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Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jan 2, 2022

Escape into the courtly Heian Period with Genji

As a new year dawns, find calm and beauty in the vanished world of Murasaki Shikibu's 'The Tale of Genji.'
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / Kateigaho International Japan Edition
Jan 18, 2020

A toast to mingei: The significance of unknown craftsmen

What is so special about mingei (folk crafts)? For Muneyoshi Yanagi it was significant that ordinary, unknown and largely uneducated craftsmen used natural materials to make objects that were sublimely beautiful.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 3, 2019

Hanami a reminder of life's fleeting nature

As cherry blossoms remind us each year, life is too short to waste.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Oct 20, 2018

Life lessons from the master of noh Zeami

Stately, stylized noh arose from primitive, rollicking ancestors — sarugaku (monkey music) and dengaku (rural music). Two qualities in particular define it: yu016bgen (mystery) and monomane (imitation).
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
Sep 20, 2017

With every new construction in Japan, fewer trees

When houses are demolished, there is a very bad habit here of cutting down all the trees on the plot, leaving the ground cleared and empty for new construction.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech / ADVANCES IN PROGRESS
Jan 8, 2017

Next-generation mirror analyzes faces and prints out customized makeup sheets

Panasonic Corp. is developing a "magic" mirror for 2020 that will use nanotechnology for high-definition TVs to offer advice on how to become more beautiful.
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Nov 24, 2016

Spa treatments, lunch for busy women; exclusive rooms offer seasonal respite; an afternoon tea plan with a twist

Spa treatments, lunch for busy women
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Oct 24, 2016

'Real-life Cinderella' film delves into plight of lives facing Hong Kong maids

Cyril Goliava cut an elegant figure in her yellow evening gown as she won a beauty pageant in Hong Kong, smiling to cheers from the crowd as she was presented with a tiara and trophy.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 3, 2016

The Korean roots beneath Japan's folk art movement

The folk craft movement in Japan owes a great debt to Soetsu Yanagi (1889-1961), who coined the term "mingei" ("folk crafts") in 1925. Yanagi pioneered the notion that Japan's vernacular crafts had their own intrinsic artistic worth, and should be valued, collected and curated. His desire to share an...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jul 25, 2015

Will 'neurotic' Japan go postcapitalist?

Is Japan on the threshold of postcapitalism? If it is, as Morris Berman suggests in "Neurotic Beauty: An Outsiders Look at Japan," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe doesn't seem to have received the memo.
Japan Times
JAPAN / UN WORLD CONFERENCE ON DISASTER RISK REDUCTION
Mar 14, 2015

Shirakami Sanchi: A forest outside of time

Japan is undoubtedly a land of abundant natural beauty. Its long island chain spans a huge diversity of environments that famously enjoy four distinct seasons. While the Japanese people are great lovers of nature, thousands of years of life on the archipelago have made swathes of untouched splendor somewhat...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 28, 2013

Cracking the feminist psyche, wallet

On the evening of Dec. 19, a Pantene commercial ran on U.S. television that skirted all the formal avenues of parent company Procter & Gamble's typical advertising process. Storyboards weren't pored over in P&G's Cincinnati headquarters. Average Americans didn't provide feedback in consumer research...
CULTURE / Books
Jun 16, 2013

Historical biography captures the spirit of early feminist Japan

Time distorts, concealing the individual drops of humanity within the great tide of history. "Beauty in Disarray" attempts to reveal one such individual threatened to be lost in time, a woman named Noe Ito. In telling Ito's tragic story, biographer Harumi Setouchi (now known by her Buddhist name Jakucho)...
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 17, 2013

Enhancing Japan's strengths, remedying its weaknesses

Japanese society is beset with some regrettable weak points. It must find ways to remedy those, bolster its strengths and enhance global 'Japanability.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Mar 24, 2013

Abashiri astounds with its ice and convict connections

In April 1890, the Japanese government shipped more than 1,200 political prisoners from all over the country, including samurai insurgents from the 1877 Satsuma Rebellion against the government of Emperor Meiji. Nine years before, more than 250 years of rule by the Tokugawa shoguns had finally ended....
Japan Times
LIFE
Mar 25, 2012

Blooms of death

"If only we might fall Like cherry blossoms in the spring — So pure and radiant !"
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / STYLE WISE
Aug 9, 2011

The evolution of menswear, Matobu, denim, Harajuku style and TGC

Going from red to blue If "Harajuku style" means gaggles of gothic-lolitas and 1970s-style punks to you, then it's time to catch up.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Sep 11, 2010

Benzaiten — Tomboy Goddess of the Sea

Our motorboat skimmed over the smooth water of the Seto Inland Sea. We were on our way to the mainland and I was attempting to apply last-minute beauty aids — nail polish to my fingers and toes. That's 20 appendages and, on a motorboat occasionally met by waves from passing cargo ships, that means...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 12, 2009

Doctor who treats body and soul

Beauty is not only skin deep, according to Dr. Andrew Wong. With more than 30 years of experience in the medical world, Wong observes firsthand how the stresses and preoccupations of modern society adversely affect our aging processes and overall health. To Wong, mind and body can be united to achieve...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Mar 26, 2009

Makeup artist Yukiko Takeda

Yukiko Takeda, 37, is chief makeup artist for Watosa, a skincare line created by famous beauty guru Sablo Watanabe. For the past 15 years, Yukiko has been making women look and feel so beautiful that over 80 percent of her first-time clients turn into hardcore fans who need their fix of "Yukiko magic"...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 7, 2007

Japan is 'beautiful' -- and don't you dare disagree

Japanese tradition has it that your first dream of the new year (hatsuyume) is a portent of what is in store for you in the 12 months to come. There are three hatsuyume (wouldn't you just know that the Japanese would even designate dreams) they hold to be symbolic: If on the night of Jan. 1 you dream...
Japan Times
LIFE
Apr 23, 2006

Imelda Marcos: Still angry after all these years

The beautiful half of one of the 20th century's most notorious dictatorships, Imelda Marcos has spent two decades fighting attempts to jail her and trace a reputed fortune of billions. On the 20th anniversary of the revolution that ousted her and Ferdinand Marcos from power in the Philippines, she talks...
Surveillance cameras are seen in front of a Chinese flag near a shopping area in Shanghai in 2021. Beijing has stepped up espionage warnings in recent years amid worsening relations with the United States and other Western nations.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 10, 2025

China says it foiled foreign spying plots, including 'honeytrap'

Beijing did not name the countries alleged to be behind the plots.
The Palestinian Embroidery Obi Project brings together a traditional Japanese garment and age-old designs from the Middle Eastern region.
LIFE / Style & Design
Jul 19, 2025

In Gaza-made obi, Palestinian embroidery meets Japanese kimono

Kimono sashes from the Palestinian Embroidery Obi Project combine Japanese materials with Middle Eastern designs.
“Sympathy Tower Tokyo” is centered around Sara Machina, a star architect designing  a new experimental prison in central Tokyo.
CULTURE / Books
Aug 30, 2025

ChatGPT controversy is the least interesting part of 'Sympathy Tower Tokyo'

In Rie Qudan’s futuristic Tokyo, AI and architects take on the prison system.
Hindu brides participate in a mass wedding ceremony in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India, in December 2009. Despite being outlawed more than 60 years ago, dowry remains deeply entrenched in India’s patriarchal society, fueling violence that kills around 20 women every day.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 7, 2025

Dowry-related violence continues to claim the lives of India's daughters

An average of 20 women die every day from dowry-related violence in the country, according to official statistics.

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’