Search - murakami

 
 
CULTURE / Film
Dec 10, 2010

'Norwegian Wood (Noruwei no Mori)'

"Love hurts" is a staple message of popular culture everywhere, from blues songs about cheating lovers to tear-jerking Japanese melodramas about teenage couples eternally separated by terminal disease. But "Love can drive you crazy" is one uncomfortable truth mainstream movies, from Hollywood and Japan...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Japan Pulse
Nov 22, 2010

They've got a Twitter bot for that

Japan is clearly in the throes of Twittermania, but bots should be given credit for generating a good chunk of the traffic.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Jun 7, 2009

Director Tran talks of moving from violence to Murakami's famed 'Norwegian Wood'

Born in Vietnam and raised in France from age 12, Tran Anh Hung made an indelible debut as a filmmaker in 1993 with "The Scent Of Green Papaya." A delicate, sensual film, where the patter of rain on garden leaves or the rustle of wind on mosquito netting was as prominent as its story of a servant girl...
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Oct 17, 2005

Murakami, baseball and the pitfalls of Japanese managers

Financier Yoshiaki Murakami's bid to influence the Hanshin Tigers after recently becoming their parent firm's top shareholder has drawn public attention not only to his acquisitions, but also to the way that Japan's professional baseball teams are being run.
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2000

Calligraphy: window to soul of disabled

Staff writer NARA -- Keitaro Shimotsu, 21, leans forward over a desk from his wheelchair and moves his calligraphy brush on the paper. Suffering from cerebral palsy, he needs to gather great strength to complete one kanji character. But working on calligraphy is an expression of his inner spirit, creating...
Japan Times
Reference / Special Presentations / WITNESS TO WAR
Aug 17, 2007

Journalism in the service of war authority

Kanji Murakami began his reporting career in January 1941, joining the Asahi Shimbun's bureau in Seoul, or Keijo as it was then known, when the Korean Peninsula was under Japanese colonial rule.
CULTURE / Art
Aug 29, 2001

Is self-promotion the deep need of his soul?

It's hard not to be impressed with all the things Takashi Murakami has done. Still shy of 40, he enjoys a level of international recognition shared by perhaps no more than a dozen of the world's leading contemporary artists.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Oct 9, 2011

Setting a course for pirate isles in the Seto Inland Sea

A Portuguese Jesuit named Padre Louis Frois, who was one of the first Europeans to write extensively about Japan, described Murakami Takeyoshi as the most powerful pirate in Japan and a man feared by all.
Roki Sasaki pitches in a game against the Czech Republic during the World Baseball Classic in Tokyo on March 11, 2023, the 12th anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake.
BASEBALL
Feb 4, 2025

Roki Sasaki's road to glory was paved by ache of a tragedy

Long before he became a pitching phenom and signed a deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Roki Sasaki's life was marked by tragedy.
Ex-serviceman Izumi Murakami speaks of his experience during World War II, when he was still a child, in an interview in Kasuga, Fukuoka Prefecture, in May.
JAPAN / History / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Jul 14, 2025

Man inspired as a boy by WWII-era commando questions Japan's past actions

Izumi Murakami, now 92, joined the Air Self-Defense Force, but he concedes now that "there is nothing good that comes out of war."
Employees of the Tokai village government in Ibaraki Prefecture offers a moment of silence on Monday to commemorate the 25th anniversary of a criticality accident that occurred at a facility of nuclear fuel-processing company JCO.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 30, 2024

Ex-mayor raps government for lack of preparedness for nuclear disasters

Tatsuya Murakami, who dealt with a 1999 nuclear accident as a village chief, warns against the pursuit of nuclear power without weighing its risks.
Hiroe Kawashimo enjoys regular walks in the city of Hiroshima.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Jul 28, 2025

Woman with disabilities from atomic bombing recalls mother's dedication

The daughter of a woman exposed to radiation from the Hiroshima atomic bombing has been frail since childhood and constantly in and out of hospitals.
Toshiyuki Nishida performs at a rock concert held in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, in September 2011. Nishida appeared in many events and dramas filmed in Fukushima to help the prefecture recover in the aftermath of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Nov 18, 2024

In his home prefecture of Fukushima, actor Toshiyuki Nishida lives on

Friends and others who knew him paid tribute to the late actor, who was well known for his folksy charm.
Katsumi Murakami, a Lawson convenience store owner in Kobe, talks about his experience in the 1995 earthquake and how convenience stores can serve a lifeline in times of disaster.
JAPAN
Jan 28, 2025

