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COMMENTARY / World
May 5, 2010

Democratic sidebar to U.K. polls

Britain is on the brink of its biggest political upheaval in a century. The general election that takes place this week has become an unofficial referendum on the electoral system itself. Britain's first-past-the-post (FPTP) system discriminates against small parties, wastes votes and encourages politicians...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 19, 2010

Japan's dubstep forges own path

Young people dressed in baggy jeans and hooded sweaters groove to chunky rhythms in a dark, smoky club. The music is spun by the night's DJ, Goth-trad. It may look like any other club, but the style is unique to Japan.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jul 5, 2009

New Niigata stadium opens this week, could host expansion team someday

The Hiroshima Carp and Hanshin Tigers will play the first official games at the new Niigata Prefectural Stadium this week with consecutive nighters on July 7 and 8. If ever Japanese baseball was going to expand or a team was to be moved, Niigata would be the next obvious best place in the country to...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / LIQUID CULTURE
May 22, 2009

A purist at work behind the bar

"A bar is no place for a woman. The important characters are always men."
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
May 21, 2009

Fashion up from Down Under

When Myf Shepherd, the next "It girl" model, stepped out onto the runway at Rosemount Australia Fashion Week in a slinky jumper, it wasn't only camera flashes that lit up the room — so did the glow of computer screens and handhelds. Not only did pens record notes like lightning on paper — keyboards...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 28, 2008

Foreign students to fill the halls

Rie Yoshinaga had a wide range of colleges to choose from.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 2, 2008

The gritty truths behind the image

A rising full moon against a twilight sky and a shimmer of pink on the surface of the sea. So far, so postcard. But this is no regular Japanese beauty spot. Just visible in the distance is a clutch of white chimneys jutting into the sky, offering a sinister clue to the location of the seemingly serene...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 2, 2008

Urawaza — quirky, everyday Japanese tips — head West

Two years ago, a mysterious 20-second video clip triggered some unexpected buzz on the Web site YouTube. In the segment, an ordinary-looking housewife draws an invisible line across the chest of a shirt with her finger. Then she pinches the shirt under the armpit and at the shoulder, does a quick flipping...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 26, 2008

How Carlo Zauli changed the course of contemporary Japanese ceramics

Change can be one of the most difficult words for traditional craftsmen to hear.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jun 22, 2008

Countryside games offer charming change of pace

FUKUSHIMA — I am writing this column on June 17 at the Yomiuri Giants-Orix Buffaloes interleague game at Azuma Stadium in Fukushima Prefecture, north of Tokyo. It is one of seven regular-season games the Giants will have played this year at countryside ballparks, and have you ever wondered why they...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 29, 2008

Cannes: sobriety and great excess

Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Apr 29, 2008

Luxury fashion finds a friend

Collaborations have become such a widespread fashion marketing tactic in the last 20 years that some in style circles have dubbed the practice "the C word."
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 16, 2008

Car industry hitting the bumps as wheels lose their cachet of cool

Anew TV commercial for insurance company Tokyo Kaijo Nichido features two newborns lying next to each other in a hospital maternity ward, telepathically discussing the "pleasures" that await them in life.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Sep 25, 2007

Running circles round the Emperor

Some people run it, some cycle it, some simply walk it. Any way you do it, the route around the Imperial Palace has become Tokyo's best-known track.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jun 17, 2007

'American Pastime' is poignant drama

The DVD of the movie "American Pastime" belongs on your shelf next to some of the more contemporary baseball flicks such as "Field of Dreams," "A League of Their Own," "For Love of the Game," "The Rookie," "Bull Durham" and "Mr. Baseball."
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Feb 11, 2007

Ft. Myers getting ready for 'Dice-K' and Japanese media

Sportswriter David Dorsey of the Ft. Myers News-Press in Florida is getting ready to work the Boston Red Sox spring training camp in that town. He will be joined by a bevy of reporters and photographers from the various Japanese media there to cover the Daisuke Matsuzaka circus and lefty reliever Hideki...
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Oct 7, 2006

PL playoffs offer many questions

This time last year, a heck of a brew was being whipped up east of Tokyo.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Jan 13, 2006

Perfect winter match: big reds and cassoulet

When the Imperial Palace moat begins to ice over, our thoughts invariably turn to the big red wines of southern France, and to the region's ultimate winter dish -- cassoulet.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
May 13, 2005

To cut a long bottle short . . . Champagne gets it, samurai style

There is no sound more synonymous with celebration than the sharp pop of a Champagne cork. Professionals, of course, recommend easing the cork out slowly enough so that only a slight gasp is heard, which one waggish sommelier likened to "the sound of a contented woman."
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jul 15, 2003

Hold the fort

Over dinner not long ago, I noticed a friend wasn't wearing one of his prized antique wristwatches.
LIFE / Digital
Jan 23, 2003

Move over MP3; purists demand 'lossless'

There's a whole industry built around the MP3 data-compression format, but did you know that by using MP3s to burn music CDs, you lose part of the original recording as the data compressor does its work?
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Sep 29, 2002

30 years of China relations aired out

Thirty years ago, the late Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka normalized relations with the People's Republic of China. Historically, the relationship between Japan and China has often been compared to that between Rome and Greece, since much of Japan's culture (writing system, Buddhism, handicrafts, etc.)...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 6, 2002

Deconstructing Tokyo

INSIDER'S TOKYO, by Angela Jeffs. Times Books International (Singapore), 2001, 280 pp., with numerous maps and photographs, 2,100 yen (paper) Tokyo must have more foreign-language books devoted to it than any other major city -- not only the guides, which endlessly proliferate, but also serious books...
COMMUNITY
Dec 23, 2001

Everlasting allure of gems shines on

Gems are among the most gorgeous examples of nature at work, even though the jewels we admire get a helping hand not afforded to phenomena like sunsets and snow-capped peaks.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 8, 2001

When leaders meet the press head-on

U.S. President George W. Bush's announcement that he will no longer hold "formal" press conferences in the East Room of the White House was met with derision and shrugs by the American press. On Salon.com, Gary Kamiya accused Bush of fleeing reporters "with his larynx between his legs," while Helen Thomas,...
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 22, 2000

New Year dragon roars on two kabuki stages

To start off the year of the dragon, two major kabuki programs are being presented in Tokyo, at the Kabukiza and the Shinbashi Enbujo.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jan 30, 2023

The first rule of street photography club? Always carry a camera, preferably analog

The idea that street photography is a solitary hobby is outdated. Thanks in part to social media, communities for those who document everyday life are thriving.

Longform

Growing families are being priced out of Tokyo’s condo market, forced to choose between downtown convenience and suburban space.
Is living in central Tokyo still affordable?