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JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 11, 2010

SMAP bled for rotten tomatoes

Last week, the Asahi Shimbun published an article about the suicide of actor-singer Park Yong Ha. The pieceanalyzed South Korean show business to ascertain why so many stars have killed themselves in recent years, and concluded that their relationships with management agencies grind them down. Park has...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jul 11, 2010

Media fixated with China's new wealth

With the World Cup, sumo's baseball betting scandal and Sunday's Upper House election dominating the media's attention, some readers may have not noticed the extensive coverage also being devoted to China. And we're not just talking about crowds at the Shanghai Expo, but the crowds of visitors to Ginza,...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 8, 2010

J:Com to offer TV on demand

Cable TV operator Jupiter Telecommunications Co. announced Wednesday it is launching a flat-rate on-demand TV service allowing subscribers in Japan to watch American programs created by U.S.-based Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
EDITORIALS
Jul 5, 2010

Better view of business

Business confidence gauged by the diffusion index (DI) among major manufacturers climbed for the fifth straight quarter in June to plus 1, up 15 points from March — the first positive figure since June 2008 — the Bank of Japan said Thursday. The DI has now reached the level it was at before the global...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 2, 2010

'Let the Right One In'

With the cinematic love story on the endangered species list (SATC has a lot to answer for), it's truly gratifying when something as romantic, lovely and sweetly satisfying as "Let the Right One In" appears on the horizon. It restores your faith in men. In dating. In the whole myth that someone special...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Jun 25, 2010

A night with geisha and fine dining

The Royal Park Hotel in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, has prepared a special plan that offers guests the opportunity to experience traditional Japanese culture, combining a one-night stay at the hotel and a geisha entertainment and dinner event at a top Japanese restaurant on July 24.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 25, 2010

Maxi Priest

He just wants to be close to you, and to get close to Maxi Priest all you have to do is visit a couple of jazz clubs in Tokyo in early July.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jun 22, 2010

Daughter finds long lost mom after 40-year separation

Judy Mintze, who contacted us in search of her long lost mother, is on cloud nine.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Jun 20, 2010

Mere mortal waddles on water

From a distance, Tatsuro Yokoi looks like a pirate clinging to the mast of a sunken galleon.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 15, 2010

Mah-jongg ancient, progressive

Few games may be as addictive as mah-jongg, whose players range from university students to salarymen and tend to go at it all night, often for money.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 11, 2010

'Kokuhaku'

Japanese films featuring school ijime (bullying) are as common as cherry trees in Ueno Park, and for good reason. When I was teaching at a boys' high school in Kodaira, western Tokyo, I would sometimes see signs of ijime, such as the returnee kid whose natively fluent English inspired titters from his...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 9, 2010

A land of harmoniously secretive married couples

Japanese people have become more kojinshugi (個人主義, individualistic) and aware of their personal identities than they were 20 years ago, according to recent media reports. True, members of the younger generation have no problem addressing each other by first name (and this happens even among casual...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Jun 8, 2010

Mobile game startup boss set own bar

David "DC" Collier, 44, from Britain, could not speak a word of Japanese when he first came here seven years ago.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jun 6, 2010

A guided tour to Akihabara

Maid cafes, cosplay (costume play), gachapon vending machines, canned oden noodles and otaku (geeks) — lots of otaku: I thought I knew Akihabara, or "Akiba" as its fans affectionately call it. I bought my first Apple computer (a secondhand Macintosh Powerbook) there in the early 1990s and had visited...
CULTURE / Books
Jun 6, 2010

Art rebel without a cause

Pulse waves from the art world of the early 20th Century may have been felt far and wide, but the movements, practitioners and individual works of art themselves were far from being globally coordinate.
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Jun 4, 2010

Neu takes over reins in Apache front office

Conor Neu, a former Princeton University basketball player, is the Tokyo Apache's new general manager.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 4, 2010

Meisa gets high fives all round

Halfway through the first-ever Girls Award fashion show at Tokyo's Yoyogi National Stadium last month, 22-year-old Meisa Kuroki strides down the catwalk, glistening in a sleeveless gold dress and black stockings while delivering her pulsing dance tune "Shock."
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / Japan Pulse
Jun 2, 2010

Mixi helps users socialize with new apps

Following in the footsteps of Facebook, Mixi brings fun and functional apps to its user community. Anybody need a pantsu calendar?
JAPAN
May 30, 2010

Sony-Google Internet-based TV faces tough road, analysts say

While the partnership between Sony Corp. and Google Inc. announced last week appears a good match, some industry observers say it remains unclear what kind of business model they are aiming for with the Internet-based televisions they plan to produce.
BUSINESS
May 28, 2010

Sony, KDDI, Asahi, Toppan in e-book tieup

Sony Corp., KDDI Corp, the Asahi Shimbun Co. and Toppan Printing Co. announced Wednesday they will jointly establish a company to sell and distribute electronic books and attempt to launch the service by year's end.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
May 28, 2010

'Gas' event asks big questions

Playwright Jason Maghanoy burst to prominence in the Canadian theater world in 2007 with his maiden offering, "Gas," about the Iraq War, which questioned the meaning of democracy and freedom in the instant-reaction, life-and-death conditions of live-fire conflict.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Japan Pulse
May 21, 2010

Municipal meet-ups and pet-owner get-togethers for shy singles

Tired of speed-dating? Maybe your local government can help you in your hunt for the One.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 21, 2010

Globally minded director goes native

It's sad but true that Japanese directors with big reputations abroad are often odd men (or women) out back home.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 21, 2010

'Haru tono tabi (Travels with Haru)'

Masahiro Kobayashi is a unique figure in the Japanese film business. His knotty, idiosyncratic films, starting with the 1996 film "Closing Time," have never made much at the box office in Japan, though they have become favorites of foreign festival programmers. Four have screened at Cannes, including...

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