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Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 23, 2014

Attila Marcel

French animation director Sylvain Chomet debuted in 2003 with "The Triplets of Belleville," a five-course meal of a film, rich with a surreal visual style and Gallic wit, and followed it up with "The Illusionist," a gorgeous adaptation of a Jacques Tati film. Now Chomet brings us the whimsical "Attila...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Jul 23, 2014

A democratically elected rep is every worker's legal right

The lack of a freely and fairly elected workers' rep could cost employees dearly in the long run.
EDITORIALS
Jul 21, 2014

Banking on the BRICS

The financial heft of the BRICS group — Brazil, Russia, China, India and South Africa — has just advanced a step, at least symbolically, with its decision to launch the New Development Bank. A $100 billion reserve fund will be available to members that face a foreign exchange crisis.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 21, 2014

Nigerian journalists fear state censorship

Nigeria's press is traditionally free to write almost anything about anyone — whether it's true or not. But reporters fear a government sensitive to criticism is now cracking down, especially on coverage of the battle against Boko Haram.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 20, 2014

Big budget F-35 fighter 'can't turn, can't climb, can't run'

The U.S. military recently grounded all of its new F-35 Joint Strike Fighters after one caught fire on a runway. There is reason to worry that basic design flaws vex what is on track to become the military's most numerous warplane.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jul 19, 2014

DiMuro has witnessed umpire challenges, changes over the years

Back in 1972, in the early years of NFL's "Monday Night Football" on ABC, the broadcasting trio of Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell and "Dandy" Don Meredith were calling the gridiron action. A play occurred whereby, because of a rule change, the result was substantially different than what it would have...
CULTURE / Books
Jul 19, 2014

Umami: the taste we love but can't describe

The word "umami" is, in many ways, literally a mouthful. First coined in 1909 by Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda, the term translates roughly as "deliciousness." With its satisfying, round consonants and open vowel sounds, the word approaches onomatopoeia — a phonetic approximation of the gustatory...
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Jul 19, 2014

House of the Sleeping Beauties and Other Stories

Yasunari Kawabata's novella "House of the Sleeping Beauties and Other Stories" is one of his finest works. It is primarily concerned with the connections between the youth and old age, sex, death, life and memory.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 19, 2014

Vagina artist wins release, urges public to challenge taboos

An artist arrested for distributing 3-D data of her vagina online urged the public to outgrow the perception that female genitalia are taboo or shameful, after being released from police custody on Friday.
Events / Events In Tokyo
Jul 18, 2014

See Japan's hand-crafted creativity under one roof

Legend has it that the first Hakata ningyō (handmade clay Japanese clay figurines) were created to be presented to Kuroda Nagamasa, the then newly appointed feudal lord who served under Tokugawa Ieyasu during the Edo Period (1603-1868). Like Hakata dolls, the stories behind hand-crafted ornaments and...
EDITORIALS
Jul 17, 2014

Silver lining to labor shortage

Labor shortages in Japan are becoming increasingly problematic amid the current economic recovery, particularly for those sectors where rising wage costs result in lost sales and even bankruptcy — despite rising consumer demand.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 17, 2014

'Ancient Egyptian Queens and Goddesses: Treasures from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York'

Though Cleopatra is the most memorable female pharaoh of ancient Egypt, she was just one of many women rulers and goddesses who had prominent roles in the country's history and culture. With the support of Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum is show casing around 200...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 17, 2014

'Two Tapestries: The Miho Merciful Mother Kannon and The Lotus Miroku'

This is the first time that "Miho Merciful Mother Kannon" and "Lotus Miroku," two large tapestry works belonging to the Miho Museum collection, are being displayed together. Created by the fabric company Kawashima Selkon Textiles Co., Ltd., both the tapestries celebrate traditional craftsmanship combined...
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Jul 17, 2014

Staying cool by the pool; evening drinks on the terrace; Parisian pastries

Staying cool by the pool The Hotel New Otani Tokyo's very popular outdoor pool, the Garden Pool will be open from July 19 through Sept. 7.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 16, 2014

More than 17,000 sign petition for genitalia artist under arrest

Thousands of people have signed a petition demanding that police free a Tokyo artist arrested on obscenity charges for distributing data that allowed recipients to make 3-D models of her vagina.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 16, 2014

Young artists grow through international exchange

Japanese and foreign high school students had the honor of winning prestigious awards at a ceremony for the 15th International High School Arts Festival at a Tokyo hotel July 5.
CULTURE / Music
Jul 15, 2014

Emerald Four slows its sound down

The music created by Emerald Four practically oozes from the speakers. The Kyoto-based duo crafts narcotized songs built around unfolding electronics and slow, dreamy vocals.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN
Jul 14, 2014

NPB, MLB keeping track as Otani continues to blossom

Shohei Otani struck out 12 batters over seven innings on July 2 and fanned 16 in a complete-game effort in his next start July 9. He was in the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters' starting lineup twice in the days between those outings on the mound and hit two home runs during a July 5 contest against the...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language
Jul 14, 2014

In Japan, the 'collapse of the family' is old news

One of the things the Japanese media love to discuss is kazoku no hōkai (家族の崩壊, collapse of the family) — an evergreen topic that's been around since the late 1960s, a time when most urban Japanese families could first afford a television. Academics and tarento (TV personality) commentators...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 13, 2014

Old silk town embraces farm reforms in test of revival scheme

Tomiyoshi Kurogoushi sighs as he looks over the terraced rice fields in the mountains of west Japan that were tended by generations of his family. Most are now covered in weeds and silver grass.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Jul 12, 2014

Kuhaku & Other Accounts From Japan

"Kuhaku & Other Accounts From Japan" was one of the first books released by Chin Music Press, an independent publisher that has produced some of the best collections of contemporary literature from Japan over the past decade or so.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 11, 2014

Cost of 'making' democracy

For most of the American electorate, the U.S. perseveres as the messenger of democracy to a world that usually hasn't earned it and probably doesn't deserve it. But consider what this proud effort in the Mideast, Afghanistan, Ukraine and elsewhere has done to U.S. civil liberties and to U.S. democracy.
EDITORIALS
Jul 11, 2014

Outside directors alone won't help

More Japanese companies are appointing external directors to oversee their management after a number of scandals raised doubts about corporate governance in this country, but the question is whether 'outside' directors are qualified and separate from insider interests.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 10, 2014

When it came to horror, ukiyo-e artists kept their wits about them

This exhibition showcases more than 250 Japanese woodblock prints of the Edo Period (1603-1868), depicting ghosts, goblins and other supernatural beings. The lurid subject matter, a graphic illustration of the shadowy spirit underworld, is as delightful as it is ghoulish.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 10, 2014

Combinations that break the surface like a lotus flower

At exhibitions, ancient ceramics tend not to be the draw card that contemporary photography can be. With this in mind, The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, has combined the two together.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 10, 2014

'Hokusai and Riviere: Thirty-six Views Compared and the Hokusai Manga'

To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of French ukiyo-e artist Henri Riviere (1888-1902), the Sagawa Art Museum is showcasing the printmaker's famous "Thirty-six Views of the Eiffel Tower" alongside its inspiration, Katsushika Hokusai's "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 10, 2014

'George Nelson: Architect, Writer, Designer, Teacher'

Best known for being the design director of the Herman Miller furniture company, George Nelson (1908-1986) was one of the most influential figures in modern American design, whose collaborations with Isamu Noguchi, Alexander Girard and Charles and Ray Eames, to name a few, resulted in some of the most...

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb