Search - entertainment

 
 
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jun 13, 2015

Ojika's residents beat the rat race by abandoning it, bucking a national trend in the process

If only there was an island somewhere ...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / CHILD'S PLAY
Jun 13, 2015

Take on the samurai in Edo Period Toei

When my parents were young, action movies were about gunslingers, sheriffs and saloons. For my in-laws in Osaka, however, cinema was more about swords and samurai.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 12, 2015

How outrage became a U.S. growth industry

Intolerance is making the U.S. less free, and less fun.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 12, 2015

Shibuya might close streets to cars on weekends again

Tokyo's Shibuya Ward said Friday it may resume its old custom of closing two main streets to cars on weekends in hopes of invigorating the area in the lead-up to the Summer Olympics in 2020.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Jun 11, 2015

Christopher Lee, actor who played Dracula and Frankenstein, dies at 93

Christopher Lee, the English actor who found fame as Count Dracula in the 1950s and whose career was resurrected a half century later with villainous roles in the "Star Wars" and "Lord of The Rings" franchises, has died. He was 93.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 11, 2015

Algorithms give us what we want, but little else

Algorithms may take the guesswork out of marketing, crime prevention and even romance. But they also take the guesswork out of life itself, making it predictably dull.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 11, 2015

'Mockingjay' rises toward a revolution

Today's Hollywood is great at catering to the superfan. Whether it's the dedicated following that supports (or argues over) TV shows like "Game of Thrones," "True Blood" or "The Walking Dead," or the comic-book enthusiasts that salivate over every detail of a superhero flick like "Avengers: Age of Ultron,"...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 11, 2015

Record industry warily embraces Apple Music

A decade ago, Apple Inc. helped revitalize a music industry hit hard by online piracy with its iTunes Store. Now, amid a steady slump in digital downloads, the industry is hopeful that the tech giant's new streaming service will give record companies another desperately needed boost.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 10, 2015

Japan's toxic prophets are revealed in 'Yokokuhan' adaptation

Directors of the better Japanese commercial films typically carve out thematic or stylistic niches for themselves, so that even if they do a manga adaptation for the masses, it's their kind of manga filmed in their kind of way. One is Yoshihiro Nakamura, a master of mysteries and thrillers with brainteaser...
LIFE / Travel / TRAVEL INSIDER
Jun 9, 2015

Cathay Pacific packages; new Scoot route; Miffy traveling in Europe

Cathay Pacific packages
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 8, 2015

Japan's maverick billionaire bets big abroad

Corporate Japan should seriously consider emulating Softbank CEO's Masayoshi Son's gutsy approach to doing business.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jun 6, 2015

'Bottakuri' scams put the squeeze on the unwary

"On any given evening, you can see noisy quarrels between club staff and customers outside the local police box," attorney Katsuyuki Aoshima tells Asahi Geino (May 2), adding, "The police treat these as civil claims between the shop and the customer, and won't get involved, adopting the position of neutral...
BASEBALL / MLB / MAN ABOUT SPORTS
Jun 2, 2015

Revived Mets ignite renewed attention in ballclub

Sitting in the dugout of a New York Mets foe before a recent contest, MAS overheard an intriguing comment.
JAPAN / Politics
May 31, 2015

U.S. to take Japan under cyberdefense umbrella as hacker threats grow

The United States will extend its cyberdefense umbrella over Japan, helping its ally cope with the growing threat of online attacks against military bases and infrastructure such as power grids, the two nations said in a joint statement Saturday.
EDITORIALS
May 31, 2015

Japan's aquariums must evolve

The vote by Japanese zoos and aquarium to remain in the industry's world body means dolphin-keepers will have to rethink how they obtain their animals.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
May 28, 2015

Shoko reclaims her spot on the stage

Shoko Nakamura embarked on a challenging journey when she began retraining for ballet performances just one month after giving birth to her son, Joel, in 2011. The dancer, who goes by just her first name when performing, says the physical pain involved in getting back into shape often reduced her to...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
May 23, 2015

The changing face of Tokyo's 'red-light' district

"How would I describe Kabukicho? Frankly, I'm not sure," popular author Hirokatsu Azuma was quoted as saying in the now-defunct monthly Gendai magazine back in January 1999. "If you say it's a scary place, you could be right; and if you say it's a place where you can have fun, well, that's right too."...
CULTURE / Film
May 21, 2015

Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia searches for that 1-in-5,000 movie

Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia director Seigo Tono has been with the event since its second edition in 2000, when it was called the American Short Shorts Film Festival and showed only U.S. films. Since then it has evolved into what Tono describes as "a global event, featuring cutting-edge shorts from...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
May 19, 2015

U.S. court: YouTube can show 'Innocence of Muslims' film despite complaint by actress, outrage

Google Inc. should not have to remove an anti-Islamic film from its YouTube website because a woman complained that she was duped into performing in the film that depicted the Prophet Muhammad as a pedophile, a U.S. appeals court ruled on Monday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
May 17, 2015

Black filmmakers 'find their edge' in Japan

This month's green-tinged Black Eye focuses on black filmmakers in Tokyo — a group of brothers forging their dreams into reality, getting it done here in the Land of the Rising Sun.
COMMENTARY / World
May 17, 2015

A richer Asia will be poorer without elephants

Asia's indigenous animals are increasingly under threat, none more so than the iconic Southeast Asian elephant.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: TECH
May 16, 2015

Gadgets that let you see into the future

Don't let this gadget go down the toilet
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
May 16, 2015

Japan's runners need a change of pace

In "The Way of the Runner," Adharanand Finn has written an entertaining account of Japan's obsession with long-distance running (and training). However, the problem is when he veers off the running track into the land of cliche. Consider this: Finn writes that bread only comes in packets of three slices,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
May 14, 2015

Maya Inoue makes a play to refine her father's theatrical legacy

Hisashi Inoue's death at the age of 75 on April 9, 2010, at his home in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, was a major event in the postwar Japanese theater world. It moved many dramatists to stage works by the great author and playwright who combined comedy and searing social and political commentary into...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
May 11, 2015

Tokyo ramps up 'English village' plan as 2020 approaches

As Tokyo gears up to host the 2020 Olympic Games, demands for action are growing to overcome Japan's notorious English-speaking phobia.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 9, 2015

Sound waves: the music of Okinawa

How is it possible that a people who have experienced poverty, famine and discrimination, outlasted efforts at cultural annihilation and suffered the indignities of occupation can manage to celebrate life in song and dance with a passion and joy that belies everyday reality?

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami