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Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 30, 2008

Going abroad to make it at home

Mugensha Theatre Company is based in Tokyo, but it is probably better known in Britain. The company has played three London seasons — in 2002, '05 and '06 — since it was founded by director and actor Soun Kotakebayashi in 1995 with the intention of taking contemporary Japanese drama to Europe.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 28, 2008

Europeans back Obama, Asians like McCain

PARIS — Could Europe be categorized as a U.S. Democratic Party "blue state" and Asia, a Republican Party "red state"?
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Oct 26, 2008

TV tributes to an artificial heart innovator, Picasso and Sadaharu Oh

The subject of this week's edition of "Professional: Shigoto no Ryugi" ("The Professionals") (NHK-G, Tuesday, 10 p.m.) is 56-year-old Chisato Nojiri, the leader of a special-project team that recently developed a new type of artificial heart.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Oct 25, 2008

The melting pot of 2008

Today's fun fact is that 2008 marks the 100th year since the coining of the term "melting pot" to describe the multiethnic stew that then comprised the American populace. "Then" refers to the years when immigrants flooded over the ocean in a great global warming of the pursuit of opportunity.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Oct 24, 2008

Closing weekend at TIFF to showcase Asia, ecology theme

One of the advantages of film festivals in Japan is the chance to see Japanese and Asian cinema with English subtitles. The 21st Tokyo International Film Festival may be ending this Sunday, but it still has such cinematic treats to offer.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 23, 2008

Tomoko Yoneda's photographs imply more than show

The classified ad in the Dec. 6, 1933, edition of The Japan Advertiser is as unremarkable as it is straightforward: Wanted to Buy Ukiyo-e prints by old masters. Also English books on same subject. Urgently needed.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 23, 2008

Craftsmanship and nationalism

'Utility" is conventionally held up as what separates crafts from art. But what practical purpose is served by the stained-glass panel by Christopher Whall, "Saint Agnes" (1901-10) in "Life and Art: Arts and Crafts from Morris to Mingei" at The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto? In truth, the Arts...
EDITORIALS
Oct 22, 2008

Fiscal health check

The internal affairs ministry has disclosed the financial health of the nation's local governments gauged by four indicators based on a 2007 law to prevent bankruptcy of local governments. All 47 prefectural governments have passed the test based on their fiscal 2007 account settlements. But the cities...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 22, 2008

TIFFCOM sets stage for dealing in content

Japanese animation and movie content have strong global pull and inspired several foreign spinoffs, but the bottom-line profits show there is room to expand.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 21, 2008

Nippon Ham offense rises to the occasion

Entering the postseason, the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters weren't favored to reach the Japan Series.
Japan Times
JAPAN / MIXED MATCHES
Oct 18, 2008

Couple conquer national, religious divide

Before Tetsuya Kato met Widya of Indonesia, an international marriage would probably have seemed highly unlikely to him. He only speaks Japanese and the farthest place he has ever been to is Hokkaido.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 17, 2008

'Every Little Step'

Cameras go behind the scenes of a Broadway audition for the first time in "Every Little Step" (released in Japan as "Broadway Broadway"), a documentary about dancers auditioning for a part in the revival of "A Chorus Line," itself a musical about dancers auditioning.
JAPAN
Oct 17, 2008

'Anime' biz taps new inspiration

Astro Boy, created by animation pioneer Osamu Tezuka, is a superhero robot with a soft, adorable face, a feature that partly explains his global fame.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 16, 2008

Muslim-Hindu relations explored in PIFF selections

In terms of box office, India has always been the best market for movies, though with its plethora of languages and regional tastes in entertainment, the country has been impervious to imports. In recent months, however, there have been deals struck between Hollywood and Bollywood that allow for movement...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 16, 2008

Japan shines at Asia's top film festival

Acknowledged as the most important annual film event in Asia, Korea's Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) opened its 13th edition on Oct. 2 under several clouds. The glittery opening ceremony, stuffed to the rafters with Korean celebrities, was more subdued this year owing to the same-day suicide...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 12, 2008

Lack-of-rage rage is all the rage in apathetically raging Japan

A few weeks ago a Sydney radio station held a phone-in about rage. I was floored as I sat and listened to the people who called in to vent some spleen.
Japan Times
Features
Oct 12, 2008

1,000 years of 'Genji'

"Genji Monogatari," known as "The Tale of Genji" in English, is believed by many scholars to be the first full-length novel in world literature. Marking the 1,000th anniversary since its creation, today's Timeout introduces this masterpiece that draws readers into a beautiful world gone by full of passion,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Oct 12, 2008

Murasaki Shikibu glimpsed behind the screens of time

"Genius" is one of those overused words, but few would argue that it is rightly applied to Murasaki Shikibu, whose book "The Tale of Genji" is not only the world's first novel, but is a work that has delighted and perhaps even guided countless millions of people in the 1,000 years since she wrote it....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 10, 2008

Morning Musume: Japan's TV talents

Hearing the buzz surrounding TV programs such as "American Idol," "The X Factor" and "Britain's Got Talent" (all originating in the U.K. but franchised internationally), it is clear that TV talent shows are booming.
JAPAN
Oct 10, 2008

Physics laureate Maskawa back in class, albeit tardy

KYOTO — Toshihide Maskawa returned Thursday — albeit a few minutes late — to the lecture hall at Kyoto Sangyo University to teach a freshmen physics class after winning the Nobel Prize in physics.
CULTURE / Music
Oct 10, 2008

Girl Talk "Feed the Animals"

Unveiled digitally this summer using a Radiohead-style "pay-what-you-like" model, the CD release of mashup artist Gregg Gillis' fourth Girl Talk full-length, "Feed the Animals," has been issued just in time to be rightfully included on critics' end-of-year lists.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Oct 7, 2008

'Gaijin' mind-set is killing rural Japan

Allow me to conclude my trilogy of columns regarding the word "gaijin" this month by talking about the damage the concept does to Japanese society. That's right — damage to Japanese society.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 4, 2008

Music firm goes to seed for a rockin' good future

Last year, all too aware that sales of CDs were dropping, Douglas Allsopp of Buffalo Records went along to the annual fair of promotional goods at Tokyo's Big Sight to look for a possible additional venture.
Japan Times
JAPAN / MIXED MATCHES
Oct 4, 2008

Brought together by fate — and a whim

Rajesh and Kayo Prasad have no doubt they were destined to marry.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?