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EDITORIALS
Jul 11, 2014

Pros and cons of genetic testing

More and more nonmedical companies are offering genetic testing services that inform people of their risks of developing cancer, diabetes and other diseases, but customers often don't understand the limits of such tests. Nor do they know what providers may do with such personal information.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 10, 2014

When it came to horror, ukiyo-e artists kept their wits about them

This exhibition showcases more than 250 Japanese woodblock prints of the Edo Period (1603-1868), depicting ghosts, goblins and other supernatural beings. The lurid subject matter, a graphic illustration of the shadowy spirit underworld, is as delightful as it is ghoulish.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 8, 2014

Shevardnadze's lessons for the West

Eduard Shevardnadze, the former Soviet foreign minister and Georgian president who died Monday at 86, was not an effective leader, but if Western leaders had paid closer attention to what he said when he was alive, they would have been better prepared for today's crisis in Ukraine.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Jul 4, 2014

When should we make noise about loud neighbors?

In August 1974, a 46-year-old man living on the fourth floor of a public apartment building in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, forced his way into the unit below him and killed two little girls and their mother. After attempting suicide he was arrested, and he told police he had been driven to murder...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 4, 2014

NSA surveillance needs more alert watchdog

A U.S. senator now worries that there isn't the judicial oversight to prevent the National Security Agency from using its access to the giant pile of foreign-intelligence information it has collected over many years to conduct warrantless searches for communications from Americans.
Japan Times
Places
Jul 3, 2014

A selection of Japan's strangest 'museums'

Seen enough views of Mount Fuji and suits of samurai armor? Here are 13 museums that will take you well off the beaten trail.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jul 2, 2014

Dancing between cultures in Yokohama

Contemporary dance has always pushed the boundaries of corporal expression by exploring themes that traditional dance genres and their movements have difficulty conveying. As one of the Month of France series of events organized by the Yokohama branch of the Institut Francais du Japon, CrossDance continues...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 1, 2014

Leftfield J-pop, '70s influenced rock and shadowy R&B: Our favorite albums of 2014 (so far)

In his Strange Boutique column last week, Ian Martin wrote about the need for a canon in Japanese music in order for newcomers to the scene — especially those writing about it — to gain some context into what is being released.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 25, 2014

Kids' stuff that adults need to see

Perhaps in the wake of this attack on seriousness, many artists have since taken refuge in childishness, whimsy or playfulness, though these values have been carefully rationed in 'Go-Betweens: The World Seen through Children,' with the emphasis being more on showing childhood as a state of vulnerability and transformation.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jun 25, 2014

Murdoch protegee Brooks cleared of cellphone hacking

Rebekah Brooks, the former boss of Rupert Murdoch's British newspaper arm, was acquitted Tuesday of orchestrating a campaign to hack into phones and bribe officials in a case that has shaken the British political establishment.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 23, 2014

Tea party hangs on to its seat at the kids' table

Despite its recent big win, the tea party wing in the U.S. Congress has no more than the ability to say no, to wreak havoc and to generally make House Speaker John Boehner's life miserable. Insiders still set the agenda.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / JAPAN WEB WATCH
Jun 20, 2014

Well-bitten consumers shy of Japan's disappearing e-books

Although it has now been surpassed by the United States, Japan was once the world's largest market for e-books, thanks to the early success of the cellphone-content business. But in today's competitive market, e-book sellers disappear every few months, leaving consumers to wonder whether the digital...
JAPAN
Jun 19, 2014

Nakaima to drop call to kick out U.S. air base

Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima will scratch a call to oust Futenma air base from his address commemorating the end of the Battle of Okinawa next week.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 18, 2014

'Guess What? Hardcore Contemporary Art's Truly a World Treasure'

Contemporary artworks are rarely described as "world treasures," but here The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo has come up with its own definition of the phrase. These are works that are literally "treasures" in terms of their high market value, but also because of their ability to convey universal...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jun 14, 2014

Ghostly footprints of the 'modern girl' along Kamakura's coastline

There's a scene in Junichiro Tanizaki's serialized novel "Naomi" (originally titled "A Fool's Love") from 1924 where the besotted protagonist, Joji, watches his wife, Naomi — part Lolita, part Madame Bovary, all trouble — through the pine trees. Having just emerged from a seaside villa, she is sashaying...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 13, 2014

'Crowdfunding' readers back 'library bar,' request a book each

When 30-year-old book lover Shunsuke Mori decided to open a "library bar" in Tokyo, he took a leap of faith to solicit funds over the Internet.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 11, 2014

China seeks UNESCO listing for Nanking Massacre, sex slave archives; Japan protests

The government has filed a protest against China's applications to have what it says are historical documents on the 1937 Nanking Massacre and Japan's wartime "comfort women" brothel system registered in the U.N. archive program, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 11, 2014

'Ballets Russes: The Art of Costume'

Russian ballet group Ballets Russes, founded by renown impresario and art critic Sergei Diaghilev (1872-1929) was not an ordinary troupe. It collaborated with many young individuals from various disciplines, including artists Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse and Georges Braque, composer Igor Stravinsky and...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 6, 2014

China's 2013 defense spending 21% higher than declared: Pentagon

China's military spending exceeded $145 billion last year as it advanced a program modernizing an arsenal of drones, warships, jets, missiles and cyberattacks, the Pentagon said Thursday, presenting a far higher figure than Beijing's official tally.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / CHILD'S PLAY
Jun 6, 2014

Gallery proves a hit with young critic

The art critic wanders purposefully around the gallery, passing instant, scathing judgment on the surrounding artworks.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 4, 2014

How Japan crafted its modernization

When Japan ended its isolation in the mid-to-late-19th-century, it had lots of disadvantages compared to the other major powers. But one distinct advantage that its isolation had preserved was its craft industries and the skills of its craftsmen.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 4, 2014

'Yasuyoshi Sugiura: A Natural History of Ceramics — Making Nature'

While attending college, Yasuyoshi Sugiura was moved by the words of his teacher, who told him, "ceramics are stones." This inspired the artist to explore the potential of clay as a medium, creating works such as the "Stones of Ceramics" series" that, as the title suggests, presented small, realistic...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / A TASTE OF HOME
Jun 3, 2014

Tokyoites needn't be sheepish about New Zealand cuisine

New Zealand is famous for its lamb, pasture-fed on the country's rolling green hills. Lamb being hard to come by in Japan, a New Zealand restaurant is a good bet if you're craving lamb chops. There are two big ones in Tokyo: Wakanui (B1F, 2-23-14 Higashi-Azabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo; 03-3568-3466; www.wakanui.jp)...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Jun 2, 2014

Clever designs in kitchenware and desktop decor

Keeping flower books
Japan Times
CULTURE
May 31, 2014

Essential summer festivals 2014

A summer without festivals simply wouldn’t be a proper summer in Japan, so now that the humidity has returned, it’s time to slop on an extra layer of sunscreen and line up some outdoor activities.
Events / Events In Tokyo
May 30, 2014

EU Film Days unfreezes movie options

Though it might not seem like it right now, films and animation other than "Frozen" do exist, and the EU Film Days 2014 festival could be a good way to explore some alternatives. This weekend, 30 films reflecting different cultural preferences in film aesthetics of 23 EU member countries are being shown...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 28, 2014

The 'Great Wave' that reached the West

Ukiyo-e prints could be found in Europe from at least 1795 at the Cabinet des Estampes at the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris. It was not until the 1850s, however, when trade between Japan and Europe began to flourish, that the craze for things Japanese began to crescendo.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight