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Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Feb 24, 2006

A guide for doing the Nakameguro stroll

Naka-Meguro is one express stop southwest of Shibuya on the Tokyu Toyoko Line. And, like its one-stop counterparts on other commuter lines, the shopping streets closest to the station tend to attract a high concentration of eateries and bars all vying for your post-work cash. But like anywhere in Tokyo,...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 29, 2006

Understanding, visiting and living in North Korea

NORTH KOREA IN THE 21ST CENTURY: An interpretative Guide, by J.E. Hoare and Susan Pares. Global Oriental, 2005, 253 pp., including index, references/bibliography, b/w illustrations, £14.95 (paper). Jim Hoare opened the British Embassy in Pyongyang in 2001 and was the first British diplomat and charge...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 18, 2005

What did you read about Asia this year?

Donald Richie THE COLUMBIA ANTHOLOGY OF MODERN JAPANESE LITERATURE, edited by J. Thomas Rimer and Van C. Gessel (Columbia University Press) This new take on Japanese modern classics -- old standbys and lots of recent writing as well -- is big (864 pages and it's only the first volume). It includes examples...
Features
Sep 25, 2005

Shinobazu Pond

"Listen," said Nishizawa-san.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2005

Chiba man couldn't settle for just piece of pi

Akira Haraguchi says he was never a genius in school. But at 59, the Chiba man recited pi -- the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter -- from memory to 83,431 decimal places.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jul 26, 2005

Inheritance, swimming and men

Property tax I am building a home here on land jointly owned by my wife (Japanese citizen) at a 50:50 recorded proportion (land only).
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Jun 2, 2005

'Weed' of wonder fresh from the sea

I first consciously ate kelp when I came to Japan in 1962. Slowly stewed, it took the form of those small, almost black bows of a soft and tasty vegetable in the traditional, souplike dish of oden. Later I ate it wrapped around fish, or used it with dried bonito as a base for soup stock. I chose the...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
May 3, 2005

Rail passes, credit and changing your cash

More credit queries I notice lately you've had a lot of queries regarding credit cards in Japan. One question I'm curious about is -- why?
EDITORIALS
Mar 20, 2005

A flock of Emiews

I t must say something about the times when a news release heralding yet another piece of cutting-edge Japanese technology makes us scratch our heads and think how quaint and last-century it sounds. That happened last week when we read about Hitachi Ltd.'s rollout of a wheeled humanoid robot that it...
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 15, 2005

Visa la difference

Although it is certainly not impossible to receive a credit card as a foreigner living in Japan, chances are that unless you're working for a major Japanese company that is prepared to provide you with a family card, you're probably going to be rejected far more often than you might be at home.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jan 25, 2005

Bus hire, good food guides and more ISPs

The mailbox is choc-o-bloc with post New Year queries at the moment, so please be patient. We're answering them as fast as we can.
JAPAN
Dec 30, 2004

Groups welcome tsunami relief funds

The massive earthquake off Indonesia's Sumatra Island and subsequent tsunamis that hit South and Southeast Asia on Sunday have left untold numbers of dead in devastated beach resorts and coastal communities in India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
JAPAN
Dec 30, 2004

Kin of missing Japanese go to ID bodies in Sri Lanka

Relatives of seven Japanese believed killed by tsunamis in Sri Lanka headed for Colombo on Wednesday, while the Foreign Ministry said another body believed to be that of a Japanese woman has been found there.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 8, 2004

Film it and they will come

When in Rome, visitors might not necessarily do as the locals do, but many certainly follow the example of Audrey Hepburn's character in "Roman Holiday" by sticking their hands in the "Mouth of Truth" near the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, or buying a gelato on the steps of Piazza di Spagna.
JAPAN
Oct 28, 2004

Information on quake relief funds and volunteer efforts

More than 100,000 survivors of the earthquakes that have hit the Chuetsu region in Niigata Prefecture have had to take shelter in schools and vehicles.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Oct 1, 2004

Top tapas made the Tio Danjo way

Tio Danjo is not a large place, and it's hard enough at the best of times to reserve a table at short notice. At the end of last month, though, it was nigh on impossible. Owner-chef Keita Danjo had just come back from one of his regular visits to Madrid, and the word was out among regular customers....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Aug 28, 2004

David Springett

CHESTER, England -- In the nave of the famed cathedral in Chester, a Londoner speaking fluent Japanese leads a party of Japanese tourists. He tells them that there may have been a Christian church on this site nearly 2,000 years ago, and that there certainly was one 1,000 years ago. A Benedictine abbey...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 11, 2004

Walking on the wild side

Walkabout Rating: * * * * * (out of 5) Director: Nicholas Roeg Running time: 100 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] The Story of the Weeping Camel Rating: * * * * (out of 5) Director: Byambasuren Davaa and Luigi Falorni Running time:...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 6, 2004

Galali: Summertime, and the grazing is easy

Tongues lolling, throats parched, energy levels flagging, taste buds shriveled . . . When the summer heat sets in, nobody feels like hefty meals. It's the time of year when you have to coax your appetite into action. This is the season for grazing.
JAPAN
Jul 4, 2004

DPJ looks set to win more seats than ruling LDP, survey shows

The Democratic Party of Japan is expected to make great strides in the House of Councilors election on July 11 and looks set to top the list of parties in the proportional representation section, according to a new survey.
COMMENTARY
Jun 3, 2004

1-2 punch to modern health

LONDON -- In the "bad old days," tuberculosis and epidemics of infectious diseases were the main killers. In advanced societies today, the No. 1 killers are cardiovascular problems and various forms of cancer. Some of these diseases can be traced to hereditary causes, but lifestyle and environment are...
Japan Times
Features
Feb 15, 2004

Shades of sunakku

Ask 10 Japanese to tell you exactly what a sunakku (snack) is and you'll likely get 10 different answers.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jan 31, 2004

An ode on Japanese 'mikan'

John Keats once taught that beauty is truth and truth is beauty. Thus inspired, let me now present my own beautiful truth gleaned from life in Japan . . .
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 15, 2003

Definitely don't go to this restaurant!

What would the Japanese do without all those magazines telling them what to do and where to go? There are fashion magazines with detailed instructions on how to apply eye makeup, recreational magazines that suggest "date courses" in which you take your date on a pre-planned route that includes a trendy...
JAPAN
Nov 5, 2003

SDF death payment in Iraq to go as high as 100 million yen

The next of kin of any Self-Defense Force member who dies in the line of duty in Iraq will receive up to 100 million yen in condolence money, a senior Defense Agency official said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jul 5, 2003

Fast-moving dispatch bill needs some explanation

The House of Representatives passed a bill Friday that paves the way for elements of the Self-Defense Forces to go on a mission in Iraq.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 9, 2003

Kissaten culture still on the boil

At 3 p.m. precisely, a staffer in meikyoku kissa Lion in Shibuya quietly announces the start of today's "concert." Silence descends as she places a record on the player. A gray-haired customer puffs on a cigarette at his corner table.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Jan 16, 2003

Shame in a 'showcase'

Second of two parts I ended my last story by saying, "If it is wolves, or winter wilderness, you want to see, don't waste time wondering -- get to Yellowstone! But please, when you're there, don't rent a two-stroke snowmobile! I'll explain why in my next column."
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ARCHIPELA-GO
Oct 29, 2002

More than just another Little Kyoto

Travel around Japan enough and you soon notice how so many places like to imagine themselves as somewhere else. Aomori Prefecture is proud of its "Mount Fuji," Mount Iwake; Kawagoe likes being called "Little Edo"; and there are so many "Ginzas" in the land that if you put them all together you'd have...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Jun 16, 2002

Refined wining and dining without pretension

Japan's trendy wine boom ended a few years ago. Still, interest in wine did not plummet; instead, it normalized. In groceries stores, elderly ladies and hip twentysomethings alike scrutinize the wine shelves. At many Tokyo izakaya pubs, diners can opt for a glass of house wine with their sashimi, odenor...

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell