend's house, and, for a split second, not knowing where we are — that fuzzy, vague feeling in the twilight zone between waking and dreaming. Imagine having those same feelings when waking up in your own, usually familiar,...
CULTURE / Music
Jan 23, 2009

Vienna's Arming strikes the right note

"During these five years, we have often tackled contemporary works," says Austrian conductor Christian Arming, music director of the New Japan Philharmonic (NJP) since 2003. "I believe that broadened our horizon."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 23, 2009

Vienna's Arming strikes the right note

"During these five years, we have often tackled contemporary works," says Austrian conductor Christian Arming, music director of the New Japan Philharmonic (NJP) since 2003. "I believe that broadened our horizon."
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2009

Temp support groups call for urgent steps

Support groups proposed several steps to the government and opposition on Monday to strengthen the safety net for laid-off temp workers ahead of an expected increase in their number at the end of March.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jan 20, 2009

Lifelines back to the 1900s

With 2009 so far looking bleak, here are some queries from around the world that take us into the past with the hope of finding positive solutions for the present.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jan 20, 2009

'Exam hell' now not so hot

The annual university entrance examination season kicked off Saturday and Sunday as some 540,000 high school students and graduates nationwide took the standardized National Center Test for University Admissions.
EDITORIALS
Jan 19, 2009

Make way for emergency care

The deterioration of emergency medical services has become a nationwide worry. In October, a pregnant woman transported by ambulance was refused admission to eight hospitals in Tokyo and died after giving birth. In December, an elderly woman seriously injured in a traffic accident died after she was...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jan 18, 2009

Finding the fabled Snow Country

"The special delights of the hot spring are for the unaccompanied gentleman," states the introduction to Yasunari Kawabata's "Snow Country," instantly seizing the attention.
EDITORIALS
Jan 18, 2009

Househusbands on the rise

A recent survey conducted by the Kaji Kentei Jikko Iinkai (Housework Aptitude Test Association) reveals a great deal about the aspirations inside Japanese homes. Apparently, a surprisingly large number of married Japanese men — nearly 30 percent — would not mind being househusbands. This may not...
CULTURE / Books
Jan 18, 2009

The strength of Japan's 'soft power'

SOFT POWER SUPERPOWERS: Cultural and National Assets of Japan and the U.S., edited by Yasushi Watanabe and David L. McConnell. New York: M.E. Sharpe. Armonk, 2008, 296 pp., $32.95 (paper)
CULTURE / Books
Jan 18, 2009

The strength of Japan's 'soft power'

BEYOND PACIFISM: Why Japan Must Become a "Normal" Nation, by William Middlebrooks. Praeger Security International: Westport, Conn., 2008, 155 pp., $75 (cloth) SOFT POWER SUPERPOWERS: Cultural and National Assets of Japan and the U.S., edited by Yasushi Watanabe and David L. McConnell. New York: M.E....
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jan 16, 2009

Silent cinema to appeal to foreigners

Four Japanese silent movies produced in the 1930s will be shown in Tokyo on Jan. 28.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2009

Palestinian aid worker blogs on Gaza strife

An aid worker living in Gaza has been sending in blog entries to the nongovernmental organization he works for, reporting on the dire situation his family and fellow Gaza residents are experiencing amid an Israeli military drive that has reportedly killed more than 1,000 so far, the international NGO's...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 16, 2009

The rocks of abstraction

In September last year, Anglo- Japanese painter Peter McDonald won the U.K.'s £25,000 John Moores prize for contemporary painting with a work, "Fontana," that depicted in simplistic shapes an artist thrusting a knife into a circular canvas. Or it could be someone attacking a giant eye. Or perhaps an...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 16, 2009

Looking back as Japan advanced

As a young student of realistic nihonga (Japanese-style painting), Kansetsu Hashimoto worked under the eminent teacher Seiho Takeuchi (1864-1942), a painter best known for his depictions of animals. But Hashimoto, distancing himself from the master and his subject material, later said that he "didn't...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jan 16, 2009

Get your skates on in the Kanto area

If you've been keeping your eye on the sports pages recently, you'll know that Mao Asada won her third straight National Figure Skating Championship last month and is currently preparing to defend her World Champion title in Los Angeles in March. Maybe you're feeling in the mood for a slide yourself....
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jan 16, 2009

Shirakawa-go becomes a winter wonderland

Shirakawa-go — a village community in Gifu Prefecture that was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site for its thatched-roof farmhouses in 1995 — has been a tourist magnet for years. But its beauty goes up a few notches for seven days each year, when many of the houses are lit up in the snow.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jan 16, 2009

Shirakawa-go becomes a winter wonderland

Shirakawa-go — a village community in Gifu Prefecture that was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site for its thatched-roof farmhouses in 1995 — has been a tourist magnet for years. But its beauty goes up a few notches for seven days each year, when many of the houses are lit up in the snow.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 15, 2009

Laid-off workers protest at Isuzu

Some 300 seasonal and former temp workers of Isuzu Motor Co. and union members held a protest Wednesday in front of the company's head office in Shinagawa Ward, Tokyo, claiming their right to work to the end of their contracts.
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA / STYLE WISE
Jan 15, 2009

Goocy and Gozi but no more Green

Genki at Goocy Goocy (pronounced "goosey") is the local answer to the Western "fast-fashion" invasion that has recently swept Japan. It's a pet project by brand director Harumi Fukuda and designer Mary Fukumoto of high-end label Triptych.

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’