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Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 24, 2014

'The Amazing Spider-Man 2'

Spider-Man returns once again — something other superheroes also have a tendency of doing. Marvel Comics' entomological superhero, aka Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield), is up to his web-spinning ways again in "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" — the second in the rebooted "Spider-Man" movie series launched...
BUSINESS
Apr 23, 2014

Banker's bribe trial scrutinized

A former Deutsche Bank AG salesman's admission in a Japanese court that he bribed a pension fund executive with lavish entertainment could attract the attention of prosecutors in other countries.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 21, 2014

South Korean class trip to resort island turned into horror with sinking

It was supposed to be their last bit of teenage fun.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Apr 19, 2014

Shogun

This best-selling historical novel by the British author, James Clavell, is set in Japan around 1600. It begins when The Erasmus, a Dutch ship, reaches Japan by mistake. James Blackthorne, the English captain working for the ship (based on William Adams, the first Englishman to enter Japan) is singled...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / JAPAN WEB WATCH
Apr 18, 2014

Apps take new lead from social games

On Japanese TV, you may notice that a lot of commercials for smartphone social games emphasize the word muryō (free). Consumers have been purchasing digital content on their phones for years, even since the clam-shell cellphone days. Now, more and more Japanese people are migrating to the sort of smartphones...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / JAPAN TIMES BLOGROLL
Apr 17, 2014

Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai: Tales of the Weird and the Strange

While many overseas scholars are attracted to the retrained aesthetics of Japanese arts and letters, it was the country's wild and wooly folklore that captivated Zack Davisson, an American writer and translator. While pursuing his masters degree in Japanese studies Davisson immersed himself in the mysterious...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Apr 11, 2014

Apocalypse near? 'Year of the Bear' implosion haunts China

"It's like a horror movie. People like to watch but don't want to be in it," quipped economist Andy Xie about his popular lectures where he predicts a collapse in China's property and stock markets.
CULTURE / Film
Apr 10, 2014

'Kirishima, Bukatsu Yamerutteyo' (The Kirishima Thing)

Director: Daihachi Yoshida
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 10, 2014

Geki×Cine marks 10 years of screen-stage marriage

You wouldn't know it to look at our poker faces, but deep down every Japanese is a drama queen.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Apr 7, 2014

A day-trip date with the virtual romantics of 'New LovePlus+'

While Japan's video-game industry no longer dominates the world, there is still one niche of digital entertainment that this country does better than any other: romantic man-machine interaction. Love with a virtual being is something plucked straight out of science-fiction.
Japan Times
JAPAN / AT A GLANCE
Apr 6, 2014

Tokyo jumps on theme bar bandwagon

Tokyo and its surrounding areas provide an array of entertainment spots to serve the varied interests of its inhabitants, day or night. The latest fads are theme bars and restaurants for those seeking an unusual drinking or dining experience. Guys who were fascinated by Ultraman in the heady high-growth...
JAPAN
Apr 5, 2014

Host clubs: a hotbed of human trafficking

The Japanese host. You can see them on the streets of Tokyo's Kabukicho: the dapper thin men with colored, blown-dry hair, fake suntans, snazzy suits and charming smiles, chatting up passing females and trying to get them to come and have drinks. They've been the subject of documentaries, television...
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Apr 3, 2014

Time for FIBA to suspend JBA, force necessary changes to be made

The Japan Basketball Association has changed its alleged goal so many times, it's difficult to remember the original target.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 3, 2014

Polish history captured by a man who was there

He may be 88 years old and the director of 54 films, but Polish film giant Andrzej Wajda is still evolving as a storyteller. His latest, "Wałesa: Man of Hope," opens in Tokyo on April 5 (as "Wałesa: Rentai no Otoko") and marks his further foray into the realm of history as entertainment, following...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 3, 2014

'Nazotoki wa Dinner no Ato de (The After-Dinner Mysteries)'

Director: Hijikata Masato, Ishikawa Junichi
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Mar 31, 2014

Do you feel like people have been deceived about issues surrounding Fukushima? And if so, by whom?

I'm suspicious about the whole thing. I don't know who is covering what up, but I definitely feel there's a lot we're not being told about. There's absolutely no way that everything could be as fine as we are being led to believe after such a massive disaster.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Mar 27, 2014

Okinawa film fest gives fans an up-close view of the stars

Why go to Okinawa for movies? For anyone familiar with the international festival circuit, especially at its higher, artier end, the Okinawa International Movie Festival may well prompt this question — and a negative answer. "It's not a real film festival!" a fellow foreign journalist exclaimed to...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 27, 2014

Murdoch sets up sons to take top roles in media empire

Rupert Murdoch has returned eldest son Lachlan to the leadership of his media empire while promoting younger son James, paving the way for the 83-year-old tycoon to pass the reins to the family's next generation.
JAPAN
Mar 20, 2014

ASIJ admits honored teacher sexually abused students

The American School in Japan reveals that teacher Jack Moyer, a renowned marine biologist, sexually abused students while employed by the institution between 1963 and 2000.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 20, 2014

$73 billion payoff for SoftBank's ventures fuels push into Japan startups

Japan's biggest companies have a case of SoftBank envy, and that's good for entrepreneurs like 23-year-old Takumi Shimizu.
BUSINESS
Mar 20, 2014

Sony pares suppliers to speed output

Sony Corp. will focus its supply chain on 250 strategic partners as it seeks to lower costs and accelerate production.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 13, 2014

'Idai Naru, Shurara-bon (The Great Shurara-bon)'

Superheroes by definition have super powers. In Japan, instead of leaping tall buildings with a single bound, these heroes often shoot energy projectiles from their hands — easy and effective, save when your opponent has more wattage. This may seem childish, but it can be fun, as shown by all those...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Mar 13, 2014

BitSummit reveals tantalizing homemade worlds of play

After a successful debut last year, former Q-Games producer James Mielke once again shone a light on Japan's independent gaming scene with the second edition of BitSummit, a gathering of independent developers.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 12, 2014

Super Kabuki 'spells fun'

Just like the many native English-speakers who have difficulty understanding the language and classical references in the works of William Shakespeare, so Japanese people generally feel a sense of distance from kabuki, as though it were a foreign language.
Japan Times
JAPAN / NOTEBOOK
Mar 11, 2014

Globalization in depth, Complimentary Coffee

symposium
COMMENTARY
Mar 8, 2014

A student's responsibility for education

It's good that Japan is open to improving its system of education, but it may want to consider the disadvantages of the American approach that practically exempts students of responsibility for their education.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 6, 2014

'12 Years a Slave'

It's hard to resist comparing "12 Years a Slave" with "The Butler."

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