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JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 10, 2009

A death from human kindness

On April 21, the body of former pop singer Yukiko Shimizu was found in a cemetery in Oyamacho, Shizuoka Prefecture, in front of her father's grave. Police assume that she committed suicide on the spot by inhaling hydrogen sulfide fumes and had probably also tried to kill her 80-year-old mother, who was...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 25, 2009

Environmentalist David Suzuki has words of warning for ancestral homeland

Long before baseball's Ichiro moved to the northwest coast of the United States of America, another Suzuki had made a name for himself higher up, across the border in British Columbia, Canada. Dr. David Suzuki, environmentalist, scientist, TV producer and writer, was voted, in a nationwide poll in 2004,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 24, 2009

La Machine invades Yokohama!

"You know 'e is a crazy man," Fredette, a feisty, flame- haired assistant, warns in a French accent as she hands over a yellow hard hat. "A mad man. Un fou. And very, very busy. You must be quick."
COMMENTARY
Apr 14, 2009

Pakistan: building peace by building schools

You can try to force peace through military might — and you are bound to fail — or you can build peace through education. That seems to be the main lesson behind Greg Mortenson's life and work. Thanks to his efforts, 78 schools have been built in Pakistan and thousands of children have been educated,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 11, 2009

International school built to serve

Early last year, Masayasu Kano, a seasoned schoolteacher, quit his local private high school to take on a new challenge. He had only a couple years left until retirement.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 3, 2009

Swords and slapstick

In Los Angeles last week, the showdown in the World Baseball Classic between Japan's "Samurai" and their South Korean rivals had TV audiences gripped. So, too, were those at Saitama Arts Theater, who witnessed an acting duel between 26-year-olds Tatsuya Fujiwara and Shun Oguri in "Musashi," a hilarious...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 3, 2009

'Hatsukoi — Natsu no Kioku'

First love, or hatsukoi, is a perennial, popular theme for seishun eiga ("youth films"), ranking right up there with tragic early death.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL: KEYES' POINT
Apr 1, 2009

Being a sukebe na sensei is tougher than it looks

"Why don't you get a divorce? (早く離婚したら, Hayaku rikon shitara?)."
Japan Times
CULTURE
Mar 6, 2009

Redefining defiance for a modern Japan

More than 3 million people are likely to tune into the second installment of NHK drama "Jiro Shirasu" on Saturday night — and chances are, most will be waiting expectantly for the re-enactment of one particularly famous episode from the subject's life.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2009

Choked with visitors, Kyoto takes slow road toward eco-tourism

The ancient capital of Kyoto conjures up many images among international tourists, ranging from quiet rock gardens and temples to performing geisha.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Feb 8, 2009

City ecology explains Japan's low birthrate

Last week, a 33-year-old woman in California made headlines around the world when she gave birth to eight babies. She had been on fertility treatment and, it emerged, already had six children.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Jan 29, 2009

Author/physician Shigeaki Hinohara

At the age of 97 years and 4 months, Shigeaki Hinohara is one of the world's longest-serving physicians and educators. Hinohara's magic touch is legendary: Since 1941 he has been healing patients at St. Luke's International Hospital in Tokyo and teaching at St. Luke's College of Nursing. After World...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Jan 29, 2009

Author/physician Shigeaki Hinohara

At the age of 97 years and 4 months, Shigeaki Hinohara is one of the world's longest-serving physicians and educators. Hinohara's magic touch is legendary: Since 1941 he has been healing patients at St. Luke's International Hospital in Tokyo and teaching at St. Luke's College of Nursing. After World...
COMMENTARY
Jan 26, 2009

Recalling the one who mixed politics, poetry

NEW YORK — At a time when we plainly see the negative effects of politics and greed in the life of nations, it is important to remember Pablo Neruda, a Chilean writer whom Gabriel Garcia Marquez called "the greatest poet of the 20th century — in any language." He was an artist who knew very well...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Jan 15, 2009

Wildlife attendant Pat Kim

Pat Kim is a wildlife attendant at the Hyatt Regency Guam, where she takes care of the exotic birds in the hotel's gardens. Since the arrival of a flock of baby parrots in Guam 15 years ago, Kim's been a virtual mom to them, nursing eight little macaws and two cockatoos into the magnificent creatures...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Jan 6, 2009

Academic career in Japan served as vital lesson in culture, says dean

Bruce Stronach, current dean of the Japan campus of Temple University, has a career in academia that spans two countries and over three decades. Sixteen of those years were spent with schools in Japan and have taught him much about Japanese society.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / FREEWHEELIN' ACROSS JAPAN
Jan 4, 2009

It's Astro Boy to the rescue

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No such luck. It's just another humongous dark-gray cloud and it's spitting at me. "Hey!" I scream, waving my fist in the air at the darkening sky. "Leave me alone, you big gray bully!"
Japan Times
JAPAN / THE MANY FACES OF CITIZENSHIP
Jan 3, 2009

Benefits in offing for those allowed multiple citizenship

Second in a series
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 28, 2008

'The noise of time' ensures that art's unbowed spirit is heard

We live apart from our land Our words dying at 10 paces And anything put edgewise Concerns the Kremlin backwoodsman His coarse fingers are thick, like worms His statements trusty, like the weights on a scale Cockroaches smile on his upper lip And the rims of his shoes blind He is surrounded by a flock...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 19, 2008

Your last-minute holiday gifts sorted

You can never give too many gifts over the holidays — especially the little ones. Here are some last-minute ideas for stocking-stuffers, courtesy of the regular music writers here at The Japan Times.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 11, 2008

Keanu Reeves boldly goes for box-office biggie

Keanu Reeves is a creature from outer space. More precisely, he is playing Klaatu, a superior being from beyond the stars who takes the form of a human male visiting a planet that, despite millions of years of evolution, remains too fond of violence for its own good.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 28, 2008

Defense of an artist who had lived as a slave

NEW YORK — Next year will mark the 20th anniversary of the collapse of communism in Europe. Liberated from the complexity of knowing too much about the cruel past, the young people of Eastern Europe's postcommunist generation seem uninterested in what their parents and grandparents endured.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 26, 2008

A Japanese poet who found his true nature through nature itself

On Sept. 21 on this page, in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the death of the poet, scientist and religious thinker Kenji Miyazawa (1896-1933), I turned to him for inspired insight into the Japanese view of nature.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 24, 2008

Nissay Theatre celebrates 45 years

Nissay Theatre in Yurakucho, Tokyo, will present Leos Janacek's opera "The Makropulos Case" on Nov. 20, 22 and 24 to mark the venue's 45th anniversary.
BUSINESS
Oct 15, 2008

Steps set to keep TSE stable

The government announced a package of measures Tuesday to stabilize the volatile stock market, including suspending sales of government-held shares.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?