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COMMENTARY
Mar 15, 2012

Ocean acidification: another problem with CO₂ emissions

We tend to measure time by the span of a human life, making a century seem like an era and a millennium a mega-stretch of time. In this perspective, a million years is an eternity. So it can be revealing to consider our place in geologic history measured in hundreds of millions of years.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 15, 2012

"Kuroi Ken: World of the picture-book illustrator — encounters with fairytales"

Children's book illustrator Ken Kuroi is particularly well-known for his delicate, soft-toned images drawn in his preferred medium of colored pencils. He has contributed illustrations to many popular books, including "Gongitsune" ("Gong, the Little Fox") by Nankichi Miimi and "Neko no Jimusyo," ("The...
CULTURE / Art
Mar 15, 2012

"Kuroi Ken: World of the picture-book illustrator — encounters with fairytales"

Children's book illustrator Ken Kuroi is particularly well-known for his delicate, soft-toned images drawn in his preferred medium of colored pencils. He has contributed illustrations to many popular books, including "Gongitsune" ("Gong, the Little Fox") by Nankichi Miimi and "Neko no Jimusyo," ("The...
CULTURE / Art
Mar 15, 2012

"Eshi 100: Contemporary Japanese Illustration in Kyoto"

Eshi are illustrators who work within various fields of Japan's pop culture, such as manga, anime and games, all of which have become increasingly popular around the world.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 15, 2012

"Eshi 100: Contemporary Japanese Illustration in Kyoto"

Eshi are illustrators who work within various fields of Japan's pop culture, such as manga, anime and games, all of which have become increasingly popular around the world.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / TECH_JAPAN
Mar 14, 2012

USB beans and yet another 'toy' camera

A common problem with many new laptops is that they don't come with as many USB ports as we'd like. I have four ports on my computer and I still find myself fiddling with wires around the back, unplugging and replugging depending on what device I'm using. Of course, a USB hub is a good solution in...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 12, 2012

Thousands rally at Hibiya Park

Thousands converged on Tokyo's Hibiya Park over the weekend to hold candlelight services, play music and offer prayers to commemorate the first anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake, one of the largest of many such rallies and gatherings across the capital.
Japan Times
LIFE
Mar 11, 2012

Catastrophe revisited 12 months on

The Ground Self-Defense Force troops have gone. So too the old blackboard with sheets of paper taped to it. I still remember a few of the names written in long lists there — the names of those whose muddied bodies could be identified after they were brought on military trucks to the makeshift morgue...
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Mar 9, 2012

With playoff spot already locked up, powerhouse Kings take on Albirex

With 14 games remaining, the Ryukyu Golden Kings have already clinched a playoff spot.
JAPAN
Mar 9, 2012

Lower House OKs ¥90 trillion 2012 budget but deadline delays loom

The Lower House passed a ¥90.3 trillion budget for fiscal 2012 on Thursday, ensuring the legislation will be enacted, but the opposition camp could still prevent it from entering into force before the new fiscal year starts.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 9, 2012

Drummers hope to support earthquake victims

Many artists that watched the destruction of the Great East Japan Earthquake a year ago have said in media interviews that they've struggled with how to interpret the disaster. The taiko (drum) troupe at the International Christian University is no different.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / Japan Pulse
Mar 7, 2012

15th Japan Media Arts Festival

Creators of interactive technology and cutting-edge eye candy get their week in the spotlight.
BUSINESS
Mar 7, 2012

ANA may boost Lufthansa venture

All Nippon Airways Co. may expand a venture with Germany's Lufthansa after greater cooperation with partners helped the Japanese carrier double transfer passengers at Narita airport.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Mar 2, 2012

Civil servants are different, especially when it comes to social security

Two proposals for improving pension schemes seem dead in the water.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 2, 2012

'Hugo'

'Hugo" is in 3-D, rated PG in the United States and features two 12-year-olds traipsing around a 1930s Parisian train station. All the ingredients for a cozy Disney picture, but in actual fact this is a Martin Scorsese movie, which picked up five Oscars at last weekend's Academy Awards.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 2, 2012

'The People vs. George Lucas' / 'Cave of Forgotten Dreams'

Don't ever say it's just a film! It's not just a film!" So rages one super-size fanboy in the documentary "The People vs. George Lucas," which delves into "Star Wars," its huge impact on popular culture and the rabid fans it has spawned like so many clone troopers from a Kamino lab. Beyond the movies...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 2, 2012

After 3/11, short-film director has one message: Don't forget

Isamu Hirabayashi is an incredibly versatile man. The 39-year-old Shizuoka native's day job is to direct TV commercials, and he normally works on five or six projects at the same time. Since 2002, he has also been active as a filmmaker, with his short films being shown at numerous festivals overseas,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 2, 2012

'Henge'

Movie trailers and TV commercials both exist to sell, but unlike ads for toothpaste or instant ramen, trailers offer a direct experience, however manipulated, with the actual product. So websites that post links to trailers are not just shilling for distributors, but also offering their visitors, always...
CULTURE / Art
Mar 1, 2012

"Hubert Robert — Les jardins du Temps"

Hubert Robert was a French 18th-century painter and garden designer, known for his romantic depictions of old and decaying landscapes that were fashionable in his time. His talent for portraying dilapidated subjects and conceptualizing similar gardens that involved man-made waterfalls and grottoes, earned...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 1, 2012

"Hubert Robert — Les jardins du Temps"

Hubert Robert was a French 18th-century painter and garden designer, known for his romantic depictions of old and decaying landscapes that were fashionable in his time. His talent for portraying dilapidated subjects and conceptualizing similar gardens that involved man-made waterfalls and grottoes, earned...
CULTURE / Art
Mar 1, 2012

"Magnitude Zero: March 11 Seen Through the Eyes of Comic Artists From all Over the World"

After the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11 last year, French comic artist Jean-David Morvan started "Tsunami," a project that brought together illustrations from artists all over the world to raise money for charity. Thousands of illustrations were collected, of which 250 were selected for the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 1, 2012

"Magnitude Zero: March 11 Seen Through the Eyes of Comic Artists From all Over the World"

After the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11 last year, French comic artist Jean-David Morvan started "Tsunami," a project that brought together illustrations from artists all over the world to raise money for charity. Thousands of illustrations were collected, of which 250 were selected for the...
COMMENTARY
Feb 29, 2012

To save U.K., England must be more like Scotland

The battle over Scotland's future as part of the United Kingdom has begun. Last week, politicians on both sides of the border set out passionate arguments for and against Scottish independence. All three of Britain's main political parties are committed to preserving the union. In a speech in Edinburgh...
COMMENTARY
Feb 29, 2012

Why China resists Western intervention in Syria

Intellectual precision is especially vital in times of geopolitical passion. The full totality of evil of the Syrian government is now on display for the entire world to see. The brutality of President Bashar Assad is beyond immense. And so the blame game has begun.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Feb 27, 2012

Fiscally hobbled Japan nears multiple-currency era: Is yen's demise nigh?

For a single-currency area to be sustainable, one of two conditions needs to be met. One, sufficient economic convergence throughout the area in question. Two, a transfer mechanism to offset whatever economic divergences exist in the area. The eurozone currently meets neither of these conditions. Thus...
CULTURE / Books
Feb 26, 2012

Fuji-san: reflections on Japan's iconic mother mountain

MOUNT FUJI: Icon of Japan, by H. Byron Earhart. The University of South Carolina Press, 2011, 238 pp., $40 (hardcover) It is significant that in a country where nature has long been transfused with the numinous, that Japan's most iconic image is neither a building nor a monument, but a mountain — Fuji-san....

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