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Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2010

Novel based on late management guru Drucker resonates to the top

Five years after his death, management guru Peter Drucker has shot to newfound fame — as one of Japan's biggest pop culture icons of 2010.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 12, 2010

Half the world's people are bilingual — but how many Japanese?

First of two parts
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 10, 2010

Class of 2010: Japan's playwrights head west

Japan's young dramatists are increasingly shrugging off their medium's long-standing, self-imposed national isolation and are setting sail in search of new audiences, and critical praise, overseas.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 10, 2010

When followers outdo the master

R. D. Laing, the leading light of the 1960s anti-psychiatry movement, believed that mental illnesses were natural responses to the unnatural stresses and strains of modern life. Something similar can be said about Surrealist art, which, at times, seems like an artistic reaction to a world that throws...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 3, 2010

Modern design aesthetics enhance traditional Kyoto

Gray corridors, strip lighting, scratched desks and bland canteens: Schools are not generally renowned for the finesse of their decor.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 19, 2010

The man who popularized the Edo pleasure district

The Yoshiwara pleasure district of Edo (old Tokyo) has often been immortalized in word and image for the exquisite carnal pleasures it offered.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 19, 2010

Rethinking traditional urushi lacquerware

London, it appears, is a good place to learn about both past and present Japan. Last year, as Britain celebrated 150 years of cultural exchange with Japan, it hosted a number of major shows, including a large-scale matsuri (festival) in Spitalfields Market, a comprehensive exhibition of Utagawa Kuniyoshi...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 14, 2010

Islamic community lays down roots

Noon prayers at Tokyo Camii, also known as Tokyo Mosque, began peacefully with Imam Ensari Yenturk reciting verses from the Quran, while worshippers, who included a middle-aged Japanese man, bowed and offered prayers toward Mecca.
COMMUNITY
Nov 9, 2010

Building a 'Little Yangon' in Tokyo

With its proximity to the Waseda and Gakushuin universities and crisscross of train lines, Takadanobaba is known to most Tokyoites as either a college town or a commuting hub. It's a cheap place to go for a drink, a place to grab a quick bite on the way home from work, or perhaps to pick up some used...
COMMENTARY
Oct 28, 2010

Should the U.S. be worried as Latin America prospers?

Behind the excitement in the rescue of the 33 Chilean miners buried 623 meters underground for 69 days lies a mystery.
JAPAN
Oct 23, 2010

Sengoku's growing influence causes a stir

On the first day of the Lower House Budget Committee session last week, Nobuteru Ishihara, secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, chose to deride the growing power of Yoshito Sengoku, chief Cabinet secretary of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Oct 17, 2010

Making the cut at sushi academy

Ahmed Bishara clasps a vinegared rice ball in his hand and quickly pastes wasabi on a slice of raw salmon on the cutting board before him. He puts the rice ball on the salmon, turns it upside-down and presses it tightly into shape with his palm and fingers. The entire process takes about 10 seconds....
CULTURE / Books
Oct 17, 2010

The wonders and virtues of green tea

This diminutive book is packed as tightly as an obento box with an array of mini-essays.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 16, 2010

Professor finds meaning in silence

In Japanese there's a word for it, that prolonged silence that cuts into a conversation, bringing discomfort and interrupting flow: shiin. We've all experienced that dead-air tension, but surprisingly there are different levels of comfort with silence, depending on the language being spoken.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Oct 7, 2010

World's top chefs forage locally for inspiration

Earlier this September, chef Yoshihiro Narisawa of the Michelin-starred restaurant Les Creations de Narisawa, in the Aoyama district of Tokyo, joined 15 of the world's top chefs to make dinner in Levi, Lapland, 170 km above the Arctic Circle.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 3, 2010

The resistance to Russia's political order

MOSCOW — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's decision to fire Moscow's long-entrenched mayor, Yuri Luzhkov, is the most decisive move of his presidency. Is it really part of his drive to modernize Russia, or part of an emerging power play with Moscow's real strong man, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin?...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Oct 3, 2010

Fukuoka: Designed for living

Inquiring as to the whereabouts of English-language bookstores in Fukuoka, the person at the Rainbow Plaza information center's desk straightaway handed me a printout of English listings, maps and directions. This, I began to realize, is a well organized city.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 25, 2010

The Icarus of currencies?

HONG KONG — My old friend Yoh Kurosawa just threw his head back and laughed: "How can you say that the rising yen is a danger. It proves we are strong, the world regards us as best."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 24, 2010

Korean artist gets Fukuoka cultural award

Hwang Byung Ki, a native of Seoul and master of the kayagum (a traditional Korean 12-string zither), was awarded the Grand Prize at this year's Fukuoka Asian Cultural Prizes on Sept. 16. Hwang — who aims to to appeal to both Asian and international audiences by composing music with contemporary sounds...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2010

Universities looking to go global

Fostering global human resources seems all the rage these days and several Japanese universities are jumping in, opening their doors to foreign students who aren't proficient in Japanese in a bid to snatch top-class talent from around the world.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 19, 2010

A life lived for others

Sixty-five years after the Allied victory over Japan in the Pacific War, Paul Glynn chronicles the life of his brother and fellow member of the Order of the Rising Sun, Father Tony Glynn.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Japan Pulse
Sep 18, 2010

Tokyo cafe entrepreneurs bring more to the table

Some cafe entrepreneurs are looking beyond the set menu of java and jazz and bringing more to the table.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Sep 18, 2010

The pot of gold and the expat rainbow

Life as a foreign resident has its trials. Some problems are giant-size, such as issues with communication, while others are more mundane, like how to deal with bugs. Which in Japan can also be giant-size.
BASKETBALL
Sep 12, 2010

Father, son team up to lead rebuilding Broncos

TOKOROZAWA, Saitama Pref. — Fathers and sons have worked together on countless sports teams since games began. And now a new variation of this story begins in Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Sep 12, 2010

Travel through time on a trip to Otaru

The Hokkaido port of Otaru is less than an hour by train from downtown Sapporo. Same neighborhood, different world.
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Sep 7, 2010

Don't blame JET for Japan's poor English

The Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme, touted as the world's largest cultural exchange scheme, has brought thousands of non-Japanese into the country to teach at local boards of education. These days, with many government programs being told to justify their existence, a debate is raging over whether...

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear