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Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 3, 2008

One huge fan of civilization

As long as you've at least half a sleepy eye slightly focused on popular culture, you've seen his art work, even if you never go to galleries. Up until two years ago, he'd never even shown in one, at least not the ones where you stand around sipping wine and eating imported cheeses.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 19, 2008

No Tibetan independence

LONDON — The monks who marched through Lhasa on March 10 to mark the anniversary of the Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule in 1959 did not want to wreck China's Olympic year, but they knew that Chinese troops would be less likely to shoot them this year than most. And so it proved: the monks were...
CULTURE / Books
Feb 10, 2008

Risk-taking 'Cure' for J-Horror

THE FILMS OF KIYOSHI KUROSAWA: Master of Fear, by Jerry White. Berkeley, CA: Stonebridge Press, 2007, $19.95 (paper) Kiyoshi Kurosawa has been an international cult favorite since the release of "Cure," his breakthrough film, in 1997. Telling the strange tale of a blanked-out young man who hypnotizes...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 17, 2008

Gilberto wavers from the family script

Her albums of sultry, sunny bossa nova and pop have beguiled and seduced millions of listeners. But, woken by The Japan Times after a meager few hours' sleep, Brazilian singer Bebel Gilberto is struggling to put on a brave face.
COMMENTARY
Sep 14, 2007

Diverted from 9/11's lessons

NEW YORK — Osama bin Laden has once again managed to occupy the stage and to insist on his relevance to the 9/11 story. In his most recent video message, released by Reuters a few days before the sixth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, bin Laden voiced some typically...
COMMENTARY
Aug 28, 2007

America's dirty little victory

NEW YORK — "Just about everyone agrees that the recent conviction of Abdullah al-Muhajir, aka Jose Padilla, is a good thing," wrote rightwing pundit Neil Kressel in The New York Post.
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Aug 22, 2007

Multitasking watches and solar iPod rechargers

No craze is complete without its own gadgets. This new Sudoku aid looks just like another Japanese obsession — the "keitai" — with players using the number keypad to enter their sudoku answers. It costs ¥1,029, with more information available at item.rakuten.co.jp/wnd-minakuru/4582256_900052/. If...
MORE SPORTS
Aug 21, 2007

Troubled Vick should seek mercy of the court - and Goodell

Michael Vick has more to worry about at the moment than just what Roger Goodell thinks. Or so it would seem.
CULTURE / Books
Aug 19, 2007

Keeping up with anime is by no means kids' play

The Anime Encyclopedia: A Guide to Japanese Animation Since 1917, Revised and Expanded Edition, by Jonathan Clements and Helen McCarthy. Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press, 2006, 867 pp., illustrated, $29.95 (paper) The only real problem with anime is that there's way too much of it. Try to get a quick grasp...
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Aug 14, 2007

Close the door on the way out Asashoryu

Every sport has its ups and downs. Every sport has its bad boys. Sumo, in as far as it is classified as a sport, is no different.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Aug 4, 2007

The times, they've been a changin'

Thumbing through some faded photographs of my early days in Japan, I find a mustachioed face with shoulder-length hair and water-clear eyes, eyes perhaps indicative of a vast open space behind. My face.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 3, 2007

Oishi Seinosuke: the trial and its outcome

THE LIFE OF SEINOSUKE: Dr. Oishi and the High Treason Incident, by Joseph Cronin. Kyoto: White Tiger Press, 2007, 128 pp., with photographs and drawings, 1,800 yen (paper) The High Treason Incident (Taigyaku Jiken) was an anarchist plot to assassinate the Meiji emperor, one that led to the 1910 mass...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Apr 24, 2007

Conof, One Percent and Panasonic's new mini-speakers

Shredding mystery When I first laid eyes on the Conof by n.o.l., I had no idea what it was but immediately developed a unprovoked yearning for it. So when I eventually figured out that it was a paper shredder, there was a moment of disappointment -- secrecy and sensitive documents play no part in my...
Reader Mail
Apr 22, 2007

Unfair criticism of hostages

In his April 11 article, "U.S. media feasted on Iranian baloney," writer James Pinkerton was far too hard on the British Navy over the 15 sailors and marines taken as hostages by the Iranians in late March. He was right that most of the Western media, particularly CNN and most of the press, were quite...
BASEBALL / MLB'S EFFECT ON JAPAN
Apr 13, 2007

NPB needs major reform, vision to prosper like MLB

This is the third installment in a four-part series.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Mar 28, 2007

'Splume' -- Japan gets its own world of avatars

Judging by Newton's Third Law of Motion the great English scientist really must have gazed into a crystal ball and seen the Japan of today. His famous law states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. For every anonymous concrete apartment block and crisp white shirt locked in...
Reader Mail
Mar 25, 2007

U.S. also used 'comfort women'

U.S. Rep. Mike Honda of California recently introduced to Congress a resolution calling on the government of Japan to apologize for its implementation of a system of sexual slavery before and during World War II. Although Honda's intentions are noble, the resolution manifests several misconceptions....
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 2, 2007

Declining tolerance of dangerous words

NEW YORK -- Nowadays, words are often seen as a source of instability. The violent reactions last year to the caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad published in a Danish newspaper saw a confused Western response, with governments tripping over their tongues trying to explain what the media should and should...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 7, 2007

Bringing out the gongs in the world of media

* Media persons of the year: Children
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 5, 2007

Absolving their sins

Following in the footsteps of the U.K. band Oasis, Kasabian -- from Leicester, England -- have set themselves up as working class heroes.
COMMENTARY
Dec 22, 2006

New base for reconciliation

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to China in early October was important for several reasons. In the short term, it represented a significant contribution to easing tensions between Tokyo and Beijing. From a long-term perspective, it helped to lay the foundations for a stronger bilateral relationship....
EDITORIALS
Dec 9, 2006

A change of direction in Iraq?

The long-awaited report of the Iraq Study Group was released Wednesday and it paints a grim picture of that war-torn country. The candor is refreshing; no policy can succeed if it is not based on reality. Not surprisingly, the conclusions constitute a fundamental revision of U.S. policy. But signals...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 1, 2006

Klaxons

While scores of Western bands have recently rediscovered the jarring joys of late-1970s punk-funk, creating an explosion of apoplectic guitar dance-'em-ups, few are as odd as Klaxons. Fusing this sound with an electro edge, the band have found themselves touted as glowstick-bearers of the so-called "nu-rave"...
BUSINESS
Jul 22, 2006

KDDI profit jumps 44% in quarter

The Associated Press KDDI Corp. said Friday profit climbed 44 percent in the April-June quarter on rising sales and forecast overall earnings to slide this year due to a weak fixed-line business.

Longform

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