Convenience stores' importance grew after Kobe earthquake, one owner says

The owner recalled handing out food from his Lawson convenience store following the 1995 earthquake and ensuring it was open for business three months later.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Aug 25, 2023

Confident Jose Osuna says Swallows just have to keep fighting

Jose Osuna still has faith in the Swallows despite the team's underwhelming performance this season.
A Cosmo Energy service station in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 1, 2023

Iwatani emerges as potential Cosmo white knight with share buy

Iwatani will pay ¥105.3 billion, or ¥6,052 per share, to raise its stake in Cosmo to 19.93% from the current 0.07%.
The Keikyu Line in Yokohama
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 25, 2024

Japan’s rail stocks soar on Keisei Electric activist stake news

Keisei’s stock jumped over 18%, its sharpest intraday rise since October 2008, with Keikyu climbing more than 16%.
Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Jun 30, 2025

What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji

Mount Fuji’s deadliest weekend still echoes today. Luckily, area rescue squads have leveled up their game.
Cosmo Energy is calling another shareholder vote on Dec. 14 to seek approval to discourage an activist group, led by Yoshiaki Murakami, from increasing its stake to 24.56% from the current 20%.
BUSINESS
Nov 10, 2023

Japan's Cosmo braces for 'poison pill' anti-activist vote

The refiner is calling another shareholder vote on Dec. 14 to seek approval to discourage an activist group from increasing its stake.
The central Hokkaido city of Asahikawa made headlines this year when one of its suburbs was named as the best place to live in Japan — a ranking earned in part due to the community's many outstanding restaurants and cafes.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Dec 28, 2024

How Hokkaido quietly became a culinary treasure trove in 2024

Food trucks, morsels with cutesy cues from nature and more helped Japan’s northernmost island have a stellar year.
Giants ace Shosei Togo is expected to get the start on opening day.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Mar 26, 2025

Big-spending Giants aim to hold off BayStars and Tigers in competitive Central League

The Giants spent big as the club aims to win its first Japan Series title since 2012. But can the BayStars or Tigers spoil the Kyojin's fun?
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako greet upon their arrival at Hiroshima Airport on Thursday.
JAPAN
Jun 19, 2025

Japan's emperor and empress arrive in Hiroshima

Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako traveled to the city to commemorate the victims of the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing.
Chikako Utsumi holds bottles of Rose Mind at Tenpoichi sake brewer in Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Aug 7, 2023

Local Hiroshima sake and beef grow in popularity due to G7

Popular sake Rose Mind has seen its popularity surge since it was served during the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 27, 2023

Kansai superiority at stake in this year's Japan Series

The Buffaloes and the Tigers meet in Game 1 in Osaka on Saturday night.
JAPAN / Explainer
Nov 6, 2023

What to know about the Meiji Jingu Gaien redevelopment plan

The project is controversial due to the potential felling of thousands of trees, loss of green space and threat to historic gingko trees.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 1, 2023

Japan’s 2023 buzzword of the year is all about winning

A.R.E — based on the Japanese word “are” (“that”) — took the top spot, after the Hanshin Tigers popularized the term as an indirect reference to victory.
Hirotada Ototake interacts with voters during a campaign stop in Tokyo's Koto Ward on Sunday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 23, 2024

Man arrested over assault of Tokyo by-election campaign staffer

The suspect allegedly pushed a male staff member of candidate Hirotada Ototake, resulting in minor injuries.
A bulletin board shows the day's highest temperature in Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture, on July 29.
JAPAN / Boiling Point
Aug 8, 2024

From Naha to Nemuro, how Japan’s cities are responding to more heat

Municipalities are reaching for everything from automated misting systems to anime to help cool residents and educate them about the risks of heat.
A bus is seen submerged in floodwaters in Yufu, Oita Prefecture, on Aug. 29 as Typhoon Shanshan dumps torrential rain across southern regions of Japan.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Oct 3, 2024

How climate change affects Japan's typhoons

The number of typhoons appears to be dropping, but the ones that do arrive are also becoming more violent.
Pedestrians commute through Shibuya Station in central Tokyo, an area that is almost never devoid of people.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Mar 3, 2025

As the rest of Japan shrinks, Tokyo grows

Women and young people are leading a migratory wave that the government is struggling to halt.

Longform

Rock group The Yellow Monkey played K-Arena Yokohama in June as part of a nationwide tour. Concerts are increasingly popular in the age of social media as users value in-person experiences.
Inside Japan’s arena boom: Sports, sound and city-building