Search - life_column

 
Menu
Search
 
May 14, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access
1,209 results
Sort by: Relevance Newest Oldest
After adjusting your search parameters, press Enter on your keyboard or click on the red magnifying glass to run your query again.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jun 20, 2010

Is Japan going loopy in a world so alien

"Loopy," "hapless," "embarrassing" — such is the world's, and Japan's, verdict on the short unhappy prime ministership of Yukio Hatoyama. In retrospect, this 21st-century Japanese Don Quixote seems to have been doomed to failure from the start. What he attempted was honorable, but impossible. What...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Mar 28, 2010

Sea change: Can science, sense turn the tide?

In "The Tempest," William Shakespeare writes of a human body deep beneath the waves undergoing "a sea-change into something rich and strange," transmuting into coral and pearls.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 7, 2009

Japanese — a language of tall tales

At times, Japan seems to be an alarmist country. Topics like immigration, terrorism, and the latest strain of influenza can be blown out of proportion and reactions can appear over the top. But is it any wonder when you consider the Japanese language?
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 4, 2009

First lady grabs spotlight with spiritual quirks

The next prime minister is known for being bland in his speeches. His wife, however, is anything but.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Aug 9, 2009

Swim legend Furuhashi inspired Japan at tough time

There are historical icons in every nation. But only a few individuals can be considered symbols of a nation's collective psyche during a particular era.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Jun 16, 2009

Re: 'The good, the bad and the meaningful'

Following are some readers' responses to Paul de Vries' May 26 Zeit Gist article "Expat life in Japan: the good, the bad and the meaningful":
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Apr 19, 2009

A rip and a burp and the land is ours

It's that time of year when Japan's media are meticulously monitoring the iconic cherry-blossom front as it passes up through the archipelago in a wave of warming temperatures and bursting buds.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Apr 12, 2009

I, robot, am looking forward to a very bright future

When robot history comes to be written, April 2009 will occupy a prominent place. Future robots will look back, perhaps with pride, at the events of this month. A robot has been created that has, for the first time, independently advanced scientific knowledge.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Feb 22, 2009

'Sustainability' in a Japanese way

Takeshi Hara is an accomplished journalist, author and educator, and at 70 years of age he could easily choose to rest on his laurels.
EDITORIALS
Feb 20, 2009

Israel's resurgent right

It still is not clear who will be Israel's next prime minister, but the winner of last week's vote is plain: Israel's right will now pace the country's politics. The violence and insecurity of daily life pushed Israeli voters toward hardline solutions to national security. They have tired of promises...
COMMENTARY
Feb 10, 2009

James Brady struck warlike pose for peace

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — If not in memory of the awful Korean War (1950-1953), then in memory of the brilliant author James Brady (1928-2009) — you might want to read, or perhaps re-read, his novel about that war.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jan 11, 2009

Time a Darwinian 'true myth' evolved to rival religion

This year, 2009, is a double anniversary of particular relevance for this column.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jan 10, 2009

There's a day for everything

Today is Jan. 10, with Japan having now wound down its holiday celebrations and settled in for another hard year of work, work, work.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jan 3, 2009

No reason to have a cow over being bovine!

This column is to give thanks to the cows who have contributed so much to our lives. To those cows who have put their lives at steak for us humans as well as to those who have fodder to ruminate on and greener pastures to seek. Cows have made contributions to our society in many ways, but today I'd like...
EDITORIALS
Oct 26, 2008

Mobile phones take over

Japan has become a nation of mobile-phone talkers, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication reported this month. More people now talk on mobile phones in Japan than on fixed-line phones; total talk time on mobile phones reached an astonishing 1.9 billion hours in 2007. That's a lot of metal...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 2, 2008

Urawaza — quirky, everyday Japanese tips — head West

Two years ago, a mysterious 20-second video clip triggered some unexpected buzz on the Web site YouTube. In the segment, an ordinary-looking housewife draws an invisible line across the chest of a shirt with her finger. Then she pinches the shirt under the armpit and at the shoulder, does a quick flipping...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 9, 2008

'Hyakunin' translations capture commission prize

In the same way that few British people have read all of Shakespeare's sonnets but many can quote at least a few lines of the lyric tradition, any adult who has gone through the Japanese school system is familiar with the Ogura "Hyakunin Isshu."
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jul 23, 2008

There's still hope — despite our milquetoast* leaders

In the runup to the Group of Eight summit held this month in a stupendously policed corner of Japan's most remote northern island, there was widespread expectation that little would be achieved on the environmental agenda.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
May 24, 2008

Not going anywhere in Tokyo

The only things that stands perfectly still in this city of ceaseless motion are its statues. Not that most Tokyoites notice them. But I do.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / STYLEWISE,ON: FASHION
Mar 11, 2008

Stella McCartney, Anna Antoniades and more

Anna Antoniades in Nakameguro
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 20, 2007

Watching them watching us

A s many non-Japanese are well aware, today is "G Day," or "F Day," or whatever cute name you'd like to assign to it: The day that the government begins fingerprinting virtually all foreigners — or "gaijin," or more appropriately "gaikokujin" — entering Japan. And those of us who will be subjected...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 17, 2007

Hospitals — just no place for prudery

Two weeks ago I would have said that very few people in this world had ever seen my private parts. Now, I can say plenty have — mostly doctors and nurses.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Sep 30, 2007

Bilingual blanks are nothing to kobosu your guchi about

Last week in this column, I addressed the trials and tribulations of bringing up a child to be bilingual — both for parents and children. As anyone who has been down that road knows, it's what Japanese people would call shinan no waza (an arduous task).
LIFE / Language
Sep 4, 2007

Garnish your Japanese with some 'humble pie'

Second of two parts
COMMENTARY
Jun 14, 2007

Wanted: A 'new deal' for globalization

LOS ANGELES — There is no such thing as "free" trade. In truth, the phrase "free trade" is an oxymoron.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 18, 2007

'Pacchigi! Love & Peace'

In 2004, Kazuyuki Izutsu made "Pacchigi! (Pacchigi! We Shall Overcome Someday)," a serio-comic Romeo and Juliet romance set in 1960s Kyoto. Starring Shun Shioya as a naive high school boy and Erika Sawajiri as the cute-but-tough zainichi (ethnic Korean living in Japan) girl whom he falls for, the film...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 6, 2007

New clarities set to cloud smoke screens of ambiguity

Last month, on April Fool's Day to be exact, I revealed some terms and expressions appearing in the forthcoming Japanese government publication, "The Dictionary of All-Too-True Japanese Words and Phrases." Actually, there is far more than meets the eye in this groundbreaking, earthy volume.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Mar 6, 2007

"Double or Die," "The Skunk Code"

"Double or Die," Charlie Higson, Puffin Books; 2007; 390 pp.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 3, 2006

Dying traditions open up new choices after death

Every culture has its own way of dealing with death.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Nov 8, 2006

Rationality again on rack of 'faith'

How can certain events that took place in 17th-century Italy have much relevance to those of the 21st? I'm thinking of the way one of the greatest men in history, the father of physics, Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), was treated by the Roman Catholic Church.
Transport ministry issues warning to Haneda Airport operator
The operator of Tokyo's Haneda Airport has been warned by the government over its inappropriate transactions.
Xi defiance pays off as Trump meets most China trade demands
Then-Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping visits a school in South Gate, California, in February 2012. Experts say Xi won big in his standoff with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Nissan shares surge as carmaker set to cut 20,000 jobs in huge overhaul
U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on cars and car parts imported to the U.S. have been painful to most global brands, but crippling in Nissan’s case.
Japan might be playing long game in U.S. tariff talks
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the White House earlier this year. Ishiba said Monday that farmers won't be sacrificed for automakers in Japan's tariff negotiations with the U.S.
More details emerge about stabbing near Tokyo University metro station
Yoshitaka Toda, the suspect in Wednesday's knife attack at Todaimae Station on the Tokyo Metro Nanboku Line, leaves a police station in the Japanese capital the same day for a pre-detention medical examination.
Sculpted waves, sleek updos: Showa hairstyles are back in fashion
The larger-than-life hairstyles of Japan's Showa Era are unmistakable — and they're making a comeback.
Consumption tax set to dominate Upper House election debate
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba enters his office in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Japan should produce its own AI defense solutions, Sakana AI CEO says
Sakana AI CEO David Ha speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Nissan gets ‘wake-up call’ with $4.5 billion annual net loss
Nissan CEO Ivan Espinosa in Tokyo as the company releases its results
Japan set for bigger role in Philippines after SDF’s debut in key drills
Philippine Army Brig. Gen. Michael Logico, who was involved in managing the latest iteration of the Balikatan U.S.-Philippine drills, told The Japan Times that he expects military ties with Japan to surge even further once Tokyo ratifies a key visiting-forces agreement with Manila.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

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

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Tsukuba massif granite, one of the world’s few heritage stones
Tsukuba massif granite, one of the world’s few heritage stones

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER