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COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 17, 2015

Japan's public diplomacy of churlish cluelessness

Enough is enough. How dare UNESCO inscribe primary sources and a wartime video about the Nanking mayhem into global memory? I fully support the Japanese government's threats to withdraw funding from UNESCO to protest its recent decision to include a dossier submitted by China, "Documents of Nanjing Massacre,"...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 7, 2015

Asia's most important film festival reasserts its independence

Celebrating its 20th year, the 2015 edition of the Busan International Film Festival, held in South Korea's southern port city from Oct. 1 to 10, has a lot to brag about, as it has definitely become the most important film festival in Asia in terms of the quality of its programming, the size and reach...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 6, 2015

First impressions of the late impressionists

Any great story tends to focus on a limited number of characters, with everybody else either reduced to anonymity or the status of extras. In literary fiction or movies this is never a problem, but when the narrative is a historical one, it can lead to a certain amount of neglect and unfairness.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Oct 3, 2015

Military veteran protecting Oregon classmates was shot seven times

An Iraq War veteran and mixed martial arts fighter whose son turned 6 on Thursday was shot seven times as he blocked the Umpqua gunman from entering a classroom, possibly saving lives during the mass shooting in southern Oregon.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 23, 2015

A mopey, dopey 'Twilight' for hipsters

Part of the reason for the great financial crash of 2007 was bad lending practices. Basically, anything that walked through the door on two legs and not drooling would be given a home mortgage, regardless of the risk. It seems like such irrational behavior has also infected movie producers: Since the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 22, 2015

'Top Hat' musical takes film classic to happy new heights

"There may be trouble ahead / But while there's moonlight and music /
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 21, 2015

Four funerals and a wedding: Xi mends political bridges

Chinese President Xi Jinping's attendance at the funeral earlier this year of a one-time propaganda minister was a surprise; Deng Liqun, who died aged 99, was never a top-ranked official and had been a political enemy of Xi's father.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 15, 2015

Miki Saito steps out of the inky shadows

Some artworks on first look hit you like a ton of bricks — with bold colors and striking realism. Others take time to get to know, offering hidden treasures that are revealed to the viewer over time.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Sep 15, 2015

Corbyn rides socialist wave to leadership of Britain's Labour Party

Uncorking the spirit of British socialism was the masterstroke that handed Jeremy Corbyn the Labour Party's top job, but he now faces a much bigger challenge — convincing voters that an admirer of Karl Marx should be Britain's next prime minister.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 8, 2015

Professor admits leaking bar exam questions to student

In a sign of systemic flaws in the nation's law schools, the Justice Ministry files a criminal complaint against a law professor for leaking bar exam questions to one of his students.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 2, 2015

Olympian effort needed to save Tokyo's, Asia's heritage

The Hotel Okura is just the latest victim of Tokyo's penchant for tearing down its storied past to make way for a generic future.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 2, 2015

White people on holiday are threatened by Asian stereotypes in 'No Escape'

In this globalized age, Hollywood studios can no longer afford to trample over local sensibilities. Earlier this year it was revealed that an upcoming thriller about an American family caught in a Southeast Asian revolution would be having its title changed from "The Coup" to the less provocative "No...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Aug 31, 2015

Katana swordplay exercise is a hit with Tokyo women

Samurai may be known as a man's pursuit, but feudal Japan produced a number of legendary female warriors who took to the battlefield with a sword that still holds a high cultural position today.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 29, 2015

Composer Shiro Sagisu scores songs to be devoured to on 'Attack on Titan' soundtrack

During one scene in Shinji Higuchi's recent film "Attack on Titan," soldiers leap from building to building battling a carnivorous giant with nothing but swords. The horror is heightened by the music: razor sharp synthesizers accentuate a foreboding orchestral melody. It's hard to imagine the action...
CULTURE / Music
Aug 27, 2015

Guitarist Inoran gets personal on 'Beautiful Now'

Kiyonobu Inoue, more commonly known as Inoran, is a very busy man. Aside from his day job, in which he plays to sold out arenas as a guitarist for rock band Luna Sea, he juggles being a producer, playing in a handful of other projects and managing a solo career. He admits life wasn't always this hectic,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 19, 2015

Animated antidotes to Pixar-Disney eye candy

Children's animated films, like just about everything else these days, are mostly created by a couple of mega-corporations. Some days it seems like the only animations out there are digitally rendered, hyperactive "Pix-ney" flicks filled with pop-culture wisecracks and supported by a $100 million budget....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 12, 2015

Hell is a claustrophobic submarine in 'Black Sea'

Sometimes a bit of breathless claustrophobia is just the thing to combat a scorching-hot summer (you know, fight panic with panic), and what could be better for that than a submarine thriller?
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Aug 8, 2015

Tokyo's cool beasts of fashion

Monstrously cute dining in Harajuku
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Aug 8, 2015

Memories of those marked by nuclear war

August, 2015. This is a month of great testimonials: outpourings of guilt, grief, consternation, remorse, atonement and, for those whose ends are not served by an honest reckoning of the past, evasion.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 4, 2015

Art nouveau's jewels in the crown

As Parisians of the late 19th century reveled in the heady optimism of economic prosperity and enjoyed the innovations spurred by the ongoing Industrial Revolution, Sarah Bernhardt, the most famous actress and muse of the time, became enamored by two trendsetters: Rene Lalique, then a jewelry maker,...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Aug 1, 2015

Wine joins whisky in Japan's 'Napa Valley'

The small town of Yoichi in Hokkaido has become famous recently as the setting for much of an NHK TV series titled "Massan" that was screened every day, Monday to Saturday, from September 2014 to March this year.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Aug 1, 2015

New translation of the world's oldest novel

'The Tale of Genji," written by Murasaki Shikibu around 1,000 A.D., is regarded by many as the world's first novel and is arguably the most influential work of Japanese literature ever written, inspiring countless other works of drama, fiction and fine art.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 31, 2015

The dangerous rise of Buddhist chauvinism

Buddhist chauvinism now threatens the democratic process in both Myanmar and Sri Lanka.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jul 29, 2015

Toothy terror: Dinosaurs like T. rex had unique serrated teeth

If you want to know the secret behind the success of Tyrannosaurus rex and its meat-eating dinosaur cousins, look no further than their teeth.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS / MAN ABOUT SPORTS
Jul 28, 2015

Heavyweight brawlers have been replaced by stick-and-move specialists

Want a blueprint for the modern heavyweight boxing champion?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 23, 2015

Noel Gallagher brings his High Flying Birds back to Fuji Rock and where the 'mania' began

It doesn't take much to set Noel Gallagher off. We are sat in a backstage portacabin at London's peculiarly ragbag Clapham Calling festival, and I've just mentioned to the former Oasis songwriter that "Chasing Yesterday," the second solo album under his High Flying Birds banner, is the U.K.'s fastest...
WORLD
Jul 21, 2015

Islamic State cracks down on Internet use in Syrian stronghold: monitor

Islamic State militants raided Internet cafes in their Syrian stronghold city of Raqqa after ordering a ban on wireless networks that can be used by private homes, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said Monday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jul 18, 2015

Underneath the 'Orientalist' kimono

Is it "racist" for non-Japanese to wear kimono? That question has been fiercely debated since protesters entered Boston's Museum of Fine Arts in late June to decry an exhibition encouraging visitors to try on a red uchikake kimono in front of a 1876 painting by Claude Monet of his wife wearing a similar...

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