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CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Feb 22, 2014

The Pillow Book

Written by Japan's original blogger, a mistress of wry observation and scalding wit, Sei Shonagon's "The Pillow Book" retains its fresh, authentic appeal more than 1,000 years after its inception. Shonagon was a contemporary and presumed rival of Lady Murasaki, author of the "The Tale of Genji." If "Genji"...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Feb 22, 2014

Joni Waka: 'Learn to be happy with only one rice ball'

I have never grown up and never hope to, as dreams and fantasies tend to wilt and die in the harsh reality of adults.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 21, 2014

U.S. media losing credibility

The U.S. media's reduction of the recent diplomatic row between New Delhi and Washington to India wrong, America right, is an indictment of their professional integrity.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Feb 20, 2014

Kim leads after short program in Sochi; miscues put Mao in 16th

Defending Olympic and world champion Yuna Kim took a narrow lead after the short program at the Sochi Games on Wednesday night with an exquisite performance.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Feb 20, 2014

Cracking the code of computer education

Last week, my inbox began to fill up with angry emails. Had I seen the dreadful/unbelievable/disgraceful/hilarious (delete as appropriate) "Newsnight" interview with Lottie Dexter? I hadn't, and as I'd never heard of Ms. Dexter, I wasn't unduly bothered. After all, life is too short to watch every edition...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Feb 19, 2014

Nasty, brutish and short?: The brief life and times of 'Happy Bob'

March 1984: Ronald Reagan was U.S. president, Yasuhiro Nakasone Japan's prime minister. Afghan rebels were struggling to rid their country of foreign invaders (deja vu!). Break-dancing was a global craze. Tokyo Disneyland was so new it hadn't even been visited by Michael Jackson yet. Pay telephones were...
Reader Mail
Feb 19, 2014

Chapter on Japan and the world

I fully support the view of the Feb. 1 editorial "Reckless politicization of textbooks," as it made me ponder several things.
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."
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 17, 2014

Abe put Japan on back foot in global PR war with China

Japan is losing its global PR war with China because it can't muzzle its nationalist leaders, hide their revisionist agendas or stop them from visiting Yasukuni Shrine.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 17, 2014

Provide details on hangings or halt them: ex-lay judges

Former lay judges demand that the Justice Ministry halt hangings until it is ready to disclose more details on how it conducts them.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 17, 2014

Westin feels it's perfectly positioned to pamper, keep ahead of rivals

The Westin Tokyo is currently enjoying brisk sales and expects business to continue to thrive as consumers presently have a propensity to spend money on luxurious food and accommodations, the hotel's general manager said recently.
Japan Times
JAPAN / NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
Feb 16, 2014

Son's rags-to-riches career impresses by the numbers

Although alive and well, Masayoshi Son has already attained legendary status in Japan for rising from his poverty-stricken childhood to become the chief SoftBank.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Feb 16, 2014

All's fair when it comes to NHK's fare

In a country where TV fare typically involves panels of posturing personalities oohing and aahing over each other's exploits, Japan's two national NHK channels are a welcome beacon of quality programming.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Feb 15, 2014

'The Fed' closing an end of an era

Of the many Western-style hotels that mushroomed across Bangkok in the 1960s, principally to accommodate large numbers of U.S. servicemen on leave from the Vietnam War (which was raging about 1,000 km to the east), the Federal Hotel was considered the granddaddy of them all.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 15, 2014

Tokyo firebombing and unfinished U.S. business

Last week in this column, I suggested that Caroline Kennedy, the American ambassador to Japan, would be well advised to get the ball rolling on U.S. apologies for past misdeeds.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 15, 2014

Iran's religious war on minority Arab poets

It is a sad time for the world when Iran, birthplace of humanity's more revered writers and intellectuals, decides instead to kill its poets, the latest being the Ahwazi Arab poet Hashem Shaabani on Jan. 27.
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....
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 14, 2014

Is it better to win Olympic bronze than silver?

Research suggests that in the Olympics, those who finish third are likely to be a lot happier than those who finish second. There are broader implications as far as our emotional reactions to other events are concerned.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / TELLING LIVES
Feb 14, 2014

Storied family-run toy shop 'sells dreams' to Tokyo tourists

'Continuing a small toy shop for five generations is a kind of miracle,” says Masaki Terao, 58, proprietor and purse-string holder at Toys Terao, which his family has been running on Nakamise-dori in front of Asakusa's Sensoji Temple for nearly 130 years.
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
BASKETBALL / NBL NOTEBOOK
Feb 13, 2014

Change of scenery helps Wakayama's Kawamura grow into all-around standout

Takuya Kawamura has been known as one of the best Japanese offensive machines in the last several years, winning multiple scoring titles in the Japan Basketball League, the predecessor of the NBL.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Feb 13, 2014

Toyota recalls persist as most Prius hybrids need fix

Toyota Motor Corp.'s Akio Toyoda, beset by recalls since taking over as president in 2009, is now finding more flaws in one of his most high-profile models and adding to a growing fleet of cars that need fixing.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Feb 13, 2014

Japan gets in the mood for love this Valentine's Day

Love is all around at this time of year, but on Valentine's Day in Japan it isn't so evenly distributed. The festival of romance has long suffered from a gender imbalance here: Feb. 14 is traditionally a day for women to give presents to men — not just their partners, but also often fellow students,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 13, 2014

A butler who brought color to the White House

"The Butler" director Lee Daniels didn't start out as a filmmaker but as an owner of a nursing agency in Los Angeles. "So I know how to gather funds, get the people, and treat filmmaking like a business," he tells The Japan Times. "At the same time, once the filming starts, I can't be just a businessman...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 12, 2014

Double-take for a new one-woman 'Tinkerbell'

Life is hard for Marcello Magni. Not only is he directing a production separately starring famed actress Tomoko Mariya and upcoming talent Kae Okumura, but the work, in Japanese, is also his brand-new version of an early play by his great friend — and Japan's leading contemporary dramatist — Hideki...
Reader Mail
Feb 12, 2014

Creative tale of deductive thought

Regarding the Jan. 30 article by Mark Gottlieb, "The confounding case of Japan's creativity crisis": While the premise that describes "creativity" appears generally sound, Gottlieb's assertion that "At its heart, creativity is really nothing more than deductive reasoning" doesn't seem to hold up.
Reader Mail
Feb 12, 2014

Career limits due to language

I have spent 14 years in Japan's academic/research fields. Every morning I get up with three questions in mind: How can I contribute to the science and technology of this country more efficiently? What can be my career path in this country? And what will become of my children after 10 or 20 years?
CULTURE / Music
Feb 11, 2014

Cibo Matto's Yuka and Miho share the secrets to their 'second marriage'

The story of Cibo Matto's return to the public eye is, thankfully, not one powered by cold, hard cash. Not for these two.

Longform

Koichi Tagawa’s diary entry from Aug. 9, 1945, describes the day of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
The horrors of Nagasaki, in first person