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COMMENTARY
Sep 5, 2012

Nuclear edge to sea disputes

The tug of war over the South China Sea is seen mainly as a struggle among rival claimants —China, Taiwan and several Southeast Asian states — for control of valuable fisheries as well as seabed oil, natural gas and mineral resources.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 4, 2012

Part of aging process: Preparing for the end

When young people say "shukatsu," they mean job-hunting. But nowadays, older people are grimly playing on the word by changing the kanji for "shu" to convey a different kind of activity: preparing for "the end."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Sep 2, 2012

Film star Satoshi Tsumabuki moves up to a new stage

Wearing a headband and tracksuit, Satoshi Tsumabuki — the 31-year-old darling of the Japanese entertainment world — was easy to spot among a crowd of actors in a rehearsal studio in downtown Tokyo recently. He was there preparing for "Egg," Hideki Noda's new play, which opens Wednesday at the Tokyo...
COMMENTARY
Aug 31, 2012

Pawns of the neo-Putin era

After the May 7 inauguration of Vladimir Putin, the re-elected Russian president rapidly began taking revenge on those who caused him anxiety from December to March. Of late, he and his henchmen have demonstrated a sharp stance against dissent and opposition in general.
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Aug 30, 2012

The customer is always right, but that's what's wrong in Japan's live-house scene

The roundly despised pay-to-play system in place throughout most of Tokyo's live-music scene, and to a slightly lesser extent in many other cities, is something I've written about in this column before.
COMMENTARY
Aug 29, 2012

Romney poised to fix a GOP problem

Conventions are the seventh-inning stretch of presidential politics, a pause to consider the interminable prelude and the coming climax. Republicans gathering in Tampa face an unusual election in which they do not have a substantial advantage concerning the most presidential subject, foreign policy....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Aug 28, 2012

Hunter Shoji Kuramochi

Shoji Kuramochi, 73, is one of Japan's few surviving hunters, and he may be the only one with 100 trained hunting dogs. Besides being a hunter of wild boars and deer, he's also an expert at the traditional Japanese art forms of bonsai cultivation and the breeding of beautiful and rare types of kingyo...
JAPAN
Aug 24, 2012

Brother keeps Sadako memory alive

Masahiro Sasaki was only 4 years old when the B-29 bomber Enola Gay dropped its atomic bomb on Hiroshima, wiping out the central part of the city on that sunny Aug. 6, 1945, morning.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 23, 2012

"Masterpieces from the Permanent Collection II: A Close Look at Private Art Schools of Kyoto"

Gajuku, art schools for painters in Japan, played a vital role in the cultivation of Kyoto's modern art industry. Some gajuku were run privately by experienced painters, while others served as places where highly motivated, like-minded artists could get together and practice their skills.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / Japan Pulse
Aug 22, 2012

Take the kids back in time this summer

Japanese people are rediscovering the charms of a simpler life, if only for a weekend.
COMMENTARY
Aug 20, 2012

Measuring a society's value

Guan Zhong, an ancient Chinese savant, once stated that people learn to behave with good manners only when they have sufficient clothing and food.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Aug 19, 2012

Yakuza face new battles within and without

The nation's largest underworld syndicate, the Kobe-based Yamaguchi-gumi, is 97 years old.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Aug 19, 2012

Rumbles in the jungle

Japan's poorest prefecture is Okinawa — and on Okinawa the poorest region lies along the northeastern coast blanketed by the dense Yanbaru jungle. Here, the villages of Higashi and Kunigami were the last areas on the island to receive electricity and running water. Until 1978, they lacked even a paved...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Aug 19, 2012

Politics taint Ahn Sehong's 'comfort women' photo exhibition

Visitors to a photo exhibition would not typically be asked to open their bags or walk through a metal detector before entering the exhibition site. Nor would they expect to catch the inquisitive gazes of various plainclothes police officers lurking in the crowd once inside.
LIFE / WEEK 3
Aug 19, 2012

Scholar Tenshin Okakura's seaside pavilion, destroyed in tsunami, witnesses a new dawn

Rokkakudo, a small, six-sided wooden pavilion that overlooks the Pacific Ocean from a low rocky headland in northern Ibaraki Prefecture, is by no means Tenshin Okakura's most important legacy. That honor would go to "The Book of Tea," a now-classic dissertation on traditional Japanese aesthetics that...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Aug 19, 2012

The air around us is teeming with life — it's just too tiny to see

As I approached the top of Mount Tarumae's western peak, located in Hokkaido's Shikotsu-Toya National Park, for a brief moment I thought an early reward was awaiting me in the form of clusters of ripe blueberries in the bush tops. At first glance it appeared that the bushes were in fruit, and it was...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 18, 2012

U.S. religious liberty feeling the weight of so many faiths

In the United States, Muslim women trying to maintain modesty should get female-only hours at the public pool, right?
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 18, 2012

Japan's career fairies — they're ready to help you

One job that exists in Japan that doesn't in my country is that of the career fairy. These are people, usually women, who work at places like the central post office or the bank and are on hand to help customers as they walk in the door. And as a customer, of course you need help.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 17, 2012

'Dogtooth'

Dogtooth" shows the kind of stark, nightmarish images that assail the senses during a fretful summer nap, when the body soaks the sheets and you're disoriented for a while afterward. What just happened here? It's not easy to say, except that the long procession of bizarre scenes evoke the distinct sensation...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 17, 2012

Light meals for Tokyo's long, sticky summer

Summertime, and the living is far from easy in the city. Stuck in the middle of the heat island, appetites fray and taste buds wilt like yesterday's lettuce. Simple snacks are called for, not major meals, with copious quantities of liquid sustenance too.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan