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Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 3, 2009

Lehman-stung Shinsei refocusing on Japan

Having experienced a record loss on overseas investments and loans to Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., an executive of Shinsei Bank Ltd. said the nation's seventh-largest bank will now focus on corporate and individual customers at home instead of proprietary investments abroad.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Nov 3, 2009

Marriage ever-changing institution

Marriage may be an institution, but it's permutations have run the gamut from polygamy, a practice that dates to ancient times but is still allowed in certain areas, to the recent legalization in some places of same-sex partnerships, with everything in between.
Rugby
Nov 2, 2009

All Black McCaw predicts bright future for Japanese rugby

New Zealand captain Richie McCaw believes Japanese rugby can use Saturday's historic Bledisloe Cup match in Tokyo as a springboard to success, but warned improvements will not happen overnight.
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2009

Obituary: Vivienne Kenrick

Vivienne Kenrick, who wrote the weekly Personality Profile in The Japan Times from 1963 to 2007, died Sunday of pneumonia at a Tokyo hospital. She was 89.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 1, 2009

Vienna looks to alter staid image by design

Mozart, Freud, Klimt. Those who came to Vienna in centuries gone by to join the heart of European activity are now the very attractions that draw crowds of tourists to the Austrian capital today.
Japan Times
LIFE
Nov 1, 2009

Ministry insider speaks out

Health ministry bureaucrat Moriyo Kimura made headlines in late May just after the H1N1 flu outbreak sparked a massive mask-buying spree across the nation. Appearing before a Diet committee as an expert witness, the 44-year-old quarantine officer sharply criticized her own ministry — and especially...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Nov 1, 2009

The haunting beauty that is Yushima

On a glowering October morning, I exit the Chiyoda Line at Yushima Station and stroll northwesterly through the back streets of Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 1, 2009

Japanese food-safety label protects business foremost, and not people

It's wise to take any advertisement claim with a grain of salt, and some products invite not just skepticism but downright disbelief. Commercials for hair restoration aids may not actually state they will return your bald pate to a state of hirsute lushness, but they nevertheless get your hopes up toward...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 31, 2009

A-bomb cities offer Obama invite

A speech and a Nobel prize have raised hopes in Japan that Barack Obama will become the first sitting American president to visit Hiroshima or Nagasaki, the two cities devastated by U.S. atomic bombs in World War II.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 31, 2009

Giants, Fighters ready to rumble in Japan Series

The stage is set for the 2009 Japan Series.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 31, 2009

For your amusement — Ferris wheels everywhere, but why not?

Japan can be a confusing place for tourists, so I would like to take this opportunity to explain some things about Japan that no one has ever attempted to explain before, such as "Why are there so many Ferris wheels in Japan?"
Japan Times
CULTURE / Japan Pulse
Oct 30, 2009

An artsy Octoberfest weekend in Tokyo

This may be Tokyo Design Week, but there are a number of interesting art events worth your time as well.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Oct 30, 2009

Prospective homeowners logging in to customization

Once considered 'second homes,' custom-made log houses are becoming more popular as first homes.
JAPAN
Oct 30, 2009

Feudal warlords' noblesse oblige model for today's execs: novelist

Japan's top corporate executives can glean many useful ideas and hints from feudal warlords on how to manage their teams and find and foster able successors, according to Masashi Hisaka, a noted historical novelist.
Japan Times
Rugby
Oct 30, 2009

Eternal rivals get ready to spread Bledisloe Cup gospel to Tokyo crowd

The Bledisloe Cup, one of rugby's showcase events, will debut on Japanese soil Saturday at Tokyo's National Stadium.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 30, 2009

'Mother'

Korean auteur Joon-ho Bong's latest, "Mother," combines the calculated suspense and sophisticated psychological thrills of his breakthrough work "Memories of Murder" (2003), with observations of East Asian motherhood gone over the edge.
CULTURE / Art
Oct 30, 2009

Verner Panton's colorful visions

Experimentation, playfulness, adventure. Through the example of maverick Danish designer Verner Panton, these words have entered the lexicon of many designers today.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 30, 2009

Izu's great stormy weather

The new Izu Photo Museum opened over the weekend, and Raijin, the Japanese god of thunder and lightning, was evidently pleased by what he saw.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 30, 2009

Beneath a city of chaos lies a dark psychological realm

At times, Tokyoites appear to be some of the most poker-faced people on the planet. But what exactly is going on behind those apparently emotionless expressions? The art of Mikiko Kumazawa suggests maybe quite a lot.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 30, 2009

Bringing SecondLife into the real art world

Born in Guangzhou in 1978 and now based in Beijing, Cao Fei is one of China's most prominent young artists, known for photographs and videos that combine elements of fantasy and documentary to reflect on cultural shifts since the country's economic opening at the start of the 1980s.
EDITORIALS
Oct 29, 2009

DPJ good times continue

Victories for the Democratic Party of Japan in Sunday's Upper House by-elections in Kanagawa and Shizuoka prefectures show that the party is still enjoying solid support some 40 days after the inauguration of the DPJ-led government. The elections were the first Diet-level elections since the Aug. 30...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Oct 28, 2009

Ka-ching and bling for Hello Kitty at 35

The queen of kawaii, Hello Kitty, celebrates her 35th birthday this year with global events, new products and a bit of bling.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 28, 2009

Be careful not to bend your gender in Japanese

One of the biggest omissions in Japanese textbooks, classes and one-on-one lessons is gendered language. Ignore it and at some point you will wind up sounding like a little Japanese girl — or a guy — when you didn't intend too.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 28, 2009

Free expression under fire

GUATEMALA CITY — Freedom of expression is one of the most important cornerstones of a free and open society. Guarantees of freedom of expression allow citizens to learn about mistakes of the powerful and help reveal corruption at all levels.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 28, 2009

Be careful not to bend your gender in Japanese

One of the biggest omissions in Japanese textbooks, classes and one-on-one lessons is gendered language. Ignore it and at some point you will wind up sounding like a little Japanese girl — or a guy — when you didn't intend too.

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb