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EDITORIALS
Mar 14, 2011

Cheating and the cheated

Perhaps only in Japan could a young man be arrested for the crime of "obstructing university operations by fraudulent means." For weeks, the nation's headlines have been jammed with the story about a student who cheated on the entrance exam for four prestigious universities, Kyoto, Waseda, Doshisha and...
CULTURE / Books
Mar 13, 2011

Of goldfish and food demons

A RIOT OF GOLDFISH, by Kanoko Okamoto. Translated by J. Keith Vincent. Hesperus Press, 2010, 136 pp., £8.99 (paper) Between 1929 and 1932, the poet Kanoko Okamoto traveled through Europe and the U.S. with her husband, the cartoonist Ippei Okamoto, her son and two male retainers. The group visited the...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 13, 2011

Cheat tests the exam system

A funny thing happened on the way to jail for the 19-year-old boy who was arrested Mar. 3 for allegedly cheating on a Kyoto University entrance exam: The media suddenly became all reflective of its coverage and sympathetic of his situation. Some may see this turnaround as a defensive reaction to the...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 10, 2011

Zen psychology: Daisetz Suzuki remembered

Despite the gloomy global economy, the field of positive psychology is booming. Often described simplistically by journalists as "the science of happiness," it's actually a broad focus on our strengths and talents, virtues and peak experiences in daily living. The name for this specialty originated with...
Reader Mail
Mar 6, 2011

Study materials could be better

I enjoyed the Feb. 26 article "Are schools ready for English?" But by the looks of the photographed open book (presented as an example of the teaching materials to be used), my answer to the question posed by the headline would be NO!
Japan Times
JAPAN / ELEMENTARY ENGLISH
Feb 26, 2011

Parents supportive but girl is the winner

How does one force an elementary school child to study or to master a foreign language at such a young age?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 25, 2011

'Le Corbusier'

NYK Maritime Museum
Japan Times
Features / WEEK 3
Feb 20, 2011

Aspiring animator comes to Japan to chase her dreams

It's fun to walk down the street or get aboard a train with Tracey Seals and watch how Japanese people react. Once they notice the blue-eyed, bespectacled 21-year-old redhead from Mississippi in their midst, some break out in smiles. And others do double-takes, as if they've just seen an anime character...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Feb 15, 2011

Osaka: What are your thoughts on the decision to cancel the Osaka sumo tournament due to the match-fixing scandal?

Atsuko Fujimoto
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Feb 12, 2011

How 'bout that sumo?

The March Grand Sumo Tournament has been canceled due to bout-rigging. The May tournament is now in doubt as well. Who knows, sumo may be the world's first canceled sport.
Reader Mail
Feb 10, 2011

Choreographed entertainment

Regarding the Feb. 4 article "Match-throwing final nail in sumo coffin?": As a youngster in upstate New York, I loved watching World Wrestling Federation (now called the World Wrestling Entertainment) matches on weekends. Hulk Hogan, Captain Lou, Andre the Giant, Junkyard Dog, Rowdy Roddy Piper — those...
EDITORIALS / GENERATIONAL CHANGE
Feb 10, 2011

National sport on its knees

The Japan Sumo Association, rocked by a match-rigging scandal, has decided to cancel Spring Grand Sumo Tournament, which would have started March 13 in Osaka. This is the first time that a grand sumo tournament known as hon-basho has been canceled since the summer of 1946, when the summer tournament...
JAPAN
Feb 9, 2011

Sumo-rigging born of necessity?

The sumo bout-fixing unearthed in seized cell phone texts points to a practice that, according to at least one expert, was born out of a need by young wrestlers to survive a short-lived career where the spoils at the top are elusive and the threat of demotion and loss of pay is ever-present.
JAPAN / Q&A
Feb 4, 2011

Match-throwing final nail in sumo coffin?

The sumo world has had its share of scandals in recent years but the latest one — text messages indicating match-fixing — is rocking the "dohyo" ring hard.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 4, 2011

Tadasu Takamine shocks us, yet again

In their endless efforts to make us see things in new ways and generally mess with our minds, contemporary conceptual artists such as Tadasu Takamine may often do more to distort their own view of the world than change the way the wider public sees it. This would explain why, in 2004, Takamine attempted...
MORE SPORTS
Feb 1, 2011

Expect unexpected prior to Super Bowl

A report that club owners in Dallas have put out an urgent call for an additional 10,000 strippers struck a familiar chord with those who remember when players' antics the week leading up to the Super Bowl made for bigger headlines than the game itself.
Japan Times
Events / WHERE IT'S AT
Feb 1, 2011

Diplomats relate cultures in Japanese

"Goseicho arigato gozaimashita" (thank you for listening), a regular way of ending a speech, echoed in the meeting room after each foreign speaker gave their presentations and received a big round of applause from the audience.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / WEEK 3
Jan 16, 2011

Calligraphy writ large takes in choreography, too

Japanese calligraphy is a challenge at the best of times. So why go to the trouble of using a piece of paper as large as the side of a bus, and a brush that's almost two meters long and weighs 50 kg?
JAPAN
Jan 8, 2011

Subculture inspires young male cross-dressing trend

He's a 52-year-old medical doctor who goes by the name Ayaka Ogawa when living out his cross-dressing fantasies of being a woman in her mid-40s.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 7, 2011

Realizing the genius of Leonardo da Vinci

A temporary pavilion in Tokyo's Hibiya Park seems like an unlikely venue for showcasing the hallowed works of Leonardo da Vinci, but for this particular exhibition, the big top-like structure is appropriate. "Leonardo da Vinci: The Genius" is aimed straight at the general public. Designed, produced,...
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 31, 2010

A great year for theater innovation

Japan's drama scene has seen some change in 2010. It was as if the theater crowd grew tired of waiting for the country's ailing economy and faltering politics to offer them anything new to work with and decided to go and find their own inspiration.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji