Search - life

 
 
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 25, 2013

NASA's mission improbable: corral an asteroid

NASA is looking for a rock. It has to be out there somewhere — a small asteroid circling the sun and passing close to Earth. It can't be too big or too small. Something 6 to 9 meters in diameter would work. It can't be spinning too rapidly, or tumbling knees over elbows. It can't be a speed demon....
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 25, 2013

Chinese democracy gets help

Despite the 'Great Firewall,' that requires anti-block software to cross, the Internet has already facilitated a certain level of democratic development in China.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 25, 2013

Ivory tower types press for higher inflation fix

People who experienced 1970s-style inflation must wonder why anyone would wish even a trace of that upon future generations. Some economists want to take that risk.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Aug 25, 2013

The making of 'Kaze Tachinu'; Japanese 'Up Series' continues; CM of the week: Boss

Nippon TV has the sole broadcast rights for the films of Hayao Miyazaki, which means whenever you watch his movies on TV you have to endure commercial breaks.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 24, 2013

It only takes one 'Barefoot' step to cross the line into censorship

If you want people to pay attention to a point you're making, try to bring the subject of children into the debate. Right now, the media is discussing a decision made by the board of education of Matsue, Shimane Prefecture, to limit student access to the manga "Hadashi no Gen (Barefoot Gen)," first published...
EDITORIALS
Aug 24, 2013

Strong oversight of Tepco needed

The discovery that about 300 tons of highly radioactive water have leaked from a tank at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant reminds us how far the nuclear crisis is from ending.
Reader Mail
Aug 24, 2013

Respect life at the seashore

If you have been at the beach during these hot weeks, you have surely noticed that there are less and less fish in our seas.
Reader Mail
Aug 24, 2013

Giving pet adoption a chance

The Aug. 18 editorial "Too many abandoned animals" caught my attention because it refers to the Feb. 19 article "Millions of dogs, cats coddled, 200,000 gassed each year in pet-mad Japan."
JAPAN / History / CHUBU CONNECTION
Aug 23, 2013

Was Fellers friend of Japan or master manipulator?

A Nagoya University professor is working on a book about the life of the late U.S. Brig. Gen. Bonner Fellers, who played a major role in absolving Emperor Hirohito (known posthumously as Emperor Showa) of responsibility for Japan’s wartime aggression across Asia.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 23, 2013

Yahoo gets more traffic than Google for first time since '11

There is some good news for Yahoo chief executive Marissa Mayer: Yahoo has topped Google in Web traffic for the first time since May 2011. Research firm comScore reported Yahoo logged 196.6 million unique visitors in July, compared with its rival's 192.3 million.
SOCCER / J. League
Aug 23, 2013

Kashima's Shibasaki impresses with professional approach to his craft

Kashima Antlers midfielder Gaku Shibasaki may be only 21, but such is the wise head on his young shoulders that 34-year-old club captain Mitsuo Ogasawara already considers him an "old man."
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Aug 22, 2013

Davis, Singleton teaming up in Shimane

The Houston Rockets' Twin Towers — Ralph Sampson and Hakeem Olajuwon — helped pave the way for the team's trip to the 1986 NBA Finals. The Boston Celtics, the superior squad, won the series, but the big men were instrumental in Houston's success that season.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 22, 2013

Aichi Triennale's best works deal with disaster

Since the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, a lot of art here has dealt with disaster. Not all the pieces in the second installment of the Aichi Triennale are on this theme — but the best ones are.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / EVERYMAN EATS
Aug 22, 2013

The ramen burger that ate New York

It's too early to tell if Aug. 3, 2013, will go down as a landmark date in culinary history, but for the hundreds of people who lined up that morning at a food fair in Brooklyn, New York, the excitement was palpable. The crowds had braved steady rain for a chance to try the ramen burger, an East-meets-West...
EDITORIALS
Aug 22, 2013

Subsidized fertility treatments

The health ministry will introduce an age limit for couples who receive subsidies for fertility treatments. From fiscal 2016, the woman must not be older than 42.
CULTURE / Film
Aug 22, 2013

'Star Trek Into Darkness'

Perhaps the biggest blockbuster this summer, "Star Trek Into Darkness" nonetheless throws more than a few curve balls: It is pensive, frosty and often curt, and comes elegantly and aptly dressed in several shades of black. Though there are many moments of humor and thrilling adventure, the story seems...
CULTURE / Film
Aug 22, 2013

'End of Watch'

Is there anything new left to be done with the buddy-cop genre? Probably not, but "End of Watch" gives it a damn good shot. Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña star as a couple of LAPD officers who patrol one of Los Angeles' roughest neighborhoods, Newton Division, where their gung-ho attitude will eventually...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 22, 2013

'Trois Mondes'

"Trois Mondes" was the only film by a female directorshown at the Cannes Film Festival last year. Among the testosterone-fueled macho films that got all the attention ("Killing Them Softly," "Lawless") "Trois Mondes" was striking in its approach to death and bodies — the characters convene and agonize...
Japan Times
Events / Events In Tokyo
Aug 22, 2013

Choreographer takes a Shakespeare piece and positively reworks it

Take one contemporary-dance choreographer (Mikuni Yanaihara) and apply her cutting-edge work and rapid-fire script to William Shakespeare's "Timon of Athens" — what do you get? Well, what you get is an award.
CULTURE / Film
Aug 22, 2013

From One Second to the Next

Director: Werner Herzog
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 21, 2013

Deflating the hype on big data

Big data holds the promise of harnessing huge amounts of information to help us better understand the world. But the hype is causing contrarians to fall into hyberbole.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 21, 2013

'Beauties of Nature: Rimpa, Jakuchu and Japanese Painting'

In Japanese, the term "kacho fugetsu" consists of the kanji for "flower," "bird," "wind" and "moon," and it refers to "the beauties of nature" — that ever-popular subject of nihonga (Japanese-style painting).
Reference / Q&A
Aug 21, 2013

'Barefoot Gen' pulled as anti-war images strike too close to home?

The decision by the board of education of Matsue, Shimane Prefecture, to limit students' access to the manga series "Hadashi no Gen" ("Barefoot Gen") at school libraries continues to cause a stir. While some support the move, others say it disrespects the best-selling anti-war classic, which tells the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Aug 21, 2013

Influential crime novelist Leonard dies at 87

Elmore Leonard, a masterful crime novelist whose razor-sharp dialogue and indelibly realized lowlifes earned him an unusual mix of mass-market appeal and highbrow acclaim, dies at his home in Michigan.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years