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Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 30, 2010

Making 'BioArt' a cultural practice

At this year's Society for Social Studies Conference at the University of Tokyo, Aug. 25-29, there will be a session on "BioArt," which begs the question: What would that be?
Reader Mail
Jul 29, 2010

The way to enrich communication

The anonymous author of the July 22 letter, "Rakuten may be asking for trouble," fears a loss of culture because of Rakuten President Hiroshi Mikitani's decision to make English the company's official language by 2012. As a citizen of a country where English is very often used as a business language...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jul 29, 2010

Fresh vegetables in heart of the city

O n Saturdays and Sundays, a small group of vendors sets up stalls filled with fresh vegetables and fruit outside the Kotsu Kaikan Building, a shopping complex in front of Yurakucho Station, in central Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward. The Kotsu Kaikan Marche, which started in April, is the latest of a growing number...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 27, 2010

Sumos and the yakuza

OSAKA — Perhaps no other sport is pursued as religiously as sumo wrestling. Before a match, referees — who double as Shinto priests — purify the seaweed, salt and sake. Wrestlers wash their faces, mouths and armpits before entering the dohyo (ring), on whose sacred sand neither shoes nor women...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jul 26, 2010

Eel economics: Why unagi is so popular (and expensive)

On the 'hot day of the ox' Japanese traditionally eat eel, and often pay a lot of money to do so. Why eel? Glad you asked.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jul 25, 2010

Computer addiction dulls wits at work

Differences in familiarity with computers are creating ever-wider gaps within the ranks of Japan's salarymen. Evening tabloid Nikkan Gendai (July 17) reports on the emergence of a new type of person at companies who never stops typing on his PC, even while being spoken to by a colleague.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 25, 2010

A bailout by any other name

The gap between rich and poor seems to be widening worldwide, the result of government deregulation and the dominance of market-led economic policies. As businesses are given freer rein to do whatever they want, wages at the lower end of the pay scale drop. Government revenues consequently shrink, thus...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Jul 25, 2010

Brilliant facets of Nishi-Ojima

Setting off to explore Nishi-Ojima (West Large Island) and Kita Suna (North Sand) in Tokyo's downtown Koto Ward, I know better than to expect a seaside resort.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jul 23, 2010

Events spur on a new generation of sake drinkers

At 5:30 p.m. on a recent Saturday evening, the line of people at the entrance to the Smile Nihonshu sake event was six deep. Inside the bar, groups of young people in their 20s and 30s clinked glasses and nodded along to a bouncy rendition of Bob Marley's "Buffalo Soldier" under a green-lit disco ball....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Japan Pulse
Jul 22, 2010

iPhones become ice-breakers at gokon dating parties

iPhones are helping to lubricate the interaction at Japanese gokon dating parties.
COMMENTARY
Jul 22, 2010

Pond scum could save the world

Do we really need to keep pushing the frontiers in the search for oil? Must we venture into ever deeper and more dangerous waters, and into areas on land where technical challenges and political risks are rising? Some leading multinational energy companies evidently believe there may be a promising alternative...
BUSINESS
Jul 21, 2010

Honda preps plug-in hybrid, EV for 2012

WAKO, Saitama Pref. — Honda Motor Co. said Tuesday it will debut in 2012 a hybrid car that can be charged at home and an electric vehicle in Japan and the United States, a move expected to further fuel competition for environmentally friendly vehicles.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jul 19, 2010

Tale of the tape: shoplifiting solution or just a band-aid?

Shop-lifting is becoming a growing problem in Japan and using a piece of tape as proof of purchase is probably not the most effective way to stop it.
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2010

JAL starts selling off one-third of its fleet

Japan Airlines Corp. has started the process of selling 95 midsize and large aircraft, including jumbo jets, as part of its business turnaround program, sources have said.
EDITORIALS
Jul 18, 2010

A Japanese Steve Jobs?

Why, asks a Japanese magazine, wasn't the iPad invented in Japan? The short answer would be that Steve Jobs isn't Japanese. Japan does, however, have a similarly hard-driving perfectionist manager in Mr. Tadashi Yanai, head of Fast Retailing, who is rapidly turning his chain of clothing stores, Uniqlo,...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Jul 18, 2010

Will Edo Castle's tower rise again?

What does Tokyo have as a genuine landmark?
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 18, 2010

Japan's media laps up poll parade

One of the funniest images to emerge from last week's Upper House election was the row of Liberal Democratic Party bigwigs pointing their forefingers to the sky in unison and flashing big stupid grins. The big stupid grins were a reaction to the party's supposed comeback, since they had just won more...
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
Jul 18, 2010

Pirates off Haneda, the advent of Japanese autos, striking miners' dispute, first American pro go player

100 YEARS AGO
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jul 18, 2010

Laws can lead, but society must grasp the value of childcare leave

In 1992 my wife, Susan, and I took ourfour children — then aged between 3 and 9 — from Kyoto to Sydney. The children, who until then had been going to Japanese kindergarten and primary schools, spoke Japanese among themselves. We felt they needed some time in an English-speaking environment if they...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 16, 2010

Sexual empowerment with a large dose of Grey matter

Sasha Grey is not the sort of movie star you normally see discussed in these pages. With a resume that includes "Oral Supremacy" and "Sex Toy Teens," Grey has risen to become one of the top porn stars in the United States, appearing in more than 180 films in a three-year period starting when she was...

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