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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 Times
LIFE / Travel
Aug 1, 2010

Old Japan lives on at Ikaho Spa

The ways are various in Japan for having one's sense of local pride bolstered by recognition on some official list.
COMMENTARY
Jul 31, 2010

Beijing's Asia power play

China's economic and military might has grown in recent years along with its overseas trade and investment. China is becoming an oceanic power with growing clout in the Asia-Pacific region.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Jul 29, 2010

Smart, trad and stylish win the race

Gateway to stylish furniture
CULTURE / Books
Jul 25, 2010

Wartime confessions

Donald Keene, the foremost scholar of Japanese literature, mines the wartime diaries kept by some of the most prominent writers and intellectuals of the day in a book brimming with insights. Readers discover a gold mine of personal observations that deepen our understanding of what life was like when...
CULTURE / Books
Jul 11, 2010

Everything you always wanted to know about Japanese schoolgirls (but were afraid to ask)

Don't be put off by the overly busy — and, yes, overly kawaii — cover of "Japanese Schoolgirl Confidential."
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Jul 11, 2010

Hill ready to make impact with Apache

Bob Hill is eager to begin the next chapter in his long, accomplished career as a basketball coach. And he's smart enough to know that some of his biggest adjustments will take place off the court.
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jul 10, 2010

Beatles' 'Sgt. Pepper' album cover mystery a piece of Japanese history

Who owns the Sony TV that appears on the cover of the Beatles' famous "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 9, 2010

Komura Settai finds a new modern audience

It is often difficult to fathom how an artist so popular in his own time slides into oblivion in subsequent generations. 2010 has been a good year for one such artist, Komura Settai (1887-1940), who in his time was a prolific creator, producing illustrations, woodblock prints and stage designs. His recent...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / Japan Pulse
Jul 5, 2010

What's it gonna be - kawaii or interi?

Accessories add that extra, often crucial, touch. So you want cute bunny ears or ultra-nerd specs?
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 1, 2010

The G20's expensive party

HONG KONG — Leaders of the world's most powerful nations and a few less powerful hangers-on, like Canada and Italy, have just spent a few more billions of their taxpayers' money as they failed to devise a rescue plan for a world economy that is still perilously close to the cliff edge of disaster....
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jun 26, 2010

Big birds have big fun

With the evening breeze, the water laps against the heron's legs
CULTURE / Music
Jun 25, 2010

Japan fans to 'Beat It' in memory of Michael

One year after the death of pop icon Michael Jackson, the tears may have stopped, but the devotion continues.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 25, 2010

Caribou asserts latest album is 'uniquely mine'

Daniel Snaith is a remarkable individual. Not just because of his astounding, cerebral, diacritic music that, nearly a decade and five albums later, is seeping into the minds of people searching for, as one recent reviewer put it, "electronics for grownups."
CULTURE / Books
Jun 20, 2010

I left my bloody heart in London

A complicated tale, simply and well told, "King Death" is Toby Litt's 12th work of fiction, the "K" in his alphabetic collection and the second of his novels to be set mostly in a hospital.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jun 13, 2010

Beneath the Battle of Okinawa

In 1966, Dave Davenport was a mystery to his fellow U.S. Air Force clerks on Okinawa. Whereas they would dress up in their finest threads and make for the clubs of Koza in their free time, Davenport would don the oldest clothes he owned and jump on a local bus heading into the middle of nowhere.
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
COMMUNITY
Jun 5, 2010

Niseko's real estate boom: Bigger picture in sight for local development

For some it was a flash in the pan, at best an experiment destined to fail, at worst a mini-bubble hyper-inflated by greedy "outsiders" with little interest other than the type accumulating in the bank.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 4, 2010

Meisa gets high fives all round

Halfway through the first-ever Girls Award fashion show at Tokyo's Yoyogi National Stadium last month, 22-year-old Meisa Kuroki strides down the catwalk, glistening in a sleeveless gold dress and black stockings while delivering her pulsing dance tune "Shock."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 28, 2010

'Railways'

The Japanese have a love affair with trains, especially the ones that trundle through the more picturesque parts of the country. One sure way to draw tourists to your rural prefecture is an ancient steam locomotive that chugs through a pretty middle-of-nowhere. For many visitors, it's not the destination,...
Reader Mail
May 23, 2010

Stupid tax tricks from the locals

Regarding the May 19 Kyodo article "Japanese 'tourist tax' in Lake District (England) criticized": There's nothing unusual about shaking down Japanese tourists. At least that's what I've seen on my visits to Honolulu and Hanauma Bay, Oahu. The Hawaiians, noted for their generosity in welfare benefits...
Japan Times
LIFE
May 23, 2010

Ibaraki's hidden lure

Whether tourist or resident, anyone looking for a short trip out of Tokyo, but still within the surrounding Kanto region, has plenty of varied options.
JAPAN
May 22, 2010

Photographer indicted for cemetery nude shots

Renowned photographer Kishin Shinoyama was indicted Thursday after he allegedly shot photos of a naked woman posing on a tombstone at a public cemetery.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
May 21, 2010

Animation fest sparkles

A collection of surreal, witty and thought-provoking short animation films currently showing at the Laputa Animation Festival 2010 in Asagaya, western Tokyo, stands splendidly apart from the plethora of mainstream anime works that vie for airtime on Japanese TV.
CULTURE / Books
May 16, 2010

Aikido's mystical path to peace on Earth

Anyone who turns to this lovely volume hoping to learn how to perform some of aikido's legendary techniques will be disappointed. But for those disciples of the practice who wish to delve more deeply into the philosophical and religious underpinnings of its founder's cosmology, this tiny book is a gem....

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