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JAPAN
Nov 29, 2007

UNHCR chief pitches third-country resettlement

Japan is notorious for accepting very few refugees, despite making a significant financial contribution to the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Nov 27, 2007

Feeling designs

'Design is not just about making something, it is about designing the feelings of the person who uses it," says Tokujin Yoshioka, sitting in his Daikanyama studio among magazine-laden shelves and prototypes in various stages of development.
EDITORIALS
Nov 27, 2007

Spending without accountability

A report submitted by the Board of Audit to Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda shows that government organizations and state-financed corporations still waste public money. The board uncovered 451 cases of inappropriate or illegal accounting amounting to ¥31 billion in fiscal 2006. Some cases border on crimes....
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Nov 25, 2007

'Best Hit' awards; Kyosen Ohashi tour of Japan; affordable rural real estate

The fifth annual "Best Hit Kayosai (Best Hit Pop Song Festival)" will be broadcast live Monday night at 9 p.m. on the Yomiuri Television network (Nihon TV in Tokyo) from the Osaka Festival Hall.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 23, 2007

'Grbavica'/'Children of Glory'

When the civil war broke out in Bosnia Herzegovina, Jasmila Zbanic was 17 years old.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 23, 2007

Cut 'n' paste chaos on a stage near you

A seldom discussed reality of the indie-rock life is the day job, since most bands cannot afford to quit work and spend all their time on music. Take The Go! Team, the sextet from Brighton, England, whose debut album, "Thunder, Lightning, Strike," was an instant hit in Britain on release in 2004 and...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Nov 23, 2007

Guided through Japan's deep north by the holy spirit of Basho

Tohoku is Japan's "deep north," through which the famous Zen monk and haiku poet Matsuo Basho walked in 1689, writing one of the most famous travelogues in world literature, "Oku no Hosomichi (The Narrow Road to the Deep North)."
LIFE / Digital
Nov 21, 2007

Product placement seeks online consumers' wallets

Product placement within the entertainment industry has become widely accepted as commonplace. You only have to watch "Casino Royale" — the most recent movie in the James Bond series — to see that in-film advertising is big business. From cars and laptop computers to entire airlines, if it can be...
LIFE / Language
Nov 20, 2007

Dial up a good impression with denwa echiketto

"Moshi-moshi. Kochira wa Japan Taimuzu no Shuraibaa to moshimasu. Itsumo wo sewa ni natte orimasu" ("Hello, this is Schreiber of the Japan Times. Thanks as always for your kind support.")
BUSINESS
Nov 20, 2007

Finance panel urges more belt-tightening

An advisory panel to the finance minister urged the government Monday to stick to its belt-tightening policy to restore the government's debt-ridden finances as it compiles the budget for fiscal 2008.
CULTURE / Books
Nov 18, 2007

Grand security plans for a stronger Japan

Securing Japan: Tokyo's Grand Strategy and the Future of East Asia, by Richard J. Samuels. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 2007, 320 pp., $29.95 (cloth) The security debate is heating up in Japan, revealing more cleavages and anxieties than strategic thinking. Hence, this stimulating and...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 18, 2007

Losing the plot and ratings when jumping on the Showa bandwagon

In order to keep people watching a TV drama series every week, it helps to have a loose plot thread — an overarching mystery that remains unexplained while the various story lines develop over time. The protagonist of the Friday night TBS serial, "Uta-Hime (Song Princess)" (10 p.m.), is Taro Shimanto...
COMMENTARY
Nov 17, 2007

Is the democracy image losing its glow?

BALI, Indonesia — There's no guarantee that an intellectual counter-revolution will last any longer than a major monsoon. But there is in the works in this region growing disenchantment with the views of what one might call democracy fundamentalists. These are the people who insist that the democratic...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 16, 2007

Jane Birkin

Jane Birkin
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 16, 2007

'Waitress'

Pie-making is a tricky business, as are most other things in life. In "Waitress," pie-maker (or rather, pie-genuis as she's known to her friends) and waitress Jenna's habitual reply to "How are you doing today?" is a rolling of the eyes and a quiet, heartfelt, "Same old shipwreck."
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Nov 16, 2007

N_1155: Naka-Meguro goes organic

Who'd have thought it? Vegetables have become hip. Forget those premium cuts of chu-toro tuna and gourmet meals of beer-pampered wagyu beef: The really happening restaurants these days are those that can offer bespoke produce shipped straight from the farm.
Japan Times
CULTURE / OTAKOOL
Nov 15, 2007

Remix this: anime gets hijacked

Tim Park sits at home in his one-man studio in Ontario, Canada surrounded by piles of anime DVDs and a ton of tech.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 13, 2007

Pick a charismatic kyara to sweeten up your life

"All my friends are characters" is a line from the Peanuts cartoon strip, but it seems that everyone in Japan, from friends to foes to family members — have turned into characters, or as people over here say, kyara.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 13, 2007

'Gaijin card' checks spread as police deputize the nation

In the good old days, very few Japanese knew about Alien Registration Cards — you know, those wallet-size documents all non-Japanese residents must carry 24/7 or face arrest and incarceration.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Nov 13, 2007

Agosta anniversary, Swedish cool, disc hats and more

Well-preened
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Nov 13, 2007

Goh Hotoda

JUDIT KAWAGUCHI
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Nov 11, 2007

Employment issues special, weight loss special, Vermeer art special

Japan's employment situation is discussed in depth on "Nippon no Shukuzu: Sennin ni Kiku Haken no Honne (Japan in a Nutshell: A Thousand People Tell Their Real Feelings About Contract Work)" (NHK-G, Monday, 10 p.m.). About one-third of all workers in Japan are either part-timers, contract employees or...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Nov 10, 2007

Buddy Hackett, Bob Newhart and why I came to Japan

The man on my right is not comedian Buddy Hackett. But perhaps — if you're a little drunk and have an imagination — you might think he is.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 9, 2007

'Vacancy'

Some film reviewers seem to have the idea that their job involves simply telling you the film's story. They'll walk you through the first act, the second act and often well into the third act, stopping just short of ruining the ending for you. But really, haven't they already spoiled the beginning and...

Longform

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