Search - entertainment

 
 
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2005

Roppongi: from ashes to 'High Touch Town'

The Roppongi district of Tokyo has been through a turbulent time in the 60 years since it was destroyed by firebombing during World War II.
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2005

Jobless rate edges to six-year low

Japan's unemployment rate edged down 0.1 percent to a six-year low of 4.4 percent in December.
BUSINESS
Jan 29, 2005

CPI declines for the fifth straight year as deflation continues to dog economy

The key gauge of consumer prices in Japan fell 0.1 percent in 2004, marking a fifth straight yearly decline and underscoring that the economy is still beset by deflation, the government said Friday.
JAPAN
Jan 27, 2005

Execs face charges in revolving door death

Police on Wednesday handed prosecutors their case against six executives in connection with the death of a 6-year-old boy who was crushed in an automatic revolving door at Tokyo's Roppongi Hills commercial complex in March.
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Jan 27, 2005

Wonderfully easy on the eyes

Sony launched its new PlayStation Portable in Japan in December. According to Sony, it is slated to launch in the United States by the end of March. Who knows about Europe.
BUSINESS
Jan 26, 2005

Vodafone cuts off users of crime-linked phones

Vodafone K.K. has begun unilaterally terminating services for prepaid mobile phones that have been used in fraudulent billing and other crimes, company officials said Tuesday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 25, 2005

Japan's enemy within

Riding home from school on the crowded Tokyo underground recently one day, 12-year-old Kim says she felt something hit the back of her head. When she checked what it was, her hand came away covered in saliva spat by a middle-aged male passenger. As he was getting off, the man said: "Get back to your...
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2005

Lowered standards eyed for foreign-language tour guides

The Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry plans to review the highly competitive certification exams for professional foreign-language guides in a bid to boost the number of certified guides available to tourists, officials said Saturday.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 23, 2005

Gothic influence creeps out of the darkness and into the limelight

IN LIGHT OF SHADOWS: More Gothic Tales, by Izumi Kyoka, translated and with essays by Charles Shiro Inouye. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2004, 180 pp., $16.00 (paper). The first (1993) edition of Charles Inouye's prior volume of Izumi Kyoka's stories was simply called "Three Tales of Mystery...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jan 15, 2005

For better or worse: the 400th column

Welcome to the 400th Japan Lite column! If you have been reading this column since 1997, then congratulations on our 400th anniversary. Four hundred weekend dates is longer than most unmarried couples make it. How does it feel to be 400?
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Jan 7, 2005

Old Asakusa lives on

Asakusa is a magnet for those who love old-time Tokyo. Like a theater full of excitement and festivity in praise of old Edo, Asakusa Kannon Temple and the surrounding business district are vibrant year-round, attracting on average 35 million people a year. This two-part article will take an in-depth...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Jan 4, 2005

Why has literacy dropped so dramatically?

Ana Mickle Stay at home mom, 34 There's been an upsurge in new forms of entertainment in recent years. I don't think school hours should be extended. I think students should do better with the time they have -- the kids should have a life. Schools should work on truancy rates.
JAPAN
Dec 31, 2004

Zoos grope to captivate visitors

Gone are the days when a new panda or elephant guaranteed a boost in zoo visitors.
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 29, 2004

Celebrating ourselves and others on stage in 2004

Many of the best theatrical stagings on these shores this year tackled issues having to do with the current chaotic state of the world. The focus of the best productions in Japan was how to understand, communicate and cope with others from quite different cultural and ethnic backgrounds; or, as part...
COMMENTARY
Dec 21, 2004

Price of exclusivity too high

"Nippon Chinbotsu" -- Japan Sinks -- was the title of a 1980s best-selling novel that predicted how massive earthquakes would push the Japanese islands below the waters of the Pacific. The drenched survivors would head for Australia.
JAPAN
Dec 21, 2004

Justice Ministry plans legislation to combat human trafficking

The Justice Ministry plans to crack down on human trafficking, particularly involving foreign women forced into prostitution, when it submits a number of bills next year to revise the Penal Code, ministry officials said Monday.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 12, 2004

The short and the sweet of popular Japanese theater

A GUIDE TO THE JAPANESE STAGE: From Traditional to Cutting Edge, by Ronald Cavaye, Paul Griffith and Akihiko Senda. Foreword by Nomura Mansai. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 2004, 388 pp., many illustrations. 2,310 yen (paper). A convenient, pocket-size volume, this entertainment guide recommends "plays...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Dec 11, 2004

Bill Hemmer

CNN claims that "American Morning," its flagship news program, is seen in more than 86 million households in the U.S. Here in Japan through CNNj, a partnership between CNN and Japan Cable Television, it may be seen in over 5 million households. This year marks the 20th anniversary of CNN's first live...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 11, 2004

Cell phones answer music players' call

After e-mail, Internet access and cameras, music will likely be the next killer application for cell phones in Japan, where online distribution is yet to catch on.
JAPAN
Dec 10, 2004

Anti-Disney style of 'manga' and 'anime' appeals to Americans

Animation in the United States once meant Mickey Mouse, Snow White and Winnie the Pooh.
BUSINESS
Dec 8, 2004

Japan, U.S. gamers gaga over Nintendo DS

The new portable video game machine from Nintendo Co. is selling briskly in the United States and Japan, and the company is well on the way to achieving its target of selling 5 million units by April.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Dec 7, 2004

Are immigration reforms targeting entertainment visas effective?

Jennifer Toews Teaching, 29 It's important to look at who's bringing in these people. The main point should be cracking down on who is importing people, rather than who is being imported.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 5, 2004

Way of the corporate giant robot

MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM, by Yoshiyuki Tomino, translated by Frederik L. Schodt with an introduction by Mark Simmons. Stone Bridge Press, 2004, $14.95 (paper). Yoshiyuki "Kill 'em All" Tomino is the mega-prolific creator of the Mobile Suit Gundam phenomenon, known, perhaps a little patronizingly, as the "Star...
JAPAN
Dec 4, 2004

Trafficking victims to be given better treatment

As part of efforts to combat human trafficking, Japan plans to revise immigration legislation next year to exempt trafficking victims from being deported in the same way as foreigners who overstay their visas or illegally enter Japan, it was learned Friday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 3, 2004

Nintendo fires first shot in new console war

Nintendo Co. launched its DS portable video game console Thursday, gearing up for a yearend sales battle with Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., which plans to release its PlayStation Portable later this month.
JAPAN
Nov 30, 2004

Japan and Philippines sign basic agreement on FTA

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo signed a basic accord for a free-trade agreement Monday but left tough talks on stickier issues for the months ahead.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / JAZZNICITY
Nov 28, 2004

The power of one note

Power and imagination have been Kazumi Watanabe's mainstays for over 30 years. As a prodigy on electric guitar, his first release was in 1971 at the age of 18 and his ever-evolving guitar technique has served as the central pillar of near-annual releases. In the 1980s, his progressive and very muscular...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 20, 2004

Hula dance teaches sexuality, spirituality, respect

"I was around 5 (years old) when my mother and grandmother taught me the basics of Hawaiian hula, steps called 'ka-holo.' I've loved it ever since," says Keisuke Yasuda.

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan