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COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Feb 20, 2010

Stuck in a not so hairy situation

One way I kill time on my monotonous commutes across municipal Tokyo is to scout out the hairpieces in the strap-hanger set.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Feb 14, 2010

Traditional Tokyo explored in mystery and quiz show; CM of the week: Docomo-Fujitsu

Traditional Tokyo gets the two-hour mystery treatment in "Yorozuya Chobei no Sumidagawa Jiken Fairu Sono Ni" (Chobei Yorozuya's Sumidagawa Incident File No. 2; TBS, Mon., 9 p.m.). The hero, Chobei Yorozuya (Kotaro Satomi), is a pawn shop owner in Tokyo's Asakusa district who has quit the police force...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Feb 12, 2010

Four Seasons Chinzan-so maiko show

Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Chinzan-so's Japanese restaurant Miyuki will offer a Kyoto-themed meal and entertainment event on Feb. 28, inviting maiko from the ancient capital.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Feb 7, 2010

Go to where your cup runneth over

The green and white taxis are lined up outside Katsunuma-Budokyo Station like the stripes on a holiday peppermint stick. I readjust the contents of my daypack after the 90-minute train trip from Tokyo, take out my map, and hop into the back of the first cab in line with my husband in tow. We clue in...
JAPAN
Feb 5, 2010

Valentine's chocolate defies recession

As many businesses continue to shake their heads over how tough it is to make sales in these financially difficult times, "cheaper is better" is the strategy of the day, with shops slicing prices for everything from "gyudon" (beef on rice) to jeans.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 5, 2010

'Kazura'/'Boys on the Run'

The odds of two brilliant Japanese comedies opening the same day are high but not impossible, somewhat like the odds of the same director (James Cameron) making two all-time worldwide box-office hits ("Titanic" and that other film about blue aliens).
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 5, 2010

Nezucafe: There's nothing fusty about the Nezu Museum's new cafe

When the Nezu Museum reopened last October, after more than a year of reconstruction, we were among the first to join the lines outside. We were keen to inspect Kengo Kuma's impressive architecture and wanted to view the remarkable bronzes, scrolls and screens in the new galleries. But more than anything...
JAPAN / Media
Jan 31, 2010

Study finds government support for media is rapidly shrinking

NEW YORK — Government subsidies for the media, which are not widely known but are a long-running source of revenue for publishers, are quietly vanishing just as the industry is struggling to remain commercially viable, according to a new report released Thursday.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jan 31, 2010

Stitch in Japan, strolling through Okubo, and this week's CM: Aderans Hairclub

Since he's cute and mischievous, the Disney character Stitch, introduced in the 2002 animated feature "Lilo and Stitch," is perfect for the Japanese market, and the locally produced TV series "Stitch" (TV Asahi, Tues., 7 p.m.) transplants the little blue extraterrestrial from Hawaii to the fictional...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 30, 2010

Fujitsu weighs iPad name challenge

Apple Inc. has caused a stir with its iPad tablet-computer, which could change the face of the publishing industry and how information is gained from the Internet. But one thing may not be revolutionary: the product name.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 29, 2010

Math rockers Toe take it slow

Toe have their own record label, Machupicchu Industrias. It's not so much to flaunt a punklike DIY ethic, they're basically just slow.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Jan 26, 2010

Artist perseveres to embrace life in Japan, keep tapped to Iran roots

Award-winning Iranian artist Mansour Kordbacheh has lived in Japan for 21 years and feels the weight of it on his shoulders.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2010

'Crossing' bares North defector fate

Every year, poverty-stricken North Koreans risk their lives crossing the border into China to escape the repression and starvation plaguing their hermit homeland.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 22, 2010

'Subete wa Umi ni Naru'

MARK SCHILLINGMost commercial films in Japan, as elsewhere, fall into clearly marked boxes, from genre (horror, romcom) to story (zero-to-hero, teen love/tragic death). Indie films here also follow familiar thematic patterns, with miscommunication and alienation being favorites.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 22, 2010

E*A*T: Fast food worth lingering over

The bright yellow sign calls down over the busy, narrow sidewalk like a grandmama from the old country exhorting her brood to come to table. "EAT EAT," it shouts. Do as you're told: Go in and sit down. We did. And we ate. We ate very well indeed.
JAPAN / Q&A
Jan 20, 2010

Mileage members fret over their points earned on JAL, credit cards

With Japan Airlines filing for bankruptcy and undergoing court-led rehabilitation, consumers are worried about how this may affect their mileage points and points they have saved by using JAL credit cards.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jan 17, 2010

Okinawa on a plate

"Everywhere in this house and its stone walls you can find the wisdom of our ancestors and how they lived," says Masako Kinjo, as she gazes around Makabe Chinaa, a 110-year-old traditional wooden home in Itoman City in the south of Okinawa Island.
COMMENTARY
Jan 14, 2010

India is taking the fast lane to car chaos

CHENNAI, India — India is in the midst of a car boom. At the latest count, there were a staggering 123 automobile models manufactured by 30 companies, and each model comes in several varieties. Despite the recession, the country's appetite for cars appears insatiable. Tacitly encouraging this is the...
Japan Times
LIFE
Jan 10, 2010

First Snow

"Tamaki-kun! It's you, isn't it?" Startled, the man looked up from the book he'd been perusing. He stared at the woman in bewilderment. "Yes, my name is Tamaki . . . "
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jan 9, 2010

A cookie a day for your fluency

Foreign visitors adapting to life in modern Japan have scores of advantages that travelers of the past could never have envisioned, even in their wildest dreams. Like e-mail, Skype, YouTube and the general all-encompassing mesh of the Internet.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Jan 8, 2010

Fukubukoro hunting tamed by the Internet

Fukubukuro are a time-honored New Year's tradition, but in 2010 some stores were making their lucky bags with marriage hunters in mind.
EDITORIALS
Jan 4, 2010

Policy for economic growth

The government on Wednesday announced a basic policy for its economic growth strategy through fiscal 2020. Envisioned is average economic growth of 3 percent in nominal terms and 2 percent in real terms in the coming decade, plus a reduction in the unemployment rate from the current 5 percent level to...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Jan 3, 2010

Jake Adelstein: Insider reaching out

Author Joshua "Jake" Adelstein supposes that if he'd stayed home in rural Missouri and had never come to Japan, he'd probably have become a small-town lawyer or a very happy detective on the local police force.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 29, 2009

New Year's: Communing with family, the gods

In the West, people count down the seconds to midnight Dec. 31 and in many cases keep partying into the wee hours, then sleep in. Once the clock strikes 12 in Japan, many people head to temples and shrines, then proceed to make New Year's Day a family occasion.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Dec 27, 2009

Fun and funky Fukagawa

After so many yearend parties and as the weather grows wintry in Tokyo, it might seem like madness to go for a walk, but a stroll east of the Sumida River, in Fukagawa, is an ideal way to clear the head. The area offers expansive parks of lingering colored leaves, magnificent art shows and, in some back...

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?