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BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN
Oct 6, 2014

Nakahata expects BayStars to shine brighter in future

For teams outside the postseason, this is the time of year when anyone within shouting distance of a microphone begins to implore fans to look to next year, when things, in theory, will be better.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 4, 2014

Unburdening oneself of life's possessions

Japanese often cite an old aphorism that goes, "Tatsu tori ato wo nigosazu" ("It is a foolish bird that defiles its own nest"). This can be taken to mean that a departing person should not leave behind a mess.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 30, 2014

Turtle Island's bringing the whole gang to Asagiri Jam

Organized each fall by Fuji Rock promoter Smash, Asagiri Jam is a much more laidback affair than its famed older sister. It features two stages and the music wraps up early each night. And while Fuji Rock has some 200 plus bands, Asagiri Jam only invites two dozen, which means a lot less running around...
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Sep 27, 2014

For Obama, Holder exit leaves void on civil rights issues

The departure of U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder deprives the Obama administration of a powerful voice on civil rights at a time when riots in Ferguson, Missouri, have thrust the issue into the spotlight.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Sep 17, 2014

Basketball star Oh reflects on journey to Japan

Asako Oh, a Japan women's basketball national team center, balked at enrolling in a Japanese high school about a decade ago. Now she has no regrets about her decision.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 9, 2014

More than beginner's luck for RBMA participant Albino Sound

There's nothing like a deadline to pull things into focus. "When you're making music on a computer, it's hard to know when to stop — you could keep going forever," says Hirotaka Umetani. "It helps to have a cut-off point."
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 8, 2014

For better or worse: untangling Japanese antonym pairs

Opposites attract: plus and minus, yin and yang, Mars and Venus, Lennon and McCartney. In English it sometimes happens that such opposites are combined in one expression. Just remember that bitter-sweet romance about the love-hate relationship you once saw on your grandparent's black-and-white TV set....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Aug 30, 2014

Inside author David Mitchell's metaphysical mind

Outside the vista windows of the Hotel New Otani's Garden Lounge cafe in Tokyo, it's snowing, in March, and it suddenly feels like the spring flowers in the Japanese garden below may have popped too soon. David Mitchell wonders aloud what kind of flowers they are, before returning to our discussion....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Aug 27, 2014

Tipping points: Japan, North America and the limits of performance pay

Many in Japan believe that performance pay equals the American way, full stop. But the U.S. custom of tipping even for mediocre service suggests things are not so clear-cut.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 16, 2014

Home is where the hard work is

Earlier this year, house builder Asahi Kasei Homes produced a video "white paper" based on a survey of 1,371 "double-income families" with children. Seventy percent of the husbands surveyed said they had been subjected to kaji-hara, or "housework harassment," by their wives.
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Aug 16, 2014

The awakening of a nation permanently at peace

There's something to be said for national isolation. Peace, for example. The very few foreigners allowed into Japan during its 250-odd years of almost total seclusion, from the early 17th century to the mid-19th, were awed by the spectacle of a nation permanently at peace.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Aug 16, 2014

Gomez earning his stripes with Tigers

Mauro Gomez probably couldn't believe his luck when he saw the pitch Chris Seddon threw him.
OLYMPICS / OLYMPIC NOTEBOOK
Aug 9, 2014

Legacy of 1984 Olympics still growing strong

What will be the legacy of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics?
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 1, 2014

A little self-control can add up to big savings

An American economics columnist reports that having to spend cash out of an envelope rather than just pulling out the debit card has made her much more frugal.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
Jul 16, 2014

Unpacking koto: retain, discard and repeat as necessary

Unpacking koto — the intangible baggage — in Japan has proven to be the challenge of a lifetime, replete with enough drama and trauma to keep me knee deep in 'think pieces' till I keel over.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jul 5, 2014

Is EU ready to actually change?

After six decades of relentless — if incremental — integration, might the European Union be about to go into reverse?
Japan Times
SOCCER / World cup
Jun 29, 2014

Rodriguez fires Colombia by Uruguay, into last eight

A sensational display from James Rodriguez fired Colombia into the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time on Saturday with the attacking midfielder scoring twice in a 2-0 victory over Uruguay including a contender for goal of the tournament.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Jun 27, 2014

Beating life's challenges one artwork at a time

Artist Kengo Nawashiro, 26, loves drawing buildings and towers. His beautifully colored paintings of the Tokyo Skytree are printed on postcards and sold at art events. Nawashiro credits his success to renowned art educator Chieko Awata, who is a specialist in nurturing the talents of autistic children...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 24, 2014

America's addiction to war

Somewhere out there in an alternative universe, we should expect a more rational reaction to Barack Obama's announcement that he plans to re-invade Iraq. Perhaps a half-dozen Cabinet members would rush into the Oval Office and bundle the president off to an institution that can give him the treatment he seems to require. Why are American politicians addicted to war?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 17, 2014

Blonde Redhead gets comfortable with past records

Formed in 1993 by Japanese singer Kazu Makino and Italian twins Simone and Amedeo Pace, and forged in the noisy underbelly of the New York alternative scene, Blonde Redhead has charted a path that has taken it from screeching underground noise rock to fragile, glacial, minimalist melody without ever...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jun 14, 2014

Ghostly footprints of the 'modern girl' along Kamakura's coastline

There's a scene in Junichiro Tanizaki's serialized novel "Naomi" (originally titled "A Fool's Love") from 1924 where the besotted protagonist, Joji, watches his wife, Naomi — part Lolita, part Madame Bovary, all trouble — through the pine trees. Having just emerged from a seaside villa, she is sashaying...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 13, 2014

Hillary Clinton breathes, we hold our breath

Hillary Clinton's book, 'Hard Choices,' is another tease in the dance of the seven veils. Her book is neither fish nor fowl, neither an autobiography like Barack Obama's 'Audacity of Hope' nor a thrown-together candidate presentation like Mitt Romney's 'No Apology: The Case for American Greatness.'
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Jun 6, 2014

PS3 game predicts success for Japan in early soccer stage

Right now, soccer fans across the globe are wondering how their nation will fare at the upcoming World Cup in Brazil. Usually some company finds a psychic animal to "predict" the results: Paul the Octopus for the 2010 World Cup, an Indian elephant for Euro 2012, and this time a panda.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 5, 2014

The pleasures of driving like an absolute maniac

"Need for Speed" is an ode to the automobile and not the green, hybrid kind either. The vehicles in this movie are sleek, sexy, gas-guzzling, carbon-spewing planet-destroyers, and director Scott Waugh revels in shooting them from every conceivable angle (plus a few you never even thought possible). In...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK
Jun 1, 2014

Tough luck for Kaneko

Chihiro Kaneko no-hit the Yomiuri Giants for nine innings on Saturday. He then watched his team lose the game.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 31, 2014

AKB48's business model is likely to survive media attacks

The universe shifted on the afternoon of Sunday, May 25, when a young, unemployed man attacked two members of the all-female idol collective AKB48 and a male security staffer with a folding saw during a fan event in the city of Takizawa, Iwate Prefecture. Or, at least, that's how the media reacted. Some...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
May 28, 2014

Talking Pinter with Leveaux; an 'authorized' interaction

When we met last weekend, the world-renowned English theater director David Leveaux was relaxing with a cigarette "in the lovely sunshine" outside a rehearsal studio by Tokyo Bay. He was there for an intensive afternoon's work with the three Japanese actors who form the cast of his upcoming production...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
May 26, 2014

Roll with it: Tama-chan on the art of making maki zushi

With often hilarious and shocking results, Takako Kiyota, aka Tama-chan, embeds illustrations into rice, wraps them in seaweed and presents them as both dishes and artworks.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 25, 2014

Decisive battle looms for Syrian rebels in Aleppo

High spring in Syria's largest city and the final battle has arrived. From his vantage point on a front line in Aleppo's northeast, Abu Bilal, a rebel commander, had spent the past month staring at a ridge line about a kilometer away that marked the closest Syrian military position.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
May 25, 2014

A new and unexpected twist to life in Japan: tornadoes

Japan, which so loves its seasons, now has another time of year to highlight: tornado season.

Longform

Koichi Tagawa’s diary entry from Aug. 9, 1945, describes the day of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
The horrors of Nagasaki, in first person