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Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
May 3, 2009

Encore Matsuyama!

Nibbling a sweet mikan from Ehime, prime terroir for Japan's citrus, I decided to explore somewhere I had a vague feeling might be an interesting off-the-beaten ramble.
Reader Mail
May 3, 2009

Technology event has paid off

Regarding Alex Martin's April 28 article, "Tokyo 2.0 a buzzing hub for online communities, entrepreneurs": As an early participant of Tokyo 2.0, I have been pleased to see that cofounder Andrew Shuttleworth's idea and hard work have finally come to fruition. I try to make a special trip to Tokyo from...
BASKETBALL
Apr 30, 2009

Nippon Tornadoes set to open first IBL season

International Basketball League's Nippon Tornadoes open their first season on Friday against the Vancouver Volcanoes at the O'Connell Sports Center in Vancouver, Wash. The Tornadoes will play 16 more games in a short summer season, wrapping up play on June 3 against the Oregon Waves.
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.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Apr 26, 2009

Locating the Navitime Navigator on the map

Before actor Ian Moore gets on any train in Tokyo, he's careful to peek inside and check the carriage. Chances are his face is plastered on an advertisement in there somewhere, not quite sufficiently hidden behind the mustache and green-and- white helmet that for the last six years have transformed him...
EDITORIALS
Apr 26, 2009

90 million Japanese wired

Internet users in Japan topped 90 million at the end of 2008, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications reported earlier this month. That means three out of four Japanese are communicating, shopping, reading or hanging out on the Internet. With Japan's advanced broadband and fiber-optic connections,...
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."
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Apr 22, 2009

Slimmed-down Hitachi TVs, another swing-screen Nikon and an MP3 player for the pool

It's not what you put in: If you want to build a thinner television, the trick is to take something out. So, Hitachi has slimmed down its latest LCD lineup by the simple expedient of taking out the TV tuner and supplying it as a separate, but included, wirelessly connected box. The result is its four...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Apr 21, 2009

The past, present and future of fortunetelling

From the traditional "omikuji" — sacred lots — people draw at shrines and temples to learn their New Year's fortunes, to the horoscopes displayed on commuter train video screens to distract strap-hangers, Japanese society is immersed in fortunetelling.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Apr 21, 2009

Travel by train on a budget

Rail on the cheap In Japan for only a limited time, J.K. is desperate to travel and see as much as possible. But there's a problem. "Cash is pretty limited. Are there any money-saving ways of traveling by train in Japan?"
JAPAN / Media
Apr 19, 2009

Cops crack whip in fight vs. vice

A leather-clad female physically punishing a compliant male into erotic bliss is the usual image one conjures for BDSM, or bondage, discipline, sadism and masochism. Yet, to spend a Sunday afternoon with the ladies on the roster of La Siora, a high-end club based in Shinjuku, is to realize that the proper...
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...
LIFE / Digital / JAPAN TIMES BLOGROLL
Apr 13, 2009

I Rub Your Brog

While many first-time visitors to Tokyo probably have a fuzzy idea of what to expect, they would do themselves a favor to first check out I Rub Your Brog, a Web blog that randomly documents "life, music and general weirdness in central Tokyo." This is where they'll find slices of technicolor life not...
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Apr 10, 2009

Musician paves his own way

Described by fans as a "cross between the Dead Kennedys, the Violent Femmes and Weezer," Canadian singer-songwriter Laurier Tiernan and his backing band will perform April 12 at What The Dickens in Ebisu, Tokyo.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Apr 10, 2009

Musician paves his own way

Described by fans as a "cross between the Dead Kennedys, the Violent Femmes and Weezer," Canadian singer-songwriter Laurier Tiernan and his backing band will perform April 12 at What The Dickens in Ebisu, Tokyo.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Apr 5, 2009

Porn actresses pick up prizes

You've come a long way, baby, and in such a short time.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Apr 4, 2009

Nihonshu evangelist preaches heady mix of culture, taste

John Gauntner appreciates a great destination, but for him, it's really about the journey. With five books published on sake, and as the only non-Japanese to be recognized as a kikizake meijin (accomplished sake taster) for accuracy in sake tasting, Gauntner is widely considered the leading English-speaking...
Reader Mail
Apr 2, 2009

Generalizations invite challenge

Debito Arudou does paint a bleak picture of the travails of many foreigners at the hands of the Japanese legal system. I do have issues with a couple of his points, though. First, he asserts that "bail [is] impossible for non-Japanese to get." Yet, simply typing "foreigner bail" into The Japan Times'...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / SOUTH KOREAN JOURNALIST SYMPOSIUM
Apr 1, 2009

Global crisis forces change on S. Korea

The global economic crisis will test whether South Korea can gain long-term competitiveness by changing its heavy reliance on exports and a limited number of big companies, veteran journalists from the country told a recent symposium in Tokyo.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Mar 31, 2009

Hakuho remains on course to challenge the all-time greats

In the month he turned 24 years of age, Yokozuna Hakuho Sho will leave the city of Osaka, site of the March Haru Basho, an Emperor's Cup winner for the 10th time.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Mar 29, 2009

Carp skipper Brown excited about team's chances

Hiroshima Carp manager Marty Brown says he expects his team to be much improved this season and does not feel any pressure to get the club into the Central League Climax Series.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 27, 2009

As slump bites deeper, shoppers warm to no-name foreign gadgets

The recession is causing a massive consumer shift: No longer do Japan's famously finicky and brand-conscious shoppers assume imported and no-name electronics are as cheap in quality as they are in price.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / LIQUID CULTURE
Mar 27, 2009

Taste-testing a brew for the recession

There's a good reason that beer-makers use barley as a base ingredient. Fermentation only works on sugars, and grains don't contain any. But when a grain gets moist, it germinates, and its sprout contains an enzyme that converts starch into sugar. Some grains have tough husks, others sprout too meekly,...
EDITORIALS
Mar 25, 2009

Protecting music copyrights

For many young people, ordinary cell-phone ring tones and alarms are monotonous and boring. So they replace those tones with chaku-uta (literally "arriving music"), or musical ring tones downloaded from the Internet. But there is a problem: A large number of these ring tones are downloaded for free from...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Mar 24, 2009

Tatami care, and dust to dust

Spring cleaning Kate wonders if it is OK to wash tatami mats. "I'm spring-cleaning," she writes.

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan