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CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jan 8, 2012

Rock meets French cuisine in 'Hungry'; launch of 'Taira no Kiyomori'; Shin-Sereberu:

Synergy is the name of the game in the new drama series "Hungry" (Fuji TV, Tues., 10:15 p.m.), which incorporates two themes: rock music and French cuisine.
CULTURE / Books
Jan 8, 2012

Holding court on warped ideas of sex and love

LOVESICK JAPAN: Sex, Marriage, Romance and Law, by Mark D. West. Cornell University Press, 2011, 272 pp., $29.95 (hardcover) Nobody else explores the law in Japan quite like Mark West, bringing it to life and close to home. "Lovesick Japan" is an entertaining and insightful examination of the courts,...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 8, 2012

Oops! Pregnant celebs dancing down the aisle

J-pop diva Kumi Koda recently announced her engagement to Kenji03 of the rock band Back-On, and revealed that the pair had met earlier in the year when they collaborated on a song. She didn't mention that Kenji03 had previously dated Koda's sister, TV baka (silly) personality Misono, but that qualifying...
EDITORIALS
Jan 8, 2012

Thinner and thinner

Japanese girls weigh less than ever, according to an Education Ministry survey of 650,000 Japanese children aged 5 to 17. The average weight of girls in Japan was at its lowest since data started being compiled in 1948, even though average height has increased by five to eight centimeters. These worrisome...
BUSINESS
Jan 7, 2012

GDP shrank last quarter on Europe debt woes: JCER

The rebound from the March 11 disasters was probably cut short in the fourth quarter as the impact of Europe's crisis outweighed the support from reconstruction spending.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 6, 2012

'Magic Tree House' hits the big screen at last — but only in Japan

If your fantasy-based series of children's books has hit sales above at least 50 million copies, with translations into more than 20 languages, then you can certainly expect Hollywood to come calling. Such was the case for author Mary Pope Osborne, whose "Magic Tree House" series has 48 books published...
CULTURE / Art
Jan 6, 2012

"Araki Takako Retrospective"

Takako Araki (1921-2004), a native of Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture, began creating glassware around 1950. From 1956-60, she ran an art gallery in Osaka where she presented works in plaster and steel and introduced Kansai-based avant-garde artists.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 6, 2012

"Araki Takako Retrospective"

Takako Araki (1921-2004), a native of Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture, began creating glassware around 1950. From 1956-60, she ran an art gallery in Osaka where she presented works in plaster and steel and introduced Kansai-based avant-garde artists.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 6, 2012

'Himizu'

Violence, director Kinji Fukasaku once told me, is "a pillar of filmmaking." But on-screen mayhem regarded as extreme in Fukasaku's 1970s heyday (see his "Jingi Naki Tatakai [Battles Without Honor & Humanity]" series for examples) looks mild in ours.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 6, 2012

'Good'

As far as movies about Nazi Germany go, "Good" belies its title and sits fidgeting on a terrain somewhere between so-so and inoffensive. But 15 years ago a story like "Good" would have been called daring — even revolutionary — for it ventures beyond caricatured depictions of monstrous Nazis and the...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 6, 2012

Behind schedule, third 787 to land in Tokyo

Boeing Co.'s third Dreamliner to enter service will land in Tokyo Thursday, capping off the 2011 handovers of the new 787 and 747-8 models that probably fell short of projections.
Reader Mail
Jan 5, 2012

What a 'war-lover' has wrought

Talk about living in a glass house. I have a couple of questions for Kenzaburo Sugai (Jan. 1 letter, "What drives a war-loving culture?"):
COMMENTARY
Jan 5, 2012

U.S. turns to drones to counter China

A recent offer by the Seychelles to refuel and replenish Chinese naval ships on anti-piracy patrols in the northwest Indian Ocean was seen as the latest sign of China's expanding naval power.
Reader Mail
Jan 5, 2012

New paradigm for nuclear energy

Regarding the Jan. 3 front-page article "Fukushima meltdowns set nuclear energy debate on its ear": Nuclear power isn't the problem. The problem is with the reactors we've been using to produce it. If the reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant had been liquid fluoride thorium reactors (LFTRs),...
COMMENTARY
Jan 5, 2012

Why Obama will (won't) win re-election in 2012

Could 2012 turn conventional wisdom on its head? Here's the conventional wisdom: U.S. President Barack Obama's re-election is vulnerable to the weak economy and high joblessness. Here's what might happen: The economy gradually improves, and although unemployment stays high (exceeding 8 percent), what...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 4, 2012

Going to war, U.S. missed its opportunity to combat WMD

Now that U.S. troops have left Iraq, Americans are taking stock of the staggering price of this nine-year war of choice, in blood (nearly 4,500 Americans dead, 33,000 wounded), in fractured relations worldwide and in monetary terms (nearly $1 trillion in direct spending; several times that when counting...
Japan Times
JAPAN / NUCLEAR AWAKENING
Jan 4, 2012

Mothers first to shed food-safety complacency

The disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant and the threat of radioactive fallout changed the lives of many people, including Mizuho Nakayama and other mothers of young children whose primary goal suddenly became that of keeping their kids out of harm's way.
EDITORIALS
Jan 4, 2012

Ties that continue in 2012

Choosing the word of the year for 2011 must not have been easy, but kizuna, meaning bonds or ties, was an excellent choice that will be important in this coming year as well. The Japan Kanji Association announced its choice at Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto, a place that for many feels like the spiritual heart...
JAPAN
Jan 3, 2012

Population takes worst drop since '47

Japan's population dropped for a fifth consecutive year in 2011, falling by the most since World War II after a record earthquake and tsunami killed thousands, according to the health ministry.

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