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Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 10, 2011

Looking information technology in the eye

In an era in which we have seen communication and human interaction revolutionized by new technology, it may well seem that the "medium really is the message." But just how far can this alliteratively attractive slogan really be stretched?
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 2, 2011

Myanmar's new guardian?

Myanmar's one-time military generals, who have miraculously transformed themselves into benign politicians, really do seem to be taking remarkable steps to restructure both the domestic and foreign policy of that fragile nation.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Nov 1, 2011

Japan's 'new towns' are finally getting too old

In September, real estate developer Tokyo Tatemono started to demolish the Suwa Ni-chome apartments in the western Tokyo region of Tama. The Suwa danchi (housing development) was an integral part of Tama New Town, which opened in 1971. Of the various "new towns" built in the late 1960s and '70s by the...
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Nov 1, 2011

The costly fallout of tatemae and Japan's culture of deceit

There is an axiom in Japanese: uso mo hōben — "lying is also a means to an end." It sums up the general attitude in Japan of tolerance of — even justification for — not telling the truth.
Japan Times
LIFE
Oct 30, 2011

PS: 'I love Japan.' And Japan loves Paul Smith, it seems

"Hold on," says the British designer who launched a thousand stripes, reaching awkwardly into the back of the crisp white shirt he is wearing.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 30, 2011

Irabu spent final days lost, without purpose

For the late pitcher Hideki Irabu, the surname Irabu had come from Hideki's mother. It was her surname, and Hideki's stepfather, Ichiro Irabu, had been a common-law husband.
Reader Mail
Oct 27, 2011

Experts have expertise

Dennis Riches is rather hasty in dismissing professor Gerry Thomas' expertise in his letter of Oct. 23, "Real radiation threat is to young." He makes the point that most patients undergoing treatment for tumors die after a few years of treatment — but neglects to focus on the flip side of that statement:...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Oct 27, 2011

Cruel to be kind: Does noruma work in bands' favor?

One of the first stumbling blocks you'll probably come across starting up a band in Japan is trying to book gigs. You'll explain to the booking manager about your music, give them a demo CD or a link to a place they can hear you online, they'll say, "Sure, I love your sound" — and then they'll tell...
COMMENTARY
Oct 24, 2011

Olympus case a black mark for Japan

The recent dismissal of the British chief executive of Olympus has once again drawn the attention of European media to peculiarities in corporate governance in Japan. Accounting practices and lack of transparency have aroused particular concern.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 22, 2011

Briton aims to restore poets' peak to former glory

Nineteen university students and civic-minded Kyoto residents squat on a mountain pass on a cloudless afternoon in early October as a tall British poet, Stephen Gill, 58, reads from a collection of haiku.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 21, 2011

Overcoming disaster via cinematic therapy

Back in May, the rumor among cinephiles in the Japanese media was that the Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) wouldn't happen this year. The mood was that it was too soon after the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11 to hold anything festive, especially in the visual-arts scene. All over Japan,...
EDITORIALS
Oct 19, 2011

A vital year for newspapers

The 64th annual Newspaper Week kicked off Oct. 15 and will end this Friday. The Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association held the first Newspaper Week in 1948 to remind newspapers of their social responsibility and to help people understand the role of newspapers. This year was marked by the...
LIFE / Digital / TECH_JAPAN
Oct 19, 2011

Android privacy concerns rise over apps crossing the line

Tokyo-based IT company Milog is known for providing Android-based smartphone apps that let users share information about the apps installed on their phones and rank them by popularity. This small startup, established in 2009, has been supported by notable companies, including receiving a ¥310 million...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / TECH_JAPAN
Oct 12, 2011

New toys for retro gamers and wannabe rockers

Nostalgic gaming fans old enough to remember "Space Invaders" no doubt look back on it as one of the most memorable video games of years gone by. Japan's Taito Corporation created the arcade game back in 1978, and it has been a classic ever since.
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Oct 4, 2011

Japan needs less ganbatte, more genuine action

Ganbatte kudasai!
Reader Mail
Oct 2, 2011

Japanese leaders will find a way

I feel compelled to comment on two letters published Sept. 25. First, Grant Piper ("Evacuation revelations shocking") uses the Sept. 19 article "Tokyo faced evacuation scenario: Kan" to lambast Japanese leadership, arguing that "alarmist and hysterical" foreign media coverage was warranted after all...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 2, 2011

Japan's leaders still don't get it — but whither that 'heretical' 1960s spirit?

Upwards of 2,000 demonstrators clash with riot police. Sections of trains are set alight, the fire spreads into the station and trains don't start running until late in the morning. In the middle of the night, some 450 people are arrested.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Sep 30, 2011

Aoki fitting in nicely with his new Evessa teammates

For a brief moment, forget about the playbook and toss the scouting report in the metaphorical recycle bin. Realize that all teams could build something special if they had the same fundamental tools at their disposal.
COMMENTARY
Sep 26, 2011

Divining the will of a Russian puppet master

"He took off the Kremlin dog collar," said a friend of Mikhail Prokhorov, Russia's third-richest man, as the political party Prokhorov had founded to run against Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in the December elections blew up in his face this month.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Sep 25, 2011

Humble pie notably absent from the food fancies of worthies and others

Food is a staple fare of the media, whether in the form of recipes, restaurant reviews or photographs of meals to die for. Food is health; food is economics; food is culture; but food is also politics.
Reader Mail
Sep 25, 2011

Evacuation revelations shocking

Revelations of tentative plans to evacuate millions of metropolitan Tokyo residents after the March 11 disaster, in the Sept. 19 article "Tokyo faced evacuation scenario: Kan," were absolutely shocking. If it came to that, how could it be done, and where could we go?
LIFE / Digital / TECH_JAPAN
Sep 21, 2011

Interviewed like a star: Anonymous question and answer site is proving popular in Japan

Over the last month or so, a new social service has risen out of the blue in the Japanese Web.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 15, 2011

Francois Girard and a woman of many letters

"This wonderful project started when my friend, the Lebanese writer Wajdi Mouawad, gave me a book and said I should make a movie out it," Francois Girard explains. "But after I read it I got back to him and said, 'Sorry, I disagree with you. This is really not right for a movie — but it's perfect for...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 11, 2011

High profile case highlights the delicate issue of foster care in Japan

On Aug. 20, police arrested voice actress Shizuka Suzuike at her home in Suginami Ward, Tokyo, on suspicion of causing injuries that led to the death of 3-year-old Miyuki Watanabe in August 2010. At the time of her death, Miyuki had been in Suzuike's foster care for almost a year. The suspect denies...
COMMENTARY
Sep 5, 2011

Revolution no boon to the Copts

Ugly reality has dashed the high hopes of the "Arab Spring." In Egypt the fall of Hosni Mubarak has encouraged religious intolerance and persecution, especially against the Coptic Christian community.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 4, 2011

Actress's inheritance saga plays out like melodrama

Sometimes the components of a news story fit together so perfectly that you can't help but wonder how much of it was engineered by the press. Actress Hisako Manda, a former beauty queen who found success in recent years as a cover girl for magazines catering to women in their 50s, is currently at the...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Aug 30, 2011

K-pop striking chord with the young

Korean pop groups began gaining popularity and media exposure in Japan last year, singing and dancing on TV shows and appearing in commercials.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2011

Five face off over policies ahead of poll

Campaigning for the Democratic Party of Japan's presidential election officially kicked off Saturday, with five candidates vying to succeed Prime Minister Naoto Kan.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 28, 2011

Star's exit shows it's not what you know — but who

If you asked anyone in the world with access to any sort of media what last week's big news story was, they would probably say Libya. If you asked the same question of similarly connected people in Japan, they would probably say the retirement of comedian Shinsuke Shimada. The fall of Tripoli didn't...

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear