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Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 12, 2011

A tale of two cities: Art Fair Kyoto challenges Tokyo

After the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake and tsunami, the art scene in Tokyo was struck by cancellations, postponements and confusion as it attempted to make sense of the disaster and worked on ways to contribute to the reconstruction of the Tohoku region of Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
May 8, 2011

Pedal-power pleasures on Kansai's byways

Spring is the perfect season to explore Kansai by bicycle. Going with the flow along largely flat cycle routes beside the Yodo, Katsura and Kizu rivers, it's possible to chart a comfortable six-day trip — or, in my case, a rather challenging four-day one — between the cities of Osaka, Kyoto and Nara....
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
May 1, 2011

Kyoto comedy theater returns — and with English subtitles

Foreign tourists to Kyoto often end up in a bubble of tour buses and traditional culture shows (five minutes of bunraku, five minutes of flower arranging, etc.), while those looking to break out and entertain themselves like the locals can run into language barriers.
CULTURE / Books
Apr 10, 2011

Colonial Japan and the first 'Korean Wave'

PRIMITIVE SELVES: Koreana in the Japanese Colonial Gaze, 1910-1945, by E. Taylor Atkins. University of California Press, 2010, 280 pp., $24.95 (paper) While pop-culture industry insiders reputedly hate the term, and discussion of it has generally waned in Korea, the "Korean Wave" remains inescapable...
Japan Times
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Apr 8, 2011

The U.S. role in advancing amateur sumo

In the second of two interviews with globally respected officials involved in the international sumo game, Sumo Scribblings recently threw a few questions over the Pacific to Andrew Freund, the face of the United States Sumo Federation. In many ways far bigger in the sport than his slim physique would...
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 15, 2011

Kicking up a stink over ink in Kobe

You might want to avoid Suma Beach this summer if you are inked or have even a temporary sticker tattoo. The powers that be in Kobe City are considering ways to ban the display of tattoos on the beach.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 18, 2011

Coca-Cola's 3-D TV ad blitz to air in, um, 2-D

Although Coca-Cola (Japan) Co. shot its new TV advertising segments with 3-D technology, it will be airing them in regular 2-D as most homes don't have TVs advanced enough to view them.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 21, 2011

A shot of Ardbeg in temple grounds

There's a faint scent of incense as you crawl through a knee-high door into a pebble-filled corridor that leads into a white igloo-like space, just big enough to fit three people. "This is my meditation room," says Akiyoshi Taniguchi, the curator who is introducing Kurenboh, a tiny modern gallery located...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 11, 2011

Taking stock of a generation of changes

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changesTurn and face the strangeCh-ch-changesPretty soon now, you're gonna get older
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Nov 12, 2010

Tokyo hotels serve turkey buffets

The two Royal Park hotels in Tokyo are each running an American Turkey Fair through Dec. 17 in collaboration with the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council and the United Soybean Board.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 18, 2010

Thierry's table offers bountiful taste of France

The cartoon character adorning ads and menus for the Kyoto restaurant Le Table de Thierry, it turns out, is a pretty good approximation of the owner himself: an upbeat, grande-size French-Togolese chef with a passion for demystifying French cuisine.
JAPAN / LIVING IN LUXURY
Jul 30, 2010

Modern era gentry's architectural gems

This is the first in a biweekly series appearing Fridays (Saturdays in some areas) that looks at photos and background stories of historic, architecturally significant mansions once owned by some of the wealthiest families in Japan.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jun 26, 2010

Big birds have big fun

With the evening breeze, the water laps against the heron's legs
JAPAN / PROMOTING TOURISM FROM CHINA
Jun 17, 2010

Tapping a golden market

The Chinese tourists had just one hour to shop — not a lot of time when you consider they were at the glitzy VenusFort mall in Tokyo's fashionable Odaiba waterfront district.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 6, 2010

Chaos will reign if hidden Buddhas die

"Hidden Buddhas," or hibutsu, are Buddhist statues that are kept out of sight, though only a few are kept so permanently. Most are put on display for worshippers at regular intervals: once or twice a year, once every several years, once every 33 or 66 years.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Feb 28, 2010

Bulking up in Bush Warbler Valley

I'd like to improve my grip on sumo wrestling, so when a friend invites me to watch the big boys tussle through a morning practice, I jump at the chance. I get off at Uguisudani (Bush Warbler Valley) Station on the Yamanote Line, where the station-identity jingle is of this warbler's mellifluous chortle...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 27, 2010

Teaching visitors traditional ways

Upon meeting Michi Ogawa, who is deftly aligning the collar of a kimono that she has tucked around her guest, a few adjectives might come to mind, like "graceful" and "soft-spoken," but "feminist" or "outspoken" probably wouldn't be among them. But speak with her about her concerns and some of your preconceptions...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Feb 14, 2010

Traditional Tokyo explored in mystery and quiz show; CM of the week: Docomo-Fujitsu

Traditional Tokyo gets the two-hour mystery treatment in "Yorozuya Chobei no Sumidagawa Jiken Fairu Sono Ni" (Chobei Yorozuya's Sumidagawa Incident File No. 2; TBS, Mon., 9 p.m.). The hero, Chobei Yorozuya (Kotaro Satomi), is a pawn shop owner in Tokyo's Asakusa district who has quit the police force...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 8, 2010

A feast for film buffs

The Japanese film industry, at least the top end where Toho and its media partners dwell, is looking forward to a prosperous 2010, with a lineup of crowd-pleasers that should thump the Hollywood competition.
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.
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.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 23, 2009

'Shizumanu Taiyo'

"I am big. It's the pictures that got small," Gloria Swanson declaimed in "Sunset Boulevard." In the Japan film industry, though, the pictures are getting bigger — gargantuan, in fact. Examples include the "Death Note" duology, the "20-seiki Shonen" ("20th Century Boys") trilogy, and "Ai no Mukidashi"...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Oct 16, 2009

Tea gets Grand treatment

This year's Tokyo Grand Tea Ceremony provides an opportunity for anyone to experience Japan's renowned tea culture.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Oct 6, 2009

Re: Mr. James, gaijin clown

Following are a selection of readers' responses to last month's Just Be Cause column by Debito Arudou, headlined "Meet Mr. James, gaijin clown":
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 2, 2009

Shin hanga bringing ukiyo-e back to life

The great print works of ukiyo-e, by the likes of Hokusai, Hiroshige, and Utamaro, became fine art almost by accident. Originally mass produced for the popular market, their status was roughly equivalent to that of illustrated calendars and posters of pop stars today. But, ironically, the fact that they...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 11, 2009

Breaking fairy-tale conventions of beauty

Against the tradition of bijinga (beautiful women pictures) that runs through Japanese art, there is an antithetical stream that draws attention to a grotesque and timeworn femininity. In noh plays, the celebrated early 9th-century beauty of the Heian Era, Ono no Komachi, is sometimes portrayed after...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Aug 16, 2009

Striking it rich on the Izu Peninsula

Gold may be heavier than water, but all that's rattling around the bottom of my panning bowl are lots of multicolored pebbles.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jul 17, 2009

Indie film fans can graze at The Pink Cow

More than a century ago in the basement of the Grand Cafe in Paris, pioneer filmmakers Auguste and Louis Lumiere dazzled audiences with one of the world's first public viewings of a motion picture.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jul 3, 2009

A new way of experiencing Japan's old city

In a city that rightly boasts of its numerous monuments to its glorious and illustrious past, the Kaleidoscope Museum of Kyoto provides a counterpoint to the ancient capital's architectural and religious treasures.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji