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Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 8, 2008

An aura of controversy in the chase for the new

Ever since 1917, when Marcel Duchamp submitted a urinal to the Society of Independent Artists' exhibition, arguing that it was art, anything has become acceptable. Artist Chris Burden shot himself in the arm in a Los Angeles gallery in 1971; Piero Manzoni canned what was allegedly his own feces and sold...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
May 4, 2008

Hideki Noda: Acting with joy in his soul

Even in today's theater world in Japan, which tends to venerate age, at just 52 Hideki Noda is already a towering, legendary figure.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Apr 20, 2008

Dining out with a box of fine fare

Tasty, healthy and wasting nothing; traditional Japanese cuisine served on a hakozen table distills many of the country's dying cultures.
COMMENTARY
Mar 15, 2008

Still mired in parochialism

LONDON — "No man is an Island, entire of itself; everyman is a piece of the Continent.''
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Mar 11, 2008

Should foreign residents be made to sit Japanese tests?

COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 10, 2008

Kurosawa cohort tells illuminating Showa tails

Alongside great artists are those who witness their triumphs and setbacks, recording behind-the-scenes episodes that illuminate the processes of art.
COMMENTARY
Dec 31, 2007

Censorship serves to flag our own limits

LOS ANGELES — It appears that many mainland Chinese moviegoers are traipsing over to Hong Kong in droves to view the uncensored version of Ang Lee's latest blockbuster, "Lust, Caution." With their feet, in effect, they are voting for lust — and as if wishing for official Beijing caution to be gone...
LIFE
Dec 23, 2007

One missionary's 'swamp' is another's 'religion allergy' challenge

"For 20 years I labored in the mission. The one thing I know is that our religion does not take root in this country."
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Dec 12, 2007

Asashoryu Akinori — the people's champion?

The 2007 sumo season has drawn to a close, and no sumo fan in his or her right right mind would want to see a repeat of it.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 5, 2007

Globalization of ethics can bond regions

PRAGUE — Many Europeans doubt that Asia can catch up with Europe in terms of regional integration. But Asia not only has the type of stable common ethical foundations that were so important to European integration; it also has a well developed set of moral principles, some of which were an established...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 2, 2007

Japanese media reaches for the stars in restaurant coverage

The first Michelin Guide to Tokyo's best restaurants has sold extremely well since going on sale Nov. 22, which isn't surprising given the huge amount of press it has received. The media love it when a foreign entity pays close attention to Japanese culture, and in this case it's culture you can eat,...
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.
EDITORIALS
Oct 21, 2007

Elderly changing society

Once upon a time in Japan, youth culture was in the vanguard. Young people started new trends in eating, fashion, slang and leisure that shifted viewpoints and attitudes all through the culture.
Reader Mail
Sep 30, 2007

Blame game is no remedy

Japan has been my home for almost 10 years. It has many good points and I would not have stayed this long if it didn't. However, more and more, I am hearing the same complaint about the negative influence of American culture on Japanese people. It is their opinion that the reason for this breakdown...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Sep 8, 2007

Lilian Mendes Kano

"Despite our big, multilayered, newcomer community in Japan, the truth is that not much is known here about the variety and richness of Brazilian culture and society. It is really rewarding for me to show aspects of my home country, beyond carnival, soccer and the Amazon, that people have never imagined."...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 23, 2007

A rich repository of traditional Zen art

For a subject in which words are considered an impediment to meditative insight, it is daunting just how many words are needed to explain Zen. It uncannily dodges any attempt at definition, and at least some exposure to the practice seems necessary before embarking on any worthwhile discussion of the...
Reader Mail
Jun 10, 2007

Japan had an ugly side, too

Regarding Paula Bame's June 3 letter, "Western values have made a mess": As a Canadian who lived in Japan, I was shocked and saddened as well to read about the recent tragedies in Japan concerning the decapitation of a mother, parents abandoning their babies, and so on.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 10, 2007

Japan and Germany: worlds apart and yet so similar

CULTURE AND POWER IN GERMANY AND JAPAN: The Spirit of Renewal, by Nils-Johan Jorgensen. Global Oriental, 318 pp., 2006, £50 (cloth) The author of this interesting and thought-provoking study was a Norwegian diplomat who served in both Germany and Japan. He acquired a good knowledge of both countries...
EDITORIALS
Jun 3, 2007

Let Japanese film out of the forest

Naomi Kawase's Grand Prix at the 60th Cannes Film festival last week for "Mogari no Mori" put the Japanese film industry once again on the front page. Kawase's honor is another in a series of reminders about how rich and rewarding Japanese films can be. But at the same time, it is a reminder of how little...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 13, 2007

'Koishikute'

Okinawa and the other Ryukyu islands are to the rest of Japan somewhat like what Hawaii is to the mainland United States. Both are sun 'n' surf destinations for the multitudes, with local cultures that are perceived as exotically different, but not threateningly so. The natives speak your language, use...
EDITORIALS
Mar 22, 2007

Looking forward to the future

When The Japan Times was launched 110 years ago today, its first editorial, titled "Our Raison d'Etre," said, "His Majesty's subjects and the foreign residents remain to this day virtually strangers to each other." This was partly because of the system of extraterritoriality the great powers imposed...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 17, 2007

Winning formula prevails in the midst of diversification

As I near the end of my winter stay in Niseko, I am left with a nagging question: Has Niseko been ruined by tourism?
Japan Times
LIFE
Feb 25, 2007

Law and disorder

I was surprised when Jaime Xavier Lopez, the head of Sacred Heart, a notorious "martial-arts" group, told me to meet him at the government's Office of Cadastral Surveys and Property, where he has his day job. Or that's where he did work, since he is now imprisoned.
EDITORIALS
Dec 18, 2006

Molding children by design

Legislation to revise the Fundamental Law of Education, which the ruling bloc has just pushed through the Diet, will drastically change the direction of the nation's postwar education system. It will lead to more direct control of education by the central government, which could result in stifling creative...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 17, 2006

McSato et al prompt mastication over whose 'real' is really real

I've been running around lately like a headless chicken -- and the simile is more literal than you might think. I have been spending my evenings going around Tokyo restaurants, doing a survey strictly in the interests of scrupulous journalism.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 14, 2006

Camping it up: The pride of pop's history

Scissor Sisters have been described as a band who play "camp pop." The camp bit is arguably a redundant designation since it derives from the French "camper," which means to pose in an exaggerated fashion. All pop music is a pose -- a good deal of it an exaggerated one. A narrower definition of camp...

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear