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Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 11, 2012

Enjoying the quiet life in Kanazawa, in black and white

Coincidence can shape people's lives in many ways. Ask Mark Hammond, and he will certainly agree.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Feb 4, 2012

Valentine's Day — the perfect holiday for one

Valentine's Day is coming up, and once again, you may be wondering how to deal with it in Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 3, 2012

DiCaprio visits America's dark past in 'J. Edgar'

Leonardo DiCaprio admits that he didn't hear much about the famously feared J. Edgar Hoover while he was growing up. That doesn't stop him from making an astute observation: "The man was a troll."
BUSINESS
Jan 28, 2012

Nintendo losses could triple as 3DS sales sink

Nintendo Co. has more than tripled its full-year loss forecast as the success of Apple Inc.'s popular devices has eroded demand for the company's 3DS handheld player.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 26, 2012

Ethnic Minority "Startin' ”

If you've been near Shibuya Station in Tokyo at night in the past 12 months, you may well have encountered three young guys playing up a storm to passers-by, many of whom have stopped to listen, cheer and/or dance. This trio goes by the name of Ethnic Minority, and is led by saxophonist Hiroyuki Yokota....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 20, 2012

Condors fly in the face of contemporary dance scene

The Japanese are often described as being inward-looking and stoic, with a sense of humor that often fails to connect with people from overseas. However, there are still rare birds among that bunch.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jan 13, 2012

Antinuclear event open to general public

As public interest in nuclear-power issues soared following the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, there has been a push to get more people involved in discussing alternate energy solutions.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 12, 2012

U.S. overlooks the true tolls of its wars

As the United States officially ended the war in Iraq last month, President Barack Obama spoke eloquently at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, lauding troops for "your patriotism, your commitment to fulfill your mission, your abiding commitment to one another," and offering words of grief for the nearly 4,500...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 6, 2012

'Spamalot' cast hopes 2012 is Year of the Python

"This is Spam," says Eric Idle to a room full of Japanese journalists, holding up a can of the precooked meat product that he and his fellow Monty Python cast members mocked to lasting effect in 1970 in their iconic BBC TV series.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Jan 1, 2012

Mayumi Kagita: A fusion of cultures revealed in dance

On Nov. 19, the Pit hall of the New National Theatre, Tokyo, in Shibuya, was filled with hundreds of eager theater-goers. They had come to see a performance of "Onna Goroshi Abura no Jigoku" ("The Women-Killer and the Hell of Oil"), a play written by Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1724) — Japan's greatest...
Japan Times
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Dec 30, 2011

Heian Period 'Godfather' brought to life on NHK

Marlon Brando's title character in the 1972 film "The Godfather" might not be the first thing that comes to mind at the mention of 12th century warlord Taira no Kiyomori, but the comparison has proven particularly effective for public broadcaster NHK, which will air a yearlong Sunday-evening drama about...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 30, 2011

Top 5 DVDs to alleviate holiday cabin fever

The three Japan Times film critics (Mark Schilling, Giovanni Fazio and me, Kaori Shoji) are taking a much-needed and entirely fictional break in a log cabin in a remote location, with no entertainment except for five DVDs. (Personally, I would rather have camped out at a 24-hour cocktail lounge in my...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 29, 2011

Kabuki returns to its Asakusa home for special New Year's performances

As kabuki fans will already know, for more than 30 years, the Kokaido (public hall) in Asakusa has celebrated the Tokyo district's history as a thriving entertainment area by reviving the Edo Period (1603-1867) tradition of New Year's special kabuki performances. These shows have also become a great...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / TECH_JAPAN
Dec 28, 2011

Looking forward to the next year in tech

If you can manage to look past the bummer of Mayan doomsday prophecies, 2012 looks pretty promising from a tech geek's point of view.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Japan Pulse
Dec 23, 2011

2011 trends: Korean boom spreads to a new generation

The love of all things Korean continued to grow in 2011, and along with it, a bit of a backlash.
CULTURE / Music
Dec 22, 2011

Natural disasters rock year in music

The year 2011 in Japan was undoubtedly defined by the triple disasters of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, and the subsequent nuclear crisis. The impact of those catastrophes was also felt across the entire entertainment world. The industry pretty much put itself on hold for the remainder of March...
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Dec 21, 2011

Support helps Jackson take first coaching steps

Five minutes before Mark Jackson was to conduct his initial rehearsal as a head coach at any level — ahem, exempting a brief AAU fling — he sat in the Warriors' locker room by himself and let his wired emotions guide him.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 16, 2011

'Cut'

A director who makes a film that loudly complains about the sad state of current cinema is setting himself up as a critics' punching bag ("You, sir, are part of the problem ..."). Also, if he inserts his list of 100 all-time best films into his climax he is asking for some impolite comments about his...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Dec 16, 2011

Cinderella tale gets K-popped

The curtain had hardly gone down at the world premiere of "Kun (Goong) — Love in a Palace" in Seoul in 2010 when the musical suddenly became the hottest ticket in South Korea's entertainment scene.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 16, 2011

Iran's Naderi explains why he shot 'Cut' in Japan

A founding member of Iranian cinema's 1970s New Wave, Amir Naderi made his directorial debut with his 1971 film "Goodbye Friend." Since the 1980s he has been screening his film at festivals around the world, including Venice, Cannes and Sundance.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Dec 4, 2011

Exploring Yanagawa's watery world

The boatman sings a low-pitched, wistful air as he poles our craft down the watery freeway. Some of my fellow passengers obviously know the melancholic song, and join in on what passes for a chorus as we're propelled otherwise noiselessly down the wide canal.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 2, 2011

Tintin gets a little closer to Japan in 3-D movie

"Everyone knows Tintin!" says a street hawker in the film "The Adventures of Tintin" — but 30 years ago director Steven Spielberg had no idea who or what he was.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Nov 25, 2011

Take in the view at a sky-high buffet

The Hotel New Otani Tokyo is offering an accommodation package featuring a buffet dinner at the hotel's international cuisine restaurant, The Sky, through Dec. 16.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 21, 2011

You think you're funny, but really you're not

In this age of shūshoku hyōgaki (就職氷河期, the employment ice age) the one industry that's filling young people with hope and plans for the future is this: the world of owarai (お笑い, comedy).
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / MIXED MATCHES
Nov 15, 2011

Musical couple's commitment helps husband beat addiction

American Mike Rogers and his wife, Yuka, of Kanagawa Prefecture, met at an HMV store in Toshima Ward, Tokyo, in 1992.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 4, 2011

'Suteki na Kanashibari (Once In a Blue Moon/A Ghost of a Chance)'

Koki Mitani is Japan's most successful comedy writer and director, with a long string of hit plays, TV dramas and films to his credit, most recently "The Uchoten Hoteru (Suite Dreams)" and "The Magic Hour."
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / BACKSTREET STORIES
Oct 30, 2011

Yea! As I walk through the valley of Todoroki . . .

Todoroki Valley Park, a protected green swath along Tokyo's only ravine, strikes me as an interesting and possibly quite sheltered destination on a brisk and breezy fall day.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan