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Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 7, 2015

Heart of darkness: Nostalgic Tokyo disappearing amid construction boom

The Shinagawa neighborhood of Musashi-Koyama — a vibrant maze of tiny alleyways that once housed dozens of small eateries, tapas restaurants and bars — is now a virtual ghost town.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Nov 7, 2015

From Kyary Pamyu Pamyu to Emoda, Japanese fashion aims to be accessible

Emoda's student style
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / THE HIGH GROUNDS
Nov 6, 2015

Maruyama Coffee lets the beans explain themselves

From the hip barista conjuring latte art to the kissaten (traditional Japanese coffee shop) owner working an archaic siphon machine, there's a lot of fuss and theater involved in preparing coffee. So it can be hard to get excited about the French press sometimes. It's the saxophone of brewing methods:...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Oct 31, 2015

Tsukiji countdown: clock ticking on famed fish market

With a year to go until the wholesale fish market in Tokyo's Chuo Ward closes its doors for good, operators in the market prepare to say their last goodbyes to the landmark attraction.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 31, 2015

Guitarist Masayoshi Takanaka bids farewell to storied Shibuya venue with a tropical show

On Sept. 30, guitarist Masayoshi Takanaka, formerly of pioneering rock outfit Sadistic Mika Band, stepped onto the stage at Shibuya Kokaido (Shibuya Public Hall) for a special show. Four days later, the venue, which had seen the likes of Buck-Tick, Boowy and, of course, Sadistic Mika Band, was shuttered...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Oct 17, 2015

Fired up about Gifu's pottery industry

Toki, a small town in Gifu Prefecture, 37 km from Nagoya, sits above a huge clay basin. Pottery has been made here since ancient times.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 13, 2015

Usugrow feels the art of skulls in his bones

With shows four times a year, Diesel Art Gallery in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward is one of the best free art venues in Tokyo and is well worth checking out. Located in the basement of the clothes brand shop, it puts on consistently good shows that steer clear of the pretentiousness of more "artsy" venues, while...
Japan Times
JAPAN / ADVANCES IN PROGRESS
Oct 11, 2015

Language-learning Watson looks to change the face of computing

It's hard to predict what the next big thing will be in technology.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Oct 8, 2015

Taking in the city sights in lavish style; frightfully good Halloween 'boo-fet'; tea sets celebrate harvest season

Taking in the city sights in lavish style
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Sep 24, 2015

Enjoying the tastes and colors of fall; celebration of Chinese cuisine; spooktacular Halloween goodies

Enjoying the tastes and colors of fall
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Sep 19, 2015

Kakunodate town: Looking back on historical charm

Despite the fact that we've arrived on a weekend, the parking lot along Kakunodate's river is relatively empty. From our spot under the shady branches, my friends Felicity and Nori and I haul our convenience-store-purchased picnic up to the edge of the walking path that hugs Hinokinai River. The cherry...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Sep 12, 2015

Harajuku's underside style surfaces, uu delights kids and Snoopy's Belle is in town

Harajuku's underside is surfacing
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Sep 2, 2015

Tokyo craft store meets demand for LGBT rainbow goods hard to find in Japan

At first glance, Nijiiro Komachi (Rainbow Beauty) looks like any craft shop, with colorful handmade earrings, necklaces, illustrated postcards and metal badges adorning the shelves and walls. The store in Tokyo's Kichijoji district, however, has a unique mission: to support sexual minorities in Japan....
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Aug 31, 2015

Don't confuse the homonyms of 'aki' (autumn)

Today we introduce three homonyms of the noun 'aki,' which can mean 'autumn,' 'vacant' and 'to get bored of something.'
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Aug 29, 2015

Okinawa: always worth returning to

The island of Okinawa shimmers beneath the wing of our plane, a dark green smudge on the azure seascape. I can't see it well, ensconced as I am in the aisle seat, already subconsciously distancing myself from this visit. But my daughter, on the other end of the row, peers out the window with wide eager...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / YEN FOR LIVING
Aug 23, 2015

Chinese shoppers keep Japan's tills ringing

The lower yen, fewer visa restrictions, cheap flights and trust in Japanese products are all helping fuel the boom in Chinese tourism to Japan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Jul 15, 2015

A nose by any other name (or nationality) is as sweet

When I first came to Japan many years ago the thing that struck me the most was seeing people wearing what I thought were surgical masks in public places. Before that I had only ever seen people wearing them on American TV programs set in hospitals, or during my one experience as an in-patient when my...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KYOTO RESTAURANTS
Jul 10, 2015

Ogawa Coffee: An old-world coffee house without the traditional atmosphere

For a small city, Kyoto is big on coffee. As with every city in Japan, the current "third-wave" coffee boom has brought more choice and quality when it comes to cafes and beans. This is undeniably good news for coffee drinkers. Ogawa Coffee and Inoda Coffee, two Kyoto coffee institutions, both predate...
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 9, 2015

Japan firms face hurdles as 'service' culture taken overseas

At Uniqlo stores worldwide, staff greet every customer with "Welcome to Uniqlo!"
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Jul 9, 2015

Drought-hit Thai farmers struggling as subsidies, like paddies, look to dry up amid water curbs

Rice farmer Boontham Chei-pa switches on a water pump in the evenings to irrigate his parched field from a canal in Thailand's central province of Suphanburi. The soil is hardly moistened before the motor is switched off.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jul 4, 2015

Female chefs give sushi a new lease on life

A chef dressed in white stands behind the immaculate counter of a sushi restaurant with a vast array of raw seafood spread out in front of her. It sounds like a typical scene you might find at any sushi restaurant in Japan ... except in this case the chef is female.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / A TASTE OF HOME
Jun 5, 2015

The best places in Tokyo to taste Vietnam in a baguette

Remember that rumor about “Mama” Cass Elliot from the Mamas and Papas? The one about how she died in bed while munching on a sandwich? I heard that as a child and for years I took it as a cautionary tale about bedtime snacking, or else as evidence that fate has a rather whimsical sense of humor....
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / THE HIGH GROUNDS
Jun 5, 2015

Zen and the delicate art of demitasse coffee

Shingo Naganuma isn't exaggerating when he compares the atmosphere of his coffee shop, Nejimakigumo, to a temple. Open the menu here and you'll find a list of rules, ranging from prohibitions (no smoking, no pets) to a requirement that laptop users buy extra drinks if they plan on occupying one of the...
CULTURE / Film
Jun 3, 2015

Director Kawase disregards criticism of her sentimental leprosy drama 'An'

When I first interviewed Naomi Kawase in 1998, after she won the Cannes Film Festival's Camera d'Or award for her first feature, "Moe no Suzaku" ("Suzaku"), I remarked on her "quietly stubborn determination" to persist in the face of various detractors. If anything, criticism has increased in the intervening...
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
May 23, 2015

Change trays

Dear Alice,
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / EXPO MILANO 2015
May 3, 2015

Rethinking, updating traditional crafts

Despite a decline in the handmade craft industry, especially with a lack of young people to pass the baton to in recent years, the Expo Milano 2015 that kicked off May 1 is a big chance for densan, or traditional Japanese handcrafted products, to promote their charm and elaborate workmanship to the world....

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes