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Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 4, 2008

'Hana Yori Dango: Final'

Japanese TV networks and other makers of films for the masses have developed a formula for megasuccess: Produce a movie that is essentially a superspecial of a popular TV drama series. "Hero," which revived a smash-hit 2001 series about a punkish public prosecutor, was of this mold — and become the...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jul 1, 2008

Society's role in Kato's crime

'The clicking sound of my cell phone echoes emptily in my room. . . . If only I had a girlfriend, I wouldn't have to live so miserably.'
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jun 27, 2008

A very green afternoon cuppa

Whenever I travel to Tokyo I make it a point to spend at least a good part of one day on a visit to Shibamata in Katsushika Ward. This lovely neighborhood tucked away in the remote northeastern corner of the city on the banks of the Edogawa River still retains some of the flavor of the Edo Period (1603-1867)....
CULTURE / Film
Jun 27, 2008

Director Kore'eda on his '24 -hour' epic

Hirokazu Kore'eda began directing in 1991, while working for TV Man Union, a major TV production company. His first theatrical feature, 1995's "Maboroshi no Hikari" (English title: "Maboroshi"), was selected for the Venice Film Festival competition — a rare honor for a tyro director. His international...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 26, 2008

How Carlo Zauli changed the course of contemporary Japanese ceramics

Change can be one of the most difficult words for traditional craftsmen to hear.
CULTURE / Music
Jun 26, 2008

CSS put their crazy show back on the road

It is January, and squeezed away upstairs in their favorite sushi restaurant in downtown Sao Paulo are the six members of CSS plus a stray boyfriend. (Turns out he belongs to producer-cum-drummer Adriano Cintra, the only fella in the group.) After 18 months touring the world, they are back home in Brazil...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 24, 2008

Not everyone is celebrating the Ogasawara Islands' anniversary

It is one of Asia's earliest and oddest ethnic melting pots, with citizens boasting names like Savory, Webb, Gonzales and Chaplin. The first piece of Far East territory to fall under U.S. control, local landmarks include the Yankeetown, the Charlie Brown and the Church of St. George, and old-timers speak...
Reader Mail
Jun 22, 2008

Childhood lifestyles exact penalty

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of potential (killers) in Japan today like the 25-year-old who ran amok with a knife in Tokyo's Akihabara district June 8. It is high time that we stop ignoring the problem: Japanese children and young adults have reached the edge of mental breakdown.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jun 22, 2008

Grounded rulers of the sky

His sharp, calm gaze follows yet another aircraft swooping down from the cloudless sky, its tires screeching in clouds of blue smoke as it returns to Earth on Haneda's concrete runway. One more flight successfully completed, he thinks — and now the next.
EDITORIALS
Jun 22, 2008

Uphold disabled people's rights

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities took effect May 3 — 30 days after it received its 20th ratification (April 3). So far, 27 countries have ratified the convention, which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities and promotes their social participation.
COMMENTARY
Jun 21, 2008

Security versus freedom

How to maintain a fair balance between national and individual security and traditional freedoms and human rights is an important political issue in Britain. We have been forced to accept increasing intrusion into our private lives by government agencies. Some fear we are living in a world similar to...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jun 21, 2008

It's a Disney world after all

Once upon a time — about 50 years ago — a man had a dream. The dream involved the creation of a magical kingdom where the man's many visitors could frolic happily. So happily, in fact, that they would each shell out tons of money to be there. Oh, and the dream also involved a mouse.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 20, 2008

Robot startups join forces against South Korea competition

Four of Japan's leading robot startups have joined forces, brought together by a common concern that neighboring South Korea could pull ahead in the race to transform robots from science fiction fantasy to commercial success.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 20, 2008

'Eastern Promises'

Filmmaker David Cronenberg continues to be obsessed by the human body, and all the things people do to it, in the brilliantly staged "Eastern Promises."
Reader Mail
Jun 19, 2008

The confines of Darwin's writing

Regarding Rowan Hooper's June 11 article, "Of Darwin and Mishima . . . ," which reviews Charles Darwin's scientific ideas and their impact: Hooper says Darwin rebelled against his father when, at 22, he set off on the HSM Beagle for a voyage around the world but that "the greater rebellion -- mounted,...
JAPAN
Jun 18, 2008

Death sentences on the increase

Tuesday's hangings of serial killer Tsutomu Miyazaki and two other inmates come at a time when courts are more inclined to mete out capital punishment.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Jun 18, 2008

Aloft with ospreys, ultimate Fisher Kings

There is a moment of commitment; a glint of scales just beneath the water's surface is perhaps the trigger. As the bright-yellow eyes register the rippled light patterns, the brain is already identifying them as potential food, computing distance, assessing direction, considering depth.
JAPAN
Jun 18, 2008

Lawmakers slam Hatoyama over executions

Likening the execution process to a "conveyor belt," a group of lawmakers opposed to the death penalty harshly criticized Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama on Tuesday for sending a record 13 death-row inmates to the gallows in the past nine months.
Reader Mail
Jun 15, 2008

Heart hurts for victims' families

I feel the same way all Japanese people must be feeling after the horrific attack in the Akihabara district of Tokyo (June 8). I used to live in Tokyo many years ago and visited this exciting, vibrant area many, many times. I cannot believe so many innocent people lost their lives due to the anger and...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jun 15, 2008

Medical variety show, 'surprising' news stories, women's boxing

There's no cure for growing old, but you can slow down the aging process in a fairly painless manner. On this week's edition of the medical variety show "Shujii ga Mitsukaru Shinyojo (The Clinic Where You Can Find a Family Doctor) (TV Tokyo, Monday, 7 p.m.), guest physicians explain how rejuvenation...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 14, 2008

Shared goals, IT connect Polish-Japanese couple

Jacek Strakowski from Poland and Mai Usami from Tokyo have information technology to thank for bringing and keeping them together.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jun 14, 2008

Pilgrimages done on the run

Welcome to the hood: the Buddhahood. Some sects of Buddhism believe you can attain Buddhahood by chanting certain purification chants over and over. Others, such as Shingon, use pilgrimage as a method of achieving divine enlightenment and understanding of the world.
EDITORIALS
Jun 12, 2008

'Anyone' was a target

Sunday's brutal indiscriminate slaying of seven people in Tokyo's Akihabara district is both a tragedy and a horrific crime. It took a 25-year-old man about five minutes to commit the crimes as shoppers were enjoying Sunday afternoon in a temporary vehicle-free zone in the world's largest electronics...
JAPAN
Jun 10, 2008

Experts ponder whether Kato felt disenfranchised from society

The deadly stabbing rampage Sunday in Tokyo's Akihabara district stunned the nation, but experts said the carnage was just another example of a young man unhappy with his lot in society.

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