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COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 20, 2011

A lost gem found confirms who was the father of Japanese filmmaking

In July 1959, Japan's leading film magazine, Kinema Junpo, published a list of what it hailed as "The best 10 Japanese films of all time." This list included works by such acknowledged masters as Mikio Naruse, as well as the young but by then amply acclaimed Akira Kurosawa.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 19, 2011

Okinawa shutterbug captures varied reactions to Hinomaru

Situated alongside a rundown strip club and a tailor's store that sews screaming eagles onto the backs of military jackets, Gallery Rougheryet in the city of Okinawa might well scare away potential artists — but not Mao Ishikawa. Dressed in a bright red Spiderman T-shirt and gold sandals, the 58-year-old...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Nov 19, 2011

Blatter's remark on racism utterly unacceptable

It was not a slip of the tongue. He was not, as he claimed, misunderstood. Sepp Blatter, who sadly is still the president of FIFA, does not make such mistakes. Despite coming out with the ramblings of an idiot, Blatter is intelligent, a former lawyer who re-invented football politics.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 19, 2011

When are we going to eat udon?

"When are we going to eat udon?" asks our neighbor Rikimatsu-san.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 18, 2011

Dvorak opera to make debut

Czech composer Antonin Dvorak's (1841-1904) symphonies, such as Symphony No. 9 "From the New World," are well known to Japanese audiences. However, his operatic works have not been performed that often in Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 18, 2011

"Takehisa Yumeji in the Memory: Commemorate of Acquisition of the Kawanishi Hide Collection"

The Kawanishi Hide Collection of some 1,100 artworks was established by the Kobe-based printmaker Hide Kawanishi (1894-1965). One of its highlights is the work of Yumeji Takehisa (1884-1934), a popular Japanese painter with whom Kawanishi exchanged letters. Kawanishi treasured and kept Takeshisa's letters...
Japan Times
CULTURE
Nov 18, 2011

Proud love pervades NHK's 'Madame Butterfly'

"Well, little Chrysanthème, let us part good friends; one last kiss even, if you like. I took you to amuse me; you have not perhaps succeeded very well, but after all you have done what you could: given me your little face, your little curtseys, your little music; in short, you have been pleasant enough...
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA
Nov 17, 2011

The embodiment of Buddha Shakyamuni through art

"What is national treasure?" wrote Saicho (767-822), the founding monk of Tendai Buddhism, in his 818 "The Essential Teachings for Tendai Lotus Sect Priests," which he presented to Emperor Saga to bolster the standing of his esoteric order. His answer was pursuing the Buddhist path, and that "shining...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 17, 2011

"Geometry Of Light By Alyson Shotz"

Espace Louis Vuitton TokyoCloses Dec. 25
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 13, 2011

Will trickle-down class discrimination rob Britain of what's so great?

Britain may be broken, but London is hot. A recent trip to the city exhilarated me.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Nov 13, 2011

Kyuyoh's monochrome masterpieces

The highly intricate ink flows that grace archaic clerical scripts and decorative art, the illuminated plates of medieval European manuscripts, may be aesthetically pleasing, but are essentially skillfully beautified elaborations of simplistic lettering.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 11, 2011

"Emerging Master 1: Makoto Aida "Be it Art or not Art"

Tokyo Wonder Site begins its "Emerging Master" series with Makoto Aida — the artist who famously goaded Disney lawyers with crazed and sexualized depictions of Mickey and Minnie Mouse, and who has garnered controversy as much as acclaim. But with his anti-establishment career and a number of challenges...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 11, 2011

'Sarariman Neo Gekijoban (Warai) (Japanese Salaryman Neo)'

These are hard, uncertain times, especially for young Japanese who have failed to get the right degree from a prestigious university and the right job with a big-name company. If they can find work at all, it is often well below expectations for the rising generation of that onetime economic powerhouse,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 11, 2011

"Exhibition as media 2011: Tetsuya Umeda"

"Exhibition as media" is a series of art projects planned and implemented by the Kobe Art Center in collaboration with Kansai-based artists.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Nov 11, 2011

Thanksgiving Day at Four Seasons

The Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Marunouchi is celebrating Thanksgiving Day by offering special holiday menus at the hotel's international cuisine restaurant, ekki Bar & Grill, on Nov. 23 and 24.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 11, 2011

"Gustavo Isoe"

Osaka native Tsuyoshi Isoe (1954-2007) was a major influence on Japanese contemporary realism painting.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 10, 2011

Looking information technology in the eye

In an era in which we have seen communication and human interaction revolutionized by new technology, it may well seem that the "medium really is the message." But just how far can this alliteratively attractive slogan really be stretched?
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / TECH_JAPAN
Nov 9, 2011

Project from an iPhone and tell the time at the speed of light

Japanese company Thanko, the creator of an assortment of crazy — if not always practical — gadgets, has recently released an intriguing device targeting iPhone users. The iPhone Mini Projector is tiny, at 48 × 58 × 16 mm, and weighs only 32 grams. But once connected to an iPhone it projects the...
CULTURE / Books
Nov 6, 2011

Words for all seasons

THE UNDYING DAY: Poems by Hans Brinckmann. Trafford Publishing, 2011, 131pp., $14.50 (paperback) In person, Hans Brinckmann is a dapper European gent with the patrician manner of the well-practised host or master of ceremonies. Reading this book of time-seasoned verse, one suspects that he would be equally...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 4, 2011

"Valerio Olgiati"

Swiss architect and designer Valerio Olgiati has an office in Zurich and another in the Swiss mountainside municipality of Flims. He also worked for a number of years in Los Angeles and has recently garnered international acclaim for his daring and yet simple designs.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 4, 2011

'Suteki na Kanashibari (Once In a Blue Moon/A Ghost of a Chance)'

Koki Mitani is Japan's most successful comedy writer and director, with a long string of hit plays, TV dramas and films to his credit, most recently "The Uchoten Hoteru (Suite Dreams)" and "The Magic Hour."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 4, 2011

'Free Wheels East'

If you were a strapping, handsome, able-bodied youth just out of university, what would be your next step? Back in the late 20th century, young men chose professions such as investment banking or financial consultation, and diligently went about getting their MBAs. Remember those days of multiple degrees...
Reader Mail
Nov 3, 2011

Culture shift to make cycling safer

Regarding the Oct. 26 article "Reckless cyclists face crackdown," I don't see that stricter enforcement of existing bicycle safety laws, or levying fines, or even banning bicycles from sidewalks altogether necessarily effectively address the problem of accidents involving cyclists and pedestrians.
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2011

TPP bandwagons play tunes not all find pleasing to the ear

The question of whether Japan should join the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks has taken center stage in the Diet as the chasm grows between TPP advocates, mainly on the side of businesses, and opponents, representing long-protected farming and fishing constituencies.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Nov 2, 2011

Shōgi showdown for supercomputer

Eiki Ito, 49, started programming a shōgi (Japanese chess) computer in 1998, because back then, he says, his job with an IT firm wasn't keeping him busy enough. Thirteen years later, his pet machine boasts a computing ability of 4 million moves per second. And it may well soon beat one of the strongest...
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Oct 31, 2011

Deciphering eurozone: financial stability quest a study in surrealism

EFSF stands for European Financial Stability Facility. Or so they say. I can only see it as standing for European Financial Science Fiction. How can it be anything else given the nature of the arrangement?
Japan Times
LIFE
Oct 30, 2011

PS: 'I love Japan.' And Japan loves Paul Smith, it seems

"Hold on," says the British designer who launched a thousand stripes, reaching awkwardly into the back of the crisp white shirt he is wearing.

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