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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Oct 5, 2013

Downtown comedian Hitoshi Matsumoto leans from TV to film

The Downtown comedy duo — comprising Hitoshi Matsumoto and Masatoshi Hamada — are sitting on a train speeding towards Narita Airport outside Tokyo. It's not like they're going anywhere, or doing anything, even — they're just sitting there and waiting for something to happen. "Something" in this...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Oct 5, 2013

King's powerful sequel to 'The Shining'

'Did I approach the book with trepidation?" asks Stephen King in the author's note to "Doctor Sleep." "You better believe it."
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 5, 2013

Abe promotes secrecy, sidelining transparency and open government

Norika Fujiwara, a TV celebrity who serves as goodwill ambassador for the Japanese Red Cross, recently caused a media sensation when she came out against the government's proposed secrecy legislation, saying it would adversely affect citizens.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 5, 2013

Trouble is brewing on tracks up north

Last week the Fuji TV variety show "Real Scope" covered Japanese railroads. Most of the celebrities in the studio were densha otaku (train geeks), so it was one big love-in for railways and the people who operate them. However, the entire two-hour program focused on only two systems: the super express...
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 5, 2013

'Obamacare' exchanges have trouble with success

"We're building a complicated piece of technology," U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius said on the first day of the new Affordable Care Act — or "Obamacare," as it is otherwise known — "and hopefully you'll give us the same slack you give Apple."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Oct 4, 2013

Beatlemania: 'The screamers' and other tales of fandom

The first time Scottish concert promoter Andi Lothian booked the Beatles, in the frozen January of 1963, only 15 people showed up. The next time he brought them north of the border, to Glasgow Odeon on Oct. 5, they had scored a No. 1 album and three No. 1 singles, and it was as if a hurricane had blown...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 4, 2013

India's wealthy must open gates and fight chaos

Even well-to-do Indians, whose disengagement has made the erosion of public institutions possible, can no longer escape the extortion and lawlessness that the less lucky have always faced.
JAPAN
Oct 4, 2013

China rise may break Russia impasse: expert

China's growing economic and military might may pose a threat to Japan, but it also works in Tokyo's favor when it comes to settling a long-standing territorial dispute with Russia, a former high-ranking diplomat told a recent symposium in Tokyo.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 3, 2013

A taxing challenge to revival

As Shinzo Abe goes ahead with a sales-tax increase aimed at getting a handle on Japan's huge debt burden, he risks killing Japan's best chance for an economic recovery.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 3, 2013

Double the trouble, twice the joy for Japan's hafu

Until about 10 years ago, the standard Japanese image of kids of mixed blood was that they were 1) gorgeous, 2) rich and 3) able to live in Japan with none of the kinks and hang out at Azabu clubs when they were 13. In high school, my girlfriends scorned their own Japanese heritage. The common reply...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / SWEET INSPIRATIONS
Oct 3, 2013

A modern twist to traditional snacks

Nowhere is the intersection of Japanese food culture and style more obvious than in the genteel, refined world of wagashi. For centuries, Japanese confectioners, especially those associated with Kyoto and the rituals of the tea ceremony, have produced sweets of astounding intricacy and beauty.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 3, 2013

'R100'

The world premiere of Hitoshi Matsumoto's "R100" in the Toronto International Film Festival's Midnight Madness section must be frustrating for all those Japanese auteurs out there who got rejection letters from North America's most important festival.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Oct 3, 2013

Sonoma flavors come to Four Seasons; Lawry's beef on the bone; Hungarian fair at Royal Park Hotel

Sonoma flavors come to Four Seasons
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 3, 2013

Housing market exemptions to offset tax hike impact

The housing market will weather a consumption levy increase because of a tax break on home purchases, according to Mizuho Securities Co. and Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities Co.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 3, 2013

ANA's extra Haneda slots please United

United Continental Holdings Inc., the world's largest carrier, stands to benefit after ANA Holdings Inc. received 11 additional takeoff and landing rights at Tokyo's Haneda airport.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Society / ANALYSIS
Oct 3, 2013

As Xi tightens grip, hopes for China reforms vanish

After Xi Jinping took over as head of China's Communist Party in December, some liberals dared to hope that change was in store for the world's most populous nation.

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear