Search - life

 
 
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Sep 26, 2015

Ashes to diamonds and the cost of death

'Where do we go when we die?"
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Sep 12, 2015

Will the bullies inherit Japan's top jobs?

Why aren't people nice, good and kind?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Sep 12, 2015

Jesus Christ, the Nobel Prize and Shusaku Endo

In 1994, on the day when Kenzaburo Oe was announced as the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature — the second Japanese writer to receive the award — eminent literary scholar Donald Keene received a long-distance call from Peter Owen, publisher of novelist Shusaku Endo's works in London, demanding...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Sep 12, 2015

Dante Carver: 'Dream big, love bigger and do what you love'

SoftBank's Yoso Guy on games, design and what it's really like to be a part of the White family
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Sep 9, 2015

'MacDonald's,' the first English school in Japan, was its teacher's prison

The first unofficial English school in Japan was 'founded' in the late fall of 1848 in a prison cell in Nagasaki.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Sep 5, 2015

Literature critic John Nathan dissects Japan's Nobel Prize laureates

There is one critic of Japanese literature that towers above the rest: professor John Nathan, erstwhile associate of Yukio Mishima, Kenzaburo Oe and Kobo Abe. But he's not only a respected critic, Nathan's extraordinary career has seen him in the roles of film director, scriptwriter, novelist and memoirist,...
Japan Times
JAPAN / TELLING LIVES
Sep 4, 2015

Patrick Harlan, an American who can make the Japanese giggle

Japan's entertainment business is a come and go affair. Hundreds of local and foreign talents have entered the spotlight with a joke or two, only to vanish a year or two later when their gags ran out of chuckle.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 2, 2015

Al Pacino's 'Danny Collins' is so charming he doesn't need to be good

What's the difference between Bill Murray and Al Pacino these days? Not much. Pacino might be shorter, Murray might have less hair, but otherwise they could be spiritual brothers from alternate cinema universes — seriously. Someday, a producer will stumble upon that truth and make a buddy movie with...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 22, 2015

The same old story on rural depopulation

A story that is constantly upbeat quickly becomes tiring. Conflict and resolution are necessary to maintain interest, and while happy endings are still more popular than depressing ones, characters should go through some sort of emotional turmoil before arriving at them.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Aug 22, 2015

Chie Suzuki: 'I'm always thinking about what to make next'

Wooden clog designer on ukiyo-e, cats and sushi
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 20, 2015

English-immersion share house offers cultural experience

On any given weekday some 15 to 20 residents of a four-story apartment building in the Tokyo suburb of Fuchu converge in the Scandinavian-style cafe-lounge at around 9 p.m. to converse in English.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Aug 15, 2015

Add looming poverty to list of seniors' woes

What a sad country this is. Granted, Spa! magazine paints in primary colors. Maybe it's missing a nuance or two? Maybe things aren't really so bad? Maybe. Hopefully.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Aug 14, 2015

Almost 30% of young people don't want to work for a company, survey finds

A survey revealed Thursday that some young people in Japan maintain an unenthusiastic and rather cool attitude toward employment.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 11, 2015

There's a residual energy to Cai Guo-Qiang's explosive works

Japanese artist Taro Okamoto once said, "Art is an explosion." This was despite the fact that his own works were carefully planned and developed, as the exhibition "Taro Okamoto's Paintings: From Impulse to Realization" at the Taro Okamoto Museum of Art made clear back in 2006. Okamoto's famous dictum,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jul 25, 2015

Will 'neurotic' Japan go postcapitalist?

Is Japan on the threshold of postcapitalism? If it is, as Morris Berman suggests in "Neurotic Beauty: An Outsiders Look at Japan," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe doesn't seem to have received the memo.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 21, 2015

Tokio Marine to use Citic to grow in China after U.S. foray

Tokio Marine Holdings Inc., fresh from its biggest acquisition in the U.S., is now looking for opportunities in China.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 13, 2015

Pope heads home to Rome after urging youth in Paraguay to help their peers, seek dignity

Pope Francis, drawing to a close his three-country tour of South America, on Sunday urged tens of thousands of youths in Paraguay to look after their less fortunate peers and fight for a dignified life filled with hope and strength.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 3, 2015

Russia's dissidents return

It is high time for Russians to be reminded of the ideals on which perstroika were based.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jun 27, 2015

Fertility experts divided over benefits of freezing eggs cryogenically

Public broadcaster NHK aired a current affairs program on fertility in 2012 that caused a stir nationwide. Titled "The Impact of Aging Eggs," the program warned viewers that women in their 30s and 40s were flirting with disappointment by delaying any attempt to conceive until they are older.
CULTURE / Music
Jun 26, 2015

OMSB counts his blessings on 'Think Good'

Rapper and producer Brandon Katou (aka OMSB) is an artist that, while humble, exhibits a sense of pride in his work atypical of Japanese artists. In recent interviews he's done for his new album, he's compared himself to big-name acts like Kendrick Lamar and Kanye West, remarking that his work is up...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Jun 25, 2015

Nintendo's virtual warriors secure same-sex marriage victory

In a sign of the growing embrace of diversity in virtual reality, Nintendo Co. said Thursday its Fire Emblem fantasy role-playing game series now allows characters to have same-sex relationships.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 25, 2015

Julianne Moore takes on a role that her peers would avoid in 'Still Alice'

Julianne Moore says she was surprised to learn that people in some parts of the world have mistaken "Still Alice," her film about Alzheimer's disease, as "science fiction" and even "horror-comedy."
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 23, 2015

Why the pope cares about the Earth

By invoking St. Francis in his encyclical on the environment, the pope calls us to remember the fundamental interdependence of all life.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 18, 2015

Russia's totalitarianism 2.0

The Putin regime's approach can best be described as 'hybrid totalitarianism.'
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
May 29, 2015

Prefontaine's legacy still growing 40 years after death

'I'm not afraid of losing. But if I do, I want it to be a good race. I'm an artist, a performer. I want people to appreciate the way I run.' — Steve Prefontaine
JAPAN
May 25, 2015

Overseas interest in relocation campaign surprises Kagoshima village

A little hamlet in Kagoshima Prefecture with a population of just 372 people has been taken by surprise after a sudden rise in interest about its immigration program.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
May 17, 2015

Black filmmakers 'find their edge' in Japan

This month's green-tinged Black Eye focuses on black filmmakers in Tokyo — a group of brothers forging their dreams into reality, getting it done here in the Land of the Rising Sun.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years