Search - special

 
 
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 6, 2010

Hippies and hipsters brave a soggy Fuji Rock

When you're talking about a music festival whose inaugural event was literally wiped out by a typhoon, it can feel a bit petty to complain about the weather. All the same, campers arriving at Fuji Rock Festival in Naeba on Thursday last week might have hoped for a warmer welcome than the torrential downpour...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 3, 2010

Karate teacher has worldwide allure

On first seeing him, it's hard to understand why people cross continents to meet this diminutive 65-year-old wiry gray-haired man, shaking his head in dismay as some of his karate students struggle to get a grip on the art of fighting with sticks.
JAPAN
Jul 28, 2010

All ministries face 10% budget cut

Despite dissent within the ranks of his Democratic Party of Japan and Cabinet, Prime Minister Naoto Kan's administration endorsed on Tuesday a 10 percent cut on all ministries' fiscal 2011 budget requests and earmark at least ¥1 trillion to stimulate economic growth.
JAPAN
Jul 24, 2010

Murderess as VIP guest puzzles media

OSAKA — Overseas reaction to Kim Hyon Hui's four-day visit to Japan to discuss the abduction of Japanese nationals to North Korea ranged from puzzlement to surprise as to the government's motives, since she had already been questioned on what she knew.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jul 18, 2010

Kujukuri: the long, long beach on Tokyo's doorstep

If it was thousands of miles from home, I would wistfully think of this as an exotic and special place. It has almost everything I want in a seaside hangout: Empty beaches backed by pine forests, not condos; surfing waves; fishing piers; hilltop viewpoints; and family farms growing corn and watermelons....
EDITORIALS
Jul 12, 2010

Russian games up north

The Russian military carried out a drill July 3-4 on Etorofu Island, off Hokkaido, ignoring a July 2 demand by Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada that it refrain from doing so there. Japan calls Etorofu and three other islands (including one islet group), northeast of Hokkaido, the Northern Territories,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 10, 2010

Architect wants to end nail-hammer cycle

Miwa Mori, president of Key Architects, thinks a lot about nails, both as part of her profession and as her philosophy about life.
SOCCER / World cup
Jul 3, 2010

Wakayama to honor Komano

Japan defender Yuichi Komano, whose missed penalty resulted in his country's exit from the World Cup, will receive a special award from his home prefecture.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jul 2, 2010

Seeing Tokyo through the eyes of its people

Tokyo.JapanTimes, a Web site connected to The Japan Times and created to spur conversation about the capital, will celebrate the photos and final winners of its first photo competition at an exhibition in Tokyo's Roppongi Hills district on July 2.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 27, 2010

The guy just needs a home

It's difficult to decide which spelling to use. In Japan, the name of North Korea's striker at the World Cup in South Africa is usually rendered as Chong Tese. North Korea spells it Jong Tae Se, but in those instances where South Korea reports on the 26-year-old soccer player, it's Jeong Dae Se or Jung...
JAPAN
Jun 26, 2010

Can sumo survive stain of gambling? It's anyone's bet

The recent admissions by dozens of sumo wrestlers and stablemasters of engaging in illegal, underworld-linked gambling has sent the ancient sport's image, already dogged by scandals, to the mat.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 22, 2010

Can't vote? No problem, you're empowered!

What are you planning to do with yourself this summer? If you're Japanese, have you given any thought to the country's upcoming Upper House elections?
EDITORIALS
Jun 21, 2010

Parties circle consumption tax

The ruling Democratic Party of Japan and the No. 1 opposition Liberal Democratic Party have announced their manifestos for the July 11 Upper House election. Noteworthy is the DPJ's mention of the possibility of raising the consumption tax as a way to rebuild state finances.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 15, 2010

Large-scale agriculture won't cure hunger

BRUSSELS — The World Bank, U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization, International Fund for Agricultural Development, and U.N. Conference on Trade and Development Secretariat recently presented seven "Principles for Responsible Agricultural Investment."
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jun 13, 2010

'Superpowers' explained; super-beautiful women ranked; CM of the week: Suntory Black Oolong Tea

The appeal of NHK's half-hour science show "Suiensa" (NHK-E, Tues., 6:55 p.m.) is pretty simple: Cute young women carrying out scientific experiments. The premise is even simpler: Answer an everyday question scientifically.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Jun 12, 2010

Okada top Japanese in bj-league

First in a two-part series
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Jun 11, 2010

Open-air bar at the Prince

The Tokyo Prince Hotel's open-air "Beer Restaurant Garden Island" will run through Sept. 24.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BY THE GLASS
Jun 11, 2010

It's down to earth in the Napa Valley

A certain amount of hubris might be expected from the representatives of some of Napa Valley's most famous wineries. Surely the Californians, who flew into Japan last month to show off their wares at Tokyo's American Club, would not miss the opportunity to brag a little about the big impact their wines...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Jun 6, 2010

Chips for the kids and all

I have just returned to my study after two days and a night spent in the woods with a group of young people who are visually disadvantaged. Some of them had no eyesight at all, some could just barely make out shades and vague shapes.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jun 6, 2010

2010 World Cup preview; Ryuichi Sakamoto on drum-and-bass; CM of the week: DoCoMo

Nobody expects the Japanese national team to go very far at the upcoming FIFA World Cup in South Africa, but that isn't going to stop television stations from dreaming. TBS will get the ball rolling, so to speak, on Thursday night with a special two-hour preview, "2010 FIFA World Cup Kaimaku Zenyasai"...
EDITORIALS
May 30, 2010

Sumo perks to the wrong guys

The image of the Japan Sumo Association has been tarnished again, this time by the discovery that senior members of an organized crime group obtained tickets for special ringside seats at sumo tournaments apparently with the help of two sumo stablemasters. It has also surfaced that ozeki Kotomitsuki...
LIFE
May 30, 2010

By definition, who are 'adult learners' anyway?

Defining "adult learners" isn't easy. After all, youths in Japan can vote and drink at the age of 20, yet when attending university they are not considered adults.

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan