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Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 5, 2013

Audiard's method: as slow and steady as the waves

My first impression of director Jacques Audiard is that he's almost as wired as the street-punk hero of his film "The Beat That My Heart Skipped," fidgeting in his chair, desperate for a smoke, jumping in mid-translation to clarify a point. Entering his sixth decade, Audiard shows no signs of slowing...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 5, 2013

'Sakura, Futatabi no Kanako (Orpheus' Lyre)'

I used to think that religion in Japan was for most a matter of custom, not belief. You clap your hands at the shrine because that's what people do, not because you think the resident gods are actually listening.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 5, 2013

'Flammable ice': a bad choice

Exploiting domestic offshore reserves of methane hydrate may be too tempting for Japan's leaders to resist. But this 'flammable ice' is a fuel decoy.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 4, 2013

Data from space bolsters theory of dark matter

The first results from a $2 billion instrument aboard the International Space Station offer tentative support for the theory that exotic dark matter, invisible but abundant, permeates the universe.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 4, 2013

JR's portraits put a face on Tohoku

French artist JR, whose show of photographic artwork is on display at the Watari-um (Watari Museum of Contemporary Art), inspires while questioning the role of art in war-torn and disaster-ridden places, asking whether art could really change things for the better. JR not only documents but also involves...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 4, 2013

China's Xi looks to Katy Perry for national dream

No other phrase has been given comparable attention in China's state media of late than 'Chinese Dream,' invoked by Xi Jinping as he became president.
BASKETBALL / NBA REPORT
Apr 3, 2013

Frustration brings out LeBron's passion

And we thought the Chicago Bulls last Wednesday breaking the Miami Heat's 27-game winning streak, the second longest in NBA history, was the big news.
EDITORIALS
Apr 3, 2013

Symbols, substance in the Mideast

Barack Obama succeeded in reaching out to Israelis and Palestinians during his recent trip, though some say his success grew out of low expectations.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Apr 2, 2013

When remodeling isn't quite a home improvement

A year ago we looked at a 20-year-old apartment after it had just gone on sale in the city where we live, which is about an hour from Tokyo. It was large and sunny, but the walls needed to be re-papered and the floors replaced. The realtor told us that the ¥11.6 million asking price included the cost...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / OUR MAN IN TOKYO
Apr 2, 2013

'Green growth' tops Costa Rican envoy's agenda

Costa Rican Ambassador Alvaro Cedeno Molinari says his mission here is to deliver his country's message on green growth and renewable energy — and to develop what he describes as a green growth agenda between his country and Japan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Apr 2, 2013

A tale of two knives, a Kiwi legend, a gang and a girl

The story reads like a New Zealand news editor's wish list: Celebrity, dangerous weapons, bizarre behavior, death threats, Brazilian street gangs and a mysterious love interest.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Mar 31, 2013

Life is too short for an undesirable satori

The wise have always inveighed against materialism. But most people are not wise, and it remains a material world. The economy dominates the news, an indication of where our strongest interest lies. Our spirits rise or fall with the stock market, the unemployment rate, the value of the yen, the consumer...
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 30, 2013

Ishihara confirms stroke but denies retirement speculation

Shintaro Ishihara pledges to remain coleader of Nippon Ishin no Kai, denying speculation he might quit and resign from politics over his poor health.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 30, 2013

Ishihara too sick to attend Nippon Ishin's first convention

Shintaro Ishihara, coleader of Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party), will miss its first-ever convention this weekend due to ill health, a party official confirmed Friday.
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 30, 2013

The car of the future that runs on air

There was a sense, when I arrived in Paris a couple of weeks ago, that France was if not quite in meltdown then certainly enduring a profound existential crisis.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 30, 2013

The sakura season is here, but which one?

The sakura season is here! The question is, does this refer to the horsemeat season or the cherry blossom season? It's hard to tell when the Japanese use the word "sakura" to describe horse meat, which is pink. Sakura nabe is not nabe made with cherry blossoms, for example, but nabe made with horsemeat....
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Mar 30, 2013

England no lock for 2014 World Cup

No English clubs left in the Champions League and a growing possibility of Montenegro, Ethiopia, Uzbekistan and Panama at the 2014 World Cup but not England. March has not been a good month for the country that gave the world its favorite sport.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Mar 30, 2013

Awakening the echoes — loud ones

I sit at a table, drinking with an old friend with whom I share a lot, and not just bar tabs. We have both gulped away most of our adult lives in Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN / FORUM ON AFRICA-JAPAN RELATIONS
Mar 30, 2013

Regional challenges: what Japan can do to help

The second session dealt with Africa's regional challenges and development in the overall African economy. Ambassadors Ito, Comberbach and Arrour were joined by Ambassador Wasswa Biriggwa of Uganda, chairman of the ADC TICAD Committee; Ambassador Godwin N. Agbo of Nigeria, vice chairman of the ADC Trade...
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 29, 2013

Abe pushes 'openness' by inviting kids to tour his office, residence

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants to demonstrate the "openness" of his government and to this end has invited schoolchildren on a guided tour of his office and official residence Saturday.
WORLD / Society
Mar 28, 2013

How Proposition 8 passed in California, and why it wouldn't today

Lost amid the day's Supreme Court oral arguments on California's Proposition 8 is a simple question: How did a gay marriage ban pass in one of the most liberal states in the country just four years ago?
EDITORIALS
Mar 28, 2013

New panel for pension ID task

Health and welfare minister Norihisa Tamura will establish a new panel to continue identifying records for millions of public pension account holders.
WORLD / Society
Mar 28, 2013

Effects of same-sex parenting debated

Amid the legal arguments at Tuesday's Supreme Court hearing on same-sex marriage, there loomed a social science question: How well do children turn out when they are raised by gay parents?
Reader Mail
Mar 28, 2013

Stunning negativity toward pope

On reading Kevin Rafferty's March 20 opinion titled "Stunned pope asks for prayers," I myself feel stunned by the negativity of his words. So much has appeared in the press during the past few weeks, both on the positive and on the negative side, concerning the former (emeritus) Pope Benedict XVI and...
LIFE / Digital
Mar 27, 2013

Technology that works for prose is still a curse for verse

Washington poet and literary activist E. Ethelbert Miller insists there is a difference between his poem "Before Hip Hop" when it is shown like this:
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 27, 2013

ECB head Mario Draghi's opiate of the markets

From the standpoint of EU economic stability, the division of Italy's parliament into three mutually incompatible political forces is a terrible outcome.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 27, 2013

Five myths about Chinese hackers

The Internet, poorly secured, has been a tremendous boon for spying for every major power. Where Beijing crosses the line is in economic espionage.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 27, 2013

India's Modi sets sights on top job

If Indians were to vote against corruption, a slowing economy and weak leadership in the 2014 national elections — all that urban middle-class population is roiled by — controversial Hindu nationalist politician Narendra Modi could win the office of prime minister hands down.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Mar 27, 2013

Track legends moved by interaction with athletes in Tohoku

Nine-time Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis came to Japan hoping to boost the spirits of young athletes from the Tohoku region, but the track legend says it was he who came away inspired in the end.

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’