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Reader Mail
Mar 16, 2008

Homogeneity no excuse for profiling

Emerging with arrivals at Narita Airport earlier this month for a welcome breath of fresh air, I was approached by a police officer (riot police was his description) and asked to show my passport or alien card. He was exceedingly polite and looked quite sweet wearing a surgical mask and a Band-Aid on...
CULTURE / Music
Mar 14, 2008

Perfume "Fan Service ~ Prima Box"

Formed in Hiroshima in 2001, moving to Tokyo in 2003 and hitting the big time in 2006, Perfume are an idol-pop phenomenon, notable for how their music combines elements of house and electro with a futuristic, Akihabara-friendly image.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / ONE-ON-ONE WITH ...
Mar 2, 2008

Evessa's 3-point ace Nakamura fulfills dream as pro player

The Japan Times will be featuring periodic interviews with players in the bj-league — Japan's first professional basketball circuit — which is in its third season. Naoto Nakamura of the Osaka Evessa is the subject of this week's profile.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Feb 26, 2008

METAPHYS' LADD mag rack, Lemnos' new mirror and H Concept's PhotoHanger

Hanging vanity
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 22, 2008

'Evening'

Lest we forget what it is to be a woman, there's always the chick flick to remind us exactly what this may imply. In the case of "Evening," the implying rather has the effect of a tidal wave. There they are, all the usual suspects: love (unrequited and otherwise), weddings, marriages, careers, motherhood,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / LIQUID CULTURE
Feb 22, 2008

Finding Tokyo's top theme bars

Sure, "best theme bar" is faint praise, but here are four Tokyo joints that are more fun than the Hard Rock Cafe. They were selected through the following criteria:
JAPAN
Feb 9, 2008

Ex-banker pleads not guilty to defrauding Chongryon

An ex-bank official associated with former public security agency chief Shigetake Ogata pleaded not guilty Friday to fraud, denying that he took part in an investment scam to swindle the pro-Pyongyang group Chongryon out of the ownership of its Tokyo headquarters building.
JAPAN
Feb 8, 2008

JAL to pay ¥48 million in employee-data suit

Japan Airlines Corp. agreed Thursday to pay ¥48 million in compensation to 194 former and current flight attendants who alleged that JAL, its largest labor union and five of the union's executives illegally collected and managed private information on them.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 7, 2008

The gobbiest girl in London, innit?

Adele cringes: "I can't believe I did a peace sign on TV — like Ringo Starr!"
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 6, 2008

Shakespeare 'karuta' ambition realized

To be or not to be has never really been a question for Shakespeare aficionado Ayako Yoshimi.
CULTURE / Books
Feb 3, 2008

Journal of an uncommon traveler

WINDOWS ON JAPAN: A Walk Through Place and Perception, by Bruce Roscoe. Algora Publishing, 2007, 308 pp., $31.95 (paper) On the premise that speed blunts the mind, New Zealander Bruce Roscoe decided to make his journey on foot, following a route across the waist of Japan, from the port city of Niigata...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 1, 2008

Arcade Fire: 'a goofy bunch of people'

They're a funny bunch, Arcade Fire. Last year saw the Montreal-based band graduate from indie darlings to arena stars touring North America and sharing a stage with Bruce Springsteen and U2. Their second album, "Neon Bible," entered the Billboard chart at No. 2 last March and has since sold upward of...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 31, 2008

A steady hand in the culture

For more than 700 years until the modern period, members of the Konoe family have been prominent among the nobles of the Imperial Court. Descended from Fujiwara Iezane (ca. 1179-1242), whose own elite clan can be traced back to the beginnings of written Japanese history in the seventh century, the Konoe...
JAPAN / Q&A
Jan 30, 2008

Road taxes: Pork-barrel or necessity?

The government submitted a tax reform bill to the Diet Jan. 23 that includes a clause to continue the provisional higher rates imposed on auto-related levies for another 10 years, drawing opposition from the Democratic Party of Japan, which wants the higher rates that have been in place for more than...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Jan 29, 2008

Patricia Field

Patricia Field, whose boutique in New York City has been an inspiration for designers since opening in 1966, achieved worldwide fame dressing the characters for the HBO TV series "Sex and the City" and for the 2006 film "The Devil Wears Prada." The 65-year-old Field is an Academy Award-nominated, two-time...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 25, 2008

'Zenzen Daijobu'

Japanese comedies today come in two broad categories: frantic, surreal ones of the Kankuro Kudo ("Maiko Haaaan!!!") sort and ironic, realistic ones from the Nobuhiro Yamashita ("Linda, Linda, Linda") corner.
EDITORIALS
Jan 22, 2008

The shrinking Chinese economy

Forget defense buildups. There are far easier ways to deal with the "China threat." Just crunch the numbers. A recent recalculation by the World Bank has shrunk the Chinese economy by some 40 percent. This should quiet the alarmists who maintain that China's dominance is just around the corner. China...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 20, 2008

'Three ecologies' pioneer fought Japan's rape of nature

Second of two parts
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 20, 2008

The Utagawa brand name

COMPETITION AND COLLABORATION: Japanese Prints of the Utagawa School, by Laura J. Mueller, with essays by Fujisawa Akane, Kobayashi Tadashi, and Ellis Tinios. Leiden/Boston: Hotei Publishing, 2007, 232 pp., 200 illustrations, $120 (cloth) The Utagawa school, founded in the 18th century and active throughout...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 11, 2008

Vega steals into the spotlight

A city of extremes, New York represents different things to different people. For singer- songwriter Suzanne Vega, its infinite variety is a constant source of inspiration.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jan 11, 2008

In praise of picture-postcard Japan

As Ana and Roberto, my two good friends from Brazil, and myself gorged ourselves through the multicourse kaiseki dinner at the very pleasant and relaxed Tachibana Shikitei, a Japanese-style inn in Ishikawa Prefecture's Yamashiro Onsen, I convinced myself that food, when served on quality pottery —...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / WALKING THE WARDS
Jan 4, 2008

Where ambitions have long soared

First of two parts
Japan Times
CULTURE
Jan 3, 2008

Hot tickets: Performing arts

Tokubetsu Buyo Koen
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Jan 1, 2008

All signs point toward wild, wacky year in Japanese sports

It was an unforgettable year for sports in Japan in 2007.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Dec 30, 2007

Need something to read in the new year?

OUR SHARED JAPAN: An Anthology of Contemporary Irish Poetry, edited by Irene De Angelis & Joseph Woods (Dedalus Press)
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Dec 29, 2007

Japanime holding all the cards in buildup to All-Star Game

Glenn Kardy calls himself a "crazy baseball fan." His earliest sports memory is a wild one. He can still remember the heated seventh inning of Game 2 of the 1972 American League Championship Series between the Tigers and A's.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 27, 2007

Blockbusters and new momentum

This was another great year for art enthusiasts with breadth, depth and an audience for all kinds exhibitions and events.

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