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Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jul 12, 2009

Drifting through life; in a good way

When an American journalist, remarking on Yoshihiro Tatsumi's growing popularity in the United States, suggested that the manga master must be similarly well-known in his own country, Tatsumi laughed and explained that there are not, at present, any venues in Japan willing to publish his work. That being...
CULTURE / Books
Dec 7, 2008

A bend in time, disengagement and the life of the mind

BIRNBAUM: A Novel of Inner Space, by Michael Hoffman. Printed Matter Press, 2008, 321 pp., ¥2,000 (paper) In writing about the process involved in the creation of this novel, Michael Hoffman observed that "Often as I wrote, I had no idea where this was going." This sounds a little like the literary...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 22, 2008

A firm grip on life by the handlebars

"Enjoy life and laugh," says cyclist Mio Yamasaki when asked her motto for living. "No, wait," she interrupts, as she ponders the question further. "Make other people laugh. This is the happiest way to live your life."
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Apr 9, 2008

Life and left-handed meteorites

I wonder if Empress Gensho, who ruled Japan for nine years and died in 748, had something against left-handed people.
BUSINESS
Dec 7, 2007

Dai-ichi Mutual Life to go public in 2010

Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance Co., one of Japan's leading life insurers, is planning to go public in early fiscal 2010, the company said Thursday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 20, 2007

Butoh flowers of life and decay

There is a muscular eloquence to Junichi Kakizaki's constructions. He describes himself as a floral artist — not an ikebana (flower arrangement) master — and has won awards for his interpretation of the traditional Japanese art form. He considers his works to be contemporary art — either installations...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Jul 1, 2007

Kotaro Sawaki: Writer on the road of life

Kotaro Sawaki is one of the most popular nonfiction writers in Japan. He made his name with "Shinya Tokkyu (Midnight Express)," a reportage of a yearlong overland trip through Asia and Europe he took when he was in his mid-20s. Those stories — whose title refers to a euphemism for "prison break" used...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
May 2, 2006

A long life on the island

Reaching 100 has long fascinated societies. The century mark is regarded as an almost supernatural seal of hardiness and good health.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 2, 2005

Goya brought to life in flamenco

La Yoko, as she is known by those in the flamenco world, is the woman responsible for not only bringing this ethnic gypsy-rooted form of dance into Japan but also establishing the first flamenco dance company on this far eastern island 36 years ago. In 1959, Yoko Komatsubara, after having seen the spectacular...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Feb 9, 2005

Feminist life actually: singing in the pain of Japan

The word "feminist" has been stripped of the luster it had back in the 1970s, and few Japanese women are more aware of this than Michiko Kasahara. Widely regarded as one of Japan's leading feminist curators, Kasahara was responsible for groundbreaking exhibitions such as "Gender: Beyond Memory" at the...
BUSINESS
Dec 3, 2004

Nippon Life cedes lead to AFLAC

Nippon Life Insurance Co. had lost its No. 1 position in the individual life insurance market by the end of September for the first time in the postwar period, industry officials said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Apr 19, 2003

Life insurer chief offers stock tip to BOJ

As the Bank of Japan delves into unconventional policies, it should consider buying bank stocks from life insurers and other large bank stakeholders, the chairman of the Life Insurance Association of Japan said Friday.
BUSINESS
May 28, 2002

Gibraltar Life Insurance posts 12.9 billion yen profit

Gibraltar Life Insurance Co., the successor of failed Kyoei Life Insurance Co., said Monday it posted unconsolidated net profits of 12.9 billion yen for the 2001 business year.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 15, 2002

Art macht frei

"Arbeit macht frei (Work brings freedom)" were the words famously written above the gates of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, where Austrian-born artist Friedl Dicker-Brandeis was murdered in a gas chamber on Oct. 9, 1944. Friedl's life, however, had been devoted to a different, truer precept:...
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
May 9, 2002

Sons light up mum's life, but also take years off it

All sons know that we get more flak than daughters. Does "You've taken years off my life" or "Why can't you be more like your sister?" sound familiar?
BUSINESS
Feb 15, 2002

Asahi Mutual Life to deepen cuts

Asahi Mutual Life Insurance Co. will deepen planned pay and staff cuts because a business integration scheme with Tokio Marine & Fire Insurance Co. had to be scrapped in January, company sources said.
BUSINESS
Apr 11, 2001

Nippon Life, Dai-ichi tie up to administer corporate pensions

Nippon Life Insurance Co. and Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance Co. said Tuesday they will jointly establish a company in October specializing in administering corporate pension fund assets.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jan 1, 2001

Life? Martian meteorite keeps its cool

"X-Files," eat your heart out. Supporters of the theory that life on Earth was "seeded" by organisms from deep space got a boost recently, as analysis of the famous Martian meteorite ALH84001 indicated that it was transferred from Mars to Earth without being heated above 40 degrees Celsius. This relatively...
JAPAN
Sep 16, 2000

OECD calls for life-long learning

Academic achievement was the goal of Japan's exam-oriented education system when life-time employment was intact.
BUSINESS
Aug 29, 2000

Life, nonlife insurers tie up

Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance Co. and Yasuda Fire & Marine Insurance Co. on Monday formally announced a comprehensive tieup that includes joint marketing of each other's products and integration of Dai-ichi's nonlife insurance subsidiary with Yasuda.
COMMUNITY
Aug 20, 2000

You only live once

LONDON -- Virgin Group boss Sir Richard Branson is one of the world's most well-known and visible entrepreneurs. Recently knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, the word "tycoon" would normally apply to a businessman with his financial and political clout.
JAPAN
Aug 19, 2000

Life expectancy fell in 1999

The average life expectancy for Japanese fell slightly in 1999 as an outbreak of influenza in the winter boosted pneumonia-linked deaths, government statistics showed Friday.
BUSINESS
Jun 1, 2000

Daihyaku Life told to cease operations

The Financial Supervisory Agency announced Wednesday that it has ordered Daihyaku Mutual Life Insurance Co. to suspend operations -- the third collapse in the nation's life insurance sector.
BUSINESS
Mar 10, 2000

FSA surprises Nippon Life with inspection of its assets

The Financial Supervisory Agency on Thursday conducted a surprise inspection of Japan's largest life insurer, Nippon Life Insurance Co., the latest in a series of inspections of life insurers, sources close to Nippon Life said.
JAPAN
Sep 17, 1999

Insurers to sell Aoba Life to Artemis of France

The Life Insurance Association of Japan will sell Aoba Life Insurance Co. to Artemis, a holding company of major French retailer Pinault Printemps Redoute, for 25 billion yen, the association announced Friday.
JAPAN
Aug 19, 1999

Nippon Life feeling assured of 401(k) role for small firms

Staff writer

Longform

After the asset-price bubble crash of the early 1990s, employment at a Japanese company was no longer necessarily for life. As a result, a new generation is less willing to endure a toxic work culture —life’s too short, after all.
How Japan's youth are slowly changing the country's work ethic