Search - life-style

 
Menu
Search
 
August 25, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access
5,933 results
Sort by: Relevance Newest Oldest
After adjusting your search parameters, press Enter on your keyboard or click on the red magnifying glass to run your query again.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 9, 2006

Calling on the right brain for creative strategy

With his head shaved and outfitted in designer glasses and crocodile-style winklepicker shoes, Gordon Watson does not look like the stereotypical president of any type of company, let alone one selling life insurance.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 16, 2005

A baroque approach

With his keen, adventurous musical intellect and an interpretative idiosyncrasy that breathes new life into the standard repertoire, Dutch cellist Pieter Wispelwey is fast assuming a hallowed place in the cellist pantheon. Influenced by the revolutionary Early Music movement in the Netherlands under...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 2, 2019

Portals of the past: Peering into Tokyo's traditional kissaten coffee shops

"Sorry, we're full," I hear someone say as I open the door to Ladrio, a pre-eminent kissaten (traditional coffee shop) situated in a tumbledown alley in Tokyo's Jimbocho neighborhood.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 12, 2014

Tatsumi: Godfather of alternative manga is reborn on film

Manga artist Yoshihiro Tatsumi has always enjoyed a certain level of fame in his home country, where he's known as the originator of gekiga, a hard-boiled style of manga from the 1960s-'70s. Overseas, however, it's only since 2009 that his reputation has risen meteorically, after an English-language...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Aug 7, 2011

Tadanori Yokoo: An artist by design

In conversation, Tadanori Yokoo jumps nimbly between the past and the present. One moment he's watching the sky glow red as bombs rain down on Kobe during World War II. The next he's riding in a taxi with Yukio Mishima. And then he's back in the present, here at his studio in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward, discussing...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 7, 2009

Stripped of stereotypes

If you ever have the chance to meet Lu Nagata, you will never forget her style and determination.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 16, 2008

R&B queen Double adds jewel to crown

Staying at the top of the game after 10 years is no mean feat in Japan's fickle music business. As one of the first artists to bring American-style R&B to these shores, Double's achievements are doubly impressive. And now she's celebrating her first decade with an album of collaborations with Japanese...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Sep 2, 2007

Danjuro Ichikawa: Destined to act wild

When Danjuro Ichikawa stomps around the stage in flamboyant costumes, his face painted in red-and-white makeup and his voice virtually bellowing, it is kabuki in its rawest, most dramatic form. This actor and his ancestors through 11 previous generations have been wreaking havoc in the elegant world...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 9, 2006

Classical Japanese text -- what is lost and found in translation

THE TALES OF THE HEIKE, translated by Burton Watson, edited with an introduction by Haruo Shirane, glossary and bibliographies compiled by Michael Watson. New York: Columbia University Press, 2006, 216 pp., illustrated, $24.50 (cloth). The "Heike Monogatari," that famous account of the events that led...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Feb 5, 2006

Fashionista with attitude

Raised on the mean streets of Brooklyn's Brownsville district, Gene Krell is a self-proclaimed tough guy who cites as one of his heroes a little-known but highly colorful "Dadaist professional boxer" called Arthur Cravan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Oct 2, 2005

Harumi Kurihara: Homing in on success

As a cook and lifestyle guru, Harumi Kurihara has often been dubbed Japan's answer to America's Martha Stewart or Britain's Delia Smith. But in February this year, she scaled new heights when the English-language edition of her book "Harumi no Japanese Cooking" -- titled "Harumi's Japanese Cooking" --...
CULTURE / Art
Nov 7, 2001

In search of simplicity

In turbulent times, we turn to the simple things of life with relief. But in fine art, simplicity is not easy, and it is a brave painter who spends his life depicting pots and pans, apples and pears.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 10, 2023

Burt Bacharach, whose buoyant pop confections lifted the ’60s, dies at 94

The composer's collaborations with the lyricist Hal David — “The Look of Love,” “Walk On By,” “Alfie” and many more hits — evoked a sleek era of airy romance.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 24, 2017

Japan's lowriders get a little higher

The scene at Makuhari Messe could be at the Louvre — if the Louvre were to pump hip-hop throughout its galleries and have half-naked women posing beside its exhibits.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 16, 2013

Seeing where Shinto and Buddhism cross

"The number of Shinto shrines in Japan has changed over centuries due to various political and social changes. There were about 190,000 shrines during the early Meiji Era (1867-1912), before a drastic change came about in the merging of shrines and temples. The number of shrines was greatly reduced,...
Japan Times
LIFE
Jun 6, 2010

Dancing for joy in Japan

As I sipped my vin rouge last week during an interval in "The Sleeping Beauty," K-Ballet's latest Tokyo production, a woman at the next table said to her companion: "I can't believe that evil fairy was a man! I just naturally thought it was a woman dancing that role."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Jan 7, 2007

Yoshiharu Habu: Japan's king of the board

Yoshiharu Habu shocked the shogi (Japanese chess) world when, on Feb. 14, 1996, at the age of 25, he won his 7th title to become the only person in the history of the ancient board game to simultaneously possess all seven titles -- Meijin, Ryuo, Kio, Oza, Kisei, Oi and Osho.
Features
Sep 25, 2005

Shinobazu Pond

"Listen," said Nishizawa-san.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 27, 2022

Lyricist Takashi Matsumoto on Happy End, writing for pop and helping change the course of Japanese music history

Happy End's decision in 1970 to play American-inspired yet sing in Japanese proved to be a watershed moment for pop music here.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Nov 7, 2021

Meet the unofficial mayor of New York’s ‘Little Tokyo’

With little fanfare, since the 1980s Bon Yagi has helped transform New York's grungy East Village into a trendy hub for Japanese cuisine. His motto? “Visit Japan without airfare.”
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
Feb 22, 2020

Satoru Naito: Starting up in San Francisco

Moving to Silicon Valley was a no-brainer for Naito — it was where Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook, and where he knew he'd be inspired to start a business.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Mar 23, 2019

Flower power: A Tokyo florist's decision to close his shop amid a shrinking market affects a wider community

It's 2:30 a.m. and dark outside. Tsuyoshi Hirasawa can see his breath in the February chill as he turns the key in the ignition of his white Honda minivan. The large hands gripping the steering wheel are rough and leathery from years of working with water, soil and the stems and branches of plants he...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / A Weekend In
Mar 8, 2019

A weekend in Osaka: A sensory feast in the nation's kitchen

Osaka will host four games for the Rugby World Cup at its Hanazono Rugby Stadium. Check out our guide to the city to find out what to do when you're in Osaka for the weekend.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
Nov 11, 2017

Light designer creates European ambience

From a young age, Stuttgart-born Megumi Ito always felt "a bit different" from people in her seaside home of Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Mar 15, 2017

Finding a family in Japan's foreign drag scene

Western drag queens living in Tokyo, Kansai and Nagoya discuss the differences between the scene in Japan and back home.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Dec 1, 2014

What to buy, where to go: 40 steps to maximum merriment this Christmas in Japan

From meeting Pikachu in Fukushima to a laughter ritual in Osaka, here are dozens of ways to make sure you make the most of the festive season.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 16, 2014

The man who lives for the art of dying

Interviewing Seizo Fukumoto, the star of Ken Ochiai's backstage drama "Uzumasa Limelight," I wished I had brought a video camera, instead of my voice recorder and notepad. As he talks, this veteran kirare-yaku — an actor whose forte is being cut down with a sword in jidaigeki (samurai period dramas)...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 23, 2013

The importance of being Yokoyama

Big exhibitions of famous Japanese artists are usually held on important anniversaries of their birth or death. The Taikan Yokoyama exhibition now on at the Yokohama Museum of Art, however, breaks with this convention. Rather than marking the 150th, 100th or 50th anniversary of the birth or death of...
Yukimasa Ida’s first major museum exhibition showcases a young artist in full command of his craft but still looking for something deeper to say.
CULTURE / Art
Nov 4, 2023

‘Panta Rhei’: Yukimasa Ida is still searching for his own voice

Kyocera Museum of Art's major exhibition finds a young artist sampling great works of the past but looking for something deeper to say.
Cute characters like Pikachu are deeply ingrained in Japanese culture. The global reach of kawaii has contributed to Japan's soft power and international appeal.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 26, 2024

What does the global power of kawaii say about us?

Kawaii is one of Japan's greatest cultural exports. But cuteness is more than just a fad or a commercial success story: It's part of our evolution.
Japan to revise romanization rules for first time in 70 years
The Agency for Cultural Affairs is recommending replacing the government’s long-standing Kunrei system with more widely used Hepburn-style spellings.
Character-crazed Japan has little appetite for Labubu
A pop-up advertisement for the newly opened Chiikawa Park in Tokyo's Ikebukuro neighborhood demonstrates how the country is chockful of cute characters — to the detriment of trends like Labubu.
At meeting rich in symbolism, Ishiba and South Korea's Lee agree to steadily build ties
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba shake hands at joint press announcement after summit talks in Tokyo on Saturday.
Are 'coolcations' the answer for Japan's heat-weary tourists?
Hikers on a trail in Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture. As extreme heat continues to grip Japan, a tectonic shift may be underway in the nation’s summer tourism scene as more people gravitate toward cooler destinations.
Japan to boost support for joint ride-hailing services
Tatsuaki Igarashi, mayor of Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, exits a ride-sharing vehicle at Tsukuba Station in January.
Germany's first sakemaker offers a bold brew of ideas
Reigen, Germany's first sake brewery, makes a diverse, nontraditional range of sake that includes fruit-flavored sips and wine barrel-aged renditions.
Alicia Keys closed Summer Sonic, but J-pop owned it
Summer Sonic’s 2025 lineup demonstrated its strength, showcasing the latest in J-pop, including “new kawaii” act Fruits Zipper.
Is the LDP’s catch-all approach to politics still effective?
Former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi visits Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Aug. 15. Political commentator Toru Hashimoto has suggested that Takaichi ought to lead a group of like-minded hawkish politicians out of the Liberal Democratic Party and form their own party.
Fingers sore from too much phone time? You might have ‘sumaho yubi.’
A catch-all term for tendonitis and arthritis caused by excessive smartphone use, 'sumaho yubi' may be difficult to treat for gadget-crazy Japan.
As farm minister, Koizumi is held ‘hostage’ by Ishiba
Farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi (center) attends a Lower House session on Aug. 1. Locking Koizumi into the Cabinet is Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s way of turning a potential rival into a team player, according to one expert.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027
Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER