Search - 2012

 
 
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Jan 26, 2013

Mining gems in Okachimachi

On early maps of Edo, as Tokyo was known prior to 1868, Okachimachi is rendered as a town (machi) densely packed with the tiny dwellings of okachi — low-ranked, poorly paid samurai infantry.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jan 26, 2013

Looking back on a major turning point

Routinely acclaimed as a giant of world cinema in his lifetime, Akira Kurosawa has slipped in the global director league rankings since his death in 1998.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jan 26, 2013

Nothing much compels reader to sympathize with characters

RIVER OF FIRE and Other Stories, by O Chonghui. Translated by Bruce and Ju-chan Fulton. Columbia University Press, 2012, 224 pp., $27.50 (hardcover)
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Jan 25, 2013

Cartwright confident he can turn lowly Osaka around

Former NBA center Bill Cartwright looks forward to his first weekend as the Osaka Evessa head coach, leading the team in action against the visiting Miyazaki Shining Suns.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2013

Noted scholar Kyoko Iriye Selden dies in U.S.

Kyoko Iriye Selden, a scholar and teacher at Cornell University, died in Ithaca, New York, on Sunday at the age of 76 after contracting pneumonia.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 25, 2013

U.S. resists EU push for digital privacy

The push for strict new limits on how Internet companies collect and use consumer data in Europe has hit stiff resistance from U.S. industry groups and the Obama administration, dimming hopes that the effort could lead to expanded privacy safeguards for users worldwide.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Jan 25, 2013

Mafia on Sicily sees gold in going green

Inside a midnight-blue BMW, a Sicilian entrepreneur delivered his pitch to the accused Mafia boss. A new business was blowing into Italy that could spin wind and sunlight into gold, ensuring the future of the Earth as well as the Cosa Nostra: renewable energy.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 25, 2013

I still haven't found what I'm looking for ...

Thinking about Google over the last week, I have fallen into the typically procrastinatory habit of every so often typing the words "what is" or "what" or "wha" into the Google search box at the top right of my computer screen. Those prompts are all the omnipotent engine needs to inform me of the current...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 25, 2013

Why the future of aviation needs the Dreamliner

As Boeing showed off its multibillion-dollar baby on the Dreamliner's promotional world tour in 2011, one quirky feature was regularly pointed out: a sleekly designed but redundant ashtray, a compliance with regulations laid down in a different age.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 25, 2013

Address shows Obama is playing make-believe

There was a make-believe quality to U.S. President Barack Obama's second inaugural address, as if all that's required to solve serious problems are the intelligence to produce proper policies and the political grit to get them approved. Perish the thought that there are deep conflicts among the things...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 25, 2013

The unloved dollar standard

The role of the U.S. dollar as international anchor is faltering as emerging markets grow increasingly frustrated by the Fed's near-zero interest-rate policy.
LIFE / Food & Drink / EVERYMAN EATS
Jan 25, 2013

Snacking on squid guts and soybeans

Doritos and Budweiser, canapes and Champagne, jamon and Tempranillo — when it comes to happy hour, everyone has their favorite combination of booze and umami-infused treats.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK
Jan 24, 2013

Trading four-time All-Star Itoi doesn't make sense for Fighters

So why did the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters trade away arguably the best player on their team, if not in the entire Pacific League?
EDITORIALS
Jan 24, 2013

Discovered while still alive

Natsuko Kuroda, 75, the oldest person yet to win the literary Akutagawa Prize, expressed appreciation that jurors discovered her 'while I am alive.'
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Jan 24, 2013

Premium bourbon at Century Southern Tower; Setsubun sushi rolls; new Hilton Tokyo rooms

The Hotel Century Southern Tower near Shinjuku Station in Tokyo is now serving the premium bourbon whiskey Eagle Rare 10 Year-Old at its 20th-floor lounge and bar, South Court, through Feb. 28.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 24, 2013

With 'Desh,' Khan proves you can go home again

If art's purpose is to ask the relevant questions, then British-Bangladeshi dancer Akram Khan successfully interrogates humanity — and himself — with his latest production, 'Desh.'
SOCCER / J. League
Jan 24, 2013

Tokyo goalkeeper Gonda sets bar high for coming season

FC Tokyo goalkeeper Shuichi Gonda is far too modest to accept the plaudits that have come his way after a string of fine performances for club and country last season, but there is certainly nothing humble about his ambitions for the year ahead.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 23, 2013

Shortcake Collage Tape "Spirited Summer"

Creating music meant to purposely evoke the past can be tricky. Recreate the sounds of a specific decade too closely and the music becomes too nostalgic, pining for a time the artist never even knew existed. On the other hand, approach bygone times too cynically — as the Internet-born microgenre "vaporwave"...
Japan Times
JAPAN / DAVOS SPECIAL 2013
Jan 23, 2013

Managing the Japan-China Row

At a time when official Japan-China dialogue has come to a standstill over conflicting territorial claims, the Tokyo Foundation hosted an important Track 2 meeting of foreign policy experts from Japan, China, and the U.S.
Japan Times
JAPAN / DAVOS SPECIAL 2013
Jan 23, 2013

Aiming to take Japan's best onto the global stage

Japanese leaders in business, culture, politics and other fields should look abroad and take what Japan can do best to the world, said Yoshito Hori, president of Globis University and managing partner of Globis Capital Partners.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 23, 2013

Kim's second test is Xi's first

North Korea's new supreme leader Kim Jong Un conducted two missile tests last year. The first, in April, failed. The second, in December, was by all accounts a huge success. But it was not just a test of North Korea's ability to put an object into space. Kim's second test was also the first test of the...
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 23, 2013

BOJ agrees to uphold Abe's 2% inflation target

The Bank of Japan on Tuesday adopted a 2 percent inflation target, caving in to pressure from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, while calling for closer coordination and implementation of bold measures to fight deflation in a joint statement released with the government.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 23, 2013

DoCoMo pins hopes on a glitzy spring lineup

NTT DoCoMo Inc. on Tuesday unveiled its new products for the spring, vowing to catch up with rival carriers by releasing high-spec gadgets and promoting its shopping and content-related services.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Jan 21, 2013

Parker shines as West wins All-Star Game

Recognized as a dynamic playmaker since entering the bj-league in the 2007-08 season as a member of the run-and-gun Rizing Fukuoka, Michael Parker hauled in four straight regular-season scoring titles into the fledgling circuit's eighth season.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’