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Japan Times
LIFE
Nov 16, 2013

The day JFK died: Fifty years on, the assassination still haunts Americans

The murder of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, on Nov. 22, 1963, forever changed America. I was 16 years old when it happened, and still haven't fully come to terms with it. The indelible sense of loss and still-unanswered questions — How it could have been allowed to happen? Who was behind...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Nov 16, 2013

Fun for all on Tokyo's Oku-Tama wild side

Before I'd even set eyes on the river I heard a deep rumble from its bubbling gash of white and cobalt water rending apart the Tama Mountains.
BASKETBALL
Nov 16, 2013

Defensive-minded Iwate hands Akita first defeat of season

The high-scoring Akita Northern Happinets met their match on Saturday night.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Nov 15, 2013

Lamborghini sets up shop at NITech

Nagoya Institute of Technology in Aichi Prefecture has teamed up with Lamborghini SpA on finding a way to mass produce carbon fiber-reinforced plastic so the light yet durable material can be applied to products other than cars and planes.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 14, 2013

'Filth'

In "Filth", we meet Bruce "Robbo" Robertson, a bipolar plainclothes detective in Edinburgh who's racist, sexist, homophobic, addicted to cocaine, addled on various prescription drugs, consorting with whores, scheming against all his colleagues at work, making obscene phone calls, loveless, friendless,...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 14, 2013

Tsuchiura city curries favor with visitors at its annual gourmet festival

When the world's largest Zeppelin made a stop in Tsuchiura, Ibaraki Prefecture, during its world tour in 1929, locals prepared and served curry for the crew using the region's famous potatoes as an ingredient. Since then, the city has been known as a curry capital of Japan, and this weekend it holds...
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 14, 2013

Oldest complete fossil discovered

What may be the oldest complete fossil on Earth paints a smelly but colorful picture of our microbial ancestors from nearly 3.5 billion years ago.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 13, 2013

'Yosooi'

Covering the aesthetics of clothing, dress style and appearance, this show features black-and-white photographic prints from the gallery's collection of around 10,000 works. The exhibition focuses on the significance of the stylistic appearance of garments and the facial expressions of its wearers.
JAPAN
Nov 13, 2013

Magazine seeks to counter bias toward poor

Many Japanese may regard people on welfare as not merely unfortunate have-nots, viewing them instead as contemptible slackers who don't seek work because they prefer to stay "comfortably poor."
Japan Times
JAPAN / WEDGE
Nov 11, 2013

Deer a pest said best served as local delicacy

To reduce the damage done to the environment by birds and other animals, major security company Alsok began a monitoring service this summer in which people helping hunters are notified by email when something lands in their traps.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Nov 9, 2013

Stairway to heavenly Haguro

Some of the more interesting spots in Japan are the ones that are not really on the way to anywhere else at all. A sense of remoteness and being firmly off the beaten track lends them a particularly beguiling character.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 9, 2013

'Specialness' shrouds stories of minorities

As predicted four months ago in this column, in September the Supreme Court ruled discriminatory and unconstitutional the Civil Code stipulation that says children born out of wedlock are entitled to only half the inheritance of legitimate offspring. The government is expected to revise the law accordingly,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Nov 9, 2013

The 47 Ronin

Among recent re-tellings of one of Japan's most famous historical moments, this manga version of "The 47 Ronin" tells the true tale of 47 samurai, who after becoming leaderless, enact a plan of revenge against their late master's adversary. In stark contrast to the upcoming Keanu Reeves film of the same...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EMBASSY AVENUE
Nov 8, 2013

Djibouti's former PM gets Japanese award

Dileita Mohamed Dileita, former prime minister of the Republic of Djibouti, was awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun by the Japanese government for his contributions to strengthening bilateral ties and his cooperation in Japan's antipiracy measures in the Horn of Africa country, where...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Nov 8, 2013

Top aficionado plans contest to test the best spinners

Yoshihito Fujita, the man managing the Japan Spinning Top Museum from his own home in Nagoya, has standardized the names of different spinning styles, which vary depending on region, and has also established a ranking system.
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Nov 6, 2013

Tokyo's Ide making most of chance with perennial All-Star Aoki gone

Guard Cohey Aoki starred for the Tokyo Apache from the league's inception until the team folded in 2011. He then spent a season with the Osaka Evessa, then returned to the capital city to be the Tokyo Cinq Reves' signature star last season.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 2, 2013

Tatsuya Ichihashi: Killer on the run

Tatsuya Ichihashi went on the lam for more than 2½ years after strangling 22-year-old Lindsay Ann Hawker in March 2007. On the eve of a new film based on the convicted killer's account of his time on the road, Jun Hongo looks into the factors that allowed the fugitive to stay one step ahead of the police...
CULTURE / Books
Nov 2, 2013

Jet Black and the Ninja Wind

"Jet Black and the Ninja Wind" is the newest entry to the young adult fiction boom. Likely to garner comparison against genre heavyweights such as "Twilight" and "The Hunger Games," this series offers a refreshing twist to the formula by incorporating Japanese cultural and historical elements.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Nov 1, 2013

Events mark 1800s castaways who were first Japanese in U.S.

In the late Edo Period 200 years ago, a Japanese ship crippled by a storm drifted for 484 days, the longest period on record.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 31, 2013

'Venuto al Mondo'

So many films these days seem to be trying their hardest to be the same, their connect-the-dots three-act narratives all carved from the same stone. Then there's "Venuto al Mondo" (released in English as "Twice Born"), which features a story that flows like a river: shallow here, deep there, a gentle...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 31, 2013

Sony's Hirai mixes camera, phone geeks to catch Apple

For Kazuo Hirai, creating Sony Corp.'s flagship smartphone was too important to be left to the company's mobile phone experts.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 30, 2013

'Total abandon' for two landmark duos

Ballet audiences in Japan are widely acknowledged to be among the best in the world, but there's still a lot to be learned here about contemporary dance. However, those seeing a show in a short tour of works by French choreographers Mathilde Monnier and Jean-Francois Duroure can be sure of enjoying a...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Oct 30, 2013

Australia's 'plain packaging' stubs out cigarette branding, prompts backlash

Marlboro cigarettes' red-and-white box and distinct typeface created one of the world's most powerful brands — by some estimates, one of the 10 most recognized consumer products.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 29, 2013

Kokubo turns to youthful talent to carry Samurai Japan for Taiwan exhibition series

Recently introduced Japan baseball national team manager Hiroki Kokubo doesn't appear to impose victories on his players right away.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 29, 2013

Damo Suzuki sees promise in young artists

"I don't like to make music, I like to make energy. Music is just a way to get energy, so why not just make energy?"

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami