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Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 29, 2012

Japan's tall stories of great towers in the city

Perhaps because we are upright, vertical animals, towers have always held a special fascination for us. The artist Taro Okamoto expressed this attraction in anthropomorphic terms when he designed the centerpiece of the 1970 Osaka Expo, the 70-meter-tall "Tower of the Sun" with its three faces, including...
CULTURE / Art
Mar 29, 2012

Japan's tall stories of great towers in the city

Perhaps because we are upright, vertical animals, towers have always held a special fascination for us. The artist Taro Okamoto expressed this attraction in anthropomorphic terms when he designed the centerpiece of the 1970 Osaka Expo, the 70-meter-tall "Tower of the Sun" with its three faces, including...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Mar 29, 2012

A tale of two paths to indie success

Tokyo postpunk quartet Otori is an archetypal product of the city's underground live-music scene. The band's sets feature a machine-gun rattle of drums, slashes of guitar that explode in fierce climaxes, and bursts of scattershot vocals that teeter on the brink of hysteria — the kind of music that...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 29, 2012

Lenny Kravitz

When Barack Obama campaigned for the presidency of the United States in 2008, the topic of race often came up in discussions about him. Obama was born to a black father and a white mother, and questions such as "Is America ready for a black president" and "Is Obama black enough" seemed to follow him...
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Mar 27, 2012

Old guard see despot in Hashimoto

Toru Hashimoto's push to fundamentally reform Japan picked up steam Saturday with the opening of Ishin Seiji Juku (Restoration Political Institute), as criticism grows in Tokyo that the outspoken Osaka mayor is leading not only a national revolt against established parties but also a mass movement reminiscent...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 27, 2012

Detainees' families fighting for dignity — and hugs

The East Japan Immigration Center, more commonly known as the Ushiku detention center, stands in the middle of sleepy countryside in Ibaraki Prefecture, 50 km north of Tokyo. With one of the world's tallest standing Buddha statues less than 3 km away, the center could have made a nice country getaway...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Mar 27, 2012

Yasuo Sasano, manager of Kurumi Mansion

Yasuo Sasano, 62, is the manager of Kurumi Mansion, an extended-stay hotel in Tokyo's Koto Ward. Located on the Sumida riverside, across from Tokyo City Air Terminal, Kurumi Mansion's convenient position and reasonable prices have made it a magnet for savvy travelers. An added attraction is Sasano himself,...
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2012

BOJ bond move was 'desperate' act

The Bank of Japan's decision to expand bond purchases and set a 1 percent inflation goal was a step too far that leaves it likely to finance government deficit spending, a former executive said.
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2012

JGBs, not tax hikes, way to go, Sakakibara says

Japan should issue more bonds to help boost the economy instead of attempting tax hikes, which might stifle a recovery, said Eisuke Sakakibara, a former Finance Ministry official.
COMMENTARY
Mar 26, 2012

Last stand of a 'salesman' readies France for old-fashioned Socialist

Faced with renewed allegations that Moammar Gadhafi had poured up to €50 million into his presidential campaign in 2007, French President Nicolas Sarkozy finally lost it.
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Mar 26, 2012

Tapping into oceanic energy

The serious physical damage caused by the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant disaster, following the 3/11 earthquake and tsunami, has reminded Japan all the more of its acute shortage of natural energy sources and the need for developing alternative sources. This has led scientists and private corporations...
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Mar 26, 2012

Diversity, inclusiveness should be the key words for Japan after March 11

March will forever be a month to remember in Japan. Already a year has gone by since that awful 11th of March when the world erupted in all sorts of ways around us. Given all the terrible things that happened then and continue to haunt us now, what are the values that we need to hold most dear? What...
COMMENTARY
Mar 26, 2012

Cyberspace: new face of war in the 21st century

For the past few years, there has been an explosion of ways in which countries can engage in destructive behavior. The use of cyberspace as a venue of battle has changed the nature of conventional warfare. This poses problems in terms of response to those threats as well as how to develop international...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Mar 25, 2012

Surprise trip to Sicily; Miracle Hospice; CM of the week: Boss coffee

Until his death last May, Kiyoshi Kodama was the host of the NHK travel show "Sekai Bikkuri Ryokosha" ("World Surprise Travel Agency"; NHK, Tues., 7:30 p.m.). Kodama was the "owner" of the titular travel firm who recommended "unique" overseas sightseeing plans from his studio perch.
Japan Times
LIFE
Mar 25, 2012

Blooms of death

"If only we might fall Like cherry blossoms in the spring — So pure and radiant !"
Japan Times
LIFE
Mar 25, 2012

Tracing the trees in a long national love affair

When five shell-pink buds open together on a particular tree in the precincts of Yasukuni Shrine in central Tokyo, the city explodes with the joy of spring. The cherry-blossom season has officially begun!
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Mar 25, 2012

A woman of wisdom among the energy mandarins

Ask me who should facilitate Japan's energy dialogue and the choice is easy: Junko Edahiro.
EDITORIALS
Mar 25, 2012

Living alone in Tokyo

Tokyo is a lonelier place than ever. According to a recent report by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, more people live alone in Tokyo than ever before. This year, the number of people per household in Tokyo fell below two per household to 1.99 for the first time ever.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 25, 2012

An unserious look at the work of Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu

NORIKO SMILING, by Adam Mars-Jones. Notting Hill Editions, 2011, 239 pp., £12.00 (hardcover). "I can hardly be accused of being an expert on Japanese film," Adam Mars-Jones assures us early in "Noriko Smiling," his monograph on Yasujiro Ozu's "Late Spring." Such protestations at the beginning of a...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 24, 2012

Some breaking mews on cat cafes

With animal employment rates on the rise, Japanese officials are now stepping in to regulate animal cafes. Citing new Animal Protection Laws, authorities are especially cracking down on 24-hour cat cafes. Makes you wonder: Where's a nocturnal cat to go for a cuppa?
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Mar 23, 2012

Auto thefts in Japan record first rise in a decade

Grand theft auto, the real kind, makes a slight comeback in Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 23, 2012

'My Week With Marilyn'

In his book "Retromania," music critic Simon Reynolds makes the case that pop music/rock has gone distressingly meta, feeding on its accumulated history at the expense of any further forward evolution musically. It's a bold argument — and well worth a read — but one could probably make the same case...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 23, 2012

Yearly anime fairs a must for die-hard fans

Tokyo's otaku (geek) hub of Akihabara might be empty for the next two weekends as two major anime events hit the capital.
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 23, 2012

Ichiro in spotlight as MLB opens '12

Yu Darvish leaving Japan was the major story of the MLB offseason. When the season begins later this week, the headlines will all be about Ichiro Suzuki coming back.

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan