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Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 11, 2008

'Michael Clayton'/'Lions for Lambs'

America's rightwing bloviators like to go on about "liberal Hollywood." They have half a point, but they neglect to notice that for every "Erin Brockovich" or "JFK," there's a "300" or "Top Gun." It's just that the rightwing viewpoint tends to be subsumed as flag-waving patriotism or military superiority...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / FREEWHEELIN' ACROSS JAPAN
Apr 11, 2008

Dreams of the 'One-Eyed Dragon'

As usual, I check into the Sendai City Hotel on Bansui Dori, one of the best deals in town: It sits on the edge of the Kokubuncho entertainment district, has a Christian church opposite for easy penance if things get out of hand, and newly-refurbished single rooms start from a comfortable ¥3,500. The...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Apr 9, 2008

A renaissance of hand-held power

Crank up the music: Giving electronic devices mobility is the easy part. Empowering them to function for any length of time before you have to recharge them is quite another challenge. Local gadget whiz Thanko is helping out with its functionally titled Cranking MP3 Player, a new digital- music player...
JAPAN
Apr 4, 2008

Police arrest U.S. sailor in cabby slaying

A U.S. Navy seaman was handed over to the Kanagawa Prefectural Police and subsequently arrested Thursday in connection with the robbery-murder of a taxi driver last month in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Mar 31, 2008

The vacancy at the BOJ and the merits of emptiness

Nature abhors a vacuum. So said Aristotle. Human beings also abhor a vacuum. Especially when they are LDP politicians in search of a new governor for the Bank of Japan.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 28, 2008

Have your fill of scrumptious Korea

Onekorea: The term usually refers to the hope that North and South Korea will one day be reunited. In Japan, it's also shortened from the Japanese pronunciation (wankoria) to the cute-sounding "Wankori" and used by the diaspora to refer to their biennial cultural festival, which this year will be held...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Mar 28, 2008

Finding the real Okinawa in Yanbaru

The three baby goats frolicking in their enclosure, hewn out of northern Okinawa's itajii (evergreen oak) forest, were having a great time.
Japan Times
LIFE
Mar 23, 2008

Oh what an extravaganza

Even the heavens were smiling on Tokyo Girls Collection. Balmy 19-degree temperatures — the year's highest up until then — provided the perfect setting last Saturday for the Spring/Summer edition of this hugely popular fashion-show-cum-showbiz extravaganza, allowing most of the 22,000 teenage and...
Japan Times
LIFE
Mar 23, 2008

Tokyo's thrilling new fashion feast

With an improved turnout and more labels on the runways, last week's Japan Fashion Week '08-'09 Autumn / Winter Collection was, on paper, a near- soaraway success.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 21, 2008

Alice Cooper's psycho vaudeville

Alice Cooper, veteran rock star and all-around showbiz maven, is on the phone from Melbourne, Australia, where he plays two concerts before continuing on to New Zealand and then Japan. The singer promises that his Psycho Drama tour contains "all the hits," as well as the stage theatrics he's notorious...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 20, 2008

Photos preserve architecture that's disappeared with time

Unless blessed with unlimited time and resources, visiting all the buildings around the world that you would like to see is rather unlikely. Even if you do manage to reach some of them, entrance inside may still be prohibited or restricted.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 15, 2008

Malaysia's opposition emerges reborn

SINGAPORE — In Malaysia's recent elections, opposition parties managed their strongest showing since the country gained its independence from Britain in 1957, cutting the ruling coalition's parliamentary majority to below two-thirds.
COMMENTARY
Mar 14, 2008

Burma sanctions don't work

NEW DELHI — Burma today ranks as one of the world's most isolated and sanctioned nations — a situation unlikely to be changed by its ruling junta scheduling a May referendum on a draft constitution and facilitating U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari's third visit in six months.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / STYLEWISE,ON: FASHION
Mar 11, 2008

Stella McCartney, Anna Antoniades and more

Anna Antoniades in Nakameguro
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 7, 2008

Disney to work with two local animators

Animation fans will soon be treated to two new cartoons sprung from collaborations between Walt Disney Co. Japan and two Japanese animation companies, the local unit of the U.S. entertainment giant said Thursday.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 2, 2008

Compartmentalizing Japanese using prefectural stereotypes

At the heart of the current argument over whether or not to continue the special gasoline tax is a question that gets overlooked: Does the central government have too much control over prefectural governments?
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Mar 2, 2008

Shintaro Tsuji: 'Mr. Cute' shares his wisdoms and wit

Shintaro Tsuji isn't joking when he says he wants to make Hello Kitty, his company's best-selling character, into a brand name that rivals Gucci or Hermes.
EDITORIALS
Mar 1, 2008

Return to the focus on mutual goals

During her visit to Tokyo this week, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice apologized to Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura for the alleged rape on Feb. 10 of a 14-year-old girl by a U.S. Marine in Chatan, Okinawa Prefecture. Considering the hurt feelings of people, especially...
JAPAN
Mar 1, 2008

U.S. anticrime steps little comfort in Okinawa

OSAKA — With an unprecedented curfew on U.S. military personnel in Okinawa tentatively due to expire Monday, central government and prefectural officials are rushing to assure those living near U.S. bases that anticrime measures are being taken in the wake of the alleged Feb. 10 rape of a 14-year-old...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 29, 2008

YMCK takes 'chiptune' revolution major

'The music in video games is less memorable now than it was in the old days," says Midori Kurihara, vocalist with YMCK, and she should know: Her Tokyo three-piece band emulates the sound of classic scores to games on the 8-bit Nintendo Famicom console (known in the West as the Nintendo Entertainment...

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan