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Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 31, 2017

Lu's charming mermaid tale is too much for just one film

Imagine 'Ponyo' but with a whole lot of dancing. Boiled down, that is what you get with 'Lu Over The Wall.'
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 24, 2017

Tokyo International Art Fair to kick off in Shibuya's Hikarie

While many people in Japan undoubtedly know someone who owns a brand name handbag, few may know anyone who owns a work of art. If Tokyo-based artist Satoshi Maruhashi has his way, that will soon change.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 16, 2017

'The Woodcut World of Asano Takeji'

May 20-July 2
JAPAN / History
Apr 29, 2017

Power politics: Japan's most popular political platforms

Looking back at some of the political platforms that have been heavily endorsed by voters over the past century in a bid to predict where the country might be headed under the 'third generation' of postwar Japanese.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 7, 2017

Of hidden Christians and electric cars on the Goto Islands

I was promised that my journey to Fukue — the largest of the Goto Islands west of Kyushu — would be an uneventful one. My berth, a simple bunk with a matt screen for privacy, was comfortable, and the gentle rocking of the ferry as it crossed the Genkai Sea, combined with a midnight departure, sent...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Mar 24, 2017

Entrepreneurs use their diseases as springboard for business success

Despite calls for diversity in the workplace and "work-style reforms" being debated in the government, Japan has yet to come up with a way to fully utilize the talent of all who wish to work, especially those with rare and incurable diseases.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Mar 11, 2017

Monocle raises its glass to 10 years in Japan

There are precious few publications standing against the accepted status quo that print media has had its day and the future is digital. Taking a stand among their ranks is lifestyle magazine Monocle, which even eschews social media, choosing to address those who seek its singular lens via a 24-hour...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Feb 25, 2017

Naoto Fukasawa: Between craft and design

Naoto Fukasawa is probably best known internationally for his designs for Muji, in particular for the wall-mounted CD player he created in 1999, which was featured in Gary Hustwit's popular 2009 documentary "Objectified." Now he remains a creative adviser for Muji, while still designing interiors, lighting...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
Feb 19, 2017

For African-American ‘idol’ Amina du Jean, difference is a double-edged sword

Amina du Jean been in Japan for only 2u00bd years, but in that time has become a bona fide idol, joined a J-idol group and even branched off into a bit of gravure (bikini) modeling.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 11, 2017

Japanese women see aspirational qualities in 'de facto first lady' Ivanka Trump

Miyu Toyonaga was thrilled when she discovered who had visited her Instagram account last April. It was Ivanka Trump, her fashion icon, and she had liked a photo of Toyonaga with a leather clutch purse from Ivanka's namesake brand.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NATURE'S PANTRY
Dec 30, 2016

The flexibility of 'osechi ryori,' Japan's traditional New Year's food

During the New Year's holidays, many Japanese eat osechi ryōri, a collection of traditional foods developed during the Heian Period (794-1185). It originally consisted of fish or vegetables simmered in soy sauce and sweet mirin but, as the years passed, other foods were incorporated into the compendium...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 14, 2016

'Knight of Cups': Is Malick's cup half-full or half-empty?

Halfway through "Knight of Cups," the latest treatise from philosopher-filmmaker Terrence Malick, the movie's chorus of internal monologues yields a line that could be read as a memo to the director himself: "Don't get your head too far up your own ass."
EDITORIALS
Oct 12, 2016

The government's 'karoshi' report

The Abe administration must ensure that a new regulation on overtime work will be effective enough to protect the health of company workers.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 4, 2016

Reconnecting Japan's ancient cultural hub

"When I visited Todaiji Temple in Nara, just after I arrived as a Chinese student in Japan about 30 years ago, I felt somehow nostalgic as it had an atmosphere of old China," says Cai Guo-Qiang, as he explains his work for Culture City of East Asia 2016, Nara, a cultural project that launched in March....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 27, 2016

Ishinha set for stunning final show

Performing on deserted beaches and in villages, temples, dockland warehouses and urban railyards, few theater companies can have traversed the range of landscapes and settings that have inspired Osaka-based Ishinha.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 24, 2016

The ascendancy of a Japanese maestro

In the past few months, the media has been pleasantly surprised at the sudden ascendancy of some noteworthy Japanese women, mainly in the realm of politics. Since pianist Hiroko Nakamura passed away in July, the media has been filled with obituaries that paid tribute to her own powerful position in Japan's...
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Sep 18, 2016

Trump likened to dominant male chimp by famed primatologist Goodall

The brash antics of Republican U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump have earned him a comparison to a male chimpanzee by renowned anthropologist Jane Goodall.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 21, 2016

Sahra Halgan sings recognition for Somaliland

We in the West are used to thinking of music mainly as entertainment. On occasion, it can fulfill a religious function, or be deployed to argue one political point or another. But for Sahra Halgan, the purpose of her music is to bring recognition to Somaliland, a self-declared state unrecognized by the...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Aug 17, 2016

Sex trade a shaky safety net for Japan's working-poor women

For the past six years, 47-year-old single mother Kasumi Endo has lived a double life.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 12, 2016

California roll creator Hidekazu Tojo's continuing quest to broaden palates overseas

A namigai (geoduck pronounced gooey-duck) is not a pretty creature. Native to North America's west coast, it looks like a beige slug that has outgrown a clam shell. Hidekazu Tojo is about to convince an audience to eat it.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jul 1, 2016

For summer dining, escape to the sunny Shonan coast

The Shonan coast in Kanagawa Prefecture, about an hour south of Tokyo by train, has something for just about everyone. Some head to Chigasaki to ride the waves or to Enoshima to luxuriate in its spa. Others explore the hills and temples of Kamakura or just get away from it all in sleepy Hayama. Few make...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jun 18, 2016

A spiritual high in the temples of Takayama

Isolated from the pulsating sounds of pachinko parlors and the neon lights of Tokyo, the small, laid-back city of Takayama in the mountains of Gifu Prefecture offers something that visitors to Japan's urban hubs don't typically find: quiet.
Japan Times
JAPAN / GENERATIONAL CHANGE
Jun 5, 2016

West-inspired anime chief propels Polygon Pictures to success

Polygon Pictures, one of the oldest digital animation studios worldwide, has been turning its lights off at 10 p.m. sharp since 2011. Employees can turn them back on again but they automatically go dark every hour.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
May 18, 2016

Giving voice to foreign talent via the spoken word

Tokyo's English poetry scene gets a shot in the arm with a lively event night and new journal.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 17, 2016

The many portraits of an artist as a young, and older, man

As photographer Yasumasa Morimura has predominantly made his name since 1985 in eccentric self-portraiture involving impersonations of famous people, his current exhibition is conceptually and structurally all autobiography. It is a tale serially told through chapters with a beginning, middle-stage developments...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
May 13, 2016

Why is Tokyo starting to taste like Portland?

Walking into PDX Taproom, a bar in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward, is like wandering into a condensed, alternate version of Portland, Oregon. Everything from the folk-pop hits playing in the background to the craft beers on tap hail from the Pacific Northwest metropolis.
CULTURE / Music
May 8, 2016

Homecomings craft a catchy and intricate gem with 'Sale of Broken Dreams'

Kyoto four-piece Homecomings excel at capturing the small, sad details of life.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji