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CULTURE / Books
Oct 18, 2009

The popular consensus: What's not to like?

FOREIGNERS WHO LOVED JAPAN, by Naito Makoto & Naito Ken. Kodansha International, 2009, 255 pp., ¥1,200 (paper) Arguably, Donald Richie's "The Honorable Visitors," a series of profiles of foreigners who lived or put in significant time here, is the standard against which most writings on expatriates...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Oct 18, 2009

Wildlife on your doorstep

To be brutally honest, wildlife photography is mostly about having the means to get to amazing places, where wildlife still abounds. Then it takes heaps of patience. And the final ingredient is a good eye to capture the moment.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 16, 2009

Crystal Kay is having a ball

"There is still some racial thing going on," claims a mild-mannered Crystal Kay. "Some people can't accept there are a lot of foreigners out there, even in the industry.
EDITORIALS
Oct 10, 2009

A victory for beautiful landscapes

The Hiroshima District Court on Oct. 1 ordered Hiroshima Gov. Yuzan Fujita not to issue a license sought by the prefectural and Fukuyama city governments to reclaim a portion of a bay in the scenic Tomonoura area for by-pass bridge construction. This is an epoch-making ruling. It has blocked a large...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 9, 2009

Tokyo's new space for Chinese photography

In the 1950s American photographer Robert Frank traveled the United States with help from a Guggenheim grant, taking a series of sublime images of people from all walks of life documenting the mediocrity of diners and cocky cowboys to funerals and soulless bus depots.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Oct 8, 2009

Annals of cheap: Takeya

The discount behemoth Takeya, located near Okachimachi Station, gets by on volume and an almost neurotic obsession with using space effectively.
CULTURE / Music
Sep 25, 2009

Burning bright, a light that will never go out

While Sonic Youth just keep getting older and Dinosaur Jr are now all seniors, The Cribs have taken a shortcut to making their own baby-based name sound ironic. The Wakefield, England, band — initially based around twins Ryan and Gary Jarman and their younger brother, Ross — were all in their mid-20s...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / ART BRIEF
Sep 18, 2009

"Showa Boys SF Guide"

Yayoi Museum Closes Sept. 27
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Sep 13, 2009

Tanikawa: A master of foreign ways and Japan's most accessible poet

"We must try to explain everything we think to children. . . . Words that are really rooted in the bones of the Japanese people: Those words are accessible."
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Sep 13, 2009

Tribute to novelist Mukoda, Takeshi's World Summit, and the origin of family names

If she were alive today, novelist and teleplay writer Kuniko Mukoda, who died in a plane crash in Taiwan in 1981, would be 80 years old. Her birthday is being commemorated this week with a revival of one of her most beloved family stories, "Haha no Okurimono" (Mother's Gift; TBS, Mon., 9 p.m.).
CULTURE / Music
Sep 11, 2009

Hiromi "Place To Be"

After leading a trio, dabbling in a quartet and playing duets, Hiromi Uehara is going it alone.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Sep 11, 2009

Keeping it all in wine family

The Shangri-La Hotel, Tokyo, will host the Primum Familiae Vini at an exclusive gala dinner Nov. 18.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 6, 2009

Money: the root of all optimism

A New Development Model for Japan: Selected Essays 2000-2008 by Akira Kojima. The Japan Journal, 2009, 362 pp., ¥2,625 (cloth) "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," wrote Charles Dickens in the opening passage of his famous novel "A Tale of Two Cities." Although written 150 years ago,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Sep 6, 2009

Donald Keene: A life lived true to the words

Donald Keene is one of the greatest scholars of Japanese literature and has been highly influential in the establishment of Japanese studies in the West.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Sep 5, 2009

How to become a gaijin that can say no

I wish I could say, "No." I wish I knew how.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 4, 2009

Dälek and DJ Baku

To promote their "DJ Baku Vs Dälek" CD, Tokyo turntablist DJ Baku and American hip-hop group Dälek (pronounced Die-a-leck) are teaming up for some shows.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 30, 2009

The artistic influence of the East

This large and lavish volume is the catalog of an important art exhibition at the New York Guggenheim Museum that ran from Jan. 20 to April 19 this year. Since the show itself is not traveling to other venues, this excellent account of its purposes and content is now all that remains of one of the most...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 28, 2009

Dipping into modern art at Naoshima's bathhouse

At 2 p.m. on July 26, operations commenced at the first public bathhouse on the island of Naoshima in the Seto Inland Sea between the mainland of Honshu and Shikoku. Titled Naoshima Bathhouse "I Love Yu" (the "Love" represented by a heart symbol and "Yu" in kanji form) and designed by artist Shinro Ohtake...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Aug 23, 2009

TV celeb wannabes, origins of noodle-making and mysteries of Azuchi Castle

Show business likes family dynasties even more than politics does, though you may wonder how new "stars" are introduced when they have nothing more to offer than their surnames. Eight "talked-about teen candidates" for show biz stardom are the guests on this week's installment of the variety show "The...
Japan Times
Events / WHERE IT'S AT
Aug 18, 2009

Kids hit the dance floor for charities

Visitors going into Tokyo Church of Christ in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, on a Friday afternoon in July were welcomed by three children with painted faces who proceeded to perform modern dance.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Aug 16, 2009

Striking it rich on the Izu Peninsula

Gold may be heavier than water, but all that's rattling around the bottom of my panning bowl are lots of multicolored pebbles.

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