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Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jan 11, 2009

From rags to riches

In 1578, the lord of Musashi Province (present-day Tokyo, Saitama Prefecture and eastern Kanagawa Prefecture) authorized a tax-free market in Setagaya, then a small castle town under a minor vassal of the Hojo clan, which ruled the Kanto region from its fortified base in Odawara.
Japan Times
JAPAN / MIXED MATCHES
Jan 10, 2009

Irishman lets chips fall, finds love

Neither Frankie Lafferty nor Saika Kojima ever thought they would wed a foreigner. But nine months after their first encounter in 2004, the two registered for marriage in Sayama, Saitama Prefecture.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 6, 2009

Glasses retailer has price-cutting edge

Teruhiro Ueno has seen both his business and reputation grow by upholding a key retail strategy: undercutting the competition.
JAPAN
Jan 5, 2009

Trying to brush away any doubts

Prime Minister Taro Aso, who over the past year drew criticism for repeatedly misreading kanji characters, may have showed Sunday he is a man of culture after all.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 4, 2009

Cars no longer coveted by young

To get around the city, Yutaka Makino hops on his skateboard or takes the trains. Does he dream of the day when he owns his own car? Not a chance.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 28, 2008

Longtime baseball writer will miss these people, places, things in '09

As we see the end of 2008 and the beginning of 2009, I have compiled a list of five people, places and things I will miss when the new Japanese baseball season rolls around in the spring. Here they are:
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 26, 2008

'Tokyo Joe: Mafia o Utta Otoko'

The yakuza, Japan's homegrown mobsters, are favorites of local filmmakers but not documentarians, for reasons entirely understandable. A documentary that seeks to delve into the inner workings of the Yamaguchi-gumi might find an audience, but the hurdles to making it, such as scouting subjects willing...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 26, 2008

The top movies of 2008

In carefully ordered rankings for Japanese films and no particular order for the rest, we bring you the best films of a year that is steadily drawing its curtains closed.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 26, 2008

Top movies of 2008

In carefully ordered rankings for Japanese films and no particular order for the rest, we bring you the best films of a year that is steadily drawing its curtains closed.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 23, 2008

Children say the darndest things

Another holiday season is upon us. There is a nip in the air, lights of all colors twinkle throughout neighborhoods and cityscapes across the country, and holiday cheer radiates throughout our schools, workplaces and communities. During this festive time, friends and families often come together in true...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Dec 23, 2008

PMZ pedals, the Memodesk, horned sockets, Issey Miyake watches and the perfect gift box

JEAN SNOW A pedal with pedigree
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
Dec 21, 2008

Burning temples, busted black marketeers, golf boom and discriminatory bookshop

100 YEARS AGO
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 19, 2008

'Nonko 36-sai (Kaji Tetsudai)'

As if forecasting the current recession, more Japanese films about life's losers are hitting the screens now.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / GRAND OLD HOTELS
Dec 12, 2008

Echoes of the footfalls of soldiers

I was looking for a pillbox pockmarked with bullet holes in the Kudanminami district of Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo. That's what an elderly friend told me I'd find in front of the area's Kudan Kaikan hotel.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 10, 2008

Making quality the key to Web searches

NEW YORK — In the not-so-distant future, students will be able to graduate from high school without ever touching a book. Twenty years ago, they could graduate from high school without ever using a computer. In only a few decades, computer technology and the Internet have transformed the core principles...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / STYLEWISE,ON: FASHION
Dec 9, 2008

Ann Demeulemeester retrospective, FouR T-shirts, Lithium Homme and LaForet Xmas 2008

Fashion blast from the past
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 5, 2008

Terror threat to civilization

HONG KONG — The death toll of nearly 200 from the carnage in Mumbai last week is small compared with the 5,400 people who die every day from AIDS-related illnesses or the 2,500 mostly children who die daily from malaria. Three hundred Zimbabweans died of cholera while the gun battles in India raged....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 5, 2008

New tourism agency ambushed by high yen

When the Japan Tourism Agency opened for business on Oct. 1 to attract more Asian travelers, the timing could hardly have been worse.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 5, 2008

Airport with no customers ready to open

The $268 million Ibaraki Airport is on schedule to open for business in March 2010. The hard part will be persuading an airline to fly there.
COMMENTARY
Dec 2, 2008

Tall order in a time of 'peace'

NEW DELHI — The U.S.-sparked global financial meltdown is just the latest sign that the world is at a defining moment in history. Given the global ace of political, economic and technological transformation witnessed the last two decades, the next 20 years are likely to bring equally dramatic change....
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 30, 2008

Shades of the BBC in NHK's own 'The Office'

Two months ago I heard about a comedy sketch that appeared last May on the American show "Saturday Night Live." Actor Steve Carrell was the host and he and the cast of regulars did a parody of his own show, "The Office," an American version of the famous British sitcom about white-collar workers. SNL...
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 28, 2008

Kansai's many Christmas highlights

Streets in the Kansai region have already started to sparkle with the cheerful spirit of the season. Yes, the Christmas and New Year's holidays are coming around soon. Here are some ideas on where you can get into a jolly, festive mood.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Nov 28, 2008

A hideaway in Mito

The historic city of Mito in Ibaraki Prefecture serves as the transfer point to the JR Suigun Line, a narrow-gauge single-track line that runs along the scenic Kuji River en route to the Fukuroda Falls.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 28, 2008

Chanson musicians bring a little warmth to a Japanese winter

As a genre, chanson is difficult to pin down. In French, it simply means "song," and for most of France's history the word described anything from madrigals to romantic poetry. Since the end of World War II, it has come to represent a pop style that places a premium on the fluidity of the French language....

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