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COMMENTARY / World
Jun 23, 2010

A hundred Weltpolitiks

NEW DELHI — Mao Zedong once famously called for the Chinese to "let a hundred flowers bloom." Soon, however, he was recoiling from what he saw as a chaos of competing ideas. Today, the world seems to be entering a period when, if not a hundred, at least a dozen varieties of Weltpolitik are being pursued...
Japan Times
Events / WHERE IT'S AT
Jun 22, 2010

'Hafu' draws viewers into world of Japanese identity

"Hafu," the Japanese term for people who are half-Japanese, takes on a more intricate meaning through the unfolding of mixed-race Japanese lives in the documentary "Hafu." Those starring in the film and those behind the project identify themselves as a newly emerging community.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Jun 20, 2010

Towering ambition

One sunny Saturday last month, Hitachi Ltd., Japan's largest electronics maker, made headlines when it hosted a rare tour of its spanking new elevator-testing tower — the world's tallest — at its sprawling facility in Hitachinaka, Ibaraki Prefecture.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 20, 2010

Pulp fiction raunch with a happy ending

Yoshihiro Tatsumi was, when young, a fan of Mickey Spillane, the poor man's — the very poor man's — Raymond Chandler, and Spillane's fingerprints are all over "Black Blizzard," a page-turner in the best pulp style, published in 1956.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 15, 2010

Large-scale agriculture won't cure hunger

BRUSSELS — The World Bank, U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization, International Fund for Agricultural Development, and U.N. Conference on Trade and Development Secretariat recently presented seven "Principles for Responsible Agricultural Investment."
Reader Mail
Jun 13, 2010

Thailand is returning to normal

A number of comments in Christopher Johnson's May 30 article, "Healing Thailand's broken spirit," could be misleading to readers. The Royal Thai Government made an all-out effort to avoid confrontation and to refrain from violence during the recent protests. On May 3, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 13, 2010

Few TV surfers ride 'Korean wave' series 'Iris'

Two weeks ago, cast members of the South Korean TV drama series "Iris" appeared in concerts at Osaka Castle Hall and Saitama Super Arena. Some 60,000 fans of the star Lee Byung Hun bought tickets, but 1,400 at one of the Saitama events found themselves shut out after the organizers decided that the stage...
CULTURE / Books
Jun 13, 2010

Sweeping tale of love, murder and guilt in old Nagasaki

"Black Swan Green," David Mitchell's fourth novel concerning a year in the life of 13-year-old Jason Taylor, reads like a first novel with its autobiographical backdrop and references to 1980s British pop culture, advertisements and brands. "The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet" returns Mitchell to...
JAPAN
Jun 12, 2010

Can Kan survive the leadership gauntlet?

Japan has gone through prime ministers at a dizzying rate — Naoto Kan is the sixth in the last four years, and 14th over the past two decades — the highest turnover among the major industrialized countries.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jun 12, 2010

'Child of sin' finds friends worldwide

Three heart attacks since January, having difficulties with his parents and living in fear that his visa will expire is just the beginning of what 24-year-old Takumi Tanaka is coping with.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BY THE GLASS
Jun 11, 2010

It's down to earth in the Napa Valley

A certain amount of hubris might be expected from the representatives of some of Napa Valley's most famous wineries. Surely the Californians, who flew into Japan last month to show off their wares at Tokyo's American Club, would not miss the opportunity to brag a little about the big impact their wines...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 11, 2010

Closing the distance on David Elliott

Few non-Japanese can claim to have exerted a major influence on the machinations of the domestic Japanese art scene. David Elliott, the Briton who served as the founding director of the Mori Art Museum, from 2001 until 2006, is one of them.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Jun 9, 2010

Don't count Ozawa out of the scene yet

When Naoto Kan announced his candidacy for the Democratic Party of Japan presidency last week, he told reporters DPJ kingpin Ichiro Ozawa "should remain silent" for a while after quitting as secretary general, considering how his political money scandals helped speed the downfall of Yukio Hatoyama as...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jun 6, 2010

A guided tour to Akihabara

Maid cafes, cosplay (costume play), gachapon vending machines, canned oden noodles and otaku (geeks) — lots of otaku: I thought I knew Akihabara, or "Akiba" as its fans affectionately call it. I bought my first Apple computer (a secondhand Macintosh Powerbook) there in the early 1990s and had visited...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 5, 2010

Australian politics heat up

SYDNEY — An angry advertising campaign over a proposed super-tax is pushing usually placid Australian voters toward one of the closest, most divisive elections in memory.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jun 4, 2010

Shizuoka festival takes the stage

The annual Spring Arts Festival Shizuoka is keenly anticipated by theater lovers across Japan thanks to its high quality of program selection.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 4, 2010

Red and black and spread all over

The avant-garde generally gravitates toward absolutes; you're either with them or against them. But how often in history has progressive art been created in service of the state's one-size-fits-all ideology? Not many, and perhaps the best-known example is the group that appeared in a brief window of...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jun 3, 2010

Who's subscribing to Tokyo's new creative Tabloid?

If you want to launch a new cross-discipline creative space, you could do worse than invite pop diva Lady Gaga and flamboyant New York-based artist Terence Koh.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 1, 2010

Gunma city does battle with beards

I would like to draw readers' attention to the outstanding work of the municipal government of Isesaki, Gunma Prefecture. After receiving complaints that citizens find bearded men unpleasant, Isesaki — just as all levels of Japanese government often do — took decisive action to address an important...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Japan Pulse
May 28, 2010

Takashi Murakami sets up shop in otaku heaven

Pop artist Takashi Murakami opens a gallery ... not in Aoyama or Daikanyama .. but in an otaku mecca: Nakano Broadway.
COMMENTARY / World
May 28, 2010

Thai 'multiparty' turmoil not lost on China's rulers

BEIJING — Whatever the effects of political turmoil in Thailand, they have not helped the cause of democracy in China. The images of prodemocracy protesters and the subsequent military crackdown in downtown Bangkok have been openly shown in Chinese media without any apparent bias. Indeed, there is...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 28, 2010

Rising star set to shine

In September 1984 — three years after MTV: Music Television had kicked into life with British electro-pop duo The Buggles' appropriately titled 1979 classic "Video Killed the Radio Star" — Madonna strode onto a New York stage for the fledgling channel's first Music Video Awards.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
May 28, 2010

Something new brewing for sake

When Kenji Ichishima, the sixth-generation head of Ichishima Shuzo in Niigata Prefecture, took over his family's sake brewery eight years ago at the age of 34, he immediately started making changes. First, he drastically reduced the number of products. Next, he revamped the brand to project a more artisanal...

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami