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May 14, 2025
 

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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Feb 5, 2006

Fashionista with attitude

Raised on the mean streets of Brooklyn's Brownsville district, Gene Krell is a self-proclaimed tough guy who cites as one of his heroes a little-known but highly colorful "Dadaist professional boxer" called Arthur Cravan.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Feb 23, 2004

Critical war questions beg for an answer

NEW YORK -- First, my historian friend George Akita sent me a clipping of former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara's article that appeared in The Honolulu Advertiser (Aug. 7, 2003). Titled "We need rules for waging war," the piece begins with McNamara remembering the night of March 9, 1945, when...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Oct 2, 2003

"The House of Windjammer," "Boolar's Big Day Out"

"The House of Windjammer," V.A. Richardson, Bloomsbury; 2003; 349 pp. No matter where you grow up, whether it's in 21st-century Japan or in 17th-century Europe, some things never change. People everywhere, at every time, are at the mercy of larger forces -- political upheavals, market fluctuations,...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Jun 6, 2002

Why do forests flourish on fish?

Ever since I went on my first expedition to the Canadian Arctic in 1958 I have kept a notebook, and this habit is still with me. Now, with this column on the first Thursday of each month, you too, Dear Reader, can share in these jottings from over the years.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
May 2, 2002

20 years of writing on the wild side

The biological exuberance of the equatorial region is staggering to behold. Walking through a temperate forest (as one might find in many areas of northern Japan, the northern United States or across much of central Europe), it is commonplace to have a clear view for hundreds of meters -- even to the...
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Apr 12, 2001

From ridiculous to sublime: the arguments of a fossil fool

Last month, the White House announced that U.S. President George W. Bush would not support the Kyoto Protocol because it "is not in the United States' economic best interests." The protocol is aimed at reducing human emissions of greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide, that contribute to global...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 1, 2001

Making work a lifestyle choice instead of just making a living

In an effort to get some idea of why the suicide rate among college students is on the rise, the weekly magazine AERA recently sent a reporter to the Muroran Institute of Technology, where there have been seven student suicides in the last two years.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / OBITUARY
Jan 29, 2023

Angela Jeffs: The Japan Times columnist who taught us to ‘write the mind alive’

Angela Jeffs helped the international community make sense of Japan and our place in it.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / ADOPT ME!
Sep 15, 2022

These families will tell you: Adopting the right pet can make an even happier home

Once used as 'spare parts' in a medical facility, Ruby the dog is now safe with owners who love her —u00a0even if she snores.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jun 19, 2021

Read the ones about the priest, the comedian and the ostrich?

Three individuals feel they need to make a change, and laughter helps them through it.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jun 5, 2021

Financial stress causes fission in Japan's families

The weeklies are warning older people in Japan that their families may not be around when they need them because of increasing financial problems.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
May 29, 2021

Can a celebrity wedding set the mood for romance?

Yui Aragaki and Gen Hoshino announced they will be getting married, proving the idea that you can't find romance after 30 is an outdated one.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Nov 28, 2020

When sensitivity becomes that one thing too many

Sensitivity is agony. In moderation it’s good, but moderation rarely knows when to stop, and soon becomes excess. Excessive sensitivity is a theme taken up by Spa magazine this month.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Sep 5, 2020

Trust and truth go hand in hand in a troubled year

COVID-19's most visible symbol is the mask, but 85 of 100 doctors surveyed by Shukan Gendai say masks are unnecessary in open outdoor spaces.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
May 16, 2020

The revolt against Japan's cultured courtiers

The Meiji Restoration changed Japanese society on a grand scale, but let's not forget another 'revolution' that turned things upside down.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Nov 30, 2019

A world in disarray but Japan appears to sidestep turmoil

The world is furious.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Aug 3, 2019

Low voter turnout in Upper House election may reflect an indifference to democracy

In May 1993, general elections were held in Cambodia. Voter turnout was 89.56 percent.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jun 15, 2019

'Lawyerlessness' is a luxury Japan can no longer afford

In 1983, Time magazine looked at Japan and saw, to its astonishment, a "land without lawyers." "Most Japanese," said its report, "live — and die — without ever having seen a lawyer." Was this a country, or a mystic brotherhood? In the U.S. there was one lawyer for every 400 citizens; in Japan, one...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 20, 2019

America moves from baby boom to the great baby bust

Could a wide-sweeping decline in religious beliefs be one of the underlying causes?
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Nov 24, 2018

The Jomon Period: Modern Japanese art with ancient beginnings

Japanese art has a quality all its own. The ancient and the avant-garde merge. Prehistoric figurines seem 10,000 years deep rather than 10,000 years old. And modern art takes us back even as it propels us forward. Manga, for instance, predates its name by centuries — millennia even, you might suppose,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Nov 17, 2018

'On Haiku': A lifetime's consideration of the genre, distilled

In his latest book, 'On Haiku,' Japanese translator and poet Hiroaki Sato ruminates on the history of the genre and its defining features as well as its remarkable acculturation within American literary life.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Nov 10, 2018

Japan struggles to keep loneliness at arm's length

Society is crumbling into its component elements.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Sep 29, 2018

Few question the death penalty for heinous crimes

Should murderers be put to death? Yes, says Japan. No, says (increasingly) much of the rest of the world. Japan swims against the current.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Aug 11, 2018

Unsolved mysteries: Japanese fans of the occult are engaged in a never-ending search for the truth

Whether it's tales of hauntings, spirits or paranormal phenomena, Yuki Yoshida loves a good scare.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
May 20, 2018

Are black people dangerous for Japan?

Yes, if you're a backward-thinking, race-baiting YouTuber who fears the inevitable change we represent.
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Mar 31, 2018

'The Outsider' scores a few hits among the misses

Netflix last month released a yakuza film starring Jared Leto titled "The Outsider" to critical disdain. And as much as I expected to hate the movie, I didn't. It's portrayal of the world of organized crime in Japan after World War II is not entirely inaccurate. It even has its moments.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 12, 2018

The optimists strike back on the state of the world

Some of today's pessimism is a political fad. It's self-defeating, feeding on itself, promoting paralysis and more pessimism.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Feb 10, 2018

'Liv': The truth of war in a pair of cornflower-blue eyes

In the landmark Western "The Searchers" (1956) directed by John Ford, John Wayne plays embittered Civil War veteran Ethan Edwards, in obsessive pursuit of Comanche Indians who have kidnapped his niece. Such is Edward's hatred for Native Americans we spend the movie convinced he will murder, not rescue,...
Figure Skating / ICE TIME
Dec 26, 2017

Sending Kaori Sakamoto to Olympics the right call

This time the Japan Skating Federation got it right.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 23, 2017

When we all must live in fear of online mobs

The internet is transforming the power of social coercion in extremely troubling ways.
Transport ministry issues warning to Haneda Airport operator
The operator of Tokyo's Haneda Airport has been warned by the government over its inappropriate transactions.
Xi defiance pays off as Trump meets most China trade demands
Then-Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping visits a school in South Gate, California, in February 2012. Experts say Xi won big in his standoff with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Nissan shares surge as carmaker set to cut 20,000 jobs in huge overhaul
U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on cars and car parts imported to the U.S. have been painful to most global brands, but crippling in Nissan’s case.
Japan might be playing long game in U.S. tariff talks
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the White House earlier this year. Ishiba said Monday that farmers won't be sacrificed for automakers in Japan's tariff negotiations with the U.S.
More details emerge about stabbing near Tokyo University metro station
Yoshitaka Toda, the suspect in Wednesday's knife attack at Todaimae Station on the Tokyo Metro Nanboku Line, leaves a police station in the Japanese capital the same day for a pre-detention medical examination.
Sculpted waves, sleek updos: Showa hairstyles are back in fashion
The larger-than-life hairstyles of Japan's Showa Era are unmistakable — and they're making a comeback.
Japan should produce its own AI defense solutions, Sakana AI CEO says
Sakana AI CEO David Ha speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Nissan gets ‘wake-up call’ with $4.5 billion annual net loss
Nissan CEO Ivan Espinosa in Tokyo as the company releases its results
Consumption tax set to dominate Upper House election debate
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba enters his office in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Japan set for bigger role in Philippines after SDF’s debut in key drills
Philippine Army Brig. Gen. Michael Logico, who was involved in managing the latest iteration of the Balikatan U.S.-Philippine drills, told The Japan Times that he expects military ties with Japan to surge even further once Tokyo ratifies a key visiting-forces agreement with Manila.

Podcast

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

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?
By Tomoko Otake

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