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Reader Mail
Apr 30, 2009

Give Kusanagi a break

I feel so sorry for Tsuyoshi Kusanagi and the media swirl going on around him right now ("SMAP star's public nudity spurs arrest," April 23). He was really drunk and did some silly things but he didn't harm anyone.
Reader Mail
Apr 30, 2009

Better than drunk driving

I have to say that I do not understand all the media and political outcry about Tsuyoshi Kusanagi's behavior. He is no more a "disgusting person," as Communications Minister Kunio Hatoyama angrily told reporters, than anyone else who gets dead drunk and makes a silly ass of himself. Drunks make silly...
LIFE
Apr 26, 2009

A literary loner

In Tokyo and even in the Occident, I have known almost no society except that of courtesans. — Nagai Kafu There's not much left of Kafu today. Among the major Japanese writers of the early 20th century, he scarcely ranks as a survivor. Natsume Soseki, Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Junichiro Tanizaki are the...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Apr 24, 2009

A cappella groups face off in JAM battle

To celebrate Children's Day, May 5, a shopping mall in Tokyo's recently developed Shiodome area will host two events in which Tokyo youngsters will battle in a way familiar to any viewers of TV shows such as "Britain's Got Talent" and "American Idol."
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Apr 24, 2009

A cappella groups face off in JAM battle

To celebrate Children's Day, May 5, a shopping mall in Tokyo's recently developed Shiodome area will host two events in which Tokyo youngsters will battle in a way familiar to any viewers of TV shows such as "Britain's Got Talent" and "American Idol."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 24, 2009

Wishing Chong: from barbecue to demons

2008 was undoubtedly the year of "Yakiniku Dragon" ("Korean Barbecue Dragon"), a realistic, autobiographical work by the Korean-Japanese playwright Wishing Chong that premiered April 17 in the New National Theatre's Pit. When the curtain came down that night on the NNT/Seoul Arts Center collaboration...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Apr 23, 2009

Serial blood donor Wataru Takekuma

Wataru Takekuma, 36, is a government worker in Toyama Prefecture's Kurobe City. With a population of 43,000, Kurobe is one of the four areas in Japan that made it to the 2008 UNESCO list of the 12 most abundant subsurface water resources in Asia. Takekuma was born and raised in this town where people...
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Apr 23, 2009

Unorthodox Morimoto could be remedy for Japan's ills

On the face of it, Catania striker Takayuki Morimoto's recent comments that he has no interest in playing for Japan should give national team supporters cause for concern.
JAPAN / Media
Apr 19, 2009

Cops crack whip in fight vs. vice

A leather-clad female physically punishing a compliant male into erotic bliss is the usual image one conjures for BDSM, or bondage, discipline, sadism and masochism. Yet, to spend a Sunday afternoon with the ladies on the roster of La Siora, a high-end club based in Shinjuku, is to realize that the proper...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Apr 18, 2009

A little Mc-wrath with coffee

This is a chilly winter's tale, one now warmed both by passing time and the gentle breezes of spring.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Apr 17, 2009

Defected celebrates a decade on the dance floor

In the decade since Defected Records released its first single, Soulsearcher's "Can't Get Enough," the label has become a byword for soulful house in Britain and has grown to be one of the biggest independent record labels on the international dance scene. On April 28, the label will bring some of its...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 17, 2009

'Slumdog' Boyle celebrates beating the odds

At first glance, you could hardly find a more unlikely candidate for a Best Picture Oscar than "Slumdog Millionaire." With no stars and a cast of mostly Indian unknowns, a director best known for a controversially hip film about junkies, and — God forbid — subtitles, that would normally be three...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Apr 17, 2009

Cafe Hai: MOT goes Vietnamese

It's always a pleasure to visit the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo (MOT) out in Koto Ward. The surrounding park is calm, the architecture of the museum exemplary, and the exhibitions invariably well curated.
LIFE / Language / KANJI CLINIC
Apr 15, 2009

These kanji have literally all gone to the dogs

Despite tough economic times, many dog owners in Japan still shell out big yen to pamper their pooches: Delectable ドッグおやつ (dogguoyatsu, dog snacks), perky 犬洋服 (inuy ōfuku, dog clothing), and outings to the 犬の美容院 (inu no biyōin, dog beauty salon) are de rigueur for the coddled...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 12, 2009

Veteran announcer Bickard calling NPB games on TV in English

Did you know there is English-language coverage (though very limited) of some Pacific League games in Japan?
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 11, 2009

Ranks of homeless swell in Osaka

OSAKA (Bloomberg) Within two months of losing his job packing shelves at a cold-storage company in Osaka, Toshiyuki Miki said, he was homeless. He counts himself among the many people worldwide whose life has been turned upside down in the wake of the "Lehman Shock."
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Apr 10, 2009

Dance meets theater

Long ago, 52-year-old Belgian choreographer Alain Platel was an orthopedic therapist. Then, in 1984, he founded his performing troupe called "Les Ballets C. de la B." Now his company — whose strikingly original approach to contemporary dance positions it, along with the likes of German dance legend...
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Apr 10, 2009

Musician paves his own way

Described by fans as a "cross between the Dead Kennedys, the Violent Femmes and Weezer," Canadian singer-songwriter Laurier Tiernan and his backing band will perform April 12 at What The Dickens in Ebisu, Tokyo.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Apr 10, 2009

Musician paves his own way

Described by fans as a "cross between the Dead Kennedys, the Violent Femmes and Weezer," Canadian singer-songwriter Laurier Tiernan and his backing band will perform April 12 at What The Dickens in Ebisu, Tokyo.
JAPAN
Apr 5, 2009

Two false alarms leave Japan egg-faced

North Korea may have spent Saturday toying with a jumpy Japan over its plan to send a rocket over the Tohoku region, but it managed to cause a meteoric embarrassment to Tokyo — twice — without ever pushing the launch button.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight