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LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Apr 7, 2010

Softbank's brings a smartphone named Desire to Japan's shores

Object of desire: Not content with having the famous Apple iPhone in its stable of smartphones, Softbank is now bringing the HTC Desire and its Android 2.1 operating system to the local market. Also known in Japan as the X06HT, the new phone has already created waves overseas. It seeks to live up to...
BASKETBALL
Apr 4, 2010

SeaHorses, Trians win openers

Aisin forward J.R. Sakuragi had a game-high 23 points, including two key free throws in the final minute, to lift the SeaHorses to a 66-61 victory over the Hitachi Sunrockers in Game 1 of the JBL playoff semifinals at Yoyogi Gymnasium No. 2 on Saturday. Aisin, the two-time defending champion, made 51.1...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 4, 2010

Newspapers, broadcasters not facing facts: Web is here to stay

Nihon Keizai, Japan's main financial newspaper, launched its new Web version on March 23. As with the print version, there will be two editions, morning and evening. There will also be Web-exclusive features like videos. Subscribers who opt for the Web version only pay ¥4,000 a month, while those who...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Apr 2, 2010

The Mujirushi house: Fans finally get total immersion

Fans of Mujirushi can now live in the no-nonsense, customizable house that Muji built. Simple functionality will cost you, though.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Apr 2, 2010

Lauderdale, Mariage Freres, Lipton Tea House: Roppongi breakfast, high tea in the Ginza

Breakfast and afternoon tea: Two meals that rarely get discussed in this column. It's not a question of bias. It's just there are very few places in town that get them right.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 29, 2010

India's budget boldly exempts toy balloons from excise duty

HONG KONG — Which country is growing at close to 8 percent a year but has the potential for double digit-growth, is already in the world's top 10 industrial powers but should be in the top three or four, has the best demographic profile of almost all developing countries but faces immense social and...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Mar 28, 2010

Thatched spring in Setagaya

To slough off winter sluggishness and get into step with spring, I set a course from Seijo Gakuen-mae on the Odakyu Line to Jidayubori Minkaen — a compound of late-Edo Period (1860s) thatched farmhouses in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward — and ending at Futako Tamagawa Station, about 4 km away as the crow...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Mar 26, 2010

Get your gold-plated invite to designer discounts

While top-end brands are losing out on the high street, exclusive online shopping communities might be their ticket out of tough times.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 26, 2010

Yuki "Ureshikutte Dakiau-yo"

One of the most striking features of former Judy and Mary singer Yuki Isoya's career is the way that she has maintained a unique sense of her own identity throughout the body of her solo work. Pick almost any song from any of her five studio albums and, with its squeaky-yet-powerful vocals and vaguely...
MORE SPORTS / ICE TIME
Mar 24, 2010

Takahashi's encore for Vancouver — a world title

It's not often in life that you get a second chance after squandering a golden opportunity.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Mar 21, 2010

Where history whiffs in the air

As anyone with even a scant knowledge of Japanese history is probably aware, the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 was the "Big One." The absolute victory of Tokugawa Ieyasu made shoguns of him and his successors, who kept their hands firmly clutching the reins of power until they were wrenched away in 1868's...
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK
Mar 19, 2010

'Guts' shows off his softer side

FRaU is one women's magazine that's got guts.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 19, 2010

Man behind the masks

HOLLYWOOD — Sacha Baron Cohen is perhaps the unlikeliest British movie star since the plain, self-effacing and rather asexual Sir Alec Guinness. But like the brilliant knight — who happened to be half-Jewish — Baron Cohen seemingly becomes the character he plays, even to the point of declining...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 19, 2010

Reinterpretations of modern history

One of Japan's pre-eminent contemporary artists, Yasumasa Morimura is known for his gender-bending self- portraits reinterpreting canonical works of Western art history. His works combine aspects of painting, sculpture, set design, performance and photography, and often use humor to subvert revered icons....
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 17, 2010

You can count on the tales behind number-kanji

When giving talks on Japan in elementary school classrooms in the United States, I chalk the kanji 一, 二, and 三 on the blackboard and ask the children to guess their meanings. "One, two, three!" they shout, easily intuiting three kanji introduced to Japanese schoolchildren in the first grade. Japanese...
EDITORIALS
Mar 15, 2010

Yubari set on reconstruction

The assembly of Yubari, a bankrupt city in central Hokkaido, on March 2 adopted a financial reconstruction plan to pay off accumulated debts of ¥32.2 billion over 17 years. The plan also features 74 new projects to resuscitate the city and improve services for residents. To persevere through a long,...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Mar 14, 2010

Beauty transformation, documentary on working poor; CM of the week: Kirin's Sekai no High Ball

The makeover variety show "Kasupe! Beauty Colosseum" was a weekly series up until a few years ago, and its return to Fuji TV this Tuesday at 7 p.m. is for a 2-hour " kiseki no daigekihen " (miracle super change) special.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 12, 2010

Family-friendly exhibit celebrates mammals

From Ueno Zoo's giant panda, Ling Ling, to a 2.5-meter-tall polar bear, around 280 stuffed specimens, fossils and skeletons of mammals will go on display at the National Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo from March 13. Titled "Mammals: Diversity in Terrestrial Life," the exhibition examines the evolution...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 12, 2010

Regional resonance

In a metropolis the size of Tokyo, it is no surprise that there are several large orchestras and a number of high-quality concert halls. But the number of orchestras performing daily can be hard to keep track of, particularly as some have very similar names: Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 5, 2010

A rogue on high

In real life, Ishikawa Goemon was the leader of a band of burglars in Kyoto who was caught in the summer of 1594 trying to kill Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the foremost politician of his day, and was duly executed at age 36 along with many members of his family and his gang.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 5, 2010

Rebel artist restored to glory

The Tokyo National Museum in Ueno isn't merely a convenient place for old folks to while away an afternoon, or a safe venue to take parties of schoolchildren to on excursions. It's also a very symbolic and ritualistic space, where the final seal is set on the nation's cultural and historical image of...
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Mar 3, 2010

Cowon puts sound before vision; Nikon camera zooms ahead

Sound choice: Korean maker Cowon is known for portable media players that have exemplary audio reproduction. Its V5HD, which is due to hit the Japanese market on March 5, follows the formula. It employs Cowon's new JetEffect 3.0 technology, which is intended to maximize the sound performance by offering...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 2, 2010

Attorney glut may hit foreign firms

COLIN P. A. JONES One of the interesting things about being part of Japan's new law school system and its role in greatly increasing the number of Japanese attorneys is this: Nobody seems to have bothered asking the Japanese people if they actually need more attorneys. The original target of increasing...
COMMENTARY
Mar 1, 2010

Woods' apology whips up media incapable of behaving with class

LOS ANGELES — At times my loyalty to my chosen profession of journalism cannot be taken as a given. This is one of those times.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 27, 2010

Teaching visitors traditional ways

Upon meeting Michi Ogawa, who is deftly aligning the collar of a kimono that she has tucked around her guest, a few adjectives might come to mind, like "graceful" and "soft-spoken," but "feminist" or "outspoken" probably wouldn't be among them. But speak with her about her concerns and some of your preconceptions...
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Feb 26, 2010

No excuse for poor results at free-throw line

Any league that doubles in size in its first five years will experience growing pains, and there's really no way to avoid this.

Longform

Juzo Itami’s “Tampopo” was released Nov. 23, 1985, and though it wasn’t a hit at the time, it has gained a cult following in the years since.
Eat, slurp, love: 'Tampopo' turns 40