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Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 16, 2013

'Edward II': The back story

Atheist, blasphemer, sodomite, spy, counterfeiter, lover of boys and tobacco — playwright and poet Christopher Marlowe has never been easily accepted into the comfortable canon of English literature.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 16, 2013

Exploring Japan's ancient capital inside and out

Beneath Kyoto, the destination par excellence of tourists, aesthetes, and historians, are the scars and ashes of a much older capital of Japan. Founded in 794 as the seat of imperial authority, after a devastating civil war from 1467 to 1477, the city was rebuilt with opulent temples and palaces, which...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 16, 2013

'Alfons Mucha Unknown'

Alphonse Mucha, born in Moravia (now a part of the present-day Czech Republic) is best known for his theatrical decoration, oil paintings, posters and stamps. He began his career in Paris as an illustrator, where his poster design for the 1894 play "Gismonda," starring Sarah Bernhardt, garnered him critical...
EDITORIALS
Oct 16, 2013

Policy speech overlooks key issues

An extraordinary Diet session starts ostensibly to deal with radioactive contamination, reconstruction of disaster-hit areas and world trade, but the prime minister's policy speech misses.
WORLD
Oct 16, 2013

U.S. spy court lists changes it forces in surveillance requests

A secret surveillance court that has been criticized for approving the vast majority of the U.S. government's applications to spy on suspected terrorists and other targets reported Tuesday that the government had revamped roughly one-fourth of its requests in the face of court questions and demands....
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 15, 2013

Arab Spring countries suffer a financial hangover

Political assassinations and polarization, civil unrest, a military coup, terrorist attacks and an institutional vacuum have all but decimated the economies of countries affected by the Arab Spring.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 15, 2013

Perfume dances to No. 1 with hard-edged new album 'Level3'

"Level3" is No. 1 on Japan's Oricon music chart this week, but it is not a J-pop album.
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Oct 13, 2013

How to say what you really want someone to do

Today, we will introduce the proper use of (verb)uff0bu3066u307bu3057u3044, which is used for informal requests or wishes.
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 13, 2013

Cleanup at nation's war cemetery stirs anger, grief

Elizabeth Belle walked toward the grave of her son carrying a canvas bag full of miniature pumpkins, silk leaves and other decorations for his headstone. Then she noticed the changes. Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery, where more than 800 Iraq and Afghanistan war dead are buried, had been stripped...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 12, 2013

Apologies for the apologies: the 'dogeza boom' on steroids

Japanese people like to apologize; or maybe "like" isn't the right word. As in English, many Japanese terms that have the meaning of an apology are used for the sake of perfunctory politeness, so a sincere apology requires effort, and there's no more powerful apology than dogeza, the act of prostrating...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 11, 2013

Crashes, sticker shock mark Obamacare shopping

Last week I spent six hours shopping for Obamacare on New York State's health care marketplace website. Officials had estimated that it would take the average person seven minutes. Either because I am not an average person or because the Obamacare people are idiots, I spent six hours setting up an account....
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 11, 2013

For Nobel laureate Alice Munro, the subject is 'simply life itself'

In describing Alice Munro, the Canadian novelist Margaret Atwood once wrote: "She's the kind of writer about whom it is often said — no matter how well-known she becomes — that she ought to be better known."
WORLD
Oct 11, 2013

OPCW bags Nobel Prize for fight against chemical arms

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is awarded the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize, just weeks after a deadly gas attack in Syria sparked international condemnation.
EDITORIALS
Oct 10, 2013

Don't sell out Japan in TPP talks

The Abe administration's apparent rush to complete the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks before yearend is disturbing given the lack of clarity so far on what Japan may be agreeing to.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 10, 2013

TIFF is your chance to catch up with Japanese film

The Tokyo International Film Festival, now in its 26th edition, has had its share of detractors, dissing it for everything from competition lineups of major festival castoffs (no longer true since TIFF stopped insisting on world premieres) to a Special Screening section that is essentially a PR showcase...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 10, 2013

'Passion'

How does one describe the melange that is Brian De Palma's "Passion"? "The Devil Wears Prada" reimagined as a film noir and shot in the style of 1980s French cinema du look? "Basic Instinct" with iPhones and Rachel McAdams ("Mean Girls") as femme fatale? Or just another attempt by De Palma to recapture...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 10, 2013

Diplomats bag 'cool' photo prizes

Ciaran Chestnutt, first secretary of the Australian Embassy, on Thursday won the Prince Takamado Memorial Prize while Mayssa Hamada from the Egyptian Embassy received the Grand Prize in this year's photo contest featuring the works of diplomats posted in Japan.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 10, 2013

Office vacancies in Tokyo at lowest rate since 2009

The office vacancy rate in Tokyo fell in September to its lowest level in four years as the amount of space taken up in the month more than doubled, according to broker Miki Shoji Co.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 9, 2013

'150 Years of Modern Japanese Music'

After the Meiji Restoration of 1868, as Japan continued to open its ports to trade, the government also introduced Western music to education curriculums as part of its attempt to construct a more modern, globalized nation.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 9, 2013

'Gustave Caillebotte: Impressionist in Modern Paris'

Despite his relatively short artistic career of two decades, the 19th-century painter Gustave Caillebotte became famous as a popular French Impressionist, alongside the likes of Claude Monet and Auguste Renoir.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 9, 2013

'Documents from Medieval Japan: Functions and Styles'

This show of important early written documents helps shed light onto the life, politics and culture of medieval Japan. Beyond the messages of the words they convey, the materials used to create these documents, as well as the style of calligraphy, often reveal techniques that are unique to the era and...
EDITORIALS
Oct 9, 2013

Risky economic situation ahead

With the sales tax set to rise from 5 percent to 8 percent in April, it is all the more important that businesses strive to improve employment prospects and to raise workers' wages.
Reader Mail
Oct 9, 2013

Kanji requirement for daily life

Regarding Dipak Basu's Sept. 16 letter, "Questionable link to innovation" [in which professor Basu recommends that Japanese education abolish the kanji character system]: The kanji character system is only a problem for primary schoolchildren, who take longer to learn the needs of daily life. This difficulty...
JAPAN / BULLETIN BOARD
Oct 9, 2013

Special concert to remember deceased loved ones

A requiem concert will be held Nov. 4 in Tokorozawa Shimin Bunka Center Muse in Saitama Prefecture to offer audience members a special opportunity to remember their loved ones who have died — with the names of the deceased printed in the program.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 7, 2013

Areva: New reactors to end uranium slump by 2015

Nuclear power plant operators benefited from a slump in uranium prices after the reactor meltdowns in the Fukushima No. 1 plant. Areva SA, the second-biggest producer of the metal, says that's about to end.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 7, 2013

Celebrating Japan's artists who loved love

The British Museum's press officer, Claire Coveney, comes hurrying up to take me to the galleries of the museum's latest hot-ticket show, "Shunga: Sex and pleasure in Japanese Art," and I'm not surprised she looks run off her feet. Pre-opening interest in this new exhibition — the most comprehensive...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON: FASHION
Oct 7, 2013

Madstore, Christian Dada, Alexander Wang make Tokyo debuts, while Parco pushes the envelope

Alexander Wang lands in Aoyama
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / OUR MAN IN TOKYO
Oct 7, 2013

Spanish envoy celebrates 400-year relationship

Spanish Ambassador Miguel Navarro is eager to turn the eyes of Japanese to the lesser known historical footnotes that connect Japan and his country as the 400th anniversary of bilateral exchanges is celebrated.

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