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Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 1, 2009

Sean Penn 'Milk' star is cream of the crop — again

'Y ou know, just to get one of them is something most actors don't get to do, and for a long time I didn't think I'd ever get one, let alone two."
BUSINESS
May 1, 2009

Green idea: Bury Tokyo expressways

Business executives proposed Thursday burying Tokyo's elevated and aging expressways 60 meters underground, thereby creating an eco-friendly urban environment and hundreds of thousands of jobs.
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.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 1, 2009

Araiya: Celebrating beef by the Yokohama bayside

Down in Yokohama they're partying like it's 1859. It's been exactly 150 years since Japan's largest port — indeed the country itself — was fully opened to foreign trade. Earlier this month we went down to the old Red Brick Warehouses to marvel at massive mechanical spiders, France's contributions...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Apr 29, 2009

From dust-gathering tapes to the digital age

Walkman brand still standing: Sony's latest additions to the once-venerable Walkman brand, the NW-X1050 and NW-X1060 (released last week), base their appeal on a wide range of features for watching video and playing music. Each of the pair sports a 3-inch OLED touch-screen display, which has a 432×240-pixel...
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Apr 27, 2009

Investigation into DJP aide raises many questions

Were the public prosecutors politically motivated when they arrested and indicted a top aide to the leader of the No. 1 opposition party for seemingly minor charges? Why were the actions taken at a time when Ichiro Ozawa, the leader of the Democratic Party of Japan, is said to have a fair chance of leading...
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Apr 26, 2009

Ignorance of 'sustainability' is not an option

Judging from the last month's headlines, it's clear we are collectively still not getting it — despite how much we know about the environment. In fact, it seems the more we know, the less we learn.
CULTURE / Books
Apr 26, 2009

Hell: A very personal and eternal nightmare

Characters who re-live their mistakes, their cruelties, and their sexual indiscretions populate Yasutaka Tsutsui's hell, a netherworld built in ever-decreasing circles of guilt, memory, and desire. If, as Jean-Paul Sartre claims, "Hell is other people," then it is the reflection of one's self in the...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 26, 2009

Fans point way to watch NPB games online

There were several responses to the column of April 12 with information on how and where fans can find Japanese baseball games streamed via the Internet.
CULTURE / Books
Apr 26, 2009

North Korea: Even facts read like fiction

During the shooting of the 1946 Humphrey Bogart film "The Big Sleep" — a noir movie notorious for its convoluted plot — director Howard Hawks cabled Raymond Chandler, author of the book on which the screenplay was based, to ask if Owen Taylor, the chauffeur, was murdered or committed suicide. "Dammit...
CULTURE / Film
Apr 24, 2009

'Buddha Collapsed Out of Shame'

H ollywood has the Coppola family as its iconic tribe of auteurs, bound together by blood and talent. The Middle East has the Makhmalbaf Family, helmed by Iran's Mohsen Makhmalbaf — the patriarchal founder of that country's first film school. His family are all graduates of the Makhmalbaf Film School:...
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Apr 24, 2009

World-renowned Dresden orchestra to perform in Kanto

Among the classical-music highlights of this spring will be performances by the Staatskapelle Dresden orchestra, returning to Japan for the first time since 2007.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Apr 24, 2009

World-renowned Dresden orchestra to perform in Kanto

Among the classical-music highlights of this spring will be performances by the Staatskapelle Dresden orchestra, returning to Japan for the first time since 2007.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 24, 2009

Ryukyu Underground do it with feeling

"You should be able to go into any sort of club and not be sure exactly what to expect," says Keith Gordon of Okinawan-styled electronic duo Ryukyu Underground, as he sits drinking tea in his record label's office in Aoyama, central Tokyo. "You should be surprised every once in a while."
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 22, 2009

An era of translation by everybody, for everybody

The Internet has brought us closer together than ever before, or so the cliche goes. But has it really?
COMMENTARY
Apr 22, 2009

A violent warning for Thailand's urban elites

Until recently (before all the rioting, violence and assassination plotting) Thailand would not have appeared to be a deeply troubled society. Generally speaking, Thais were, as endlessly advertised, scintillatingly smiley, and the country as a whole — vast rolling expanses of poverty notwithstanding...
Japan Times
Events / WHERE IT'S AT
Apr 21, 2009

Embassy officials brush up, show off Japanese skills

Once a year, embassy officials in Japan are given a chance to showcase their Japanese ability at the Japanese Speech Contest for Foreign Embassy Officials. This year's contest was held on April 11 in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward and, as always, the speeches were open to the public.
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 17, 2009

Earth Day Tokyo '09 aims to spread green message

Earth Day Tokyo 2009, a two-day festival aimed at raising environmental awareness, will kick off at Yoyogi Park in Shibuya Ward and other venues Saturday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 17, 2009

Man in a suitcase . . . with camera

"I love contemporary art, I like a lot of conceptual art. I've followed it for years, endlessly. I mean where do you want to start really?" asks Andy Summers in an interview conducted last week. "I spent quite a few years painting and all I did was think about art and go to museums. I was enmeshed in...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / ART BRIEF
Apr 17, 2009

Yuki Tawada: "Missing Folklore"

For some photographers, the decisive moment for a photograph is the second the shutter is pressed. For others, the darkroom offers a host of possibilities: tonal variations, framing, paper quality, even superimposition. For Japanese photographer Yuki Tawada, the artwork is not considered finished even...
BUSINESS
Apr 17, 2009

Stimulus not long-term solution, analysts warn

Prime Minister Taro Aso's record stimulus plan will only provide temporary relief as the country heads for its worst postwar recession, economists said.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 16, 2009

The war on women rages on in Afghanistan

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — As the presidential election season arrived in Afghanistan, the incumbent Hamid Karzai sprang a nasty surprise on the country's Hazara Shiite women by signing on to a "rape law" that legitimizes non-consensual sex in wedlock. Designed to placate arch conservative Shiite clerics, the...
Japan Times
LIFE / JAPAN FASHION WEEK
Apr 12, 2009

Focus on: Bryanboy

Meet Bryanboy, a breakout celebrity blogger who is known for a dainty swagger but a fierce penchant for all that is fashion. The Manila-based 27-year-old Filipino (right) has become an international sensation with his blog, which has produced a legion of fans, a Marc Jacobs bag named after him, and an...
Japan Times
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Apr 12, 2009

Setoguchi emerges as bright star

In his first full NHL season, San Jose Sharks right wing Devin Setoguchi has established himself as a formidable offensive force for the league's top team.

Longform

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