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Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Nov 27, 2007

Design Week in Tokyo; Good Design Award

Tokyo Design Week, the 2007 edition, has come and gone, and now we have to deal with the fallout: what we saw, experienced, and enjoyed throughout the weeklong design showcase. Although it truly is an international event, here are a few highlights from some of the Japanese participants.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 23, 2007

Top taiko player marks 25th anniversary

The leading taiko (Japanese drum) player Eitetsu Hayashi will play Solo Career 25th Anniversary Concerts in Kansai and Tokyo in December. He will perform four pieces by contemporary Japanese composers accompanied by an orchestra. Before the concerts, he will also release some new CDs to mark the 25th...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Nov 21, 2007

Save a bomb and warm your bones this winter

Saving can hurt: With Christmas on the way, it's time to get saving those pennies. Toymaker Tomy is offering to help with its bomb-shaped piggy bank. Looking like one of the ancient black bowling-ball-type bombs beloved of cartoons past, it comes complete with a white skull-and-crossbones motif and a...
COMMENTARY
Nov 20, 2007

Robbed of childhood, bereft of a future

NEW YORK — Looking at photographs of Iraqi children maimed by the war makes the conflict unforgettable. Reflecting on the causes that led to that war makes it unforgivable. New information is steadily coming out on the effects of the war on children, and how it has affected not only their health but...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 18, 2007

Losing the plot and ratings when jumping on the Showa bandwagon

In order to keep people watching a TV drama series every week, it helps to have a loose plot thread — an overarching mystery that remains unexplained while the various story lines develop over time. The protagonist of the Friday night TBS serial, "Uta-Hime (Song Princess)" (10 p.m.), is Taro Shimanto...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 17, 2007

Soft touch with Myanmar

It was far from a perfect crime and far from a perfect coverup: a shooting in broad daylight, hundreds of witnesses, scores of video cameras recording the crime from many angles, audio recordings of the shots fired, clear photos of a man brandishing a murder weapon, an insignia identifying the suspect's...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / SHORT TAKES
Nov 16, 2007

Flyboys

Director: Tony Bill
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 16, 2007

Bumper weekend for Tokyo clubs

This weekend, Tokyo's clubs feature sets from some of the giants of the Japanese dance-music scene, and while it will be impossible to catch all the artists, going to Air, Ageha or Womb will offer a good idea of the nation's electronic-music offerings.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 16, 2007

Jane Birkin

Jane Birkin
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 16, 2007

Indian puppetry pulls strings

This month, for the first time ever, audiences in Japan will be able to enjoy puppet plays performed in the ancient Yakshagana tradition of the South Indian state of Karnataka.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Nov 14, 2007

Rosy bitterling

* Japanese name: Tairiku baratanago * Scientific name: Rhodeus ocellatus ocellatus * Description: A small freshwater fish in the carp family, native to Taiwan, the rosy bitterling grows to some 6.5cm long. It's a pretty thing, with a flat silver body touched with green behind the head, blue on the sides...
JAPAN
Nov 11, 2007

Nakasone-Reagan summit venue now memorial hall

in Tokyo on Saturday where he and then U.S. President Ronald Reagan once held summit talks. The memorial house used to be his private mountain retreat when he was prime minister. KYODO PHOTO
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Nov 9, 2007

Maizuru, Kyoto: For those with an interest in Cold War spy novels

Located less than two hours from central Kyoto city, the port town of Maizuru is a world away from ancient capital of Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 9, 2007

'Four Minutes'

"Four Minutes" was inspired by a single photograph of an 80-year-old woman who worked as a piano teacher in a women's prison. She sat at her instrument, her hands placed lightly on the keys, and filmmaker Chris Kraus was struck by the contrast between her old, ravaged face and youthful, elegant hands....
CULTURE / Film
Nov 9, 2007

Tokyo's FILMeX: small but tasty

Now in its eighth year, Tokyo FILMeX (Nov. 17-25) continues to prove that good things come in small packages. With the sprawling Tokyo International Film Festival over, think of FILMeX as the more interesting, more memorable nijikai (after party) following TIFF's pomp and circumstance. FILMeX's devoted...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Nov 4, 2007

Teacher's providing guidance, problem-solving geisha, secret police

Everyone's favorite junior-high-school teacher, Kimpachi-sensei (Tetsuya Takeda), is back for another season of sage advice for confused young minds on "San-nen B-gumi Kimpachi-sensei (Year 3 Class B: Teacher Kimpachi)" (TBS, Wednesday, 9 p.m.).
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ROAD
Nov 4, 2007

A thoroughly modern retro classic

1903 was an amazing year for motorized vehicles in America. Henry Ford started producing his first Model A, the Wright Brothers made the world's first successful powered flight — and Bill Harley and Arthur Davidson began building motorcycles.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / WALKING THE WARDS
Nov 2, 2007

Well-heeled in Chuo Ward

From the opulence of world-renown Ginza emporiums, to the glittering scales on the fish auctioned from slick palettes in Tsukiji market, Chuo Ward wheels and deals precious commodities.
BUSINESS
Oct 27, 2007

Nissan profit drops 27% but sales growth promising

Nissan Motor Co. reported Friday a 27 percent decline in profit for the July-September quarter on one-time expenses and higher taxes that eroded overall sales growth and improved earnings in core auto operations.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / MY PLAYLIST
Oct 26, 2007

MY PLAYLIST: Robert Wyatt

"I think there are more jokes on it than people might realize," says one of the most distinctive voices in British pop, Robert Wyatt, when asked why his latest album isn't exactly a laugh-a-minute listen despite being titled "Comicopera." "I used to joke that deep down I'm really shallow, and it does...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Oct 26, 2007

Don't go for the gov, go for the good grub

Since comedian-turned-politican Hideo Higashikokubaru was elected governor of Miyazaki Prefecture in January, the previously nondescript, countryside region of 1.14 million people on the southeastern coast of Kyushu, southern Japan, has had its profile dramatically boosted.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Oct 26, 2007

Japanese comic storytelling in English

Rakugo story-teller Katsura Kaishi will give an English-language performance on Nov. 7 in Shimokitazawa, Tokyo. Originating in the Edo Period (1603-1868), this traditional form of Japanese entertainment sees a lone rakugo-ka (story-teller) sitting on a stage in kimono relating a long and complicated...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 25, 2007

Tokyo Motor Show offers peek at future

CHIBA — With oil prices hitting new highs, producing eco-friendly and fuel-efficient cars has become the norm for most carmakers.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 25, 2007

Nissan tests its limits with GT-R

CHIBA — Nissan Motor Co. unveiled its much-anticipated GT-R supercar Wednesday at the Tokyo Motor Show in Chiba, hoping to win the hearts of serious drivers in and outside Japan.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji