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Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 9, 2011

Video-sharing website sparks Net revolution

When you get down to it, the Nico Nico Douga website is just a combination of videos and text comments about them.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
May 22, 2011

Mothers of modern China; Sakana-kun sempai; CM of the week: Nippon Ham

In April, NHK launched the BS Premium channel, which is mainly dedicated to art and history. This week, Premium presents a special four-part series entitled "Kindai Chugoku ni Kunrin Shita Onnatachi" ("Women Who Dominated Modern China"; Mon.-Thurs., 7:30 p.m.).
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
May 15, 2011

Tokyo Dome begins hosting night games with reduced power supply

There had been speculation, following the events of March 11, it might not be possible to play professional baseball games at Tokyo Dome for the entire 2011 season, on account of the problems at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power facility. Because it is an indoor stadium, lighting and other energy...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Apr 10, 2011

Perils of modern motherhood and keeping a dog; CM of the week: S.T. Corporation

The perils of modern motherhood are explored in the news drama series "Namae wo Nakushita Megumi" ("The Goddess Who Lost Her Name"; Fuji TV, Tues., 9 p.m.), whose promotional catchphrase is "Welcome to mamatomo hell." "Mamatomo" is a word that describes women who become friends through their children....
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 27, 2011

Skipping the ads gets harder as shows become infomercials

In the late 1990s, I did piece work for a public relations company, translating achievement reports into English for its non-Japanese clients. The reports outlined how and where the company had secured mentions of its clients' products in various media, and included equivalent advertising value amounts...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Feb 20, 2011

Secret envoy docudrama; flash mob challenge; CM of the Week: Food Action Nippon

After decades of official denials from the Foreign Ministry, last year it was revealed that the Japanese government made a secret pact with the United States to allow the American military to bring nuclear weapons into Okinawa after the islands were returned to Japan in 1972.
LIFE / Digital / TECH_JAPAN
Feb 16, 2011

Battle over cooking-website users is a recipe for all out war

Although things have been changing in recent years — as more Japanese women continue to work after marriage — in Japan it is still usually women who are expected to prepare meals for the family. And whether it be making bento (lunch boxes) for their husbands or children, or preparing the evening...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Feb 10, 2011

Driving is believing: Don't trust manufacturers' mileage claims

What kind of mileage do you get in that hybrid? Depends on who you ask.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jan 30, 2011

An unyielding minister, a superbartender; CM of the week: Yamato Transport

TBS stays on top of current events with "Watashi wa Kusshinai" ("I Won't Yield"; Mon., 9 p.m.), a dramatization of last year's arrest and prosecution of health ministry official Atsuko Muraki, who was accused of approving the fraudulent use of postal discounts for the disabled. She was exonerated and...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jan 29, 2011

Nagoya 'Tokyo Girls Collection' set to target cash-flush women

Young Japanese males may no longer be interested in buying new cars, brand-name clothes or other expensive items, but their female counterparts appear less reluctant to part with their money, and retailers are tuned in.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Jan 29, 2011

Gray-Keys scandal filled with irony on many fronts

LONDON — Hypocrisy is not as offensive as sexism and fortunately for those guilty of failing to practice what they preach it is not as obvious to the public.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 26, 2011

Sony starts up fee-based music

Sony Corp. and the world's major record labels are starting their own music streaming service in the U.S. this quarter to challenge Apple Inc.'s iTunes, after years of letting startups license their artists.
COMMENTARY
Dec 21, 2010

Moderation is for losers

NEW YORK — "Given his druthers (U.S. President Barack) Obama will pursue the most left-leaning course he can get away with."
Japan Times
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 19, 2010

Sadaharu Oh Museum worth a visit when in Fukuoka

If you ever get to Fukuoka, during the baseball season or in the winter, be sure to go to Yahoo Dome and pay a visit to the Sadaharu Oh Museum. Opened in July of this year, it is a tribute to baseball's all-time home run king, loaded with history and nostalgia.
JAPAN
Dec 8, 2010

Asahi to end English insert in IHT on Feb. 28

The Asahi Shimbun Co. will stop printing on Feb. 28 its English section that currently occupies the last four pages of the International Herald Tribune's Japan edition.
LIFE / Digital
Dec 1, 2010

Lady Gaga goes offline for charity

Alicia Keys and Lady Gaga take charity work seriously, and they're going offline to prove it.
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Nov 21, 2010

Strategy needed to boost bj-league game attendance

Whatever the bj-league is doing to promote itself across the nation, it isn't working. In fact, it's failing miserably to attract anything that resembles a decent-size fan base.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Nov 15, 2010

Electronics retailers likely to phase out point systems

Retailers fret that life after the eco-point system is abolished won't be so bright.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Nov 14, 2010

Revealing looks at a 'phantom chef' and city sparrows; CM of the Week: Lotte Xylitol gum

You've been thrilled by the skills of "Ryori no Tetsujin (The Iron Chef)" and impressed by the knowledge revealed by "Ryori no Meijin" ("The Master Chef"). Now you can enjoy the unique talents of "Ryori no Kaijin" ("The Phantom Chef"; TV Tokyo, Wed., 9 p.m.).
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Nov 7, 2010

The secret story of Minako Honda; Japan vs. the world; CM of the week: Asahi's Wonda

Singer Minako Honda, who died in 2005 at the age of 38, was not your average idol singer. As a girl she dreamed of becoming an enka (Japanese ballad) star, but her agency didn't have any connection to enka. Since she was cute they sold her as a pop singer, and for a while she was successful as a saucy...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 29, 2010

'Raiou (The Lightning Tree)'

When Ryuichi Hiroki had a big hit last year with "Yomei 1-kagetsu no Hanayome (April Bride)," a drama about a young woman's struggle with terminal breast cancer, I was glad for him. In a directing career of two decades, he had never enjoyed this sort of commercial success and, unlike the hacks who serve...
BUSINESS
Oct 27, 2010

Sony bids adieu to the Walkman

NEW YORK — The Walkman, the Sony cassette device that forever changed music listening before becoming outdated by digital MP3 players and iPods, has died. It was 31 years old.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Oct 13, 2010

Unfortunately named Galapagos tablet is proud to be different

A new tablet may be the last gasp of the Galapagos syndrome in Japan.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 11, 2010

Internet companies roll over, play dead in defense of liberty

PARIS — All over the world, Internet users entertain romantic delusions about cyberspace. To most of us Web surfers, the Internet provides a false sense of complete freedom, power and anonymity.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Oct 10, 2010

NPB news should be plentiful after playoffs finish up

Every year about this time, I am usually asked two questions about the off-season.
Japan Times
LIFE
Oct 10, 2010

Standing up for the right to sit down in public

A quick story about me, public seating and Japan: It's 1994. I've been in Tokyo less than a week and this is my first time in Shinjuku. Lunchtime comes and my student thriftiness and Australian love of the outdoors beget a plan: I'll grab something at a department-store food counter and eat it on a seat...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 18, 2010

Thierry's table offers bountiful taste of France

The cartoon character adorning ads and menus for the Kyoto restaurant Le Table de Thierry, it turns out, is a pretty good approximation of the owner himself: an upbeat, grande-size French-Togolese chef with a passion for demystifying French cuisine.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji