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Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 5, 2012

Cusack delves into the dark with 'The Raven'

"One of the negative things about the Internet," actor John Cusack remarks when asked about rumors surrounding casting in his new film, "The Raven," "is unnecessary information. Stuff that doesn't serve any real purpose and can be detrimental to someone's ego or ... like I say, useless. Hopefully a good...
EDITORIALS
Sep 30, 2012

Spirituality on the rise

Is Japan a spiritual-oriented or materialistic society? The answer is definitively spiritual, according to the most recent national livelihood survey by the Cabinet Office. The highest percentage of Japanese ever — 64 percent — said they are now placing priority on "spiritual fulfillment" rather...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Sep 29, 2012

Canadian musician pens piece for 'Tsunami violin' performances

Four months ago, Miguel Sosa, a composer, concert pianist, conductor and teacher was asked by Taizo Oba, organizer of the Bond Made of 1,000 Tones project, to write an original composition for one of the two "tsunami-debris" violins.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Sep 22, 2012

Japanese as a second body language

Continuing a lifetime study of how the Japanese can be so darn polite, today we look at body language.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Sep 22, 2012

Filipino filmmaker-writer captures the stories of Asians on the fringe

Rey Ventura's prose startles with the subtle force of cinematic images: From the "rustling leaves" that signal the return of the rebel forces to the Aeta hill tribes in the Philippines to the "standing men" or day laborers populating the alleyways of the Kotobukicho district of Yokohama. As both filmmaker...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Sep 16, 2012

'The government could still save lives'

In the immediate aftermath of last year's Fukushima triple meltdown, Japan's government and pronuclear experts scrambled to dampen public concern. Experts waved away fears about radiation, cabinet ministers scoffed at comparisons to Chernobyl, and the word "meltdown" itself was effectively scoured from...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Sep 16, 2012

Sex samaritan keeps walking the walk

Self-styled "sex helper" Shingo Sakatsume has lost count of the abuses he claims the media and the authorities have heaped on him.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues
Sep 15, 2012

U.S. Agent Orange activist brings message of solidarity to Okinawa

Residents of Okinawa Island have recently been confronted with mounting evidence that their land used to be a major storage site for the toxic U.S. defoliant Agent Orange.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 13, 2012

The woman who could bring Beppu back to life

In Japan's performing arts scene, it's widely believed that 32-year-old Akane Nakamura is one of the country's most famous globally known theater producers. As executive director of the theater production company Precog and the performing arts nonprofit Drifters International — which she founded in...
COMMENTARY
Sep 5, 2012

Paralympics a smash success

The general feeling after the London Olympics was that the excitement was over. The Paralympics would, it was feared, be a damp squib after the games. In fact the Paralympics have attracted large and enthusiastic audiences. The media have given the competitions almost as much coverage as they did to...
EDITORIALS
Sep 3, 2012

Preparing for Nankai megaquake

The Cabinet Office's Central Disaster Prevention Council said Wednesday that a megaquake of magnitude-9 in the Nankai Trough off the Pacific coasts and its ensuing tsunami could kill up to 323,000 people in 30 prefectures including Tokyo, with about 70 percent of the deaths tsunami-related. Malfunctioning...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Sep 2, 2012

Prescient work of writer Sawako Ariyoshi begs for rediscovery

Aug. 30 marked the day, 28 years ago, that Japan and the world lost a writer of immense importance. Sawako Ariyoshi's works of fiction and nonfiction took up many social issues that came into prominence in the years after her death. To my mind, she is not only one of the greatest authors of modern Japan,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Aug 30, 2012

'Our Planet' director focuses on Japan's locals

Just three years ago, in 2009, Yukio Shiba burst to stardom at age 27 with his masterful first play, "Waga Hoshi" ("Our Planet"), which premiered in Tokyo and the following year scooped Japanese contemporary theater's prestigious Kishida Kunio Award.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Aug 28, 2012

Paid leave, advice for foreign parents, JET's value: readers' views

Uncompetitive Japan Inc. Not being a Japanese person employed in a private Japanese company, it is hard for me to imagine the hardship experienced by the writer of the July 17 Have Your Say letter ("Working employees to death"). I can, however, say with a high degree of confidence that laws mandating...
Reader Mail
Aug 26, 2012

Don't be shy about drinking up

Regarding Greg Blossom's Aug. 16 letter, "Wasteful ways to quench thirst": Putting pressure on people to hydrate "less wastefully" is more of the same sadomasochistic pressure Japanese people are already under to bear up under the heat. Thirty-nine people are reported to have died of heatstroke in July....
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2012

Noda unswayed by talks with rally leaders

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda should listen to the voices of the people and abolish all atomic reactors as soon as possible, organizers of the weekly antinuclear rallies told the nation's leader in a face-to-face meeting Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Aug 19, 2012

Japanese heat wave

This summer has been one of the hottest on record. In Japan, the number of heatstroke victims hit record levels. The Fire and Disaster Management Agency reported July had the highest number of people taken to hospitals by ambulances for heatstroke ever, more than 21,000 people.
JAPAN
Aug 16, 2012

Photographer finds dignity in a dark time

When Hiroshi Watanabe went looking for traces of the disappearing Japantown in San Jose, California, the Los Angeles-based photographer was not drawn to the neighborhood's old storefronts but to a flower brooch made with tiny shells.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 15, 2012

Palestinian plight's Tohoku parallels

The civil war in Syria is not only affecting its civilians but also the Palestinian refugees living in exile there, and the situation is deteriorating, the head of a United Nations agency supporting the refugees said during a recent visit to Japan.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 15, 2012

Specs fight eye damage from gadget screens

Whether at home, at work or outdoors, people spend a lot of time looking at electronic devices with screens, including computers, TVs and smartphones.
Japan Times
LIFE
Aug 12, 2012

Queen Elizabeth engineering prize seeks innovation for easing life's hardships

Nominations are currently open for Britain's first-ever international Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, which has been created to honor individuals for groundbreaking innovation that benefits humanity — and which rewards the winner handsomely with a staggering £1 million (¥123 million).
EDITORIALS
Aug 10, 2012

Ruling that feeds discrimination

The Osaka District Court, in a lay judge trial on July 30, sentenced a 42-year-old man suffering from development disorder to 20 years' imprisonment, four years longer than demanded by the prosecution, for killing his elder sister.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 10, 2012

Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson back to save the world in 'The Avengers'

Actor Robert Downey Jr. is eager to share his theory of why superheroes are now so prominent and popular at cinemas across the United States.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Aug 7, 2012

Curbs afoot as narcotic quasi-legal herbs slip through regulatory cracks

The use of "dappo habu" (quasi-legal herbs) that are dried and mixed with stimulants to make narcotics is spreading, and many people are ending up in hospitals for drug poisoning.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Aug 7, 2012

The size of your dog could depend on your landlord

A 53-year-old woman was recently arrested after she moved out of a 50-sq.-meter rental apartment in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, leaving behind 26 dogs. She hadn't paid her rent for some time and went missing in early June. By the time someone entered her apartment on July 3, one of the dogs was...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 5, 2012

Strong work ethic is no path to better standard of living

Last week I spoke to a non-Japanese economics researcher employed by a Japanese university. He said he was working on a study that compared Spain's current fiscal crisis to Japan's economic situation as a means of determining if the former would suffer the same long-term problems as the latter. I mentioned...
EDITORIALS
Aug 5, 2012

Let them dance!

The police have been cracking down on dance clubs over the past year, arresting operators and shutting clubs by suddenly enforcing a law about dancing and other amusement that goes back to 1948, and related regulations.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 2, 2012

Speculative bubbles without financial markets

A speculative bubble is a social epidemic whose contagion is mediated by price movements.

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan