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CULTURE / Film
Oct 2, 2009

'Akumu no Elevator'

Movies are confidence tricks played on willing victims. The bullets are blanks and the sex is faked, but we usually want to believe, as long as the lights are down, that it's all real. Creating that belief — or rather, that suspension of disbelief — has long been Hollywood's goal.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 30, 2009

Learn the coded language all Japanese know

Encoding and decoding may be almost as old as writing itself.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Sep 29, 2009

Life in the old dog yet: Asashoryu picks up number 24

What better way could there possibly be for a sumotori to celebrate his birthday than to be presented with the Emperor’s Cup, having earlier the same day picked up his 24th basho in a career that will, statistically, always be regarded as one of the best in sumo history?
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 29, 2009

Gaijin health coverage: an appeal for choice

Unless you've just made it to this corner of the world in the last couple of weeks, you're probably well aware of the new visa guideline that's scheduled to go into effect in April 2010. Because of this guideline, foreigners who wish to renew their visa and who are required to be enrolled in social health...
CULTURE / Books
Sep 27, 2009

The ink-stained road: impressions of Japan

JAPAN THROUGH WRITER'S EYES, edited by Elizabeth Ingrams. Eland, 2009, 336 pp., $29.95 (paper) Reviewed by Stephen Mansfield Recent years have seen a number of excellent anthologies of writings on Japan, including "Japan: True Stories of Life on the Road" and the superb "Southern Exposure: Modern Japanese...
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Sep 24, 2009

Can LDP recoup the glory days?

Is former Prime Minister Taro Aso solely to blame for the crushing defeat of his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in the Aug. 30 general election at the hands of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ)?
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2009

Stateless boy comes to Japan for contest

A boy with no official nationality who lives in Thailand took third place in a paper airplane contest in Chiba after his tearful pleas to be allowed to attend prompted authorities to grant him a rare temporary passport.
COMMENTARY
Sep 22, 2009

Face up to civilian casualties in Gaza

NEW YORK — The long-awaited United Nations report on the conflict in Gaza is strongly critical of both Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups. Both sides are said to have committed war crimes and possible crimes against humanity. The report recommends that Israel start its own investigation into...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Sep 20, 2009

Urban warfare medieval style

Aikido, judo, jujitsu, kendo, karate, sumo: Surely Japan has enough martial arts to keep even the most voracious of combat connoisseurs entertained for a lifetime, right? Wrong.
COMMENTARY
Sep 19, 2009

Colombo risks squandering Sri Lanka's hard-won peace

If Sri Lanka is to become a tropical paradise again, it must build enduring peace. This will only occur through genuine interethnic equality, and a transition from being a unitary state to being a federation that grants provincial and local autonomy.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 18, 2009

Economists banked too much on rationality

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — The widespread failure of economists to forecast the financial crisis that erupted in 2008 has much to do with faulty models, which meant that economic policymakers and central bankers got no warning of what was to come.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 18, 2009

Pastels / Tenniscoats "Two Sunsets"

"Two Sunsets" is a collaboration between Tokyo's Tenniscoats and seminal Scottish guitar-pop act Pastels. Recorded over a few years in Glasgow during time off from Tenniscoats' European tours, the album joins the growing list of joint projects by the Japanese avant-pop duo. They teamed up with Swedish...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK
Sep 18, 2009

Kudo hoping to find team for next season

Before Kimiyasu Kudo was reduced to mop-up duty on the worst team in Japanese pro baseball, he was one of the aces on a dynasty.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 18, 2009

Taketomijima: Southern comfort Okinawan style

Everybody loves Okinawa. Japan's southernmost prefecture boasts sun-kissed beaches, coral reefs, an easy-going lifestyle and a culture unlike anywhere else in the country. These days, the islands and their distinctive cuisine enjoy a certain hip cachet; this has not always been the case.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Japan Pulse
Sep 17, 2009

Tokyo Meatrea: a cut above your usual food court

Herbivores be damned. Namco announces plans for new 'food theme park' dedicated to meat. Yes, meat.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 11, 2009

'Symbol'

Every once in a while, a distributor will ask audiences not to reveal anything about a film's ending — a gimmick that became popular with "The Crying Game" (1992).
JAPAN
Sep 11, 2009

Incoming first lady has already made a big splash

Fresh off an accord to form a coalition with two minor parties, Democratic Party of Japan President Yukio Hatoyama began compiling a list Thursday of possible candidates to form his new administration.
CULTURE / Film
Sep 11, 2009

Keeping it plain, simple and brilliant

When one thinks of the grand old men of American cinema, directors who have spanned a few decades and continue to keep up the pace, there are but a handful of names to check.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan