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Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 6, 2019

It's 2019 and it's time to hit those Japanese textbooks — for real

Whether you've been here for several days or several decades, listening to fellow expats, immigrants and other non-Japanese residents groaning about their dissatisfaction with their language abilities is nothing new. The advice I've received on how to improve, however, sometimes skews toward the exasperating....
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Jan 3, 2019

Relish traditional meals and hot springs

With its rich history and intricate customs, kaiseki — a traditional multicourse meal — offers many discoveries. Hotel Hatsuhana in Hakone is currently offering guests the chance to savor and learn about authentic traditional dining with its kaiseki course and overnight plan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Jan 2, 2019

How the last czar shaped Japan's courts

A botched assassination attempt in 1891 presents Japan's fledgling penal code with an existential dilemma.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 19, 2018

As two rule breakers gave the Japanese film world hope in 2018, elsewhere eyes turned to China

The Japanese movie business is something like a restaurant where new cooks and waiters arrive as old ones retire or die, but the menu remains much the same, decade after decade.
Japan Times
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Dec 19, 2018

TV in 2018: Progressive voices and the enduring charm of ‘Terrace House’

In the English-speaking world, Japanese TV in 2018 was celebrated for how boring it could get. But it was anything but domestically, where viewers questioned norms and helped nudge forward programs with progressive politics.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 18, 2018

Beijing's South China Sea grab

In the last five years, China has turned its contrived historical claims to the South China Sea into reality and gained strategic depth.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Dec 17, 2018

Finding the best way to chill out with the verb 'ochitsuku'

There are many ways to use the verb u843d(u304a)u3061u7740(u3064)u304f, which means to calm down, relax and be comfortable.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Dec 13, 2018

Glass fragments embedded in Hiroshima hibakusha are grim reminders of the day the atom bomb dropped

Fragments of glass that pierced her skin as a result of the U.S.'s atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945 are still lodged in the right arm of Mineko Yonezawa, now age 86. She said the glass penetrated deep into her arm and muscles developed around them.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Nov 29, 2018

Farewell Mary Jane: Grieving for a lost jazz hideout

The late Donald Richie, a legendary chronicler of 20th century Japan, once said that to accept life in Tokyo, you must embrace constant change and not give in to nostalgia. In the 60 years he lived in this great city he saw multiple transformations — from the immediate post-World War II days to the...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / The Big Questions
Nov 19, 2018

Sharp foresight coupled with penchant for precision

For Chris Hill, CEO of WeWork Japan, the day begins at 5:00 a.m. with meditating in the bath.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Nov 16, 2018

James Turrell's 'House of Light': A modern art house in old snow country

Contemporary artist James Turrell is known for experiential artwork that manipulates his primary medium: light. For the 'House of Light' in the Niigata Prefecture town of Tokamachi, Turrell took his inspiration from Junichiro Tanizaki's book 'In Praise of Shadows.'
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 13, 2018

Deaf filmmaker Emilio Insolera flexes his superpowers with 'Sign Gene'

Emilio Insolera's "Sign Gene" gave the world its first deaf superheroes. But after writing, directing, producing and starring in the film himself, you might argue that Insolera is the one with the superpowers.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 7, 2018

A Democratic House can rein in Trump's foreign policy

Yes, it's only half of one branch, but they could do enough to put U.S. allies at ease.
Japan Times
SUMO
Nov 7, 2018

Fujio Kariya recalls memorable moments in announcing career

For Fujio Kariya, NHK's executive commentator (the broadcaster's top news commentator), the most impressive bout in his 31-year career as an NHK sumo announcer took place at the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament in 1988.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 7, 2018

Partners in grime: The Butterz label thanks Japan with a birthday bash in Tokyo

With its rapid-fire rapping, lyrics that are often impenetrable to outsiders and raw, synthetic timbres, grime was never an obvious candidate for international success. But from east London's tower blocks to the stages of California's Coachella festival, the genre has grown from humble origins to become...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Nov 4, 2018

Aging Tokyo town lures young residents with offers of houses and land

An inconspicuous wooden teahouse stands midway on a winding road that connects the center of a remote mountainous town in western Tokyo to a scenic lake that supplies water to the capital.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Nov 1, 2018

Mystery deaths: NY police probe if asylum-seeking Saudi sisters found bound by river were victims of foul play

New York police were still trying to piece together on Wednesday a mystery over two young women whose bodies were discovered a week ago on the rocky Manhattan shore of the Hudson River, bound together with duct tape around their waists and ankles.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Oct 27, 2018

'Soseki: Modern Japan's Greatest Novelist': A portrait of a brilliant man, neither happy nor endearing

Natsume Soseki, widely viewed as Japan's greatest literary figure, was a complicated man. A new full-length biography by John Nathan, 'Soseki: Modern Japan's Greatest Novelist,' sheds light on the challenging, and often painful, life of this literary giant.
Japan Times
Events
Oct 26, 2018

Halloween 2018 in Tokyo

Not so long ago, it was scary how few Halloween events there were in Japan, but in the past decade the country has truly embraced all of the tricks and treats that come with the haunted holiday. Here are just a few of the parades to see and clubs to party at this year.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 23, 2018

Kazuo Okada's all-star cast of Asian art

To celebrate its fifth anniversary, the Okada Museum of Art in Hakone is bringing out all its major works by the masters — from 16th- and 17th-century Rinpa painters Tawaraya Sotatsu and Ogata Korin to 18th- and 19th-century ukiyo-e artists Kitagawa Utamaro and Katsushika Hokusai.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Internationalization of Japanese Universities
Oct 22, 2018

Diverse options reflect Sophia University's global origins

Fulfilling the vision of the Jesuit missionary St. Francis Xavier, who visited Japan in 1549, Sophia University was founded in 1913 in Tokyo by three Jesuit priests, Joseph Dahlmann from Germany, Henri Boucher from France and James Rockliff from the U.K.
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 19, 2018

Taliban takes credit as bodyguard kills top Afghan police chief; U.S. general unhurt

Gen. Abdul Razeq, one of Afghanistan's most powerful security commanders, was killed on Thursday in a shooting attack by a bodyguard that dealt a severe blow to the Afghan government ahead of parliamentary elections on Saturday, officials said.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 17, 2018

The need for a skill-based approach to jobs

Keidanren's easing of recruiting limitations represents a small step toward better hiring practices in Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language
Oct 15, 2018

Know your 'wake de wa nai' from your 'wake ni wa ikanai' in Japanese

Introducing two expressions that use u308fu3051 — u308fu3051u3067u306fu306au3044 and u308fu3051u306bu306fu3044u304bu306au3044.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Oct 10, 2018

Departed yokozuna Wajima brought charisma to ring

Last week's column featured links between sumo and American football, including a mention of how yokozuna Wakanohana took up the latter sport after retiring from the raised ring.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 9, 2018

White is not as monotone as some think

Devoid of ornamentation, yet still sculptural and expressive, Korean Joseon dynasty porcelain could change the way you think about minimalist ceramics.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Sep 21, 2018

The sky’s no limit for far-flung motorbike touring in Hokkaido

Two humans, one motorcycle and seven days of travel on Hokkaido's open roads.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 19, 2018

'The Hungry Lion': A nuanced account of the social media nightmare we all fear

Teenagers take chances that, to the adults in their lives, are sheer idiocy (as I know first-hand from both sides of the teenager-adult divide). These days anything they do or say can also end up on social media, which can instantly turn an adolescent goof into a mass roasting by thousands of strangers....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Sep 15, 2018

'Yakuza Tattoo': Inside the secretive world of the yakuza's tattoos

Andreas Johansson spent almost three weeks immersed in the world of the yakuza, photographing and talking to around 30 gang members for his book, 'Yakuza Tattoo.'
CULTURE / Books / WORKS BY JAPANESE WOMEN
Sep 15, 2018

Mieko Kawakami: A writer's writer who is at once highly readable and immensely popular

From her distinctive style to her choice of topics, Mieko Kawakami is both a writer's writer and an entertainer, a thinker and constantly evolving stylist who manages to be highly readable and immensely popular.

Longform

Rock group The Yellow Monkey played K-Arena Yokohama in June as part of a nationwide tour. Concerts are increasingly popular in the age of social media as users value in-person experiences.
Inside Japan’s arena boom: Sports, sound and city-building