Search - life

 
 
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Mar 19, 2016

The Meiji Era and the soul of Japan: part 2

An ambitious young man of the 1880s, flattering a girl he may want to marry (or may not, if a more advantageous alliance materializes), asks her, "What are you reading these days, Osei?" When Osei in reply mentions "Outlines of the World's History" by William Swinton, Noboru, the young man, is suitably...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 15, 2016

Myanmar's new president is an unlikely leader

For years he walked alongside Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, a quiet confidant in her campaign for democracy in Myanmar. On Tuesday, with her blessing, Htin Kyaw became the country's president.
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Mar 13, 2016

Making an impression in Japan: a hanko primer

Everything you wanted to know about chops, from cheapo ¥100-shop seals to the Privy Seal of Japan, which is wielded by the Emperor and hewn from pure gold.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 11, 2016

Needs of post-3/11 Tohoku stay in focus for filmmakers

The dramatic imagery that emerged from the disasters of the March 11 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, documented so extensively by mainstream and social media, is hard to forget. However, there were and still are many stories to be told about the people who were left to pick up the pieces of their lives...
JAPAN / REVISITING 3/11
Mar 10, 2016

Fukushima researcher says region still 'stigmatized' by 2011 disaster

Hiroshi Kainuma thinks a lot about Fukushima. He's written a number of books and held hundreds of lectures on the crisis since 2012, but these days, he's concerned with the public's perception of his hometown.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 10, 2016

Questioning assumptions about disaster risk

In our technology-dependent world, risk is a great equalizer and does not always distinguish between rich and poor.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 9, 2016

'Love is Strange' when you're an aging couple in a big city

These days, love and real estate seem to go hand in hand when it comes to U.S. cinema. Throw in encroaching old age and you have a winning film: an adult love story that many aged city dwellers can truly relate to. Considering that one in four Tokyo residents are older than 65, it's no wonder older people...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 9, 2016

Odious politicians could learn from 'Escobar: Paradise Lost'

As Donald Trump closes in on the U.S. presidency, it's worth remembering that the demagogic real-estate mogul is far from the most odious individual to have pursued a career in politics. Take Pablo Escobar, for instance: The notorious drug kingpin briefly served as a congressman in his native Colombia...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 8, 2016

Philippine court shakes up election race by allowing Poe to run

The Philippine Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that a senator who spent much of her life in the United States is eligible to run for president, reversing a decision by the election commission and putting her in line to reclaim her position as front-runner.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 8, 2016

Abenomics losing support with economists and voters alike

Abenomics has not had much impact reviving the fits-and-starts Japanese economy. That is the verdict of nearly two dozen economists canvassed in a new Bloomberg News survey.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Mar 7, 2016

Overworked teachers call for change as extracurricular supervision takes toll

As this year's elementary school graduates enter junior high school in April, one of their biggest concerns will be which extracurricular club to join.
Japan Times
JAPAN / GENERATIONAL CHANGE
Mar 6, 2016

Tohoku returnee taps biz expertise to revive tsunami-stunned Ishinomaki neighborhood

Like many other coastal areas devastated by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, when entrepreneur Takashi Tachibana, 46, first stepped into the remote Ogatsu district to help Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, it was chaos.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Feb 28, 2016

Japan Inc. slowly shedding LGBT taboos but bias laws still lag

Yusuke Kitamura hid his sexuality from colleagues for most of his career. It was only after joining one of Japan's oldest brokerages last year that he could tell them he was gay.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Feb 27, 2016

Miwa Komatsu: 'It's absurd to accomplish anything by yourself'

Nagano painter on peace, purity and cultural influences worldwide
SOCCER
Feb 27, 2016

Maradona blasts FIFA

Former Argentina captain Diego Maradona says longtime FIFA president Sepp Blatter and European soccer chief Michel Platini should have been given life imprisonment rather than six-year bans from soccer for ethics violations.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 24, 2016

Meryl Streep as a runaway rocker in 'Ricki and the Flash'

It has been seven long years since Jonathan Demme came out with what is popularly known as a "woman's movie" (don't say "chick flick" — there's a difference) with "Rachel Getting Married." In many ways, "Ricki and the Flash" feels like the sequel to that earlier film. Both movies examined the behavioral...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 22, 2016

Samsung launches new campaign against Apple with Galaxy S7, virtual reality gear

Samsung Electronics Co. showed off virtual reality hardware alongside its latest Galaxy S7 smartphones, in its latest attempt to breathe life into its premium line and wrest ascendancy back from Apple Inc.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Feb 20, 2016

Finding salt of the earth on Aguni Island

There had been a delay in our departure for Aguni Island as we waited for a typhoon to spend itself. Two hours later, we finally boarded the ferry at Naha's Tomari Port. As the wind picked up again, and more people retreated into the comfort of the passenger lounge, it was clear that maritime and land...
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 20, 2016

'To Kill a Mockingbird' author Harper Lee dies at 89

Harper Lee, who wrote one of America's most beloved literary classics, "To Kill a Mockingbird," and surprised readers with a second book about racial injustice in the South after living a largely reclusive life for decades, died at the age of 89 on Friday.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Feb 19, 2016

U.N. plans food airdrop to Islamic State-besieged Syrian city of 200,000

The United Nations plans to make its first air drops of food and other aid in Syria, to Deir al-Zor, an eastern city of 200,000 besieged by Islamic State militants, the chair of a U.N. humanitarian task force said on Thursday.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 18, 2016

For Sanders and Clinton, politics is personal

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders represent two worldviews: one for whom wealth and privilege have long been assumed as her due, the other whose sympathies lie with those who are less fortunate because he once was.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Feb 17, 2016

Developing confidence in English through Skype and scarecrows

Innovative classes in Shikoku hone students' cultural sensitivity as well as their communication skills.
Japan Times
JAPAN / NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
Feb 15, 2016

Kanazawa retirement community a relocation-from-Tokyo success story

With its artistic traditions and preserved traditional neighborhoods, the city of Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, has long been known as "Little Kyoto." But over the past year, it has also been seen as a potential model for future continuing care retirement communities, or CCRCs, nationwide.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 13, 2016

Give me chocolate: Japan's growing obsession with the 'food of the gods'

People with a sweet tooth can get a glimpse of how Charlie Bucket felt when he first stepped into Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory in Roald Dahl's popular 1964 tale by popping into Musee du Chocolat Theobroma in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward.

Longform

After the asset-price bubble crash of the early 1990s, employment at a Japanese company was no longer necessarily for life. As a result, a new generation is less willing to endure a toxic work culture —life’s too short, after all.
How Japan's youth are slowly changing the country's work ethic