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EDITORIALS
May 2, 2009

Talks in Beijing

Prime Minister Taro Aso met with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Chinese President Hu Jintao in Beijing on Wednesday and Thursday. His visit to China came after he made an offering to Yasukuni Shrine, Japan's war shrine. Although the Chinese side took up this sensitive issue, it managed to restrain itself...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
May 2, 2009

A nation of outstanding debts

Japan is a nation of favors. Thus the custom that when you see someone, you thank them for the last nice thing they did for you. "Thanks for taking me to the bank yesterday," or "Thanks for dinner the other night."
COMMENTARY
May 2, 2009

Jackie Chan wears a political jester's hat, too

LOS ANGELES — You might have already known that kung fu comic and actor Jackie Chan was crazy, but is he certifiably insane? Just the other day this legendary does-his- own-stunts man asserted that the Chinese people do not need Western-style freedom and democracy.
Japan Times
JAPAN / MIXED MATCHES
May 2, 2009

Sushi bar spurs good find of a lifetime for Tokyo couple

Kyle Sexton's life in Japan began in a New York sushi restaurant decades ago. It was there the Pennsylvania native developed a sudden obsession with the faraway land. On impulse, he made his way here in 1984 with no job and only $300 in his pocket.
CULTURE / Film
May 1, 2009

'Goemon'

Big, original, visionary films are rare in today's Japanese film industry, which overwhelmingly prefers sure bets developed from hit manga, anime, TV dramas, novels and other media properties.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 1, 2009

Mexico and Japan make beautiful music together

I n September 1609, when a Mexican sailboat ran ashore in a typhoon near the village of Onjuku in today's Chiba Prefecture, local fishermen and ama (female divers) rescued 317 souls from the angry ocean. That was Japan's first contact with Mexican people.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 29, 2009

Ace your Japanese proficiency test with the best free Web tools

The Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) comes up on July 5, so it's time to get studying. What will be your strong points? More importantly, what will be your weak points? The test is divided into three categories — writing/vocabulary; listening; and reading/grammar — and most struggle with...
COMMENTARY
Apr 28, 2009

Politicians on the make

The image of members of Parliament (MPs) in Britain has been damaged by recent revelations about the way in which MPs — including ministers and some senior members of opposition parties — have taken advantage of the rules about expenses to feather their own nests. Some MPs have also been accused...
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...
COMMENTARY
Apr 25, 2009

Pakistan's terrorist windfall

Pakistan has long proven adept at diplomatically levering its weakness into strength. Now it is using the threat of its possible implosion to rake in record-level bilateral and multilateral aid.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 24, 2009

La Machine invades Yokohama!

"You know 'e is a crazy man," Fredette, a feisty, flame- haired assistant, warns in a French accent as she hands over a yellow hard hat. "A mad man. Un fou. And very, very busy. You must be quick."
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Apr 24, 2009

Sake goes abroad, brings back fans

Times are tough for the sake industry. Gone are the days when Japan's once-beloved national beverage held a place at every table; now, in a market flooded with beer, wine and shochu, sake struggles to compete. Domestic consumption has fallen every year since 1995, hitting a record low of 700,000 kiloliters...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 24, 2009

New revolt of the masses

PARIS — Is the current economic crisis uniting the democratic world in anger as much as in fear? In France, with many factories closing, a wave of executive hostage-taking — "boss-napping," as this newfangled crime is called — is agitating board rooms and police. In the United States, big bonuses...
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...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Apr 19, 2009

A plea to address pro basketball's future in Japan

Dear Prime Minister Aso,
Japan Times
JAPAN / MIXED MATCHES
Apr 18, 2009

Not love at first sight, but love at first date for couple

Canadian Vanessa Hayes knew even before her first date with Michio Kiyomiya that she would end up marrying him, although it wasn't quite love at first sight.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 18, 2009

Japan, EU agree wealth gaps must be closed

NIIGATA, Japan and Europe need to address a common problem: the gap between an overconcentration of wealth, and amenities, in large urban areas compared with their rural communities, experts and journalists agreed at a recent conference.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 18, 2009

Kyoji Yamamoto leaves all inhibitions behind

Kyoji Yamamoto is probably the most famous rock guitarist in Japan. As leader of the groups Bowwow and Vow Wow, he has performed around the world, lived in the U.K. and the United States and played with some of the best musicians on the planet. Of course, hard rock in Japan struggles to compete with...
CULTURE / Film / SHORT TAKES
Apr 17, 2009

24 City

Director: Jia Zhangke
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Apr 17, 2009

Yokohama becomes creepy — and crawly

Rumor has it that a giant spider has taken up residence in the Bayside area of Yokohama — just across the road from the famed Red Brick Warehouse. "As big as a four-story building," they say it is, with giant brown-metal legs and 2-meter-long pincers. Worse still, information acquired by The Japan...
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...
Reader Mail
Apr 16, 2009

Way to victory in Afghanistan

While I was reading Ted Rall's April 4 article "U.S. can't afford Afghan war," I had an epiphany of what was needed to be done for Afghanistan. The United States needs to provide the people of Afghanistan with something that the "insurgents" cannot provide: a way out of poverty (40 percent unemployment...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 16, 2009

Study of iPS cells draws nearer to finding cures

Jason Burnett and his 10-year-old son, Andrew, both born with a genetic defect, have been recruited into an experiment designed to transform bits of their skin into stem cells that may someday hold the key to a cure.
Japan Times
LIFE / JAPAN FASHION WEEK
Apr 12, 2009

Focus on: Yasuko Furuta

For Yasuko Furuta of Japanese womenswear brand Toga, inspiration comes from many different sources but includes an assimilation of complicated elements deconstructing and reconstructing styles to forge a strongly defined but harmonized collection.
Japan Times
LIFE / JAPAN FASHION WEEK
Apr 12, 2009

Tokyo hots up for autumn / winter '09

The length of a fashion show averages about 10 minutes, a short span during which design prodigies can be born while others fail, dragging small fortunes into fashion oblivion with them.

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