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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 11, 2012

Who can afford a day on the beach?

"We went to the beach on the mainland," said a foreign friend, "and it wasn't very nice."
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Aug 11, 2012

The race to be at rest

"Japanese are supposed to be polite. It's a defining part of the national character."
COMMENTARY
Aug 7, 2012

Wedding gift for the first couple of North Korea

I guess I am a sucker for old-fashioned romance. When I heard about the stunning marriage of Kim Jong Un, the young new leader of North Korea, to the lovely Ri Sol Ju, apparently a professional singer, I hurriedly buried the ideological hatchet and grabbed the latest BRIDES magazine to figure out what...
SPORTS / ODDS AND EVENS
Aug 7, 2012

Olympic spirit pushes Murray to tennis glory

No one is insisting that the Olympic tennis tournament becomes an unofficial fifth Grand Slam once every four years. It is, however, the closest thing to a major tournament in 2012 away from the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and upcoming U.S. Open.
Reader Mail
Jul 26, 2012

Adults accountable for bullying

The July 24 Kyodo article "Ministry to establish team to battle bullying" once again highlights our failure to act in due time and respond to the small acts. We once again chose to wait for the extreme to happen before taking serious action to curb or prevent such situations. We are always reactive,...
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Jul 24, 2012

'Flyjin' feel vindicated, worry for those left in Japan: some readers' responses

Responses to Patrick Budmar's June 12 Zeit Gist article, " 'Flyjin' feel vindicated, worry for those left in Japan:"
SOCCER / J. League
Jul 21, 2012

Ogasawara learned how sport can inspire in wake of tragedy

Mitsuo Ogasawara has never been a man of many words, but as the J. League takes a break from its normal schedule to host a disaster-relief charity match on Saturday, the Kashima Antlers midfielder is determined to give a voice to those still affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 20, 2012

'Brave'

'Brave" is the impetuous, irreverent new child to come out of the Pixar kingdom, and it is unlike previous Pixar movies for the following reasons. 1) The main character is a human teenage girl. 2) The whole thing is set in medieval Scotland and not some unspecified U.S. suburbia. 3) It explores the mother-daughter...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 19, 2012

Fuji Rock embraces Kilimanjaro blend

It may be tough to tell from both acts' music and sense of style, but without the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Saitama funk sextet Mountain Mocha Kilimanjaro would be a very different band.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 19, 2012

Greeen Linez debut revisits Japan's City Pop summer jams of the past

Nostalgia is nothing new in popular music. A disco revival during the 1990s (think Deee-Lite), led to a renewed fascination with the 1980s during the 2000s (think Chromeo and a synth-pop boom) and that decade even started seeing a '90s revival toward the end of it.
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Jul 16, 2012

Nuclear engineers ditching Japan for a bigger paycheck

Although Japan is reputed to be one of the most technologically advanced nations in nuclear power generation, it now faces a serious "brain drain" as some of its highly experienced nuclear engineers are lured to work in other countries for much better remuneration than they could hope to receive at home....
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Jul 15, 2012

Life up in the treetops

Imagine strolling through a forest and coming across a hut supported by four trees 8 meters off the ground. With its triangular roof, stained-glass door panels and timber decking, at first sight it's like something in a fairyland.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jul 14, 2012

Why we came to Japan — a different realm

"Why did you come to Japan?" We've all been asked this question. I still can't give a good answer.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 13, 2012

Hitoshi Matsumoto gets big laughs in Japan but the comedian wants more

Comics who direct films may start by making audiences laugh, but if they are at all successful they typically turn serious. The classic example is Charlie Chaplin, who went from slapstick two-reelers to speechifying against totalitarianism in "The Great Dictator."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 12, 2012

Public theater takes on a leading role

Once upon a time, Japanese contemporary theater shared the limelight with youth-cultural movements that were rocking the nation. Back then, in the late 1960s and '70s, the avant-garde works of the angura (underground) theater scene had such an affinity with the radical student movement that they often...
BASEBALL / HIT AND RUN
Jul 10, 2012

Milledge coming through for Swallows after being moved to leadoff spot

Lastings Milledge nearly put a ball into orbit against the Chunichi Dragons on a cool night at half-full (at best) Jingu Stadium last Thursday.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Jul 10, 2012

Readers lament the ever-shrinking eikaiwa salary

Some readers' responses to "The curious case of the eroding eikaiwa salary" by Patrick Budmar (Zeit Gist, July 3):
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jul 7, 2012

Early outburst ignites Giants in series opener against Tigers

The Yomiuri Giants must have had somewhere to be after their game on Friday night. Because they didn't waste any time putting the Hanshin Tigers away.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 5, 2012

Ryuichi Sakamoto gently rallies the troops for No Nukes 2012

The demonstrations against the restarting of the Oi nuclear power plant held recently on Friday nights outside Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's residence are very much directed at the occupant of that abode, but they are attracting attention around the world, too. One of their closest followers is a Japanese...
COMMENTARY
Jul 4, 2012

Reforming Japan's universities

Media reports say Japan's education bureaucrats are considering allowing students with "stellar" academic records to graduate from high school before they turn 18. In other words, the required three-year stint at high school might be cut to two.
LIFE / Digital / TECH_JAPAN
Jul 4, 2012

By skipping Tokyo Game Show, Microsoft is not doing anything to win over Japanese gamers

The United States was easy. Europe was slightly harder. But Japan has always seemed nearly impenetrable for Microsoft's Xbox gaming platform.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jul 1, 2012

Ryuichi Sakamoto reminds Japanese what's the score on nuclear blame

"Keeping silent after Fukushima is barbaric," is how composer and musician Ryuichi Sakamoto recently made clear his proactive stance toward Japan's ongoing nuclear disaster.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 28, 2012

Expressions that lie between functionality and art

"Function Dysfunction" at the Tomio Koyama Gallery, Kyoto, brings together the ceramic works of three Americans: ceramicists Adam Silverman and Ani Kasten, and sculptor Alma Allen. Silverman, who felt that their works shared an aesthetic DNA, brought the three together, explaining that their pieces,...
EDITORIALS
Jun 24, 2012

Taming the danger from Europe

The leaders of the Group of 20 major economies, at their June 18-19 summit in Los Gabos, Mexico, adopted a declaration emphasizing the need to resolve the European financial crisis, among other things. The declaration in part said that "Euro Area members of the G-20 will take all necessary policy measures...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jun 23, 2012

When generations pass on the street

I see him first. The new guy in town. He's just popped out of a convenience store and has turned in my direction. The walkway pinches in and the only way he can avoid me is to freeze in his tracks and spin around. We are destined to pass.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 21, 2012

Fan loyalty brings 2PM ups and downs

Dancing boy bands are a common feature in K-pop, but when it comes to fan loyalty, 2PM has few rivals.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 21, 2012

Slow design: Everyday objects that make us rethink our lifestyle

If you've never been to the 21_21 Design Sight exhibition space in the Tokyo Midtown complex, and have even a passing interest in craftsmanship, now is the time to pay a visit. Just touring the building, which was designed by famed architect Tadao Ando and lies largely underground, would be well worth...
EDITORIALS
Jun 20, 2012

Sake makes a comeback

Japanese traditional sake had a resurgence in 2011, with drinkers consuming more than in 2010. After hitting a peak in the mid-1970s, consumption gradually fell to a third. Last year, though, saw a return of enthusiasm for sake as a way of supporting Tohoku, a region with three major sake-producing prefectures:...
EDITORIALS
Jun 18, 2012

Dousing the Flame

Reports of a new computer virus, dubbed "Flame," have raised alarms about a new era of cyber threats. While countries are increasingly reliant on cyberspace for their very survival — it is now part of the social, economic and security infrastructure — it remains a largely unregulated domain; worse,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 15, 2012

Film fest keeps it short

Once upon a time, short films actually played in cinemas, as an opening act for the feature presentation. But as feature films got longer and cinemas tried to squeeze in ever more screenings, the shorts eventually fell by the wayside. As a result they lost their position as the traditional calling card...

Longform

Members of the nonprofit group Japan Youth Memorial Association search for the remains of dead soldiers in a cave in Okinawa Prefecture in February.
The long search for Japan’s lost soldiers