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Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Sep 5, 2008

Join the fun of Japan Fashion Week

Don't look now, but we're in the midst of Japan Fashion Week — the twice-yearly rag-trade fest that sees dozens of local labels flaunt their stuff in a series of shows at Roppongi's Midtown and other Tokyo venues. They're currently parading what we'll be wearing in Spring/Summer next year.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Sep 5, 2008

Psy-trance partygoers get set for The Gathering weekend

Now in its 11th year, The Gathering, organized by Vision Quest Tokyo, is Japan's largest open-air festival for psychedelic trance music. It's got the biggest stage. It's got the biggest lineup. But does it attract the most people?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 5, 2008

Taking Hitler by the horns

As the son of a Jewish mother who escaped the Holocaust by moving to Switzerland ("at the very last moment!"), Dani Levy has had a lifelong fascination with the Third Reich.
CULTURE / Music
Sep 5, 2008

Yukari Fresh — "grrrl, summer cape kid, etc." (Escalator); Aira Mitsuki — "COPY" (D-Topia)

Emerging from the dark days of the 1990s' "lost generation," the Shibuya-kei movement in Japanese music was a breath of fresh air, bringing together with impeccable style a variety of musical genres encompassing jazz, retro-futurist lounge pop, 1960s French pop and dance music. Its commercial heyday...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Sep 5, 2008

Exhibit offers glimpse of postwar Japan life

An exhibition of photos from Japan's postwar era taken by two young men from Holland is being held in Tokyo until Sept. 30.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 5, 2008

'The Truly Truest Truth About Adolf Hitler'

Since "The Downfall" (2004), stories about Hitler or German life under the Third Reich have been rapidly emerging from Germany created by a new generation of directors born long after World War II. "Sophie Scholl: The Final Days" from 2005 is the standout, a heavily introspective work about a girl who...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 5, 2008

MY PLAYLIST: James Smith, Hadouken!

British band Hadouken! are a curious construction. If you left them out in a storm to be struck by lightning and broken into their constituent parts, in among the blood and guts would flow a river of toxic neon goo, melting cyberpunk sartorials and a sprinkling of electrochip innards.
BUSINESS
Sep 5, 2008

MUFG denies report of bid for controlling stake in Lehman

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan's biggest bank, denied a report it is considering entering the bidding for a stake in Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.
EDITORIALS
Sep 4, 2008

Need for mandate

Japan and the rest of the world have seen two Japanese prime ministers in a row suddenly throw in the towel without giving convincing reasons for doing so. Mr. Shinzo Abe announced his resignation Sept. 12, 2007, and Mr. Yasuo Fukuda on Sept. 1. The manner in which the two prime ministers decided to...
Reader Mail
Sep 4, 2008

How 'natural' is the weather?

This summer we have endured a lot of rain, humid weather and weird cloud formations. This may not be unusual for Japan in August, but I asked locals if the weather was unusual and many said "yes." Using the Internet, I was able to learn that the U.S. government has an official policy of "weather modification"...
Reader Mail
Sep 4, 2008

India deserves special status

Although arguments in the Aug. 29 editorial, "India's nuclear access," appear to be quite fair on their face, they do not take into account some realities on the ground. Considering the blemish-free record of India as a responsible and dependable member of the world community and its desperate need for...
Reader Mail
Sep 4, 2008

Jury still out on Churchill 'actor'

While I appreciate the point he is trying to make, Stephen Mansfield really should do a little more research before dipping his toes into historical controversy. We do not "know" if Winston Churchill's wartime speeches were really delivered by an actor as Mansfield asserts in his Aug. 31 book review...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 4, 2008

'The Closed Garden'

Tokyo Gallery, Ginza
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Sep 3, 2008

Nikon offers first consumer DSLR with video capability

DSLR with video: Change is rarely as dramatic as it appears. In the world of camera makers, the digital onslaught has seen the rise of electronics firms such as Sony, Panasonic and Samsung, while that venerable creator of cameras Minolta has disappeared, sold to Sony.
BUSINESS
Sep 3, 2008

METI plans to raise ¥100 billion from Middle East SWFs

Japan plans to raise as much as ¥100 billion from sovereign wealth funds in oil-producing nations to boost foreign investment that is less than a quarter that of the United States.
BUSINESS
Sep 3, 2008

Sony Financial aims to boost policy sales to ¥36 trillion

Sony Financial Holdings Inc. aims to boost policy sales 15 percent to ¥36 trillion by March 2011 as Japan's insurers struggle to counter declining demand.
COMMENTARY
Sep 2, 2008

Unconventional American and Asian women

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — There are nonreductionist ways of looking at modern women. One is to view them as Warrior Queens. These women do not deny their biology or ignore its potentials but equip themselves to play ball with the big boys on a playing field that has grown more level by the decade.
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...
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Sep 2, 2008

The 'gaijin' debate: Arudou responds

Last month's column (Aug. 5) was on the word "gaijin." I made the case that it is a racist word, one that reinforces an "us-and-them" rubric toward foreigners and their children in Japan. It generated a lot of debate. Good. Thanks for your time.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 2, 2008

Against high odds, masses chase luck

What would you do if you won ¥400 million? Would you buy a convertible, a new house, start a business? All of the above?
BUSINESS
Sep 2, 2008

Shionogi to purchase Sciele Pharma of U.S.

Shionogi & Co., the maker of the Crestor anticholesterol pill, has agreed to buy Sciele Pharma Inc. of the U.S. for $1.4 billion, adding research, development and sales staff.
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Sep 1, 2008

Japanese nurses blocking skilled help from overseas

The Japanese Nursing Association is doing more harm than good to the nation's health care as it steadfastly puts up barriers to nurses and care workers from other countries wishing to work in Japan. What's worse, the association is supported by the health ministry.

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