Search - things-to-do

 
 
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 22, 2011

Rock star starts a new 'circle of life' with Yoyogi Village

Squeezed between the two central Tokyo hubs of Shinjuku and Harajuku, Yoyogi is rarely a destination for tourists — more of a two-minute halt that breaks up the journey to somewhere else. But this month, ecological troubadour Takeshi Kobayashi, producer of multi-million-selling rock-band Mr. Children,...
CULTURE / Books
Nov 20, 2011

Beauty and purpose in design

NEW JAPAN ARCHITECTURE, by Geeta Mehta and Deanna MacDonald. Tuttle Publishing, 2011, 224 pp., $49.95 (hardcover) There are fewer contiguous architectural zones in Japan — areas where we can follow the accumulated contours of a set of perfectly integrated buildings — than there are in Europe. Instead,...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 20, 2011

BayStars continue burgeoning baseball tradition in Yokohama

It looks like a go for the sale of the Yokohama BayStars franchise and, assuming all goes well, the team will officially become the Yokohama DeNA BayStars by the beginning of next month. It is good the club will be staying in Japan's second-largest city with its great stadium location and fan base....
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 20, 2011

The B-class-food boom reveals true Japanese cuisine

Two weeks ago, an advisory panel to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries recommended it apply to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization for recognition of Japanese cuisine as an intangible cultural asset. The panel made its suggestion after UNESCO granted...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Nov 19, 2011

Hawks look to Wada to close out Japan Series at home

Fukuoka Softbank Hawks second baseman Yuichi Honda will celebrate his 27th birthday on Saturday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 18, 2011

'George Harrison: Living in the Material World' / 'Under Control'

Director Martin Scorsese was one of the first to score big with the rockumentary format with his 1978 film "The Last Waltz," which covered the farewell concert by The Band and their musician friends such as Neil Young and Van Morrison. He's kept a hand in it ever since, making boomer rock docs on Bob...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 18, 2011

Folksy gig is family friendly

There's a folk-flavored feast for the ears happening this Sunday afternoon, with you — and your kids — invited. Husband-and-wife duo Nature Airliner (comprising Canadian musician Laurier Tiernan and Japanese vocalist Eiko Hosaka) will hold the latest in their "Presents" series at Crawfish, Akasaka,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 18, 2011

'Henry's Crime'

There's such a thing in this world as aging gracefully (see Brad Pitt), and then there's Keanu Reeves, which is another thing altogether. The average cinephile may not describe Reeves as a "thing," but take it from one who knows: At this point in time he may be the only one in his weight class who could...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 18, 2011

"The Ossu! Shugeibu and Hideki Toyoshima Jiga Daizessan: My Artwork Amazes Me"

The Ossu! Shugeibu arts club was founded by artist Shoichi Ishizawa to promote the belief that creativity should be spontaneous and not governed by rules. The seven members of The Ossu! Shugeibu, who are handicrafts people with no training, are showing their work in an event space designed by Hideki...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 17, 2011

Time to ban world's deadliest recreational drug

U.S. President Barack Obama's doctor confirmed last month that the president no longer smokes. At the urging of his wife, Michelle Obama, the president first resolved to stop smoking in 2006, and has used nicotine replacement therapy to help him. If it took Obama, a man strong-willed enough to aspire...
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA
Nov 17, 2011

Bending the rules with architecture

German-born, Tokyo-based architect Florian Busch says that witnessing a building rise from an open plot of land is like watching a plant grow.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Nov 17, 2011

Simple advice pays off for Hawks' Tamura

Obviously, all eyes are on the remaining two teams as they vie for the 2011 Japan Series titles. That makes this a different stage than any other.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / TECH_JAPAN
Nov 16, 2011

Social-gaming and traditional media no longer deadly foes

Japan's two social-game-networking giants, Gree and Mobage, have been spending enormous amounts on producing TV advertising recently, and as a result they have each attracted approximately 20 percent of the population to their services, selling vast number of virtual items. In the West it is unusual...
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Nov 15, 2011

Tatemae as truth, culture clashes and Arudou's dangerous myth

Some responses to Debito Arudou's Nov. 1 Just Be Cause column, headlined "The costly fallout of tatemae and Japan's culture of deceit":
COMMENTARY
Nov 15, 2011

Scientific mind meltdown

In a survey conducted more than 10 years ago, Chikio Hayashi, former director of the Institute of Statistical Mathematics, polled people's opinions toward the statements of two hypothetical airlines with regard to airplane accidents.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Nov 15, 2011

If you could meet any living Japanese person, who would it be?

Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Nov 15, 2011

Takahashi turns in solid performance to defend NHK Trophy

Daisuke Takahashi defended his NHK Trophy title on Sunday with a solid showing in the free skate.
BUSINESS
Nov 15, 2011

Olympus hid balance sheet hole with sale of growing unit

Olympus Corp.'s 2009 sale of a profitable diagnostics unit it spent four decades building up for what appeared to be a bargain price is beginning to make sense as the company admits covering up decades of losses.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Nov 14, 2011

Dragons take Game 2, halfway to the series title

The Chunichi Dragons just don't know how to do anything the easy way. Which is a bit ironic, since their path to the Japan Series title just got a whole lot clearer.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Nov 13, 2011

One mistake proves costly for Softbank's Wada

If circumstances conspire to make this Tsuyoshi Wada's last start in a Fukuoka Softbank Hawks uniform, he'll leave with mixed feelings.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Nov 13, 2011

Erotica to celebrate and educate

The word shunga ("spring picture"), used to identify woodblock prints that portray erotic subjects, is not simply a euphemism for the awakening of natural urges. Rather, as both these books inform us, it is an abbreviation of a longer Chinese name, shunkyu higa ("secret pictures from the Spring Palace"),...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 12, 2011

Searching for connections drives young documentarian

Megumi Nishikura, a young documentary filmmaker in Tokyo, consolidates her goals under one main theme: "I want to remind us of our common humanity, to remember that we are all humans with the same hopes and desires and we all deserve to be respected.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Nov 12, 2011

Dragons stand between Hawks and Japan Series glory

A long strange season has come to its final bend as the Japan Series prepares to decide NPB's top team.
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Nov 11, 2011

Experience, versatility keys to Golden Kings' success

The Ryukyu Golden Kings, coming off a third consecutive Final Four appearance, look poised to make another run at a championship.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 11, 2011

'Contagion' / 'Moneyball'

Cinema imagines the apocalypse on a regular basis, touching on everything from Mayan calendar-related polar shifts to the ever-popular walking dead. Few films, however, dare to deal with scenarios that could actually happen; that's what makes Steven Soderbergh's "Contagion," which looks at a deadly global...
COMMENTARY
Nov 11, 2011

Two days that shook the CIS

On Oct. 18-19, eight of 11 members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) — gathering in St. Petersburg for its annual session — accepted a proposal from Russian Prime Minister and returning President Vladimir Putin to establish a free trade zone, thus taking a decisive step toward a Eurasian...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 11, 2011

A taste of home: Life after National Azabu

Ask local expats what they miss most from their homelands, and they might tell you about Fig Newton cookies (Americans), Shreddies breakfast cereal (Brits), fresh coriander (Thais) or morning congee (Chinese). In other words, an authentic taste of home.

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