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Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Nov 6, 2011

You don't need to be bbarking to wwoof

Through the glass doors of the spartan arrivals hall in the airport on Miyako Island, I caught a glimpse of a slightly frail looking man who I figured was the guy I had exchanged a few basic emails with to arrange my trip.
JAPAN
Nov 5, 2011

TPP debate boils down to clash between business, farm sectors

In Tokyo's upscale Ginza district where consumers shop for their handbags and smartphones, furious farmers drove their tractors down the main street last week to protest Japan joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade pact.
Japan Times
LIFE
Oct 30, 2011

Variety spices up the womenswear shows

It is often a struggle to cast an objective reviewer's eye over Tokyo collections, because fans of the microcosm that is Japanese fashion fall into two distinctly different camps: lovers of over-the-top quirkiness and ... regular consumers.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 28, 2011

'Sumagura (Smuggler)'

Katsuhito Ishii was an early avatar of Japanese quirk, making films that celebrated the wilder, goofier side of the local pop culture while flouting the conventions of commercial cinema, including at least a veneer of sanity.
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA
Oct 27, 2011

Artists who'll go bump in the night

If you catch sight of The Invisible Salaryman, or rather his bandages, dark glasses and business suit, as he loops Tokyo by rail on the Yamanote Line this coming Sunday, you may want to follow him to the "abandoned" hospital hosting the latest ArtGig Tokyo.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Oct 25, 2011

'Net super' trend food for thought

Online "Net super" retailing has grown increasingly popular as more people shop from home, especially seniors.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Oct 23, 2011

Hachinohe's markets serve up feasts in the streets

Two hundred and sixty-two years ago, the feudal domain of Hachinohe was besieged by wild boars. The Wild Boar Famine that resulted, writes environmental historian Brett Walker in his recent book "Toxic Archipelago," was the result of "the perfect ecological storm."
CULTURE / Books
Oct 23, 2011

Tying up the loose ends of gaijin life

A ROOM WHERE THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER CANNOT BE HEARD: A Novel in Three Parts, by Levy Hideo. Translated by Christopher D. Scott. Columbia University Press, 2011, 115pp., $19.95 (hardback) One is certain that more than a few reviewers of Levy Hideo's "A Room Where The Star Spangled Banner Cannot Be Heard"...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 19, 2011

Luxury mart ending four-year slump

Japan's luxury market is set to grow for the first time in four years as status-conscious consumers help rebuild the economy, encouraging expansion by Gianni Versace SpA and Mulberry Group PLC.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / STYLE WISE
Oct 18, 2011

Fashion Week action happening on more than just runways

Tokyo's MBFW festivities It's mid-Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Tokyo (MBFW Tokyo) and there's still an array of snazzy events to carry you through to the end while keeping you fashionable. So roll up your best, pressed sleeves and read on.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 16, 2011

Average Joe could be collateral damage in war against yakuza

The war against the yakuza was raised a notch higher at the start of the month, but not everyone is happy about it.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Oct 16, 2011

The hills of Kotsubo hide the tombs of fallen samurai

No matter how warm and sunny the day, there's always a chill in Mandarado Yagura, a samurai graveyard in Kotsubo, right at the boundary between Kamakura and Zushi in Kanagawa Prefecture just south of Yokohama.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Oct 16, 2011

In search of the Holy Grail of mushrooms

The ancients were none too complimentary about their fungi. "Few of them are good, and most produce a choking sensation," wrote Marcus Athenaeus of Naucratis 1,800 years ago in "Deipnosophistae" ("Philosophers at Dinner").
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Oct 16, 2011

Twentysomethings looking for love; modern day home drama; CM of the week: JRA

The girls get the coveted getsu-kyu (Monday, 9 p.m.) time slot on Fuji TV this season with "Watashi ga Renai Dekinai Riyu" ("The Reason I Can't Find Love"), featuring three of Japan's biggest under-30 female stars: actress Yuriko Yoshitaka, fashion model Karina and Yuko Oshima of the idol collective...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Oct 14, 2011

Staving off the bulldozers for one more round

Tokyo is roughly divided into styles and cliques. Neighborhoods delineate and categorize, often in keeping with the cool factor of their inhabitants: Omotesando, Aoyama and Harajuku for fashionistas; Shibuya for party kids; Koenji for earthy music fans; and Shimokitazawa for the vintage-tint rock-star...
CULTURE / Music
Oct 13, 2011

Tenniscoats make tunes out of tiffs

It's a late night on Hannana Dori in Tokyo's Meguro Ward. From a window above the P-Koen atelier and shop comes the sound of a couple arguing. But listen carefully and you'll realize that it's not a domestic row; rather, the pair are in heated debate over what their "sound" might be. It dawns on you...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 8, 2011

He waits and measures

My husband went to the local hardware store the other day. What's so exciting about that? You've obviously never been to a hardware store in Japan.
LIFE / Lifestyle / Japan Pulse
Sep 30, 2011

Just in case: Retailers urge customers to buy ahead

No matter where you are, you should be thinking ahead and preparing for the worst-case scenario.
BUSINESS / Japan Pulse
Sep 27, 2011

Traditional charcoal keepin' it fresh

A variety of 'new' products draw on the traditional odor-eating properties of bamboo charcoal.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 20, 2011

All Hands brings all sorts to Iwate to aid local recovery

Since April 11, around 770 volunteers from 30 countries have clocked up 42,000 hours cleaning up and repairing in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, with U.S.-based NGO All Hands. A partnership with Habitat for Humanity Japan has enabled All Hands to keep this seaside hamlet supplied with a steady influx of...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Sep 18, 2011

Get your kicks in Japan

Walk the streets of Tokyo's trendy Harajuku and Shibuya shopping districts and the sheer variety of fashion worn by people passing by can be, to the uninitiated, simply mind boggling. But, look at their feet and more often than not they are wearing shoes that are more familiar — sneakers. Even if at...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Sep 13, 2011

The loneliness — or otherwise — of the long-distance foreigner

The Japan Times received a large number of readers' emails in response to Debito Arudou's Just Be Cause column published Aug. 2, headlined "The loneliness of the long-distance foreigner." Here, belatedly, are a selection.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Sep 9, 2011

Sendai to hold jazz festival

In times of trouble music can soothe the soul. And if anyone's souls needed soothing, it would be the people of Sendai.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Sep 8, 2011

Aki Basho: Normal sumo service resumes in the capital — almost

Sunday Sep. 11 will see the Sumo Association resume the closest thing to normal service they can hope for in the present era of post-scandal reflection. It will be he first tourney back in the Ryogoku Kokugikan after a summer of much discontent and thus "coming home" to the capital will offer the powers...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 7, 2011

Shockwaves from the West

A nervous calm has returned to the streets of England after last month's widespread riots, arson and looting across London and other cities sent shockwaves around the world. As far away as Japan people were asking if Britain was safe any more, and one German politician suggested moving next year's Olympic...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Sep 3, 2011

When people ask, 'Do you remember me?'

Believe it or not, many Japanese people go to the beach just once a year, go skiing for one day a year and have a BBQ . . . once a year! It's no wonder Western holidays such as Valentine's Day and Christmas have become so popular in Japan — they happen just one time a year! And it's no wonder that...

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes