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LIFE / Travel
Jan 6, 2013

Remembering that 'life's a beach' keeps winter at bay

Summer to me has always meant the beach, and now in the depths of winter it's to sun-kissed strands and sparkling blue seas that my thoughts are prone to wander.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 4, 2013

Misogura Tamayura: Welcome the new year with a taste of tradition

Tradition rules at this time of year, and few parts of Tokyo are more traditional than the grid of narrow streets to the south of Ueno's Shinobazu Pond. Although many of the buildings in this former geisha district have seen much better days, there are still gems to be found — and Misogura Tamayura...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Jan 4, 2013

NHK spotlights gunslinging daughter of the north in yearlong Sunday drama

How to rebuild when you've lost everything? In the immediate aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011, as many thousands of people in northeastern Japan sought to answer that question for themselves, public broadcaster NHK began looking for a historical figure whose story might...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 3, 2013

"Situations and Exchanges: Fukuoka Contemporary Art Chronicle"

Fukuoka Prefecture's art industry rapidly prospered during the 1950s-60s with the rise of Group Kyushu, a highly experimental and controversial artists' group. From the 1970s, however, an artistic stagnancy prevailed, and the generation of artists that emerged after the "golden period" struggled to make...
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Dec 31, 2012

America's largest mass execution now obscure

Settlers had come from miles around. The hotels were full. And some spectators were camped out in tents and wagons. The giant gallows erected between Front Street and the Minnesota River was a marvel: a perfect square, supported by oak timbers, and able to hold 40 nooses — 10 on each side.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language
Dec 30, 2012

The wonderful worlds of 100 waka

The scene: England, Boxing Day 2012. The archetypical Carters are relaxing after a cold turkey lunch (with bread sauce) and are watching the Royal Family's latest sonnets being read on the goggle-box. Time for a game!
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Dec 30, 2012

Kyu Asakura's garden of wealth and privilege

Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Dec 29, 2012

Software firm releases Burmese phrase book

Software developer Daiichi Computer Resource Co. has compiled a book of common Burmese expressions titled "Active Myanmar" that can also be downloaded on cellphones.
Events / KANSAI: WHO & WHAT
Dec 29, 2012

Penguins parade near Osaka aquarium

Visitors to Osaka's Kaiyukan aquarium can watch king penguins parading in front of the building on most days until Jan. 14.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / BEST OF 2012
Dec 28, 2012

Hold the McFilms, pass the cinematic cassoulet

It always puzzles me that people turn to the Food page curious to find out about off-the-beaten-track joints that serve up a savory cassoulet or artisan shōchū or whatever, yet so many come to the film page expecting a review of this week's McBurger. Guess what? Tasted pretty much like the last one....
COMMENTARY
Dec 28, 2012

Innovation is key to revival

Having observed trends in Japanese industries for a half century, I have never felt deeper concern about their future than at present. Many of Japan's leading enterprises that once dominated the global market are now suffering huge losses and lagging in performance behind competitors in South Korea,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 27, 2012

Yucca "Our Journey''

Six long years after their first two enjoyable albums, Tokyo band Yucca made a welcome return in June 2012 with the even more impressive "Our Journey (to anywhere we want)." It may not be the most innovative album of 2012, but because of its beautiful textures and overall listenability it was the Japanese...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / ONE-ON-ONE WITH ...
Dec 23, 2012

Yokohama's Burns thrives as leader

The Japan Times features periodic interviews with players in the bj-league. Draelon Burns of the Yokohama B-Corsairs is the subject of this week's profile.
EDITORIALS
Dec 23, 2012

Facedown over privacy

In and around Tokyo, face-recognition cameras have started to take photos of passersby at various locations. Supermarket chains, shopping malls and vending machines inside JR East stations all have been using face-recognition software to identify the sex and age of individuals who come within line of...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Dec 23, 2012

"Family History"; Top athletes in unimaginable contests; CM of the week: Sato Shokuhi

The portion of resident Korean nationals in the sports and show business worlds is higher than it is in the general population. Athletics and entertainment were and still are two traditional ways for non-Japanese to escape poverty.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Dec 22, 2012

Aichi opticians help out elderly Thais

Opticians in Aichi Prefecture are cooperating to gather and donate used reading glasses to people in Thailand, where many seniors have to put up with poor eyesight because they can't afford to buy spectacles.
MULTIMEDIA
Dec 21, 2012

Manga convention hopes to get a crowd of fans jumping with joy

'Friendship," "endeavor," and "victory" are three main concepts underpinning a slew of popular manga stories that constitute the long-running weekly magazine Shukan Shonen Jump. As the titular word shonen (boys) suggests, these themes are precisely designed to intrigue fantasy-prone, thrill-seeking young...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 20, 2012

Harnessing the spirit of Kuniyoshi

Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798-1861) belongs to a category of ukiyo-e print artists that have long polarized art historians and connoisseurs for their jarring colors and compositions, cynical depictions of sex and violence, and use of Western pictorial techniques. These so-called "Decadents" were seen to represent...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 20, 2012

"Tadasu Takamine's Cool Japan"

The term "Cool Japan" was recently used by the Japanese government to help boost global interest in some of the nation's most admirable achievements, such as its altruism and pursuit of cutting-edge technology.
JAPAN / EMBASSY AVENUE
Dec 20, 2012

Grand Cordon given to Algerian diplomat

The Japanese government awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun to Abdelmalek Benhabyles, 91, the first Algerian ambassador to Japan, for his contributions in developing closer and deeper ties between the two countries.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 20, 2012

Civil war fears surge over Exxon's deal with Iraqi Kurds

With their opposing armies massed on either side of the contested border dividing southern and northern Iraq, leaders in Baghdad and the semiautonomous Kurdistan region are warning they are close to civil war — one that could be triggered by Exxon Mobil.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EMBASSY AVENUE
Dec 19, 2012

'Secrets of India' seen in manga

The inaugural publication ceremony of a manga comic book titled "Secrets of India" was held at the auditorium of the Indian Embassy in Tokyo on Dec. 14.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Dec 15, 2012

'Face of election' Kawamura of Nagoya now the odd man out

After deciding not to run in this weekend's Lower House poll, Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura's status as the "face of the election" has faded and his frustration is clearly growing.
Events / KANSAI: WHO & WHAT
Dec 15, 2012

Yearend temple cleanups open to the public

Yearend cleaning of Buddhist temples and statues will take place in various locations in Kyoto and Nara toward the end of this month.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Dec 14, 2012

View waves from a new vantage

American photographer Clark Little gives nonsurfers a chance to see what they're missing in a series of pictures he is showing at the "Clark Little Photo Exhibition" in Tokyo.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Dec 13, 2012

2012: The year in social media in Japan

The year in social media in Japan. Hint: Line.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 13, 2012

Tadanori Yokoo unearths a future from personal past

The establishment of a museum in the name of an individual is always, to a degree, a memorializing issue in preparation for the inevitable. The inauguration of the Yokoo Tadanori Museum of Contemporary Art in many ways heralds such, and Yokoo's oeuvre has often been a dialogue with death.

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