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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Feb 8, 2014

Yuichiro Miura: on top of the world

Ever wondered what it feels like to stand on top of the world? Eighty-one-year-old alpinist Yuichiro Miura should know: He's done it three times since turning 70. He became the oldest person to scale the world's tallest peak, Mount Everest, in May last year, a remarkable feat that spurred the government...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Jan 27, 2014

Can big names help the plight of small factories?

The smooth, metallic surface reflects the sunlight coming through the window. Without touching it you can see that this is an object made with great care — even though it came from a factory. I'm inside a shop run by Lexus in Tokyo, but what I'm looking at isn't part of a luxury car, it's a small metal...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 24, 2014

Francois Hollande: What became of dull Mr. Normal?

However indignant French President Francois Hollande might have been about a glossy celebrity magazine revealing the details of his affair with a French actress, the idea of sitting down and drafting his resignation was almost certainly not among them.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 8, 2014

Darren Almond: All things pass

A wall of 450 flip-clocks all display 15:26 in the entryway to "Second Thoughts" at Contemporary Art Gallery, Art Tower Mito. Seconds pass ... CLICK, all synchronized to the minute. The sound of 15:27 is so overwhelming it's surprising to see only one digit change: 6 to 7. Standing, waiting for 15:28,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 26, 2013

'Hunger Games' star continues to burn bright

Jennifer Lawrence says that first and foremost, she watches her latest film, "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire," as a fan. She was "stunned" when she saw the end result.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 25, 2013

Snowden declares his mission accomplished

In a candid interview, NSA leaker Edward Snowden breaks his silence on surveillance, democracy and the meaning of the top-secret documents he exposed, and says his mission is 'already accomplished.'
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 23, 2013

Winners of 2013's behavioral economics oscars

The Oscars won't be awarded until March, but those who hand out the annual Behavioral Economics Oscars (Becons) are famously impatient, and it is time to announce this year's winners.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 21, 2013

Making their wishes come true

If you were granted one wish this Christmas, what would you wish for? For 17-year-old Mostafa Horie, the choice was simple: to see a Ferrari race car in action.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 21, 2013

Upbeat in the face of adversity

Twenty-four-year-old Yura Tsutsumi was first attracted to Yuta Suzuki after seeing how positive he was in everyday life.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Dec 20, 2013

Cook, writer, TV host, actress and more: Briton toasts eventful half-century in Japan

Civil servant, cook, columnist and TV personality are among the hats Jill Sinclair Ito has worn during her 50 years in the country.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 13, 2013

Why do African leaders ignore Mandela's democratic legacy?

Seeing the glowing eulogies for Nelson Mandela filled a Ugandan journalist with the same unsettling pride that gripped her younger soul as she listened to her high school African nationalism teacher talk about the struggle of great leaders to liberate the continent.
EDITORIALS
Dec 9, 2013

A 20th-century hero and icon

Nelson Mandela's life was a testimony to the need to put aside the anger and desire for vengeance to which one may feel rightfully entitled and to embrace the very best in humanity, regardless of race.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Dec 7, 2013

Special on "the father of the Showa idol"; advice for discouraged youth; CM of the week: Kyogetsu

Hideyoshi Aizawa, who died in May, is known as the "father of the Showa idol." As the founder and president of Sun Music, one of the most powerful talent agencies in Japanese show business, he basically invented the idea of the idol singer in the 1970s and '80s with the cultivation of people such as...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Dec 1, 2013

Farrow courts controversy with paternity musings

For a while, Mia Farrow was a genuine housewife. In a life of bright lights and dark, dark shadows, this must surely count as one of the most unusual periods of them all: a moment of apparent stability and respectability in the late 70s and early 80s. During this time, she picked up her twin sons Matthew...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 28, 2013

Yamashita and Maeda reunite for slacker dramedy

Nobuhiro Yamashita has used a variety of sources for his films since his 1999 feature debut "Donten Seikatasu (Hazy Life)," including his own experiences as a struggling indie director. But the inspiration for his latest, "Moratorium Tamako (Tamako in Moratorium)," is out of the ordinary by any standard:...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 20, 2013

The Charles in Charlie Brown

The advertising surrounding "Ever and Never: The Art of Peanuts" focuses on the cutest character from the classic American comic strip. So much so, promotions for this exhibition at the Mori Arts Center Gallery has been dubbed the "Snoopy Exhibit," a title that also graces the Twitter and Facebook accounts...
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 14, 2013

Oldest complete fossil discovered

What may be the oldest complete fossil on Earth paints a smelly but colorful picture of our microbial ancestors from nearly 3.5 billion years ago.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Nov 13, 2013

An audience with Sylvie Guillem

There are many wonderful ballet dancers the world over, but Sylvie Guillem is undoubtedly in a category of her own — and not only because of her famously self-willed ways.
Reader Mail
Nov 9, 2013

Ichihashi film categorized as mere spectacle

Regarding the Nov. 3 TimeOut feature by Jun Hongo, titled "Killer on the run": There was a sickening feeling of frustration in Tokyo's foreign community at the time of the Lindsay Ann Hawker murder investigation. Many foreign residents felt that the Chiba police were simply not too keen on catching the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 7, 2013

'Everyday'

Michael Winterbottom doesn't have a signature style, nor even a favorite topic. His films can range from a close observation of a lesbian relationship in "Butterfly Kiss" to a slice off the Bosnian War in "Welcome to Sarajevo" to the sublime sci-fi antics of "Code 46." If there's a commonality to these,...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 4, 2013

Five myths about Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

An avalanche of books written about Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis — without her cooperation — have left us with myths about her that are widely believed to this day.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 2, 2013

Actor takes on role of Ichihashi in biopic based on convicted murderer's book

Some actors are a little reluctant to take on the role of a despised killer in a high-profile film. Not Dean Fujioka.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Oct 28, 2013

Copyright extension opponents ready for new fight

For most of history, a great character or story or song has passed from its original creator into the public domain. Shakespeare and Charles Dickens and Beethoven are long dead, but Macbeth and Oliver Twist and the Fifth Symphony are part of our shared cultural heritage, free to be used or reinvented...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 28, 2013

Measure of mismeasure confounds free choice

It's important to help people think clearly about why they might choose something less desirable than what they now have to avoid the risk of getting something even worse next time.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Oct 25, 2013

Entrepreneur touts power to the people as cure for Czech ills

Tomio Okamura — whose mother is Czech and whose father hails from Niigata Prefecture — ranks as the third-most-popular politician in the country. That's hardly surprising, though, given his near-omnipresence in Czech life.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 23, 2013

Fraught reunions

Her long-term boyfriend's death spurs concert pianist Charlotte into visiting her eldest daughter Eva, from whom she's been estranged for seven years. At Eva's house she also meets Helena, her severely disabled other daughter whom she had confined to a hospital for life, but whose care Eva has taken...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 23, 2013

Tears shed for puppets in the City of Love

Japanese photographer/artist Hiroshi Sugimoto is inescapable in Paris just now, with posters all over the Metro for his "Accelerated Buddha" exhibition at the Fondation Pierre Bergé-Yves Saint Laurent and "Sugimoto Bunraku: Sonezaki Shinju" ("The Love Suicides at Sonezaki") at the Théâtre de la Ville...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 12, 2013

Angus Deaton's 'The Great Escape' fetes growth

Angus Deaton's 'The Great Escape' celebrates growth and looks more favorably on aid directed at improving health, because that can address specific failures of market provision.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Oct 6, 2013

Ginsburg's tough decision: to stay or go?

Who dreamed up this bit of kismet? How did the stars align to make this spot of New Mexico desert the best place in the world on a late summer evening to be Ruth Bader Ginsburg?

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?