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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
Jun 25, 2014

The naked American at Narita airport

Leaving Narita, stripped of your African accoutrement and any other identifiers that speak to your nationality and sensibilities, you advance through an array of unfamiliar sights and sounds, just as brown and naked as the day you were born.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 11, 2014

Imagination runs wild in Japanese contemporary art

"Nostalgia and Fantasy: Imagination and its Origins in Contemporary Art" is a ragtag grouping of nine individual artists and one unit, each of whom focus on extremely different things. It is difficult to say, in fact, where "nostalgia" and "fantasy" come into play in some instances. With only minimal...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 23, 2014

PUK's children's puppet shows suspend disbelief for all ages

Parents around the capital seeking entertainment options for young children over the next several weeks could do a lot worse than check out Puppet Theater PUK, where old and new stories will come to life in the hands of seasoned puppeteers.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 7, 2013

'Everyday'

Michael Winterbottom doesn't have a signature style, nor even a favorite topic. His films can range from a close observation of a lesbian relationship in "Butterfly Kiss" to a slice off the Bosnian War in "Welcome to Sarajevo" to the sublime sci-fi antics of "Code 46." If there's a commonality to these,...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 12, 2013

Angus Deaton's 'The Great Escape' fetes growth

Angus Deaton's 'The Great Escape' celebrates growth and looks more favorably on aid directed at improving health, because that can address specific failures of market provision.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 25, 2013

Chawan: Simply, some of the hardest works of pottery to create

In the world of Japanese traditional ceramics there is not one form held in higher esteem than a chawan, a "mere" bowl used to serve whipped green tea.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Aug 30, 2013

One Direction's new movie is a sign of the times

Those of us discreetly looking forward to a theatrically released film featuring One Direction were perhaps hoping for something more captivating and ingenious than a glorified electronic press kit. We wanted something that didn't represent the depthless, scandal-mongering, narrow-minded, pleasure-seeking...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Aug 16, 2013

Some words of self-introduction

Ask what's good about life in Japan and answers always vary.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / CHILD'S PLAY
Jul 16, 2013

Aquariums offer summer escape

This past Monday was Marine Day in Japan. Aside from creating a much-appreciated three-day weekend, the role of the holiday is to encourage people to reflect on the integral role the ocean plays in Japan's history. So, what better time to visit an aquarium? Japan has plenty of places to ogle fish, and...
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 9, 2013

'Natch' gets ghostly on stage

"If I thought too much about my future plans, I would kind of get stuck," says Natsumi Abe. "So I just try to concentrate on the next day's work and do it as well as I can."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Apr 2, 2013

A tale of two knives, a Kiwi legend, a gang and a girl

The story reads like a New Zealand news editor's wish list: Celebrity, dangerous weapons, bizarre behavior, death threats, Brazilian street gangs and a mysterious love interest.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Jan 6, 2013

Frederik Schodt: pop culture ambassador to the world

Quick quiz: Who was the first Japanese civilian to be issued a passport?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 9, 2012

'Poulet aux Prunes'

Iranian expat author/artist Marjane Satrapi had a breakthrough hit with "Persepolis," her graphic novel about growing up in revolutionary Iran, and she teamed up with director Vincent Paronnaud to bring her story to the big screen in 2007. It worked fantastically well, fully retaining the unique black-and-white...
COMMUNITY
Aug 7, 2012

American photographer recounts childhood in wartime Karuizawa

Hungarian-American photographer Tom Haar, 71, who spent several years of his childhood in wartime Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, says he wants to help promote the resort area once again "as an international cultural community."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jun 16, 2012

Clowning around in Tohoku to help children

The Japanese entertainment world is supposed to be a very hard one to crack for foreigners in these lean years of economic doldrums. Once in a while a few people manage to carve out a niche for themselves through a combination of talent, perseverance and luck.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 14, 2012

Canadian black-belt takes pride in action not words

For Robert Hughes, the shortest answer is doing. From his early determination to procure a traditional Japanese sword to his more recent work with Japanese students in the poverty-stricken streets of the Philippines, Hughes, 54, has spent over 30 years in Japan allowing his actions to speak eloquently...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Mar 20, 2012

Why not slow down the pace and enjoy the countryside?

Last summer, a farmers market called Sukanagosso opened up in my village in western Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, and the timing could not have been better. A few months after the reactor meltdowns at the Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant, and with uncertainty and cesium still in the air, there was...
COMMENTARY
Mar 2, 2012

Sure winner fails to inspire

Before the scandalous presidential election of 1996, the situation was clear-cut and critical. A victory by Gennady Zyuganov over Boris Yeltsin would have meant an old-style Communists' revenge for their defeat in the August 1991 putsch as well as a strong drive toward renationalization of the economy...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 22, 2012

Urban pride key to our modern sense of self

What is the big story of our age? It depends on the day, but if we count by centuries, then surely humanity's urbanization is a strong contender. Today, more than half of the world's population lives in cities, compared to less than 3 percent in 1800. By 2025, China alone is expected to have 15 "mega-cities,"...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 16, 2012

The photographic cartographer

Tomoki Imai remembers well the turning point in his life when he decided to become a professional photographer. Already an aspiring film director at the Tokyo University of the Arts, the Hiroshima-native was turned onto the raw and trigger-happy cityscape and portrait snapshots of self-styled photo "genius"...
CULTURE / Art
Feb 16, 2012

The photographic cartographer

Tomoki Imai remembers well the turning point in his life when he decided to become a professional photographer. Already an aspiring film director at the Tokyo University of the Arts, the Hiroshima-native was turned onto the raw and trigger-happy cityscape and portrait snapshots of self-styled photo "genius"...
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Dec 27, 2011

Readers' views: Do foreigners deserve a fairer shake in Japan?

Some responses to the Nov. 6 Just Be Cause column by Debito Arudou headlined "For the sake of Japan's future, foreigners deserve a fair shake":
CULTURE / Books
Nov 6, 2011

Words for all seasons

THE UNDYING DAY: Poems by Hans Brinckmann. Trafford Publishing, 2011, 131pp., $14.50 (paperback) In person, Hans Brinckmann is a dapper European gent with the patrician manner of the well-practised host or master of ceremonies. Reading this book of time-seasoned verse, one suspects that he would be equally...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Sep 17, 2011

Why you shouldn't worry about receiving a pension

Worried about all those years you have, or haven't, contributed to the Japanese pension system? Worry no more! The good news is that you won't need a pension from the Japanese government anyway. In honor of Respect for the Aged Day, I'll explain why.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 25, 2011

Japanese brothers who championed Korean ceramics

In ancient times, Japanese arts and crafts were greatly influenced by the introduction of techniques and aesthetics from Korea and China. In particular, Japan owes the development of its ceramics to the skilled craftsmen brought over from Korea at the end of 16th century, when Toyotomi Hideyoshi invaded...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 29, 2011

'Tokyo Ningen Kigeki (Human Comedy in Tokyo)'

Koji Fukada's 2010 black comedy, "Kantai (Hospitalité)," about a smiling stranger who wanders into the lives of a middle-class family and wreaks havoc, has a lot of invention and charm, despite the slightly silly conga-line climax. Deserved winner of the Best Picture Award in the Japanese Eyes section...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / MIXED MATCHES
Mar 8, 2011

From love of anime to love of a man

When Mel Ushikubo, 35, saw the name of her future husband, Kohei, on the Internet, she immediately wanted to see him in person, as that was the name of a character in one of her favorite anime.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 2, 2011

A call for philosophical thinking

HIROSHIMA — It has been long since hope for the future was lost, and a vague sense of anxiety is now prevailing among us. Yet this feeling of uneasiness should be the beginning of our thinking philosophically. We should rather take it as an unexpected blessing.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 20, 2011

Remember Takuboku: A model to rouse today's thwarted youth

Social change is a volcanic phenomenon. The first rumblings may not be widely seen or heard; then there is an eruption that takes society unawares. All of a sudden — or so it seems — a new generation with new needs and demands is born. Until that happens, society often outwardly appears placid, calm...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 18, 2011

Go on, just say his name

Miyavi is a guy you can read like a book — literally.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami