Search - u_times

 
 
Japan Times
JAPAN / MIXED MATCHES
Apr 18, 2009

Not love at first sight, but love at first date for couple

Canadian Vanessa Hayes knew even before her first date with Michio Kiyomiya that she would end up marrying him, although it wasn't quite love at first sight.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 18, 2009

Japan, EU agree wealth gaps must be closed

NIIGATA, Japan and Europe need to address a common problem: the gap between an overconcentration of wealth, and amenities, in large urban areas compared with their rural communities, experts and journalists agreed at a recent conference.
COMMENTARY
Apr 17, 2009

Taxing times for the rich

The agreements reached at the Group of 20 summit in London to try to close down tax havens and clamp down on tax avoidance have been welcomed by all except those who have benefited from such activities. But it would be foolish to think that the agreements will lead to speedy changes in the way in which...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK
Apr 17, 2009

Fighters enjoying extra clout with bat bonanza

The Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters' pitching staff has looked surprisingly pedestrian early this season.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 17, 2009

Earth Day Tokyo '09 aims to spread green message

Earth Day Tokyo 2009, a two-day festival aimed at raising environmental awareness, will kick off at Yoyogi Park in Shibuya Ward and other venues Saturday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 17, 2009

'Nisesatsu'

Counterfeiting is one of those movie crimes that, by the laws of script writing, is doomed to fail, like the overelaborate heists that end with the thieves either dead or captured and their loot billowing up in clouds of green from an open briefcase.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 17, 2009

Man in a suitcase . . . with camera

"I love contemporary art, I like a lot of conceptual art. I've followed it for years, endlessly. I mean where do you want to start really?" asks Andy Summers in an interview conducted last week. "I spent quite a few years painting and all I did was think about art and go to museums. I was enmeshed in...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Apr 17, 2009

Yokohama becomes creepy — and crawly

Rumor has it that a giant spider has taken up residence in the Bayside area of Yokohama — just across the road from the famed Red Brick Warehouse. "As big as a four-story building," they say it is, with giant brown-metal legs and 2-meter-long pincers. Worse still, information acquired by The Japan...
JAPAN
Apr 17, 2009

Alcoholism remains a taboo issue

OSAKA — He seems to have it all. A tenured university professor in the Kansai region, fluent in English and partially conversant in Chinese, he is consulted by senior local business leaders seeking advice on doing business in the United States and Europe and has served on local government committees...
BUSINESS
Apr 17, 2009

Platinum sales triple as prices fall

Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K., Japan's biggest bullion retailer, said sales of platinum bars to local investors more than tripled in the first quarter from a year earlier as lower prices boosted demand.
JAPAN
Apr 16, 2009

Grimmer pension forecast released

The government will probably renege on its pledge to keep pension benefits in fiscal 2038 at a minimum of 50 percent of a worker's average income, a paper released Tuesday by the welfare ministry says.
Reader Mail
Apr 16, 2009

Thanks, Amy and Mark

I'd like to say how much I enjoy The Japan Times, in particular the writing of Amy Chavez and Mark Schilling. Chavez's slice-of-life-in-Japan stories inspire both amusement and jealousy — how I wish I was there when I read about her (mis)adventures teaching, traveling, shopping, or going to the post...
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Apr 16, 2009

'No-wash rice' (musenmai)

Dear Alice,I recently returned to Japan after 12 years back in my home country. I knew a lot of things would be different after such a long time away, but I never expected the rice to have changed! My former home-stay mom was always a stickler about washing the rice thoroughly before cooking, but when...
Reader Mail
Apr 16, 2009

Time to trim cedar trees

Last month The Japan Times reported that landowners in Ome are reluctant to harvest cedars when they net only ¥1,000 per tree ("Sniffle, sneeze — and why's all that cedar pollen still in the air?" March 15). Could the Tokyo Metropolitan Government sponsor a program to cut significant numbers of branches,...
LIFE / Language / KANJI CLINIC
Apr 15, 2009

These kanji have literally all gone to the dogs

Despite tough economic times, many dog owners in Japan still shell out big yen to pamper their pooches: Delectable ドッグおやつ (dogguoyatsu, dog snacks), perky 犬洋服 (inuy ōfuku, dog clothing), and outings to the 犬の美容院 (inu no biyōin, dog beauty salon) are de rigueur for the coddled...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 15, 2009

Cheap jeans fitting well in recession

Nobody can ever have too many pairs of jeans, and thus the philosophy of GOV Retailing is to make them available on the cheap — a notion that is paying off for the new g.u. chain.
EDITORIALS
Apr 14, 2009

Recession and suicides

The National Police Agency has announced that 32,249 people killed themselves in 2008, making it the 11th consecutive year that the annual suicide rate has topped 30,000. The NPA added that 2,645 people killed themselves in January and 2,470 in February this year. The January figure is 340 more than...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 14, 2009

Finnish cell phone maker targets well-heeled with luxury handsets

The mobile phone made of platinum and black ceramic has a sapphire crystal display and a scroll key made of a diamond. The most expensive model in the shop in Tokyo's Ginza district costs ¥6 million.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Apr 14, 2009

Job firing launched labor activist on career

You may have seen him on TV, commenting on Nova teachers who lost their income and housing when the language school went bankrupt in November 2007. Or you may have seen him marching through Shibuya, leading a chant of "Tatakau zo! (We'll fight!)" and calling for solidarity and action among workers. Or...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 14, 2009

'A battle for Japan's future'

Despite being Japan's most densely populated area, Warabi rarely causes a blip on the national media radar.
Japan Times
Events / WHERE IT'S AT
Apr 14, 2009

'Sour Strawberries' spotlights plight of non-Japanese 'trainees'

The plight of foreign "trainees" in Japan, who often provide cheap labor at factories and in farm fields with no access to labor rights protection, is usually not something you discuss leisurely over a cup of coffee or a mug of beer. But people who showed up last month at Ben's Cafe in Tokyo had an opportunity...
LIFE / Style & Design / JAPAN FASHION WEEK
Apr 12, 2009

Menswear seeks meaning

The luxury market is taking a beating; world-famous German minimalist fashion designer Jil Sander is working with Uniqlo, H&M are taking over Tokyo high streets and Number (N)ine, a top Japanese menswear label, has gone out of business.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 12, 2009

Veteran announcer Bickard calling NPB games on TV in English

Did you know there is English-language coverage (though very limited) of some Pacific League games in Japan?
Japan Times
LIFE / JAPAN FASHION WEEK
Apr 12, 2009

Focus on: Bryanboy

Meet Bryanboy, a breakout celebrity blogger who is known for a dainty swagger but a fierce penchant for all that is fashion. The Manila-based 27-year-old Filipino (right) has become an international sensation with his blog, which has produced a legion of fans, a Marc Jacobs bag named after him, and an...

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years