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JAPAN / Media
Feb 10, 2013

2,160 Hours of Yasushi Akimoto; AKB48 dramas; CM of the week: U-Can

Some fans can't get enough of AKB48, and NHK understands this, so on Monday it is broadcasting "Mitchaku: Akimoto Yasushi 2,160-jikan" ("Intense Coverage: 2,160 Hours of Yasushi Akimoto"; BS Premium, 9 p.m.), a two-hour special (presumably just the highlights then) in which NHK's cameras follow AKB producer-Svengali...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 8, 2013

'Land of Oblivion'

It's 1996. Anya (Olga Kurylenko) works as a guide on a tour bus that takes people through Pripyat, a town located just 3 km from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine. The tourists, all of varying ages and nationalities, listen somewhat bored to Anya's descriptions of April 26, 1986, a decade...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 7, 2013

Tadasu Takamine's not so 'Cool Japan'

In May 2011, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry promoted the idea of "Cool Japan," presenting Japanese culture as a product amid the confusing circumstances after the Great East Japan Earthquake. As Japan continues to suffer a declining population and weak economy, it was a government attempt...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 7, 2013

'Kabuki: Theaters during the Edo Period'

Since the Edo Period (1603-1867), kabuki has been an important source of national pride in Japan, and though it has undergone some key changes over the years, it remains a popular form of entertainment.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 4, 2013

'Abenomics' missing the mark

The economic policies enunciated by the Abe government may have some beneficial effects, but seem inadequate in themselves to revive the Japanese economy in the long run.
EDITORIALS
Feb 4, 2013

The DPJ's obligation

Members of the No. 1 opposition party, DPJ, have a duty to check the moves of the Abe administration with regard to economic and and defense policies.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 31, 2013

'BLACKS: Louise Nevelson, Ad Reinhardt, Hiroshi Sugimoto'

Sculptor Louise Nevelson (1899-1988), painter Ad Reinhardt (1913-1967) and photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto (1948-) are all known for the predominantly monochrome nature of their works. This exhibition explores the different approaches the artists have taken when experimenting with the use of black.
BUSINESS
Jan 29, 2013

Cabinet OKs record ¥92.6 trillion budget

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet on Tuesday approved a record-high ¥92.6 trillion initial general-account budget for fiscal 2013, aiming to shore up the economy through large-scale public works projects.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 29, 2013

Policy speech by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to the 183rd session of the Diet

Delivered Jan. 28, 2013
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Jan 26, 2013

Mining gems in Okachimachi

On early maps of Edo, as Tokyo was known prior to 1868, Okachimachi is rendered as a town (machi) densely packed with the tiny dwellings of okachi — low-ranked, poorly paid samurai infantry.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 25, 2013

I still haven't found what I'm looking for ...

Thinking about Google over the last week, I have fallen into the typically procrastinatory habit of every so often typing the words "what is" or "what" or "wha" into the Google search box at the top right of my computer screen. Those prompts are all the omnipotent engine needs to inform me of the current...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 23, 2013

'Coriolanus' comes home — to Kyoto

It's a fair bet that many people at the Globe Theatre in London last May expected the Kyoto-based Chiten (Point) Company to present a stereotypically Japanese, samurai-style "Coriolanus," complete with taiko drums and period armor.
JAPAN / DAVOS SPECIAL 2013
Jan 23, 2013

Japan searches for growth areas to drive economy

While the media have highlighted Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's large-scale government spending on public works, and high expectations for his so-called Abenomics drove share prices up and weakened the yen, the important question is; what industries does Abe's administration want to promote as driving forces...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Jan 19, 2013

Guardiola right not to join Chelsea

There is one reason why Pep Guardiola never seriously considered joining Chelsea: Roman Abramovich.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Jan 19, 2013

Why spider's silk is becoming man's best friend

Up on the roof of professor Fritz Vollrath's lab in the zoology department at Oxford University, there is a makeshift greenhouse in which he nurtures his favorite golden orb web spiders. Walking into the greenhouse is a little like finding yourself inside one of those Damien Hirst vitrines that dramatize...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 17, 2013

"Portraits of Destroyed Cities"

The 20th century witnessed two world wars, during which many countries suffered what is known as "strategic bombing": major air raids on cities aimed at destroying the nation's economic ability and public spirit.
LIFE
Jan 13, 2013

What Japan needs to do

With its economy spluttering, large parts of its northeastern region still devastated by the effects of the mammoth Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 — and releases of radioactive materials that followed — its population shrinking and aging at unprecedented rates and its citizens despairing of...
EDITORIALS
Jan 7, 2013

Komeito as countervailing power

Since the formation of a coalition government on Dec. 26, the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito have gotten into the full swing of governing. The parties jointly occupy more than two-thirds of the Lower House seats — enough to overturn Upper House decisions on legislative bills.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Jan 6, 2013

Frederik Schodt: pop culture ambassador to the world

Quick quiz: Who was the first Japanese civilian to be issued a passport?
BUSINESS
Jan 3, 2013

Abe hoopla aside, key economic challenges loom

Stocks are up, the yen is easing and there is a new prime minister pledging to splash trillions of yen to breathe life into the country's moribund economy: Last year ended on a high note for Japan Inc., and 2013 looks even more promising for some.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CABINET INTERVIEW
Dec 29, 2012

Aso slams DPJ predecessors, talks of keeping BOJ close

The new government will continue working closely with the Bank of Japan, at least more frequently than the previous administration did, in order to fend off deflation, newly appointed Finance Minister Taro Aso said Friday.
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Dec 27, 2012

'Abenomics' gets off to a flying start

The very idea of big-spender Shinzo Abe's reappointment as prime minister was enough to send the yen falling against the dollar and spurred the Nikkei above the 10,000 mark for the first time in months.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 27, 2012

Japan's public museums enjoy a makeover

The collapse of the Sasago Tunnel in Yamanashi Prefecture three weeks ago put a spotlight on the state of Japan's infrastructure, and how many of the bridges and tunnels that were built during the period of rapid economic development in the 1970s and '80s have not received proper maintenance. Much of...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 26, 2012

Kaieda takes DPJ helm; Ozawa overture hinted

The Democratic Party of Japan picked former trade minister Banri Kaieda as its new president Tuesday, a sign that the party may seek to join hands with Ichiro Ozawa, a former DPJ leader who left the party earlier this year, for the upcoming Upper House election.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 20, 2012

Harnessing the spirit of Kuniyoshi

Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798-1861) belongs to a category of ukiyo-e print artists that have long polarized art historians and connoisseurs for their jarring colors and compositions, cynical depictions of sex and violence, and use of Western pictorial techniques. These so-called "Decadents" were seen to represent...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 20, 2012

"Modern European Art from the Collection of the National Museum of Western Art"

The National Museum of Western Art opened in 1959 as the only museum in Japan dedicated to Western artworks. Since its establishment, it has actively continued to collect, preserve and display Western works, becoming the major driving force behind today's widespread presence of European art in Japan....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 6, 2012

"Hideki Nakazawa Exhibition"

A former eye doctor, artist Hideki Nakazawa takes advantage of his medical knowledge to create a colorful, slightly facetious interpretation of conceptual art. Nakazawa's artworks explores avant-gardism and artistic profundity in such an eclectic manner that his diverse collection of works have left...

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan