Search - u_times

 
 
COMMENTARY
May 12, 2010

Democracy far from perfect

Prime ministers refusing to leave, political parties with a large number of votes being excluded and dubious coalitions being negotiated — which country are we in, the United Kingdom or Iraq?
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 12, 2010

Teishokuya: cheap eats that never go out of style

Times will change, empires will rise and fall, but thankfully some institutions are set, if not in bronze, then at least in good old concrete. By this I mean the backstreet teishokuya (定食屋, diner), specifically the tasty one in my neighborhood. At lunchtime the place is crammed with businessmen...
SOCCER / World cup
May 11, 2010

Kawaguchi returns as Okada announces World Cup squad

Veteran goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi and striker Kisho Yano were the biggest surprises in an otherwise familiar selection as national team manager Takeshi Okada named his squad for the World Cup on Monday.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
May 11, 2010

Football coach Kawata finds a home at Stanford

Sometimes life takes a drastic turn with a bit of determination. Football coach Tsuyoshi Kawata's tale is a good example of that.
JAPAN
May 11, 2010

Tuna auction reopens to tourists

The tuna auction at Tokyo's popular Tsukiji fish market reopened Monday to the public with new restrictions following a monthlong ban leveled after tourists obstructed business.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 11, 2010

Japan zines: Never mind the bloggers

Koenji is a nice, quiet place in the suburbs, but venturing along its Kitanaka Street one weekend last March, you could not have missed the commotion coming out of Shirouto no Ran No. 12. Crammed inside this small rental space, dozens of people were poring over, discussing and exchanging piles upon piles...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
May 9, 2010

On the road to paradise: a cycling pilgrimage to 88 Shikoku temples

The girl at the cash register of the convenience store gives me a free bottle of iced tea and wishes me "Good luck!" As I remount my bike, I pop a sushi roll she also gave me into my mouth and set off, blissfully relaxed under blue skies, heading for the next temple.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 8, 2010

Online photo/video competition under way

Tokyo.JapanTimes, an affiliated Web site of The Japan Times, has launched a photo/video competition on the themes of ''people, street and nature in Tokyo."
JAPAN
May 7, 2010

U.S. resolution condemns Japan

OSAKA — U.S. lawmakers introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives Wednesday that condemns Japan for being an international haven for child abductors.
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
May 7, 2010

Tiebreaker could be needed in tight West

It's possible for the Osaka Evessa, Rizing Fukuoka and Ryukyu Golden Kings to all finish with identical 32-20 records.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
May 7, 2010

Understanding the bank crisis via the stage

"If you want to understand the banking crisis, you should go to the theater" — this isn't a blurb for an economics book, it's from a review for "The Power of Yes," the latest work by English playwright David Hare.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 7, 2010

Isolation brings The xx out to the world

LIVERPOOL, England — Every so often a band arrives, seemingly from nowhere, out of left field and fully-formed, with a sound, image and narrative so flawlessly off-kilter that once discovered, you wonder how you ever did without them.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 7, 2010

New Wave icons Plastics plan summer gigs

For artists in the late 1970s and early 1980s, New York was definitely where it was at and Japanese band the Plastics were among those who found themselves right at the heart of that heady scene.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 7, 2010

Crime scene investigation: Edo

The original U.S. TV series "CSI (Crime Scene Investigation)," set in Las Vegas, has been so successful that it has almost grown into a franchise, with "CSI: Miami," "CSI: NY," and "CSI: Triology." After visiting the "Ryoma Den" exhibition at the Edo-Tokyo Museum, which looks at the life of the 19th-century...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 7, 2010

Maruni/Zaku: Here's the beef, in vintage style

Like so many casual eating/drinking spots opening in these cash-strapped times, Maruni keeps things simple and cheap. It's basically a standing bar serving yakiniku barbecue, with a brightly lit interior and retro wooden facade. What sets it apart from just about any other place of its kind is that the...
COMMENTARY / World
May 6, 2010

Brand, but don't ban, credit default swaps

CHICAGO — The lawsuit filed last month by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission against Goldman Sachs for securities fraud, charging the bank with misrepresenting the way a collateralized debt obligations had been formed, has revived public disgust at credit default swaps (CDS), the instrument...
COMMENTARY / World
May 6, 2010

Bankrupt theology lives to distract on another day

GENEVA — Now that the global financial crisis is abating, it is time to take stock of our mistakes and ensure that they are not repeated.
Japan Times
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
May 5, 2010

Is ozeki Baruto the man to watch?

As is often the case when a sekiwake is promoted to ozeki, talk centers on him going just that little bit further in his career and making it all the way to yokozuna.
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
May 4, 2010

Last gasps of Japan's dying demagogues

Tally ho! The hunt is on for "fake Japanese" in Japanese politics.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
May 2, 2010

Renho: Japan's fiscal firebrand

Renho, a first-term Upper House member from the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, shot to stardom in Japan last November when, as a member of a government committee tasked with screening ministries' budget requests, she had several fierce, face-to-face battles with bureaucrats.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
May 2, 2010

'Zen-Nihon Kaso Taisho,' the trouble with herbivores; CM of the week: Sumisho Fruits

Several weeks ago, NHK profiled Yusei Uesugi, a matte painter who works for George Lucas's Industrial Light and Magic. Uesugi is a major talent in Hollywood special effects, and he got his start as a contestant on "Zen-Nihon Kaso Taisho" ("All-Japan Disguise Awards"), which takes place two or three times...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 2, 2010

Downed in her prime, a beacon of Japan's emerging new culture

The formative culture of a country is its subculture. Mainstream culture is about the present; subculture creates the future.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’