Search - japan

 
 
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 19, 2014

Ryuichi Kakurezaki: on clay and legends

It's not easy to make profound changes in a ceramic style that has a 1,000-year history. Take, for instance, the style known as Bizen. Bizen pottery is one of Japan's most celebrated high-fired unglazed ceramic styles, and continues to be so to this very day. Forms that started with farmers' needs in...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 19, 2014

Abe aide pillories U.S. on YouTube

In a video posted to YouTube, a special adviser to Shinzo Abe takes the U.S. government to task for not supporting the prime minister's decision to visit Yasukuni Shrine in December.
BUSINESS
Feb 19, 2014

Trade with China expected to pick up

Trade between China and Japan is set to pick up this year after a two-year slump, irrespective of political tensions, according to the Japan External Trade Organization.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 18, 2014

Vegan metalheads go to the Extreme

A little-known part of the music scene will be celebrated next week at Tokyo's Asakusa Kurawood venue, far from the candy-pop quirk of Harajuku. Obscene Extreme Festival (OEF) promises to be confrontational and dark and — yes, the capital letters are insisted upon — "UNLEASH HELL."
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 18, 2014

Where will Xi Jinping's risky reforms lead China?

As they no longer believe time is on their side, Chinese President Xi Jinping and his inner circle are attempting one of the most ambitious economic and social-policy reform plans in history.
BUSINESS
Feb 18, 2014

Concessions on farm products eyed as advance TPP talks with U.S. begin

Japan could make concessions on tariffs on some sensitive farm products, a key Cabinet minister said Tuesday as U.S. and Japanese officials began talks ahead of next week's high-level multilateral negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Japan Times
JAPAN / INTERPRETATION & TRANSLATION
Feb 17, 2014

Translating Western plays for Japanese audiences

Converting each word automatically from English into Japanese is not what translating plays written in English is all about.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 16, 2014

Playing the Japanese name game

Once, when telephoning the international PR office of a major electronics manufacturer, I got lucky. Without my even asking, the young woman who picked up the phone volunteered her name, saying 私は青木と申します (Watashi wa Aoki to mōshimasu, My name is Aoki). Actually it sounded more like...
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Feb 16, 2014

An endangered liberal voice

What has become of the Liberal Democratic Party's 'liberalism' since the Abe administration took the nation's helm? A lone survivor of that tradition weighs in on the future of 'Abenomics' and Japan itself.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Feb 16, 2014

Prepping for university straight from the crib

Aiko has just finished bouncing like a rabbit toward a white line. She has already identified photographs of fruit and will soon be told a story about a panda, after which she'll have to draw a picture and offer an ending. How she does with these activities could determine where she attends university,...
CULTURE / Books
Feb 15, 2014

Miyuki Miyabe's latest puts the history in Japanese horror

Better known for her crime and fantasy writing abroad, precious few of the prolific Miyuki Miyabe's tales of terror have actually made it into the English language. Haikasoru's publication of "Apparitions: Ghosts of Old Edo" addresses this oversight. Capably translated by Daniel Huddleston, this collection...
Reader Mail
Feb 15, 2014

Dumb reason for embracing English class

Regarding Michael Hoffman's Feb. 2 article, "For Japan's foreign residents, the little things make such a big difference": The other day I saw a language-school ad showing an interracial wedding between a Japanese man and his blonde, blue-eyed bride, with a white male gesturing frustratedly in the background....
Reader Mail
Feb 15, 2014

Time for project on climate reality

Readers might find it puzzling that the subject of the Feb. 3 editorial, "Rising costs of climate change," was not front-page news. Increasingly extreme weather events brought about by man-made global warming should be a priority today precisely because it is the No. 1 threat to our future.
Japan Times
LIFE / Japan Showcase / GREAT TAMBA AREA
Feb 14, 2014

Ancient hilltop shrine, venison highlight trip to Kaibara

The path to the top of the hill in Kaibara town is shaded by maple trees, still fiery in their demise so late in the season. The smooth stone steps turn once, twice, before petering out just before a large torii gate. Beyond this wooden marker lies the Kaibara Hachimangu Shrine, the oldest shrine in...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Feb 12, 2014

Yokohama holds a giant tea party

Learn about Japan's most commonly drunk beverage; try out different varieties of tea leaves; and learn to blend your own flavors.
Reader Mail
Feb 12, 2014

Contrary to the apologetic spirit

With regard to Franz Pichler's Feb. 6 letter, "Get on with a positive future," I'd like to add my two-pence worth. Pichler hopes that "people in Europe gain some information before starting to judge the Japan of almost 70 years ago." He also mentions that when China and Japan normalized relations, Japan...
JAPAN
Feb 12, 2014

Press freedom ranking falters due to secrecy law

Freedom of the press in Japan deteriorated further this year thanks to the enactment of the controversial state secrets bill, Reporters Without Borders says.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Feb 11, 2014

All-female wine award targets girls of the grape

Before the tasting commenced at the inaugural Sakura Japan Women's Wine Awards in Tokyo, the judges were reminded to remove their lipstick. The competition, organized by the Wine and Spirits Culture Association (WSCA), is the first in Japan to feature an all-female panel of assessors. Over the course...
EDITORIALS
Feb 10, 2014

Nuclear power remains an issue

Apparently Tokyoites want their new governor, Yoichi Masuzoe, to give full play to his experience as head of a social welfare ministry in improving the well-being of Tokyo residents.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Feb 10, 2014

Tokyo model community melds fashion and compassion

Male model Dean Newcombe runs what surely must be the most photogenic all-volunteer organization around. And although some of the volunteers are indeed fashion models, the 'model' in Intrepid Model Adventures refers to role models as well as the catwalk variety.
Japan Times
JAPAN / WEDGE
Feb 9, 2014

Eco-labels urged to save endangered marine life

2013 highlighted the decline in Japan's fishery resources, with baby eel trading at ¥3 million per kilogram — more expensive than silver — and the catch quota of bluefin tuna being slashed at the December meeting of the Commission for the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 8, 2014

NHK drama takes a wild stab at a dying art

The hero of 'Uzumasa Limelight' has made his living for half a century as a kirare-yaku in sword-fighting movies. Kirare-yaku have a specific role: Their job is to die on screen.
BUSINESS / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
Feb 8, 2014

First cracks appear in Abe's PR campaign

Japan stormed back in 2013. Even the staunchest critics of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have had to admit that his administration managed to achieve roaring success in its first year. This success owes much to a shift of perception based on an excellently devised and executed public relations strategy....
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Feb 7, 2014

'Cove' to become 'aquatic nook' as Abe takes aim at improper eigo

Some say that Shinzo Abe's latest proposed tax increases, part of the 'fourth arrow' in his popular 'Abenomics' policy, are going a step too far. Dubbed the 'language tax,' the new levy is aimed at word usage.
JAPAN
Feb 7, 2014

Health minister looks to bolster hospital translation services

To make Japan's medical facilities more accessible to foreigners ahead of the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics, the health ministry is looking to bolster multilingual services at hospitals, an official said Friday.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Feb 6, 2014

Nanbu takes control of men's national volleyball team

A day after the stunning news of Gary Sato's dismissal, the Japan Volleyball Association announced Thursday that Masashi Nanbu would replace the American as the men's national team head coach.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Feb 6, 2014

Hanyu chosen for team competition

Grand Prix Final champion Yuzuru Hanyu will represent Japan in the men's singles portion of the inaugural Olympic Games figure skating team competition, it was revealed on Wednesday.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’