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Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Jul 26, 2014

Much about nothing in Akabane Iwabuchi

The nexus between Tokyo's rainy season and the heat of summer brings beastly humidity. I choose to explore Akabane Iwabuchi, an area in Tokyo's Kita Ward, for the possibility of cool breezes coming off the nearby Arakawa River. But that idea is toast the second I exit the subway; sunlight pulses off...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Jun 26, 2014

Cool and delicious summer treats; fireworks and festival fun in Osaka; chilled pastries perfect for summer

Cool and delicious summer treats
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jun 14, 2014

Ghostly footprints of the 'modern girl' along Kamakura's coastline

There's a scene in Junichiro Tanizaki's serialized novel "Naomi" (originally titled "A Fool's Love") from 1924 where the besotted protagonist, Joji, watches his wife, Naomi — part Lolita, part Madame Bovary, all trouble — through the pine trees. Having just emerged from a seaside villa, she is sashaying...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 5, 2014

'Sad Tea'

Ensemble dramas about the ups and downs of love, and its various substitutes, are popular now — at least with indie filmmakers. (A contrast to Japan's commercial romantic dramas, which still focus on star-crossed couples, one of whom is usually dead by the closing credits.)
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 2, 2014

Freed from captivity, Bergdahl's ordeal continues

In 2008, when he joined the army, he was a bookish athlete from rugged Idaho with a passion for fencing. A year later, he was a captive of the Afghan Taliban. Today, he is on the way home, a free man at last.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
May 28, 2014

Japan: a haven for the psychologically troubled

For the troubled Western expat in Japan, the reality of being on another continent can collide with normalized Japanese antisocialism to form a cocktail effective in tuning out a lot of the 'just be a normal adult' voices.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 26, 2014

Set to rule a polarized Egypt, el-Sissi faces his biggest challenge

Along a busy Cairo roundabout, a poster portrays presidential front-runner Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi as a teacher, engineer, doctor and judge, reassuring supporters who see him as Egypt's savior.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
May 3, 2014

Ako: trailing the ghosts of Japan's greatest vendetta

By noon of March 14, 1701, Edo was abuzz with rumors about what had happened earlier, in the "Great Pine Corridor" of the shogun's castle. Officials posted wooden signs around the city stating that Asano Naganori, lord of Ako Domain, had attacked and wounded his former tutor, Kira Yoshihisa.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
May 3, 2014

Empress-Dowager Shoken laid to rest; crackdown in Shanghai's foreign quarters; Olympic preparations; Lebanese businessman Japan's top tax-payer

One of the notable landmarks in the modern history of Japan was the funeral ceremony held Saturday night for Her Majesty, the late Empress-Dowager (Shoken, empress consort of Emperor Meiji), who passed away on April 9.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
May 2, 2014

Matsusaka, Hida cows now shine in shoe biz

Leather shoes made out of high-quality hides from such cows as Hida and Matsusaka are becoming increasingly popular in Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / CULINARY TOOLBOX
Apr 29, 2014

How to sharpen your homemade sushi skills

"Why don't you come around to the other side of the counter?" sushi chef Junichi Onuki chirped from behind the bar. He laid down the sharp yanagi-ba knife he'd been using to slice fillets of sea bream and beckoned in a gesture of welcome.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 26, 2014

'Patriot wives' put country before gender

In a 1989 essay, "Coming Down Again: After the Age of Excess," from a newly edited collection of her writings, the late American critic Ellen Willis discussed a dilemma the women's movement faced in the '70s. With the advent of the '60s counterculture came so-called free love, a throwing-off of social...
Reader Mail
Apr 23, 2014

Tax hike hits hospitals hard

Unlike many countries that do not tax essentials such as food and medicine, Japan's consumption tax hike from 5 percent to 8 percent applies to both, and will negatively affect hospitals and clinics. While grocers can increase prices 3 percent to cope with the increase and pass it on to the consumer,...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 19, 2014

Can a solo career help a mascot stand out?

Several weeks ago Fuji TV's morning news show sent a reporter to the Gunma Prefecture "antenna shop" located across the street from the Kabukiza theater in Tokyo's Ginza district. The store, which sells products made in Gunma, pays ¥64 million a year in rent for the small two-floor space, and an independent...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 15, 2014

Record Store Day finds its groove in Japan

It won't be business as usual at Big Love Records this Saturday, April 19. The store, one of the best places to shop for records in Tokyo's trendy Harajuku neighborhood, will be selling limited-edition music from various artists, including film director David Lynch. Meanwhile, shadowy beatmaker Sapphire...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 12, 2014

Hitoyoshi: Kyushu's 'little Kyoto'

There are 24 tunnels on the expressway between Kumamoto and Hitoyoshi, 23 more than my claustrophobic mother is comfortable with. By the time we pull off at the small city in southern Kumamoto Prefecture that bills itself as a "little Kyoto," my navigator is more than ready to escape the confines of...
JAPAN
Mar 30, 2014

Airports eager to cater to Muslims' needs

Motivated by a surge in Islamic visitors, Japan's major airports are falling over themselves to capitalize on the trend by installing prayer rooms and offering halal meals.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Mar 30, 2014

Erdogan dominates Turkey election conversation

Turkey may be in turmoil and the vast city of Istanbul in ferment, bridling at the antics of a government struggling to cope with scandal and sleaze, but in Kasimpasa quarter, the prime minister's troubles raise barely a shrug.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Mar 14, 2014

Dahl still drawing on the joys and absurdities of expat life

For over 20 years, Roger Dahl has been making Japan Times readers laugh — and think — with his Opinion Page political cartoons and “Zero Gravity” comic strip, which pokes gentle fun at the foreign experience in this country.
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Mar 2, 2014

Asoko-no kado-wo migi-ni magaru-to arimasu-yo

Today we will introduce the difference in the meaning and usage of two nouns u89d2uff08u304bu3069uff09and u9685uff08u3059u307fuff09, which are both generally translated as 'corner.' Please imagine the shape of a square; it has four edges.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Feb 24, 2014

Japan finally gets the PS4, "Ryu ga Gotoku" goes back in time and "Assassin's Creed III" has a killer box set

At last, PS4 in Japan
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Feb 15, 2014

'The Fed' closing an end of an era

Of the many Western-style hotels that mushroomed across Bangkok in the 1960s, principally to accommodate large numbers of U.S. servicemen on leave from the Vietnam War (which was raging about 1,000 km to the east), the Federal Hotel was considered the granddaddy of them all.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Feb 14, 2014

Time to nip this growing plastic tumor in the bud

I find myself swamped with cards. And not just the e-money variety. Member cards, discount cards, hospital registration cards — my wallet has so many damned cards, it's like a plastic tumor bulging from my back pocket.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Feb 10, 2014

Great collaborations — Etro x Ninagawa; sumo x Sasquatchfabrix; Common Sleeve x almost everyone — plus Valentine's tips

Mika Ninagawa updates Etro's paisley, sumo stable Kokonoe-beya branches out to street fashion, while Common Sleeve mix and matches with more than 30 brands.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / A TASTE OF HOME
Feb 4, 2014

Eating Hawaiian in Japan, with or without the pancakes

Something newsworthy has happened (well, newsworthy if you follow dining micro-trends): A new restaurant from Hawaii has opened in Tokyo and it doesn't serve pancakes.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Feb 1, 2014

Tsuruga: truly a 'port of humanity'

The man in the black-and-white photograph wore a dark jacket with wide lapels. His hair was cut short and parted to one side. His eyes were directed toward the camera as if he were looking directly at me. I recognized him immediately: Chiune Sugihara, the Japanese vice-consul in Lithuania who helped...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / NOTEBOOK
Jan 21, 2014

'Eho-maki' fair; EU Gateway Programme

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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