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Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 1, 2012

'My House'

Two summers ago my son, then 26, shot a documentary about homeless people living on the banks of the Tama River. From hearing his stories and watching the finished product, I learned (or rather had confirmed) that local movie stereotypes of the homeless as lovable eccentrics or pathetic losers didn't...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 1, 2012

Remembering Kaneto Shindo

When Kaneto Shindo died Tuesday at age 100, he was not the world's oldest active director — that honor belongs to Portugal's Manoel e Oliveira, at 103 — but he had had an amazingly productive and celebrated career, which started in 1934. Among his best-known films abroad are 1960's "Hadaka no Shima...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Jun 1, 2012

The Peninsula Tokyo summer fair

The Peninsula Tokyo is holding a summer promotion at each of its restaurants, offering special menus to maintain one's stamina during the hot season as well as a variety of cool desserts, through Aug. 31.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 1, 2012

AirAsia enters LCC fray via ¥5 flights

The surprise discount campaign announced by AirAsia Japan Co. on Wednesday has been an instant success and drawn much media coverage.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 1, 2012

'Midnight in Paris'

A guy's on a trip to Paris with his fiancee. Gil (Owen Wilson) is a hack Hollywood screenwriter bemoaning the fact that he never became a "real" author and, besotted by the city's charms, toys with the idea of staying and doing just that. Inez (Rachel McAdams) is a castrating harpy who won't buy into...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jun 1, 2012

Cucina Tredici Aprile: Rustic Italian fare, served in seclusion

Quick, before the wonderful spring weather turns to rain and then to sweltering summer. It's the perfect season for long, leisurely alfresco lunches: Time to book that peaceful verdant patio table at Cucina Tredici Aprile.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 1, 2012

Fuji Heavy eager to discuss Toyota Camry contract

Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. President Yasuyuki Yoshinaga said the maker of Subaru cars is preparing to begin talks to renew its contract to build Camry sedans, the best-selling car in the U.S., for Toyota Motor Corp.
Reader Mail
May 31, 2012

Eternal separation from God

In his May 27 letter, Scott Mintz cites three Gospel verses that appear to cast Jesus as a "dictator" who threatens people with "torture chambers" if they don't "fall in line." Mintz fails to mention that all three verses appear in Jesus' parables, which are metaphorical, not literal, descriptions of...
Reader Mail
May 31, 2012

Logical deterrence for Pyongyang

Regarding Ralph Cossa's and Brad Glosserman's May 24 article, "Beijing's North Korea policy only emboldens Pyongyang": In presuming to tell China how to deal with North Korea "in its own interests," the authors display astounding arrogance and bellicose bias. It is quite logical for North Korea to strive...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 31, 2012

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu "Pamyu Pamyu Revolution"

It's fitting that the leadup to Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's debut album has focused heavily on her image. She's a fashion blogger and model now pursuing music, her clothes grabbing as much attention as her songs. Her savviest move was releasing three bonkers music videos over the past year featuring stuff like...
EDITORIALS
May 31, 2012

Boosting agriculture opportunities

The Cabinet on May 24 endorsed a white book on agriculture for fiscal 2011. It gives priority to reviving agriculture in the coastal areas of the Tohoku region devastated by the 3/11 disasters. The region suffered damages amounting to ¥2.426 trillion, about 27 times that caused by the 1995 Kobe earthquake....
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
May 30, 2012

Spurs-Thunder clash good as it gets

It doesn't get more captivating than the invincible Spurs vs. the near-impregnable Thunder.
JAPAN
May 29, 2012

Kan tells nuke probe: 3/11 overwhelmed us

Former Prime Minister Naoto Kan admitted Monday that the triple whammy that doomed the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant in March 2011 — the megaquake, tsunami and the meltdowns they unleashed — was beyond the scope of the national crisis-management system.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
May 29, 2012

Tokyo: What do you think of the move by two hotels at Tokyo Disney Resort to offer same-sex marriage ceremonies?

C. Sakai
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LIGHT GIST
May 29, 2012

Manjiro, patron saint of eikaiwa, watches over English teachers

It can be tough teaching English in Japan. The chain school grind of late hours, noisy kids and boring middle-aged office workers takes its toll. Uppity teachers at public schools treat ALTs with contempt and all English instructors feel the humiliation of being looked down upon by their foreigner brethren...
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
May 29, 2012

Your haiku: the good, the bad and the ugly of Japan

The following are the winners of the haiku competition launched to mark the Community section's 10th anniversary. The five recipients of the top prize, a copy of Debito Arudou and Akira Higuchi's "Handbook for Newcomers, Migrants and Immigrants," are marked by an asterisk. Other winners will receive...
EDITORIALS
May 29, 2012

Time for the Diet to act

There remains less than a month before the current Diet session is scheduled to end on June 21. Deliberations have started in a Lower House special committee on the tax and social welfare reform. Among the bills before the committee are two related to Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's plan to raise the...
BUSINESS
May 29, 2012

JGB streak beats Treasurys on BOJ easing expectations

Japanese government bonds are set for a sixth monthly gain, a winning streak that beats Treasurys amid investor speculation the central bank will bolster monetary easing to defeat deflation.
COMMENTARY
May 28, 2012

The politics of victimhood

When a group of gay activists engaged in an angry confrontation with Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, who was having dinner with a major columnist in a Melbourne restaurant, the journalist noted how those demanding tolerance of diversity had shown an ugly face of extreme intolerance uncharacteristic of...
Reader Mail
May 27, 2012

Cost-cutting pathology at work

In his May 20 letter, "Stupidity of planners and builders," Paul Gaysford is distressed that tsunami victims' homes are being rebuilt without proper, sensible insulation. He is criticizing a unique Japanese tradition.

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell