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August 27, 2025
 

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LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 9, 2011

Japanese women and the art of being alone

One of the biggest changes in Tokyo women over the past five or so years has been their new-found capacity for solitude. Tokyo joshi (女子, young girls, single women or any female who sees herself as being a relatively free-spirited individual) had been notorious — even among themselves — for their...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 4, 2011

'Chatroom'

Speaking strictly from a J-cinema fan/patriot point of view, "Chatroom" is a cause for celebration. It's set in London, stars some of the brightest young talent in the United Kingdom, centers around the timely topic of social networking — and the whole thing is directed by Japanese horror meister Hideo...
Japan Times
CULTURE
Feb 4, 2011

Anime's late, late show

A sea gull arcs through the clouds and swoops over a house perched high on a clifftop. The sound of waves can be heard breaking far below as a young boy sits down for breakfast across from two robots who, it turns out, are doppelgangers of his parents. In the future, he later informs us, "you can get...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jan 23, 2011

Mystery at a crossroads of continents

By the time I reached the small town of Palmyra, way out in the middle of the Syrian desert, I had become somewhat accustomed to the ways of the locals.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 21, 2011

A shot of Ardbeg in temple grounds

There's a faint scent of incense as you crawl through a knee-high door into a pebble-filled corridor that leads into a white igloo-like space, just big enough to fit three people. "This is my meditation room," says Akiyoshi Taniguchi, the curator who is introducing Kurenboh, a tiny modern gallery located...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 7, 2011

Fill up on Morimura's unusual 'side dishes'

Some artists are accorded such historical importance that virtually everything they do or have done comes under close scrutiny. Other artists are effectively known for a single thing, such as the nominal Italian Surrealist, Giorgio de Chirico, who is primarily known for his so-called "metaphysical paintings,"...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Dec 23, 2010

Part-time salesman/cleaner Seiji Date

Seiji Date, 60, is a part-time clothing salesman and a part-time cleaner. He has 38 years of experience in the fashion business, but six months ago, the economic slump forced his employer to retire him at the company's mandatory retirement age of 60. Having spent 27 years with the same retailer, where...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 19, 2010

University grads need to expand their horizons

A man I sometimes work with built a house in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, about 10 years ago when he was 30 years old. At the time he was working for one of Japan's most prominent trading companies, and had been ever since he graduated from university. He chose Hiratsuka because it's on the JR Tokaido...
CULTURE / Film
Dec 10, 2010

'Kick-Ass'

A couple of geeky high-school boys are hanging out discussing their favorite comic-book superheroes. One of them wonders out loud why no one has actually ever tried being a superhero; think about it, he says, thousands of people want to be Paris Hilton but nobody wants to be Spider-Man. His friend replies,...
CULTURE / Books
Nov 28, 2010

Tales of a Heian Casanova

Ariwara no Narihira (825-880), a Japanese Don Juan, a Casanova of the Heian Period (794-1185), a poet, one of the prime authors of "Ise Monogatari," is the hero of these 125 interconnected tales written in verse with prose links.
CULTURE / Music
Nov 12, 2010

Indie breakout, 'kimchibilly' rockers bring Seoul to Japan

While K-pop continues to gain greater recognition worldwide, South Korea's prolific, small underground-music scene is still struggling to find audiences outside of Seoul.
CULTURE / Film
Nov 12, 2010

'Ricky'

When Katie (Alexandra Lamy) meets Paco (Sergi Lopez) during a cigarette break at the cosmetics factory where they both work, her life is about a step shy of being in the dumps. The job is hard, she's underpaid, and her husband walked out on her years ago — leaving Katie to pay the bills and look after...
CULTURE / Music
Nov 12, 2010

Preaching to the converted

Nicky Wire is reminiscing. For the self-professed "nerdy historian" of Manic Street Preachers, the wistfulness is not misplaced. New album "Postcards From a Young Man" is Manic Street Preachers' 10th: a landmark under any criterion, but Wire is keen to accentuate what a milestone it is for a group of...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Nov 10, 2010

Sega's Kikuchi makes a killing with 'Yakuza'

"While making the first and second games in the series, I went drinking in Kabukicho with (Toshihiro) Nagoshi, the overall producer of the franchise, two or three nights every week," says Masayoshi Kikuchi, a veteran producer at Sega, as we discuss the latest entries in his smash-hit series "Ryu ga Gotoku"...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 5, 2010

Architect's floating future vision

The inexorable rise of Tokyo Sky Tree on the city's skyline has once again raised the question of what a future Tokyo might look like. The exhibition "Sousuke Fujimoto Architects: Future Visions — Forest, Cloud, Mountain" at the Watarium Museum attempts to get people thinking along these lines, while...
COMMENTARY
Nov 4, 2010

Biodiversity and small mercies

Sometimes we have to be grateful for small mercies. The deal on biodiversity that more than 190 countries agreed to in Nagoya last Friday was, as these things usually are, "a day late and a dollar short," but it's a lot better than nothing. It's even better than most people expected.
BUSINESS
Oct 27, 2010

Sony bids adieu to the Walkman

NEW YORK — The Walkman, the Sony cassette device that forever changed music listening before becoming outdated by digital MP3 players and iPods, has died. It was 31 years old.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 15, 2010

'Cheri (Watashi no Kawaii Hito Cheri)'

"After 40, a woman doesn't need a lover so much as a good PR agent." That would be a great quote for the mythos surrounding Cleopatra, the global metaphor for ageless beauty of the past three millenniums. Besides her hefty cache of personal charms, she knew the value of self-promotion — you can't just...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 10, 2010

Contract loophole opened door for Nomo's jump

Second in a four-part series
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 1, 2010

'Eccentricities Of a Blonde-Haired Girl'

Portuguese filmmaker Manoel de Oliveira should be listed in the dictionary under "antiaging" — at 100 years old, he has released the wonderfully titled "Eccentricities of a Blonde-Haired Girl" (released in Japan as "Blonde Shojo wa Kagekini Utsukushiku"), which is packed with romantic loveliness and...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Sep 19, 2010

Let's samba!

Despite Tokyo's record-breaking summer heat, half a million spectators packed downtown Asakusa on Aug. 28 to watch the 30th Asakusa Samba Carnival, with many having arrived in the morning to be sure of getting a good view.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Aug 26, 2010

All for the love of Tajima cows

When you hear the term, "Kobe beef," a few things are likely to come to mind: the velvety, fatty richness of the meat, the extraordinarily high price of a steak and the lavish lifestyle of the cattle. The pampering these cows receive is renowned and the image of beer-chugging bovines has been seared...
JAPAN
Aug 21, 2010

Tattoo as art on human canvases

The human body becomes a canvas in the hands of tattoo artist Horiyoshi III. Each dot, each line is carefully engraved, until gradually it becomes a colorful masterpiece.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 20, 2010

'Mao's Last Dancer'

Some say that art thrives best in the face of adversity and "Mao's Last Dancer" is certainly proof of this. Based on the life and breathtaking ballet skills of Li Cunxin, who honed his art under the red flag of China's Cultural Revolution, "Mao's Last Dancer" could be a lesson in perseverance and keeping...
JAPAN / MIXED MATCHES
Aug 17, 2010

Himalayan love story peaks in Chiba

"People say it's like a love story in a Bollywood movie," says Paul Rajesh, 34, who was born in Manali, a town in northern India's Himachal Pradesh state.
COMMENTARY
Aug 16, 2010

Lebanese flaunt reopened bridge amid worry that something's up

BEIRUT — Jamal is a Lebanese driver in his late 50s. He appeared unshaven and terribly exhausted as he drove his old passenger van from the airport in Beirut to the Bekaa Valley.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 13, 2010

Finding fun in Summer Sonic's odd lineup

In May, Japanese Web site Netallica reported that advance tickets for two of the big rock festivals, Fuji and Summer Sonic, were not moving. Both feature foreign artists, and Netallica implied that the latter added the grand old man of Japanese rock, Eikichi Yazawa, and best-selling J-pop hip-hop group...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 11, 2010

Death lingers throughout Japan's hottest month

August is the month of death in Japan, what with commemorations marking the 1945 atomic bombings (原爆記念日, genbanku kinenbi) of Hiroshima (the 6th) and Nagasaki (the 9th) coming early in the month, the shūsenkinenbi (終戦記念日, end-of-war memorial day) on the 15th and the Bon holiday (お盆,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 4, 2010

Mika

Even in an age where Lady Gaga's flamboyant extravagance has made all her contemporaries seem dull and plaid, it is fair to say Michael "Mika" Penniman is not your average pop star.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 14, 2010

'Zatoichi: The Last'

The "Zatoichi" series has long been an entry point for non-Japanese into Japanese films. Guys from Bonn to Buenos Aires who nod off after 10 minutes of Yasujiro Ozu's "Tokyo Monogatari" ("Tokyo Story") devour the 25 episodes of the original series of films (1962-1973), as well as the 1989 revival directed...
Tokyo releases AI-generated video of Mount Fuji erupting
A screenshot from an AI-generated video showing what could happen to Tokyo if Mount Fuji erupted
Japan aims to tighten rules for business manager visas from October
The number of foreign residents with business management residency status had reached a record 41,615 as of the end of 2024.
Japanese prefectures break with labor ministry on minimum wage
The ministry of labor has suggested a 6% minimum wage increase, but most prefectures reporting so far are opting to go slightly higher.
Japan ranked one of the most peaceful places in Asia as global tensions rise
Visitors look at paper cranes hung at Peace Park in Nagasaki on Aug. 8, a day ahead of the 80th anniversary of the World War II atomic bombing of the city.
JICA to designate four Japanese cities as 'hometowns' for African nations
The Japanese flag (left) with the flag of the African Union
Japanese prefectures break with labor ministry on minimum wage
The ministry of labor has suggested a 6% minimum wage increase, but most prefectures reporting so far are opting to go slightly higher.
Philippines quietly deepening ‘unofficial’ defense ties with Taiwan
Filipino soldiers take part in a flag-raising ceremony on Mavulis Island during a visit by the Philippines' Armed Forces chief of staff, in Batanes, the Philippines, in June 2023. Batanes, a group of idyllic islands at the country’s northernmost tip, sits about 160 kilometers from Taiwan.
Are 'coolcations' the answer for Japan's heat-weary tourists?
Hikers on a trail in Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture. As extreme heat continues to grip Japan, a tectonic shift may be underway in the nation’s summer tourism scene as more people gravitate toward cooler destinations.
Germany's first sakemaker offers a bold brew of ideas
Reigen, Germany's first sake brewery, makes a diverse, nontraditional range of sake that includes fruit-flavored sips and wine barrel-aged renditions.
Alicia Keys closed Summer Sonic, but J-pop owned it
Summer Sonic’s 2025 lineup demonstrated its strength, showcasing the latest in J-pop, including “new kawaii” act Fruits Zipper.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past
By Alex K.T. Martin

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Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027
Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

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