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Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 14, 2017

Among the monks: Dipping a toe in Zen at Shinshoji Temple

When was the last time you sat in silence, without fretting about the things you ought to be doing or gazing at a screen of any kind? When was the last time you didn't think anything at all?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 12, 2017

Hollywood's 'Ghost in the Shell' remake misses the mark

After the online petitions, the countless think pieces and Twitter tirades, Hollywood's "Ghost in the Shell" was never going to have an easy passage. Rupert Sanders' film — a $110 million live-action movie based on a beloved manga and anime property — was ill-fated from the start, tarnished by the...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 12, 2017

Would-be livestreaming stars boost billion-dollar Chinese market

Jing Qi, a part-time presenter on the livestreaming platform Huajiao, underwent cosmetic surgery in March to improve her chances of becoming an internet celebrity.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 11, 2017

'The Elegant Other: Cross-cultural Encounters in Fashion and Art'

April 15-June 25
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Apr 11, 2017

Ramen flavored with insects attracts thrillseekers in Tokyo

Within about four hours, the Ramen Nagi restaurant had sold out of the 100 bowls of "insect tsukemen" noodles it had prepared for Sunday's single-day event.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
Apr 8, 2017

Shinsuke Fujimoto makes his mark in the Korean film industry

Shinsuke Fujimoto is a rarity in the booming South Korean film industry. Despite having no connections in the local movie scene, the Ishikawa Prefecture native flew to Seoul straight after graduating college and has managed to make a living working on various film sets for over a decade.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Apr 8, 2017

Japanese sake startup finds way to float in sinking industry

Entrepreneur Nao Kohara sits at a table in his favorite neighborhood bar, checking emails on his laptop computer and sipping a glass of sake.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / YEN FOR LIVING
Apr 8, 2017

'Nekonomics' does its bit to keep Japan's economy purring

In our last column we talked about the economic effectiveness (keizai kōka) of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Keizai kōka is often used as an indication of how much money a given scheme or phenomenon adds to a particular economy. As we pointed out, the number only takes into consideration the positive effects...
Japan Times
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Apr 7, 2017

Shakespeare writing new script for revitalized Leicester

When Diego Simeone shakes hands with Craig Shakespeare next Wednesday the Atletico Madrid coach will have little idea about his opponent. In fairness, even in England few do. When your club reaches the last eight of the Champions League the manager has usually excelled in the competition and won domestic...
Japan Times
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Apr 6, 2017

'Samurai Gourmet' explores the art of the meal

In the first episode of Japan's latest contribution to original Netflix programming, "Samurai Gourmet," Takeshi Kasumi enters a small teishoku (set meal) joint and grapples over whether to have a beer with lunch. Inspired by an imaginary samurai, he gets one. That's it.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Apr 5, 2017

Brando's turn as an Okinawan 'host in a shell' haunts debate over 'yellowface'

Why Marlon Brando's notorious performance in 'The Teahouse of the August Moon,' as an interpreter for the U.S. Occupation forces in Okinawa, deserves a second look.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 5, 2017

Roger Ross Williams documents one young man's Disney-indebted triumphs in 'Life, Animated'

When Owen Suskind was 3 years old, he suddenly "vanished," according to his mother, Cornelia. The vivacious little boy she knew had retreated into a shell of silence from which he refused to emerge, and doctors diagnosed him with autism.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 5, 2017

'Moonlight' provides two parts intrigue, one part tedium

After 242 award nominations and 186 wins — including three Oscars and a near-perfect rating on Metacritic.com — we finally get to see "Moonlight" here in Japan with all the burdens of raised expectations. Can any film possibly live up to all that hype?
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 4, 2017

Hong Kong's restive youth prepare for long struggle with Beijing

With China's preferred candidate selected as Hong Kong's next chief executive, another blow to the morale of the city's democracy activists, their young leaders are taking a page from Beijing's playbook and preparing for a long battle.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Apr 1, 2017

What conspires to make Japanese seem so unhappy?

Could it be that Japanese take many of the wonderful things about their country for granted?
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 1, 2017

Russians develop a taste for alcohol-free beer as government fights drinking

Russians, who are among the biggest drinkers in the world, are developing a new taste for alcohol-free beer, which could help save a brewing industry that has stalled under government initiatives to discourage drinking.
JAPAN / Media
Mar 31, 2017

Uncovering the truth in the era of fake news

About three years ago, Makoto Watanabe, then an investigative reporter at The Asahi Shimbun newspaper, had a "hunch," based on his experience covering the pharmaceutical industry, that an advertising agency might be paying a major news organization to write stories about certain drugs to promote companies...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 31, 2017

Why the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts should be abolished

It's a government frill that needs to be sheared.
PRESS / Services
Mar 30, 2017

The Japan Times 120th Anniversary Edition Collaboration Ale (Haru no Ibuki, A breath of Spring) Available at all Brussels’ shops from March 22nd

Tokyo, March 30, 2017 - The Japan Times Ltd. celebrated its 120th anniversary edition on March 22nd 2017 and has entered into a business arrangement with Belgian beer bar Brussels Ltd. and Kyoto Brewing Ltd. to start selling a limited edition collaboration ale (1) (Haru no Ibuki) from March 22nd 2017....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 28, 2017

Then and now: time ripples in photography

There are two photography exhibitions currently showing at the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum that are thematically and chronologically unrelated, but together make a strong testimony of the extent to which Japan embraced photography from its earliest beginnings, and how the medium is a strong suit in...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Mar 27, 2017

Japan's schools working to upgrade, Westernize lavatories

Dirty, smelly, dark, scary and broken are the five adjectives most commonly used to describe toilets in Japan's public schools.
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Mar 26, 2017

Overtime deal marks total capitulation by labor

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, long the champion of labor law deregulation, last year announced it was time to place a legally binding upper limit on overtime hours.
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 26, 2017

French minister Royal to run for U.N. development agency post

French Environment Minister Segolene Royal said on Friday that she was running to lead the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), at a time when the U.N. could see an abrupt cut in crucial United States funding.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Mar 25, 2017

'Tokyo: A Biography': Tracing the life of a city

Cities are intrinsically inviting subjects for a writer. Part human, part natural; arena of history and mantelpiece of memory — cities provide the setting for the archetypal encounter of the individual with the masses.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Mar 25, 2017

Designer Mikio Sakabe: 'Fashion itself is the creation of newness'

Fashion designer on why there's no real difference between being young or old.

Longform

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