Search - life

 
 
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Dec 19, 2010

Japan's most wanted; tribute to Kohei Tsuka; CM of the week: Suica

Last April, the government abolished the statute of limitations for murder, which was 25 years for killings punishable by death and 15 years for others. The new law will not affect cases that had already lapsed before it went into effect. Its purpose, according to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department,...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 19, 2010

University grads need to expand their horizons

A man I sometimes work with built a house in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, about 10 years ago when he was 30 years old. At the time he was working for one of Japan's most prominent trading companies, and had been ever since he graduated from university. He chose Hiratsuka because it's on the JR Tokaido...
CULTURE / Film
Dec 17, 2010

'Welcome'

The reviews were mixed when "Welcome" won the European Parliament's 2009 Lux Prize, awarded to films that show "the process of building Europe in a different light." Previous winners were the highly acclaimed "The Edge of Heaven" and "Lorna's Silence" — and criticisms of "Welcome" focused on the fact...
Reader Mail
Dec 12, 2010

Italian baker could use leavening

I am gravely disappointed in the comments of Paolo Aggio, the subject of the Dec. 7 Who's Who article, "Italian baker gives new life to old Tochigi warehouse." Aggio yearns for the "good old Japan" — by that he means all of 22 years ago! — and he cannot say good things about the opportunities that...
CULTURE / Film
Dec 10, 2010

'Kick-Ass'

A couple of geeky high-school boys are hanging out discussing their favorite comic-book superheroes. One of them wonders out loud why no one has actually ever tried being a superhero; think about it, he says, thousands of people want to be Paris Hilton but nobody wants to be Spider-Man. His friend replies,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Dec 8, 2010

A relationship with the city

I magine you live in a house that communicates with you through an interface resembling the futuristic info-graphics in the science-fiction movie "Minority Report" — where actor Tom Cruise interacted with icons on an holographic touch screen. For example, a kitchen appliance, such as your fridge, displays...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 5, 2010

Know them by their bliss

NEW YORK — What's the best way to really know someone? Is it to uncover their daily worries, hassles or fears? To discern what traits they most hide from others, and perhaps even from themselves?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Dec 5, 2010

Matsumoto Koshiro IX: A lifetime of kabuki

"Koraiya!" shouts someone in the audience, acclaiming the actor center stage. Feeding off the adulation, he launches into his next line. "What a useless fellow you are," he yells, berating the servant at his side. "You shall pay dearly!"
CULTURE / Music
Dec 3, 2010

LAZYgunsBRISKY get rough on 'Childhood'

"The worst thing about our band is that if one of us says something another one doesn't agree with, she'll come right out with it, straight to the other's face. We get into fights quickly," says bass player Azu. Drummer Moe chimes in: "Yeah, we really don't put up with any nonsense. If we're hungry,...
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.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Nov 28, 2010

Interview with a Korean spy; China variety special; CM of the week: Sanko Snacks

The border dustup last week between North and South Korean forces sent a chilling reminder that when the leadership in Pyongyang changes, the new boss has to show he's a tough guy.
CULTURE / Books
Nov 28, 2010

Tales of a Heian Casanova

Ariwara no Narihira (825-880), a Japanese Don Juan, a Casanova of the Heian Period (794-1185), a poet, one of the prime authors of "Ise Monogatari," is the hero of these 125 interconnected tales written in verse with prose links.
COMMUNITY
Nov 27, 2010

Expat peace group studies embattled Okinawa ecology

At first glance, the group of 15 young Japanese and foreigners gathered together in the arrival lounge at Naha airport look like just another package tour for a week of fun on Okinawa's tropical beaches.
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Nov 25, 2010

Virtual karaoke dates, courtesy of Konami

Sing your heart out, guys. Your Love Plus mate won't care if you truly suck at karaoke.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Nov 25, 2010

Showa Women's University President Mariko Bando

Mariko Bando, 64, is the president of Showa Women's University in Tokyo. She is also a best-selling author with more than 30 books under her belt, including "The Dignity of a Woman," which has sold over 3 million copies. An advocate of women's rights, Bando is director of the Japan National Committee...
COMMENTARY
Nov 24, 2010

Always expect the unexpected in politics

LOS ANGELES — Sometimes truly strange things happen in life. For those of us on America's West Coast, who would have thought that Jerry Brown would become governor of California again? His first time out as our chief state executive (in his 30s, and full of rather unconventional ideas), they called...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Nov 24, 2010

'Virtua Tennis 4' moves into the next dimension

Another motion controller, another sports game. It didn't take game developers long to follow the lead set by Nintendo's Wii and create games for the new PlayStation 3 Move and Xbox 360 Kinect add-ons that revolve around throwing, batting, putting or lobbing things. And yet somehow it's still not hard...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 21, 2010

'Freeter' drama reflects Japan's income gap

The American media keeps wondering whether or not the United States will have to endure a "lost decade" of sluggish growth and stagnant employment like the one Japan suffered through after the real-estate bubble burst in the early 1990s. It seems unlikely. The American economy is dynamic while Japan's...
CULTURE / Stage
Nov 19, 2010

Joan of Arc takes center stage

Though widely known in the West, St. Joan of Arc is an obscure historical figure for many people in Japan. Maki Horikita, who portrays the 15th-century French war heroine in the upcoming TBS stage production "Jeanne d'Arc," rises to the challenge of making Joan's tragic life story relevant for a Japanese...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 18, 2010

Kawasaki busy cleaning up its act

The sky over Kawasaki once was choked with smoke billowing from factories along its waterfront, giving the city at the center of the Keihin Coastal Industrialized Zone a reputation as one of the country's most polluted areas.
LIFE / Language / KANJI CLINIC
Nov 17, 2010

Autumn is the perfect season to view leaf-kanji

A mosaic carpet of autumn foliage tinted in shades of green, yellow, orange, and red is currently rolling southward through the archipelago of Japan. 紅葉 (kōyō, crimson/leaves), the Japanese word for "autumn leaves," only hints at the splendor of this multihued natural phenomenon.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 16, 2010

Consumers should demand diamond clarity

PRINCETON, New Jersey — Diamonds have an image of purity and light. They are given as a pledge of love and worn as a symbol of commitment. Yet diamonds have led to gruesome murders, rapes and amputations.
CULTURE / Books
Nov 14, 2010

The swashbuckling Scotsman who helped build modern Japan

A character in J. M. Coetzee's "Summertime" states, "Of course we are all fictioneers. I do not deny that. But which would you rather have: a set of independent reports from a range of independent perspectives, from which you can then try to synthesize a whole; or the massive, unitary self-projection...
CULTURE / Music
Nov 12, 2010

Indie breakout, 'kimchibilly' rockers bring Seoul to Japan

While K-pop continues to gain greater recognition worldwide, South Korea's prolific, small underground-music scene is still struggling to find audiences outside of Seoul.
CULTURE / Film
Nov 12, 2010

'Ricky'

When Katie (Alexandra Lamy) meets Paco (Sergi Lopez) during a cigarette break at the cosmetics factory where they both work, her life is about a step shy of being in the dumps. The job is hard, she's underpaid, and her husband walked out on her years ago — leaving Katie to pay the bills and look after...
CULTURE / Music
Nov 12, 2010

Preaching to the converted

Nicky Wire is reminiscing. For the self-professed "nerdy historian" of Manic Street Preachers, the wistfulness is not misplaced. New album "Postcards From a Young Man" is Manic Street Preachers' 10th: a landmark under any criterion, but Wire is keen to accentuate what a milestone it is for a group of...
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Nov 10, 2010

Clueless Thomas living in own fantasy world

NEW YORK — Narcissistic personality disorder crosses the border of healthy confidence into thinking so highly of yourself you put yourself on a pedestal. You may come across as conceited, boastful or pretentious. You may have a sense of entitlement. And when you don't receive the special treatment...

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo