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SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Jan 1, 2009

Gamba overcomes Marinos, fatigue, schedule for one more tilt at glory

When Gamba Osaka takes to the field for the Emperor's Cup final on New Year's Day, fatigue could prove to be just as deadly an opponent as Kashiwa Reysol.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Dec 29, 2008

Suppressing more than free speech

I recently read a book that, a decade ago, created a controversy in Japan about homosexuality. In it the prize-winning writer Jiro Fukushima described his sexual relationship with Yukio Mishima dating from 1951.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 28, 2008

The swift strokes of 'no-brush' calligraphy

KEN-ZEN-SHO: Zen Calligraphy and Painting of Yamaoka Tesshu, with a foreword by Rupert Faulkner, introductions by Sarah Moate and Alex Bennett, an essay by Terayama Tanchu and an afterword by Takemura Eiji. Bunkashi International (Kendo World Publications), 2008, 200 pp., 33 color plates, 67 b/w pictures,...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Dec 26, 2008

Good design is second nature

The problem with a lot of exhibitions by designers is that they seem to approach the project as though they have suddenly turned into artists. You just want to see their latest cellular phone or chair or poster; they just want to show off their newfound penchant for installation art. It's like going...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 26, 2008

2008 in Double vision

Since well before R&B became established in Japan I've been championing it through all my activities. This year was the 10th anniversary of my debut, so for me it was a celebratory year — with a "Best Of" release ("10 Years Best — We R&B"); a special collection celebrating all the collaborations...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 23, 2008

Children say the darndest things

Another holiday season is upon us. There is a nip in the air, lights of all colors twinkle throughout neighborhoods and cityscapes across the country, and holiday cheer radiates throughout our schools, workplaces and communities. During this festive time, friends and families often come together in true...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 20, 2008

NPO chief helping out other charities

Daigo Sato, the man who founded the NPO that set up Japan's first political internship program, Dot-JP, 10 years ago, has embarked on a new mission this year to help the nonprofit organizations themselves.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 16, 2008

A highway system that ever exacts toll

Expressways have been a prominent feature of postwar Japan's infrastructure-building efforts.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / BEST OF BOOKS: 2008
Dec 14, 2008

Ready for a little Yuletide reading?

FOR THE FIGHTING SPIRIT OF THE WALNUT by Takashi Hiraide, translated by Sawako Nakayasu (New Directions)
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / BEST OF BOOKS: 2008
Dec 14, 2008

Ready for a little Yuletide reading?

SAKHALIN ISLAND by Anton Chekhov, translated by Brian Reeve (Oneworld Classics)
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 10, 2008

Making quality the key to Web searches

NEW YORK — In the not-so-distant future, students will be able to graduate from high school without ever touching a book. Twenty years ago, they could graduate from high school without ever using a computer. In only a few decades, computer technology and the Internet have transformed the core principles...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Dec 9, 2008

Will you help stimulate the economy with your share of Prime Minister Taro Aso's cash handout?

Miyuki Smallacombe Housewife, 30 My family will get around ¥65,000. We'll save it for our future. With the way the economy is, there's no guarantee from the government that we'll get a pension when we retire.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 5, 2008

'Kill'

Mamoru Oshii is a world-class animation director, but his films, from the 1995 dystopian SF "Ghost In the Shell" to this year's air-war epic "The Sky Crawlers," are not for the masses. Instead they often explore heavyweight themes that appeal to anime otaku (ultrafans), from the dissolving boundaries...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Dec 3, 2008

Preholiday offerings speak of sensibility

Ahead to basics: Pentel is not ready to write the eulogy for the humble pen. Rather than killing off the ages-old device, it is intent on bringing it into the digital age. Its latest effort is the airpenMini digital pen.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 2, 2008

End the violence against women and girls

NEW YORK — The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women was commemorated Nov. 25, and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon is spearheading a global campaign, "UNiTE to end violence against women."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 30, 2008

Kabuki rescued by national defeat

KABUKI'S FORGOTTEN WAR: 1931-1945, by James R. Brandon. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2008, 466 pp., with photographs, $52 (cloth) The role that Japan's "classic" drama, kabuki, played during the 15-year "Sacred War" is largely undiscussed, and even in Japan itself it is usually ignored. Indeed,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Nov 30, 2008

Gems of Asia: hotels worth the splurge

I admit to an incurable travel addiction, which I have been lucky enough to feed by journeying around Asia since 1980, driven by an abiding interest in the wonders and troubles of the region.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 28, 2008

Dreaming of a Pink Christmas

"Almost every year, I'm working at Christmastime," mourns Kaori Asada. "If I'm not working, I'll have a big Christmas party with friends and family. But in the last 10 years, I haven't had that kind of Christmas party, ha ha. Still, I like Christmas."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 28, 2008

Lisa Loeb

Now that it's almost December, there can be only one thing on the minds of kids around Japan: Um, summer camp?
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 25, 2008

Harajuku in peril?

As a dedicated follower of Japanese pop culture and the coauthor of a book on Japanese teen fashion, I confess that I'm getting a bit concerned about the direction in which the Harajuku district is headed these days.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Nov 25, 2008

Traveler's friend

The resurgence of the Moleskine notebook — said to have been used by the likes of Matisse, Van Gogh and Hemingway — has not only seen it evolve, but take on unexpected shapes and formats. The latest incarnation sees it turn into a city guide, offering up maps and tabbed sections — to keep track...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Nov 21, 2008

Ebisu Yokocho: Bright lights, retro style

Times are tough, money's too tight to mention, the recession is biting and credit is crunching. Red ink is the new black. Doom-and-gloom mongering is back in vogue.
JAPAN
Nov 20, 2008

Eileen Kato, special adviser to Emperor, 'waka' translator, dies at 76

Eileen Kato, who died Aug. 30 at the age of 76, was one of the most remarkable Irish women of her generation. Kato was born in Bangor Erris, County Mayo, in Ireland in 1932.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 20, 2008

Japanning for southern barbarians

During the 16th-century age of exploration, Portuguese traders landed in Japan looking for exotic goods to sell in markets back in Europe and their newly founded colonies. Lacquerware was high on their list, not only for its decorative beauty but also for its more prosaic quality of being the only waterproof...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 14, 2008

Oddball summit has limits

HONG KONG — It is the best of times because leaders from developed and developing countries have gathered in one place, Washington, to try to rebuild a broken global system, and China and India are at last at the top table.
COMMENTARY
Nov 5, 2008

Beijing has enough of its own problems

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — It would be a mistake to overestimate how much China can or will do to pitch in to the world dilemma as the roiling and unnerving global financial world proceeds apace.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight