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Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 21, 2008

'Watashi wa Kai ni Naritai'

Based on a novel by Tetsutaro Kato, the 1958 TV drama "Watashi wa Kai ni Naritai" ("I Want to Be a Seashell") became a paradigm-shifting hit when it was broadcast on KRT Television, the predecessor to the TBS network.
BUSINESS
Nov 21, 2008

Disney parks target Chinese, others with cash

Oriental Land Co., the operator of Tokyo's Disney theme parks, is targeting wealthy Chinese and other overseas tourists to maintain growth as Japan's declining birthrate cuts its domestic market.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Nov 18, 2008

'Enka' still strikes nostalgic nerve

A windy night, the whistle of the midnight train, and a bad breakup.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 16, 2008

The billionaire bad boys' club

Takafumi Horie, the former CEO of Internet company Livedoor whose trial for insider trading continues in the courts, recently made his first TV appearance in three years on TBS's new talk show "Terebitte Yatsu wa?" ("What the Hell is TV?").
EDITORIALS
Nov 15, 2008

Problematic cash handouts

After a sinuous course, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito have reached a decision on cash benefits to be given to households as part of the government's economic stimulus package. The decision itself contains problems. It could confuse municipalities that will distribute the money. Moreover,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Nov 14, 2008

A palace fit for a culinary king

You can sample the culinary delights of French chef Patrick Henriroux at the Crown Restaurant of the Palace Hotel in Tokyo on Nov. 21 and 22.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 13, 2008

Tokyo's Rokku laughs it up again at film festival

The objectives of the First Old Town Taito International Comedy Film Festival, which runs Nov. 21 to 24 in the Tokyo districts of Asakusa and Ueno, sound ambitious. Noting on the festival's English-language Web site that "there are innumerable film festivals held throughout the world," the executive...
Reader Mail
Nov 9, 2008

Friendlier sports may kill sumo

Regarding the Nov. 2 article "God forbid if sumo goes the way of pro wrestling": I doubt that sumo will ever be legally listed as an entertainment, because I think it's on the up and up most of the time. As for yaocho (match-fixing) and dekiyama (predetermined...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Nov 3, 2008

Giants sluggers bring crowd into the action

The ushers blow whistles to call the fans' attention when batters hit into the outfield stands during the batting practice. And with the powerful Giants, the whistles are particularly heard more often when Michihiro Ogasawara and Alex Ramirez take the cages.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Nov 3, 2008

Halloween in Japan: a commercial break from global nightmare

Since when was Halloween such a big thing in Japan? Admittedly, you could see it coming these past few years. But this autumn it is simply everywhere.
CULTURE / Books
Nov 2, 2008

Nothing funnier than a comedian in a kimono

RAKUGO: Performing Comedy and Cultural Heritage in Contemporary Tokyo, by Lorie Brau. Lexington Books, 2008, 274 pp., $75.00 (cloth) Of all the Japanese arts, rakugo traditional comedy is one of the most impenetrable for foreigners. The premise is simple: kimono-clad practitioners tell old funny stories...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 2, 2008

God forbid if sumo goes the way of pro wrestling

In March 2007, Shukan Gendai published an article naming top-ranked sumo wrestlers who it said had been involved in match-fixing in the past. Three of the wrestlers and the Japan Sumo Association subsequently filed defamation lawsuits against the publisher, Kodansha Ltd., and several weeks ago one of...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 2, 2008

Some 19th-century blood and gore

THE STRAW SANDAL OR THE SCROLL OF THE HUNDRED CRABS by Santo Kyoden, translated by Carmen Blacker, introduction by P.F. Kornicki. Global Oriental, 2008, 116 pp., 28 b/w illustrations by Utagawa Toyokuni, £35 (cloth) Santo Kyoden (pen name Iwase Samuru, 1761-1816) was among the most popular authors of...
JAPAN
Nov 1, 2008

Aso is pop star's wedding guest

Shortly after announcing the high-profile economic stimulus package worth ¥27 trillion Thursday, Prime Minister Taro Aso rushed off to attend actress Shoko Aida's wedding reception that night.
JAPAN
Oct 31, 2008

ID-less arrest thought to be drug kingpin

An Iranian man under arrest since July is believed to be the ringleader of drug dealers who sold an estimated ¥200 million worth of narcotics to 20,000 customers on the streets of the ritzy Azabu, Shirokane and Takanawa neighborhoods in Minato Ward, Tokyo, since last November.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 31, 2008

'Homeless Chugakusei'

The homeless in Japan are mostly older men down on their luck, sleeping on cardboard in train stations or under blue tarps in public parks. Some are mentally disturbed or chronically ill, but their image in popular culture is surprisingly positive — ranging from the lovable loser to the ragged sage....
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 30, 2008

Oh's career sparkled with achievements as player, manager

Second in a three-part series
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 30, 2008

Tokyo film competition rewards tantalizing tales

When I was at the Pusan International Film Festival in South Korea a few weeks ago, I discussed the Tokyo International Film Festival with some journalists, who disagreed with my assertion that TIFF's Competition section was a dumping ground for movies that couldn't make it at other film festivals. They...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 30, 2008

Golden glories

One of fall's annual pleasures is the Big Autumn Exhibition at the Tokyo National Museum, and this year the organizers have pulled out all the stops with "Treasures by Rinpa Masters," a breathtaking show of Rinpa art in celebration of the 350th anniversary of Ogata Korin's birth. Korin (1658-1716) is...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 30, 2008

Going abroad to make it at home

Mugensha Theatre Company is based in Tokyo, but it is probably better known in Britain. The company has played three London seasons — in 2002, '05 and '06 — since it was founded by director and actor Soun Kotakebayashi in 1995 with the intention of taking contemporary Japanese drama to Europe.
Japan Times
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Oct 25, 2008

Move to Milan may be end of Beckham's stay in L.A.

LONDON — From the worst team in Major League Soccer to a side crammed with superstars, World Cup and Champions League winners — who writes David Beckham's scripts?
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / LIQUID CULTURE
Oct 24, 2008

Stir up memories in bars of yore

In hard times such as these you can always find solace in a drink; just make it one that reminds you of better days. Here are eight great Tokyo bars that ooze nostalgia. Some serve classic cocktails, some survived the war, and most of them seem to have served author Yukio Mishima.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Oct 22, 2008

A plea for the wetlands

Representatives of 158 nations will converge next week on Changwon in South Korea, where they will spend nine days, from Oct. 27 to Nov. 4, talking about how to save the world's wetlands.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 19, 2008

Beat Takeshi helps turn news into farce

For the past week or so commercial networks have been launching their new fall shows, and the ones attracting the most attention are on TBS, which seems to be cornering the market on what it calls "nonfiction" programming. There are at least four new shows that have been promoted using this English term,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 16, 2008

Tokyo International Film Festival offers rough but ambitious lineup

Though it's eight years older than PIFF, the Tokyo International Film Festival, which runs Oct. 18 to 26, has always come across as the neglected little brother in terms of Asian film events. For years, TIFF had the reputation of being mainly a showcase for Japanese studios and distributors, who trot...
JAPAN
Oct 16, 2008

Elderly offenders on rise

In August, a 79-year-old woman went on a slashing spree in Tokyo's bustling shopping and entertainment district of Shibuya, wounding two female passersby before being arrested by police.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 16, 2008

A selection of cultural others

We are our own most keenest observers, whether it be in the bathroom mirror or in the department store window. But while the face is humankind's most distinctive feature, we are also remarkably poor at getting ourselves in perspective. When asked what size their face appears on the mirror surface, the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 16, 2008

Muslim-Hindu relations explored in PIFF selections

In terms of box office, India has always been the best market for movies, though with its plethora of languages and regional tastes in entertainment, the country has been impervious to imports. In recent months, however, there have been deals struck between Hollywood and Bollywood that allow for movement...

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past