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Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Nov 18, 2011

Atelier d'I: Plenty of wine — and food to match

For the longest time, one of our most vociferous complaints about Tokyo was that there weren't enough wine bars worthy of the name. These days, thankfully, we are spoiled for choice in every price range. One of the best of the new crop we've discovered recently is Atelier d'I in Shirokane.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2011

First glimpses inside the Fukushima No. 1 compound since 3/11

On Saturday a group of journalists, including this reporter, were allowed for the first time to enter the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant on a guided tour.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 17, 2011

Saori Yuki wants a kayōkyoku wave

Defining kayōkyoku is like trying to nail down konnyaku.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 17, 2011

"Geometry Of Light By Alyson Shotz"

Espace Louis Vuitton TokyoCloses Dec. 25
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 17, 2011

Passepied "Watashi Kaika Shita Wa"

Oh, not again. Almost exactly three years ago I was handed a preview copy of "Hi-Fi Anatomia" by Soutaiseiriron. At first I hated the album's anime-friendly helium vocals and pretentious air, but after a few spins, the super-minimal jazzy-poppy tunes, as fragile as glass, drilled their way into my brain....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 17, 2011

Songwriter's album touches on quake

It might still be too early to understand the effect of March 11's Great East Japan Earthquake on musicians living in the stricken Tohoku region, but as lives get back to normal artists will no doubt find ways to express themselves.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Nov 13, 2011

Creating a future for Japan's aging society

Japan is an elderly country. Twenty-three percent of its population is 65 or over. By 2050, nearly 40 percent will be. Nothing like these demographics has ever been seen before, here or anywhere. This is well-known and much discussed, usually in terms of the grim implications for an enfeebled economy...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Nov 13, 2011

Erotica to celebrate and educate

The word shunga ("spring picture"), used to identify woodblock prints that portray erotic subjects, is not simply a euphemism for the awakening of natural urges. Rather, as both these books inform us, it is an abbreviation of a longer Chinese name, shunkyu higa ("secret pictures from the Spring Palace"),...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Nov 12, 2011

Retiree's blog about old car catalogs finds fans

A blog written by a 76-year-old retiree in Ichinomiya, Aichi Prefecture, is finding an audience among car buffs.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 11, 2011

"Exhibition as media 2011: Tetsuya Umeda"

"Exhibition as media" is a series of art projects planned and implemented by the Kobe Art Center in collaboration with Kansai-based artists.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 10, 2011

Sapphire Slows "True Breath"

The music Sapphire Slows conjures up on her debut EP, "True Breath," floats between genres: dance music, dream pop and ambient are just a few. However, the element uniting these five songs is really how unsettling they can sound — even at their most danceable.
COMMENTARY
Nov 10, 2011

Open markets key to growth

The lengthy communique issued at the end of the recent Group of 20 summit in Cannes has been largely overlooked in the media, which have understandably focused on the financial crisis facing the eurozone. It is probable that many leaders did not even read the full text that had been prepared in advance...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 10, 2011

At Innit's Osaka parties it's bring your own beats

Osaka's Innit crew don't hold your typical club event. Though their parties feature a mix of live performers and DJs, founder Masayuki Kubo wants to attract a particular type of reveler — aspiring artists. The Osaka native offers a ¥500 discount for anyone who brings along electronic music that they...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Nov 5, 2011

Micro-hydro power set to light up cherry tree

The city of Motosu in Gifu Prefecture is planning to light up its famous Usuzumi Zakura cherry tree, said to be more than 1,500 years old, during the "hanami" season using electricity from a small hydroelectric generator.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Nov 4, 2011

Akita's Gardener proving a formidable force once again

With identical 5-1 records, the upstart Akita Northern Happinets and expansion Chiba Jets square off four times over the next two weekends. It will be a strong early season test for both squads.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 4, 2011

Fashion's Night Out offers chance for freebies

Hot on the stiletto heels of Tokyo's Mercedes Benz Fashion Week comes Fashion's Night Out, an event that features limited-edition merchandise, some freebies and, of course, Champagne.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 4, 2011

Get a sample of Japanese arts

The Japanese arts of noh and kabuki are popular with tourists from all over, and Kamigata Traditional Entertainment Night was created to make productions easier to comprehend with its all-English program of traditional theater.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 4, 2011

"Passionate Men Challenging Iron: Keiji Uematsu, Jun Tsukawaki and Chu Enoki"

This show features three artists who use iron as the prime material for their works.
LIFE / Style & Design
Nov 4, 2011

Innovation abounds at Tokyo Designers Week

If ever proof was needed of the efficacy of Tokyo Designers Week, the annual designers' trade show currently under way at Tokyo's Meiji Jingu Gaien park, then it is apparent at booth D14, where designer Atsuhiro Hayashi is showing his wares.
CULTURE
Nov 4, 2011

Innovation abounds at Tokyo Designers Week

If ever proof was needed of the efficacy of Tokyo Designers Week, the annual designers' trade show currently under way at Tokyo's Meiji Jingu Gaien park, then it is apparent at booth D14, where designer Atsuhiro Hayashi is showing his wares.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Nov 2, 2011

Shōgi showdown for supercomputer

Eiki Ito, 49, started programming a shōgi (Japanese chess) computer in 1998, because back then, he says, his job with an IT firm wasn't keeping him busy enough. Thirteen years later, his pet machine boasts a computing ability of 4 million moves per second. And it may well soon beat one of the strongest...
LIFE / Digital / TECH_JAPAN
Nov 2, 2011

Preorders keep that 'I-can't-wait-to-play' energy alive

Nov. 11, 2006, was one of the most stressful nights of my gaming life. That was the date the PlayStation 3 launched in Japan — and it was hell.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Oct 30, 2011

Canada's hanging garden of stone in Japan

Nobody appears to object as you step onto the covered elevator that ascends to the fourth floor of the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo's well-heeled Aoyama-Itchome district. Formalities are waived for the occasional visitor coming to see one of Japan's finest and most daring contemporary stone gardens.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Oct 30, 2011

Sheer delight of graceful Kurahara

There is a persistent hum of activity among small-press publications in Japan, much of it concerned with poetry and a good deal of it translation.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 30, 2011

Cyclists piste at Tokyo police crackdown

Last month, comedian Mitsunori Fukuda was stopped and cited for riding a fixed-gear racing bike on a public street in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward. These bicycles, also known as "piste bikes," have become popular in the past few years, not so much as a conveyance but more as a fashion statement. They usually...
CULTURE / Japan Pulse
Oct 28, 2011

Entrepreneurs make Korean ikemen the dish du jour

Cute, young Korean man-flesh is on the menu now, as Tokyo establishments cash in on the continuing hanryu boom.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Oct 28, 2011

Shimane's Yamamoto plays a cerebral game

The Shimane Susanoo Magic have begun their second season in terrific fashion, winning four games on the road.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past