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Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
May 27, 2011

Farming without chemicals — or radiation

Yasunori Toyoguchi peers under the netting protecting a small rice paddy. "See," he says, pointing to some grassy shoots, "here's this year's crop, just starting to emerge." He scoops up a little of the water trickling over the mud with one hand. "See how clear and clean this is?" he asks. "The frogs...
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
May 26, 2011

'Golden age' of kayoukyoku holds lessons for modern J-pop

On April 21, 2011, the actress and singer Yoshiko Tanaka, aka Sue from 1970s idol group the Candies, died after a relapse of the cancer that she had been living with for 20 years. A tragedy, at the relatively young age of 55, and one that comes during a period of deep soul-searching for the Japanese...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
May 22, 2011

Untouchable lays bare a divided nation

With ebooks increasingly dominating the publishing market, it is a pleasure to hold a printed book so gorgeously designed as this one; the cover alone would make it a welcome addition to any Kenji Nakagami collection.
Japan Times
LIFE
May 22, 2011

One of a kind: Bob Dylan at 70

Bob Dylan, the single most important artist in the history of popular music, will be 70 years old on Tuesday, May 24.
Japan Times
LIFE
May 22, 2011

Up close and personal: Why Dylan is so big in Japan

It was the fall of 1963, when — in what seemed like a flash of lightning — I became a fan of Bob Dylan the moment I heard "Blowin' in the Wind" on the radio. I was in my first year of high school.
CULTURE / Art
May 20, 2011

"Prints by Futami Shoichi"

Copperplate print artist Shoichi Futami's work is known not only in Japan but also in Germany and other parts of Europe. This exhibition presents approximately 100 of his works from the 250 housed in the Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura's collection.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
May 20, 2011

Ryukyu's Palmer hoping to add to title collection

For a guy whose collegiate career concluded at little-known Southern Utah, David Palmer is living a dream.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 19, 2011

Online Maltine learns old-school tricks

Tomohiro Konuta didn't have lofty ambitions when he and his friend Syem started the online music label Maltine Records in 2005. They were just two teenagers looking for a little attention.
EDITORIALS
May 15, 2011

Japan's rich heritage

At long last, Japan received a bit of bright news May 7, when it was announced that two sites in Japan, the historic Hiraizumi area in Iwate Prefecture and the Ogasawara Islands some 1,000 km south of Tokyo, were almost certain to be designated as World Heritage Sites at meetings next month of the UNESCO...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
May 15, 2011

Strawberries and shoguns in Shizuoka

It's a clear spring morning and the view over Suruga Bay just outside of Shizuoka City is captivating. At least, that's what my travel companions say.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 13, 2011

"Excellent Techniques of Metal Crafts, The Late Edo And Meiji Periods"

From the end of Edo Period (1603-1867) into the Meiji Era (1868-1912), Japanese arts and crafts experienced major changes. Sword and sword-accessory-related metalwork, in particular, was affected by the opening of Japan to the West and its influences.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 13, 2011

"Kazuyoshi Miyoshi Photo Exhibition: The World Heritage Yakushima"

A Tokushima Prefecture native, Kazuyoshi Miyoshi started taking photos when he was a junior high school student. His first photo collection, "Rakuen" ("Paradise"), a series of images taken on tropical islands such as the Seychelles and Maldives, won him the 11th Kimura Ihei Photography Award. At age...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 12, 2011

'Yu Kiwanami Solo Exhibition'

imura art gallery, kyotoCloses May 28
CULTURE / Books
May 8, 2011

Unfractured folk tales, and fantastic fables

SPECULATIVE JAPAN 2: "The Man Who Watched the Sea" and Other Tales of Japanese Science Fiction and Fantasy. Kurodahan Press, 2010, 269 pp., $16 (paper) A good anthology, particularly one that aims to provide an overview of an unfamiliar subset of a nation's literature, should not please all its readers...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
May 8, 2011

Pedal-power pleasures on Kansai's byways

Spring is the perfect season to explore Kansai by bicycle. Going with the flow along largely flat cycle routes beside the Yodo, Katsura and Kizu rivers, it's possible to chart a comfortable six-day trip — or, in my case, a rather challenging four-day one — between the cities of Osaka, Kyoto and Nara....
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
May 7, 2011

Pillow for the fairy tale princess discovered

Breaking news: Pillow belonging to the princess of the tale "The Princess and the Pea" by Hans Christian Andersen has been found.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 7, 2011

American's food import firm has grown organically

Jack Bayles, owner of Alishan Organic Center and founder of Tengu Natural Foods, has lived within a 5-km radius his entire time in Japan in the shadow of the verdant, hazy mountains of Chichibu near the Koma River in Hidaka, Saitama Prefecture.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 5, 2011

Verbal wants to hit the reset button on pop

In the middle of her recent Japan tour, pop superstar Kylie Minogue surprised her fans by announcing a new song on YouTube. The song, written by Japanese rapper and producer Verbal, is called "We Are One" and is the pair's effort to try to raise donations for Unicef following the March 11 earthquake...
Reader Mail
May 1, 2011

Taiwanese cheering for Japan

Taiwan has always had a special affinity with Japan. Along with strong cultural, historical and economic ties, we both bear the brunt of brutal earthquakes and typhoons. During the 1999 earthquake in central Taiwan and the 2009 flooding of southern Taiwan, Japan was prompt to provide its support.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
May 1, 2011

Revenge of the aunties

If the collective noun for a bunch of morons is a "drool," then what would it be for a group of feckless twenty-something cretins? A "slobber"? A "salivation"? The group of six men in this rollicking satire run the entire gamut of idiocy as they battle the formidable Midori Oba-sans (aunties), those...
CULTURE / Art
Apr 29, 2011

ArtGig offers 'Dirty, dirty! Sex, sex!' — for free

When curator Shai Ohayon says he's organizing 12 hours of "dirty, dirty, sex, sex" in Shinjuku, he's not making a sordid offer.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 29, 2011

Bright set out to lighten spirits

All-female vocal quartet Bright are putting their efforts into Action for Nippon, a charity that works to help kids affected by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / BACKSTREET STORIES
Apr 24, 2011

Gaming Moto Azabu

Rather than dwell on the dark side of life at this time, I decide to get my game on by heading to a store just off Azabu-Juban's main shopping street in central Tokyo's Minato Ward. Max Game, at the foot of Kurayamizaka (Dark Slope), is surrounded by kids of all ages sitting at tables, strategizing and...
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Apr 23, 2011

Experience has taught Nakamura how to persevere

If the J. League is looking for inspiration as it prepares to restart the season on Saturday, Shunsuke Nakamura knows more than a thing or two about triumph over adversity.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / WEEK 3
Apr 17, 2011

Bags of fun recycling old JTs

In Japan, English-language newspapers are great sources of news and views and such (some more than others, of course). But a new use for them has lately arisen, with patrons of mini-trucks selling baked yaki-imo (sweet potatoes) in upscale Tokyo office districts thinking it trendy to receive their hot...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 16, 2011

The enemies of a digital universal library

Scholars have long dreamed of a universal library containing everything that has ever been written. Then, in 2004, Google announced that it would begin digitally scanning all the books held by five major research libraries. Suddenly, the library of utopia seemed within reach.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Apr 16, 2011

Earthquake relief: Little people doing big things

Prime Minister Naoto Kan took out nearly a full-page ad in the International Herald Tribune last week to thank the international community for their kizuna (bond of friendship), regarding Japan's earthquake and tsunami disaster on March 11. It was a stirring tribute to those who have come together to...

Longform

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.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji