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Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 23, 2009

Broth in translation

Although she was born in 1977 (in Atlanta, Georgia), Brittany Murphy is a show-business veteran who grew up fast.
Reader Mail
Jan 22, 2009

Insulting depiction of foreigners

What a load of hot air! I have lived in Japan for over 10 years and have greatly enjoyed the (bathhouses) and many other benefits of living in a safe modern society. Gregory Clark However, it is also a racist and xenophobic society and to paint non-Japanese as having an allergy against discrimination...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 20, 2009

Breaking the silence on burakumin

For those who don't know — and you would be forgiven considering the lack of coverage the issue receives — a buraku is the term used to describe an area where some, but not all, of the residents have ancestral ties to the people placed at the bottom of feudal society in the Edo Period. These people...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 16, 2009

Japanese wine: unadulterated and ready to go abroad

The image most people have of Japanese wine is of the ¥500 plonk sitting next to the synthetic beer and sickly sweet chu-hi cocktails on the shelves of their local convenience store; of the cheap and decidedly dismal stuff of lost weekends and discarded personal dignity.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 15, 2009

Toy makers concentrate on robots that can soothe a harried populace

In the hustle and bustle of everyday life, people need some relaxation, and that's what the Japanese toy industry will be selling this year.
JAPAN
Jan 14, 2009

Watanabe resigns from LDP, cites rejected reform proposals

Making good on his threats, former administrative reform minister Yoshimi Watanabe resigned Tuesday from the Liberal Democratic Party.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Jan 13, 2009

If you could change one thing about Japan, what would it be?

Ken Hirota Furniture maker, 35Lighting, especially in homes. People use the big circular lights, which are too bright. In the West, people tend to use a more relaxed, yellow-orange lighting scheme.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jan 11, 2009

Time a Darwinian 'true myth' evolved to rival religion

This year, 2009, is a double anniversary of particular relevance for this column.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 9, 2009

Otaku star Shokotan offers a little fan service

"I really care about how much proof of my life I can leave behind; how many concerts I can give and how many photos I can have taken," admits Japanese celebrity Shoko Nakagawa, better known to her legion of fans worldwide as Shokotan. "I'm just afraid to have any free time and I'm scared of doing nothing."...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Jan 6, 2009

Academic career in Japan served as vital lesson in culture, says dean

Bruce Stronach, current dean of the Japan campus of Temple University, has a career in academia that spans two countries and over three decades. Sixteen of those years were spent with schools in Japan and have taught him much about Japanese society.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 3, 2009

Small parties play up 'big' role in national politics

Political parties with fewer than 20 Diet seats face an identity crisis as the legislature moves closer to a two-party system following the huge gains made by the Democratic Party of Japan in the July 2007 Upper House election.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 29, 2008

Deng legacy after 30 years

SINGAPORE — The approaching close of 2008 should remind us of the day 30 years ago that marked the onset of a chain of events that was to alter the course of Asian — and human — history.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 28, 2008

Hope for Thai democracy

HONG KONG — Abhisit Vejjajiva seems the least likely person to rescue Thailand from what commentators claim are the death throes of democracy. He is boyish-looking, physically slight, has no commanding military or police connections, no reputation for wheeling and dealing, and was foreign born and...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 26, 2008

'Paris'/'Funny Games'

Director Cedric Klapisch's breakthrough film was 1996's "Chacun Cherche Son Chat" ("When The Cat's Away"), a documentary-like trifle about a lost cat that nevertheless seemed to say something essential about life in the anonymity of a big city. Klapisch set his film in Paris' 11th arrondisement, and...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 23, 2008

School bridges China-Japan gap

At first glance it seems to be a typical lunch break at a local Japanese school: Boys rambunctiously chasing one another and yanking at each other's white polo shirts, little girls twirling so hard in their pleated gray skirts that they fall down with squeals of glee.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 14, 2008

Aso the donkey plods on

Last week, when poll results showed public support for the current Cabinet at an all-time low, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party tried to move past the bad news by focusing attention on what it believes is really important. Chief Cabinent Secretary Takeo Kawamura told reporters that the LDP shouldn't...
LIFE
Dec 14, 2008

Stone Age Japan

This story spans 10,000 years, yet presents few recognizable individuals. Here's one:
EDITORIALS
Nov 30, 2008

More horror in Mumbai

Terrorists launched a multipronged siege of the Indian city of Mumbai last week, which left at least 195 people dead and more than 300 wounded. The attacks are an offense against all civilized people and must be roundly condemned. But words alone are not enough. Those responsible for this outrage, and...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 28, 2008

Chanson musicians bring a little warmth to a Japanese winter

As a genre, chanson is difficult to pin down. In French, it simply means "song," and for most of France's history the word described anything from madrigals to romantic poetry. Since the end of World War II, it has come to represent a pop style that places a premium on the fluidity of the French language....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 27, 2008

Viva la diva — Xtina keeps it feisty fresh

A year in a dog's life is supposed to be equivalent to seven in human terms. On the way to interview Christina Aguilera, it crosses my mind that there might be a similar exponential growth rate at work for diminutive blonde pop starlets. For how else to explain that, at the grand old age of 27, Aguilera...

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