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COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Feb 22, 2015

More tips for filing your U.S. taxes from Japan

With the help of a tax specialist, Lifelines tackles a number of queries in response to the special on U.S. taxation a few weeks back.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 3, 2015

Negicco's new album turns the onion idols into Shibuya-kei's new hope

The crowd at the sold-out Liquidroom show furiously pumps glowsticks shaped like green onions in time with the beat coming out of the venue's sound system. They scream when three young women appear, and the energy only grows as the first song of the night gets rolling. It gets especially loud when they...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 29, 2015

Art is long, when life can be short

Given Japan's continual seismic activity, what happened at 5:46 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1995, was unavoidable. The devastation and loss of life that occurred with the magnitude 7.3 quake in Kansai became a yardstick only now surpassed by the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011. While the aftereffects of the...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Dec 18, 2014

Navigating Japan with a family at New Year's

Let's be honest. We're adults. New Year's in Japan can be a bit hectic. And then static. It's one of the longest, if not the longest, holiday periods in the year.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Dec 13, 2014

Night train to Shimane's land of the gods

The 10th month of the lunar calendar is known throughout most of Japan as Kannazuki, or the "month of no gods." During this time, Okuninushi, the kami (Shinto god) enshrined at the renowned Izumo Taisha shrine, summons myriad deities to decide the fate of all people for the year ahead. For this reason,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 4, 2014

Designers illuminate us on their winter wonders

When you think of Japanese art forms, many cultural pursuits will come to mind. The grace of ikebana, perhaps, or the beauty of ukiyo-e woodblock prints. At this time of year it becomes clear, though, that holiday lighting displays — referred to simply as "illumination" — are where the country's...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 4, 2014

Isn't it time to take art out of storage?

Tokyo's art scene has always comprised many hubs, and it's about to get a new one — one that promises to be among the most exciting.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 10, 2014

A world beset by divisions

Whether once divided by physical walls or currently split by political ones, today's leaders in Asia, the U.S. and Europe — including newly elected members of the U.S. Congress — should think about how much has been and can be achieved when the barriers of economic inequality come down.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: TECH
Sep 19, 2014

This month's tech goods cover accessories to coffee delivery

FES changes the face of time
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO BAR ADVENTURE
Sep 16, 2014

Younger drinkers lured by bourbon cocktails

Up until recently, whisky was seen as a drink for ojisan (old men), enjoyed on the rocks or mizuwari style (heavily diluted with water). With the opening of the limited-edition Jim Beam Bar in Roppongi Hills, however, alcoholic-beverage giant Suntory Holdings proffers that whisky shouldn't be limited...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / A TASTE OF HOME
Sep 2, 2014

Hankering for the grills and thrills of Greek cuisine

Few things in this world are more pleasurable than sinking your teeth into heavily herbed, charcoal-grilled paidakia, the fabled lamb chops adored and revered by the Greeks.
OLYMPICS / OLYMPIC NOTEBOOK
Aug 9, 2014

Legacy of 1984 Olympics still growing strong

What will be the legacy of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics?
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jul 20, 2014

Limits on 'stop and frisk' open to interpretation by Japan's police and courts

The rules that apply to 'stop and frisk' questioning are set down in the Police Duties Execution Act of 1948, but since the clauses are ambiguous and contradictory, there have been a lot of arguments about the legal limits on this kind of behavior,
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jul 15, 2014

Sakana no Nakasei: One of three great Tokyo restaurants for aged beef

Tokyo's taste for high-end meat is maturing fast. For the cognoscenti, breed, provenance and fat content have long been critical. Now add one more key factor: aging. That's the focus at several new venues.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jul 7, 2014

Foreign women also face 'maternity harassment'

Non-Japanese women discuss their experiences of mata-hara, or 'maternity harassment' — discrimination in the workplace against women who are pregnant, on child-care leave or have returned to work after giving birth.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: TECH
Jun 16, 2014

For perfect photos, suits, laundry, cleaning and even tans

Photo lovers, scan over this
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jun 2, 2014

Japan urged to make its cosmetics 'cruelty-free'

While Japanese consumers clamor for items that will make their skin smoother or their hair shinier, relatively few people are aware of the horror behind the products in their cosmetics cases.
BASKETBALL
May 30, 2014

Kawai to remain Shinshu coach for 2014-15 season

After leading the Shinshu Brave Warriors to the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, head coach Ryuji Kawai will return to the sideline for the bj-league's 2014-15 season, the Eastern Conference club announced on Thursday.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
May 22, 2014

Aichi Prefecture is firing on all cylinders

Among the different kinds of hanabi (fireworks) in Japan, the tezutsu hanabi is probably the one you really shouldn't try at home. "Tezutsu" means "hand-held," and a tezutsu hanabi cylindrical cartridge is made of a hollowed out bamboo tube, which is wrapped in rope woven from rice straw. The tube, which...
CULTURE / Art
Apr 23, 2014

Best to approach Gursky's photos with a painterly eye

The invention of photography was supposed to bring about the death of painting.
LIFE / Digital / ON: TECH
Mar 17, 2014

Techie ways to document life and have a little fun

Japanese video-equipment manufacturer Elmo has released QBiC MS-1, a tiny super-wide-angle video camera that can be easily connected to your smartphone over Wi-Fi.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Mar 10, 2014

There is a giant serving of culture in one bowl of rice

Rice. A bland, white carbohydrate? Staple food that forms the nourishing core of every meal? A crop that has molded culture and society? Or primal sustenance imbued with mystic life force of the gods?
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Mar 1, 2014

Hillary's travails on image, policy in '90s revealed

Aides in the Clinton administration crafted a strategy to “humanize” first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, newly released papers show.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Feb 6, 2014

Japan's plum blossoms are already in the pink

If you're in need of floral cheer and can't wait for the spring cherry-blossom viewing, try the Ume Matsuri festival, which kicked off in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture, on Feb. 1.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / CHILD'S PLAY
Jan 16, 2014

Exploring Omotesando's cool cultural playground

Over the course of my adult life, I've made — and forsaken — countless New Year's resolutions. So many that by my mid-30s I had stopped making them altogether. Then a few years ago, I began using Jan. 1 to commit myself to small parental self-improvements that were feasible enough that even I could...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Jan 6, 2014

The empire strikes back: the top issues for non-Japanese in 2013

2013 saw the enfranchised elite consolidating their power further than has ever been seen in the postwar era, while Japan's disenfranchised peoples slipped ever lower down the totem pole, becoming targets of suspicion, fear and loathing.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Dec 23, 2013

Playing with puppets, a Link adventure and hardware envy

Popular manga-turned-anime (and game) 'Attack on Titan' is now assailing fashion.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Dec 19, 2013

Comiket, where otaku come to share the love

The Tokyo International Exhibition Center, better known as Tokyo Big Sight, boasts an area of more than 80,000 sq. meters of exhibition space. It's the country's largest convention center and will host wrestling, fencing and taekwondo during the 2020 Olympics.
Events / KANSAI: WHO & WHAT
Dec 13, 2013

'Cooks4Cooks' fundraising event in Kyoto

The fundraising event "Cooks4Cooks" for people in West Bengal will take place from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday at Tadg's Irish Restaurant & Bar in Kyoto.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Dec 4, 2013

In Japan, no escape from The Eye's perpetual policing glare

In Japan, The Eye compels you towards collective behavior: Mustn't be forceful or push back against the status quo, lest you get hairy-eyeballed.

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