Search - life

 
 
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Apr 18, 2022

Seeing a new life: George Nobechi’s path to photography

Back in the day, photos used to be produced in a darkroom, where a film negative would be enlarged to expose a sheet of paper. The paper would appear blank, until swished gently in a bath of developer fluid. Gradually, an image would emerge.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 25, 2022

In today's world, precision timing is everything

PNT is one of the 14 categories of emerging technologies identified by the U.S. government as strategic and therefore demanding special attention and control.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jan 8, 2022

Ahmaud Arbery’s killers get life behind bars in racially charged U.S. case

The three white men convicted of murder in the shooting death of Arbery while he jogged through their quiet Georgia neighborhood were sentenced to life in prison.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Dec 29, 2021

Tokyo researchers work toward 'dream' COVID-19 vaccine that gives protection for life

By repurposing the vector used in the long-proven smallpox vaccine, Michinori Kohara hopes to offer more enduring COVID-19 protection against variants that have yet to develop.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
Dec 23, 2021

Takashi Hara: The commoner who lost his life leading Japan

On the 100th anniversary of the prime minister's assassination in Tokyo, we examine the peace-loving global aspirations of a man who coveted self-determination over succession.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 23, 2021

‘Underdogs’: It’s a colorful life in Manila’s underbelly

Tsuyoshi Kumeta's documentary captures the bustle and squalor of the capital of the Philippines as it follows four Japanese men living in the city's slums over the course of seven years.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Dec 19, 2021

How Amanda Tong finds balance in life and ceramics

Being marooned in Japan due to COVID-19 has helped the Hong Kong artist begin a new journey of discovery.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 9, 2021

‘Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy’: A triptych on life and love well worth a spin

Ryusuke Hamaguchi's three-part anthology, which centers on three women whose lives are changed by chance, solidifies his reputation as a director of rare talent and ambition.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 6, 2021

Japanese artistry brings Napoleon's legacy to life

Situated in the city of Rueil-Malmaison, about 15 kilometers west of Paris’ city center, the picturesque Chateau de Malmaison was once home to one of France’s most famous couples: Josephine de Beauharnais and Napoleon Bonaparte.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Nov 20, 2021

Yukar: The timeless oral tales that are our window on Ainu life

Civilization overwhelmed Japan's indigenous population about 100 years ago.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 16, 2021

‘A Balance’: The real-life dangers of telling the truth

Yujiro Harumoto's drama about a documentary filmmaker who struggles with a moral dilemma as she looks into the cover-up of a bullied schoolgirl's death is a rare achievement.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Sep 5, 2021

How are those pandemic hobbies going, really?

How many of us have actually kept up with those trendy pandemic activities from last year? And how can we take an activity from “hobby” to “habit”?
In the future, more tour operators and sites of interest may start marketing themselves based on travelers' preferences to set their own schedules.
LIFE / Travel
Jun 29, 2024

When Japan travels, it doesn’t mind going it alone

Regardless of the destination, more tour operators and regions are leaning on “travel as a form of self-care.”
Ryosuke Kunisawa hopes his "concept brewpub" serves as a focal point to an image change for the salaryman epicenter that is the Shimbashi neighborhood.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jun 30, 2024

Craft beer, craftsmanship and a family of reinvention

On the first two floors of his family’s slender eight-story building, Kunisawa launched the Kunisawa Brewing Company, Shimbashi's first beer brewery, in May 2022.
Tour guide and history buff Rory Dent left his job at a U.K.-based tour operator to move to Japan and start his own business.
LIFE / Travel / Longform
Jun 30, 2024

Guiding Japan through the challenges of overtourism

With the number of overseas tourists breaking records, guides and tour operators are seeing their businesses flourish.
Leying (played by Jia Ling) hasn't been living up to her potential, but is pushed into a radical transformation by hitting rock bottom in the Chinese remake of a hit Japanese boxing drama in "YOLO."
CULTURE / Film
Jul 4, 2024

‘YOLO’: A classic zero-to-hero story with a real-life body transformation

Actor and comedian Jia Ling dropped 50 kilograms for her role in a Chinese remake of a hit Japanese boxing drama.
Japan has a long history of parasol use, and there's no time like the present to see if they can help you get a bit of heat relief.
LIFE / Lifestyle / Boiling Point
Jul 6, 2024

Parasols are an age-old solution to today’s crippling heat

By Japan’s Edo Period (1603-1868), bamboo and waterproofed paper ‘kasa’ (umbrellas) and ‘higasa’ (parasols) were everyday tools and props in kabuki plays.
Artificial intelligence is transforming various business sectors and the economy. But concerns about humanoid robots replacing all jobs are unfounded, as human dexterity will remain essential for the foreseeable future.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 23, 2024

AI is making robots smarter. They’ll need boundaries.

Where AI meets the physical world — and creates the potential for conflicts — is in manufacturing and logistics.
Nakazakicho may be just a few minutes outside the major commercial district of Umeda, but it certainly doesn't feel that way.
LIFE / Travel
Jul 27, 2024

The dancer keeping Osaka’s Nakazakicho indie

Nakazakicho’s transformation is more than the success story of a small neighborhood turning the tide against inner-city decay.
Chef Hironori Fujii moved his restaurant, Oryouri Fujii, to the Iwase district of Toyama City in 2019, finding the ideal setting in its historic surroundings.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Aug 4, 2024

Oryouri Fujii: High-end Japanese cuisine in a picture-perfect Toyama setting

Chef Hironori Fujii will serve according to the seasons: ‘ayu’ (sweetfish) and ‘nodoguro’ (blackthroat perch) in summer; snow crab and yellowtail in winter.
Moved by an experience with a local hunter, Shota Sasaki has since focused on elevating the image of game meat in Japan.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Aug 11, 2024

Elezo Esprit: A visceral celebration of Hokkaido’s wild game

Game meat specialist Elezo Esprit has hunters on staff who are directed to ensure the animals they supply arrive at the butchery within an hour of being killed.
Inside a gallery influenced by famed architect Kengo Kuma, Nakamura Ningyo's Hakata dolls represent a little-seen side of Japanese crafts.
LIFE / Style & Design
Sep 7, 2024

From Godzilla to martyrs, Hakata doll-making knows no bounds

Since its establishment in Fukuoka in 1917, Nakamura Ningyo has been a cornerstone of the Hakata doll tradition.
LeBron James of the Lakers speaks to members of the media in El Segundo, California, on Monday.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Oct 1, 2024

LeBron James 'given life' by playing alongside son and winning Olympic gold

James said he felt reinvigorated by the "pure joy" of being able to go work with one of his children.
Japan Coast Guard officials search for missing people after the fatal sinking of the Kazu I tour boat off the Shiretoko Peninsula in Hokkaido.
JAPAN
Oct 4, 2024

Japan to require passenger ships sailing in cold waters to carry life rafts

The move follows the deadly sinking of the Kazu I tour boat off Hokkaido in April 2022.
Stays at Aman Kyoto start at around $2,500 (about ¥375,000) and increasing to $4,000 (about ¥600,000) per night, but for the right traveler, it's not money entirely wasted.
LIFE / Travel
Oct 19, 2024

Kyoto’s most expensive hotel offers inner peace — for a price

Aman Kyoto is one of the most luxurious options for stays in Japan’s ancient capital — but is it worth the hefty price tag?
Cream-filled 'maritozzo' buns are just one of the many sweet treats on offer at Japanese convenience stores.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 3, 2024

Exploring the ‘B-gourmet wonderland’ of Japanese convenience stores

Tourists who obsess over 7-Eleven and FamilyMart can seem a bit absurd, but there's no denying the integral role these stores have in daily life in Japan.
High-rise buildings in Tokyo. Through faking documents and passports a criminal group conspired to pose as the owner of a real-estate plot and buildings in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward in 2017, defrauding Sekisui House of ¥5.5 billion.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 28, 2024

Real-life ‘Tokyo Swindlers’ ordered to pay ¥1 billion in damages

The Tokyo District Court ruled that the defendants knew they were engaging in a fraudulent scheme in their dealings with Sekisui House.
People in the U.S. live with illness for 12.4 years on average — up from 10.9 years in 2000, according to a study published by the American Medical Association.
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 12, 2024

Americans spend more years sick than rest of world, study finds

Mental and substance-use disorders are the biggest factors to blame in the U.S., along with musculoskeletal diseases.
The central Hokkaido city of Asahikawa made headlines this year when one of its suburbs was named as the best place to live in Japan — a ranking earned in part due to the community's many outstanding restaurants and cafes.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Dec 28, 2024

How Hokkaido quietly became a culinary treasure trove in 2024

Food trucks, morsels with cutesy cues from nature and more helped Japan’s northernmost island have a stellar year.
'Dorayaki' (red bean paste-filled pancakes) are humble treats with delicate sweetness — and the two Tokyo shops who may have created the treat are similarly light-handed in the way they pursue their claims as the originator of the morsel.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 12, 2025

‘Dorayaki’ creators say flavors trump the dessert’s murky origins

More modern than you may think, filled ‘dorayaki’ pancakes have a past almost as sweet as the treat itself.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes