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Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Aug 23, 2009

Imagine a time with no fish in the sea

BAR HARBOR MAINE — Each summer, our family visits this part of the New England coast, and each year I am reminded of the elemental connections humans share with the oceans.
COMMENTARY
Aug 21, 2009

Decay of Japanese politics

Japan's politics in recent years has lacked dynamism and incurred people's distrust. The purpose of politics is to present a vision for the nation's future, identify the systems and policies needed, and ensure the safety and prosperity of the nation and its people. Recently, though, Japanese politics...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 18, 2009

TOEIC: Where does the money go?

In a country of test-takers, the Test of English for International Communication has become one of Japan's most recognized exams. In 2008, people in Japan paid ¥4,040 — or slightly less if their company or school paid a ¥100,000 membership fee — to take the TOEIC Institutional Program (IP) at their...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Aug 14, 2009

A coffee, not tea, ceremony

A traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony will delight visitors to the MOA Museum of Art in Atami, Shizuoka Prefecture, Aug. 22-23.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 14, 2009

Bucking trend, Honda backs hydrogen

Honda Motor Co. believes hydrogen will power the cars of the future, a stance at odds with the Obama administration's decision to drop automotive fuel-cell technology in favor of battery-run vehicles.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Aug 13, 2009

Fish master Tatsuo Ichikawa

Tatsuo Ichikawa, 69, is an English-speaking volunteer tour guide and an expert on all things fishy in Tokyo's Tsukiji Fish market. He's not only a serious history buff, but also an osakana meister (fish master), whose mission is to educate the public on the health benefits of eating his favorite food....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Aug 13, 2009

Fish master Tatsuo Ichikawa

Tatsuo Ichikawa, 69, is an English-speaking volunteer tour guide and an expert on all things fishy in Tokyo's Tsukiji Fish market. He's not only a serious history buff, but also an osakana meister (fish master), whose mission is to educate the public on the health benefits of eating his favorite food....
Japan Times
Events / WHERE IT'S AT
Aug 11, 2009

Aloha Yokohama marks Hawaii's 50th

Every July, Yokohama hosts Aloha Yokohama, featuring authentic Hawaiian music, hula dances, food and cultural events.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 9, 2009

Enter a fantasy world of Zen-like bedroom gymnastics

A few weeks ago, BBC News ran a report on how love hotels were one of the few business sectors in Japan doing well in the current recession. The report stressed the unique trappings of these hotels and actually raised more questions than it answered about their socioeconomic significance.
COMMENTARY
Aug 9, 2009

North Korea's way of trying to break the ice

LOS ANGELES — You will never get anything of significance done with North Korea unless you go right to the top. The essence of its political culture is a feral fusion of Asian family values ("father knows best") with rigid communist hierarchy.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 8, 2009

Working humbly to serve everyone

Ian De Stains has a place in a decades-old British order of chivalry created by King George V in 1917. Yet after knowing him, this may be hard to believe.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 7, 2009

'Summer Wars'

"Revenge," George Orwell once wrote, "is bitter," but it can also be sweet, can't it?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 7, 2009

Art triennial helps revitalize rural Niigata

Visiting Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial 2009 is a strange and wonderful journey. A satoyama (mountain homeland) adventure replete with rice paddies brimming with bright green shoots, refurbished abandoned houses and closed-down elementary schools, it features 370 contemporary artworks by little-known and...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Aug 7, 2009

Brazilian Bach performed in rare entirety

A concert featuring "Bachianas Brasileiras" (Brazilian Bach pieces) by Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos takes place at Tokyo Opera City in Hatsudai on Aug. 22.
Reader Mail
Aug 2, 2009

Safe and accommodating country

I have lived in Japan for only two years, but may have more experience than the author of the letter ("Pocket knife lends tourist, 74, in lockup") appears to have of the culture and life in this beautiful country.
EDITORIALS
Aug 2, 2009

The Un-Cool Biz

Pity the poor Japanese office worker slaving away in the 28-degree heat. This year's Cool Biz program has swung into full gear just as summer temperatures and humidity hit their peaks. The voluntary program to have office workers dress lightly to accommodate the government standard 28 degrees sounds...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 2, 2009

Two funerals plus the legacy of Khrushchev

NEW YORK — My great-grandfather, Nikita Khrushchev, has been on my mind recently. I suppose it was the 50th anniversary of the "kitchen debate," which he held with Richard Nixon that first triggered my memories.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 1, 2009

Baseball expert lines up new book on mobsters in Japan

Robert Whiting is best known as an expert on baseball. But he's much more than that. He's also an expert on mobsters in Japan and the sound a radar site makes when it is "spotted" by a U2 spy plane.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 31, 2009

'Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian'

What to say about "Night At The Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" (opening locally as "Night Museum 2"), the latest outbreak of Hollywood sequelitis? Well, I can tell you with all confidence that leading man Ben Stiller is just as funny here as he was in "Meet The Parents 2" or "Madagascar 2." Or that...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jul 31, 2009

Sake returns to its organic roots

The sake world is looking greener as an increasing number of producers invest more time and resources in developing organic lines. In 2004, Niigata-based giant Kikusui attracted attention for opening the Sake Culture Institute, an immaculate facility dedicated to organic sake research, and small producers...
COMMENTARY
Jul 31, 2009

Gay ruling takes Delhi back to where it was

CHENNAI, India — The Delhi High Court's recent ruling that decriminalized sex between two consenting men or women is widely seen in India as a move toward a healthier sexual climate. Though confined to Delhi now, the law could eventually be adopted by the country's other regions.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 31, 2009

Escape from propaganda

Artist, architect, designer, photographer, curator, writer, editor, activist — Ai Weiwei is many things. This multiplicity of means all serve a united end that centers on the existential question: What does human freedom mean in China today?
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 28, 2009

Japan's funerals deep-rooted mix of ritual, form

Funerals in Japan incorporate a unique mixture of religion, tradition, culture, ritual and geography that to the outsider may appear perplexing.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Jul 28, 2009

Ability to bridge the gap a banker's boon

For Sanjeev Gupta, senior managing executive officer and head of the Individual Group at Shinsei Bank, his 25-year career in Japan started out with a resume he dropped off at an accounting firm in Tokyo while visiting Japan on a tourist visa.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 25, 2009

Lifetime of travels at root of keen insights into Japan

One person you want to meet for a coffee in Tokyo: Stephen Mansfield. The British author and photojournalist has written 10 books (14, including collaborative work) and produced over 2,000 published articles for newspapers, magazines and journals since 1992.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 25, 2009

Cool Biz said to undermine productivity

Takashi Kadokura used to strip down to his underwear when working late because of the heat.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan