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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Dec 17, 2014

For TV celeb LiLiCo, success flows from adversity and preparation

Famous for her regular Saturday morning TV appearances as a film commentator on popular TBS show "King's Brunch," half-Swedish entertainer LiLiCo says her work is such fun it is the fundamental driving force in her life.
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Dec 14, 2014

Readers' letters: Hague abduction pamphlets, East Asia ties, temping teachers and learning English

Some emails received in response to recent Community articles.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 8, 2014

Post-'Abenomics' reforms

Japan needs to address six major challenges in the post-Abenomics era with an eye toward structural reforms aimed at reviving Japan's influence on the global scene.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 8, 2014

Xi's cultural revolution looks doomed to fail

China's government has just reserved the right to send film and television actors, directors, writers and producers on all-expenses-paid, involuntary, 30-day sabbaticals to rural mining sites, border areas, and other remote locations.
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Nov 28, 2014

Cool Japan sets its sights on Southeast Asia

A full year and a half has passed since the Japanese government gave its final approval for the Cool Japan Fund — a 20-year, public-private entity aimed at spreading Japan's cultural appeal overseas — the official soft-power push that some bureaucrats and academics had been advocating for at least...
Japan Times
CULTURE
Nov 27, 2014

CNN series 'On the Road' looks at drinks and drums in Japan

CNN journalist Paula Newton is waiting to try the world's best whisky at The Society bar at the Shiodome Park Hotel in Tokyo. Her verdict? "The drink was very good."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Nov 10, 2014

Catalans in Tokyo: How did you vote in the Catalonia referendum and why?

Independence-minded Catalans at a polling station in Tokyo explain why they voted in defiance of Madrid in a referendum that had already been ruled invalid.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 8, 2014

Kendama: a whole new ball game

Almost every child that has grown up in Japan has seen a kendama, a wooden traditional Japanese toy consisting of a ken (sword) and tama (ball) connected by a length of string.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / JAPAN WEB WATCH
Nov 8, 2014

Smartphone app CocoPPa takes a custom approach to overseas sales

Although very few smartphone apps made in Japan have managed to take the world by storm, one that has is CocoPPa. Made by Japanese company United, Inc., the app allows users to customize the design of not only their smartphone wallpaper but also the icons for the other apps on their phone.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 1, 2014

Commercial rockets go boom like NASA's

There's no risk-free way to launch 5,000 pounds of food, science experiments and equipment to the International Space Station. As Orbital Sciences found out last week, some ways are far more dangerous than others.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
Oct 26, 2014

The world still needs to learn Japanese

For the attention of the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren):
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 24, 2014

Kenny G runs afoul of Xi's artist crackdown

Chinese President Xi Jinping has launched a Maoist campaign against art and artists whom he judges as having 'negative social impact.' Saxman Kenny G, who is super popular in China, ran afoul of the authorities this week when he tweeted images of himself visiting protesters in Hong Kong.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Oct 23, 2014

Marunouchi welcomes new eatery; Zen spirit meets French cuisine; prime aged beef

Marunouchi welcomes new eatery
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 16, 2014

Kyoto's top treasures, all under one roof

Kyoto is at its most brilliant and beautiful in autumn, with its World Heritage scenery colored in red and golden leaves. This year, it's also a time when visitors have the rare opportunity to learn about the essence of Kyoto culture at the Kyoto National Museum.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 10, 2014

Singers enchant audience with opera, folk songs

Japanese baritone Haruhisa Handa, also the chairman of the International Foundation for Arts and Culture (IFAC), invited fellow opera singers to the New National Theatre, Tokyo, on Monday to entertain an audience of about 900.
COMMENTARY / Japan / COUNTERPOINT
Sep 27, 2014

Hyperbole over Asahi affair tarnishes brand Japan

The Asahi Shimbun has been apologetic of late after it confessed to journalistic wrongdoing in several articles.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Sep 20, 2014

Lafcadio Hearn: 'Japanese Thru and Tru'

A small cage was opened at Lafcadio Hearn's funeral, setting birds into the air, the soul of the deceased presumably taking flight with them. His coffin was draped in chrysanthemums and fragrant olive, adorned by a laurel wreath. Seven Buddhist priests read the sutras at Kobudera (now Jishoin Enyuji...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 18, 2014

Blum & Poe gets closer to its artists

Some people just can't help liking Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2014

Mayor of Kyoto has big plans for tourism

For Kyoto to continue growing as a tourism-oriented city, it must take steps that combine landscape planning with services, the mayor says.
Japan Times
Events / Events In Tokyo
Sep 11, 2014

Tokyo City View gets dolled up for Barbie, Blythe and more

Japan is well-known for its dolls, producing edgy urban vinyl, cute soft toys, manga figurines and even therapy dolls for lonely senior citizens. This "Doll Culture Exhibition" at Tokyo's Roppongi Hills' Tokyo City View observation deck, however, looks at old-school fashion dolls, which should make quite...
Japan Times
WORLD
Sep 8, 2014

Two sculpted female figures unearthed in Greek excavation site

Archaeologists have unearthed two sculpted female figures, known as caryatids, as they slowly make their way into an ancient tomb recently discovered in Greece's northeast, the country's culture ministry said on Sunday.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Sep 6, 2014

A tale of two parks, and their preservation

As I sit in my study here in Kurohime in the hills of northern Nagano Prefecture, through the window I can see 2,053-meter Mount Kurohime, a dormant volcano that's forested to the top.
Japan Times
JAPAN / GENERATIONAL CHANGE
Aug 31, 2014

Rebel entrepreneur turns job market on its head

Yujun Wakashin seeks to present an alternative lifestyle that he hopes will serve as a wake-up call for dropouts, shut-ins and underutilized hopefuls such as high school girls.
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Aug 22, 2014

Haruki Murakami's Cool Japan

I was in New York last week to host a launch event for the English translation of Haruki Murakami's latest novel, "Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage." My good friend and Murakami translator Ted Goossen, professor at York University in Toronto, joined me, as did pianist Eunbi Kim, whose...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 21, 2014

Sukiyaki Meets the World ... and the world gets to meet Toyama

In June of 1963, Kyu Sakamoto's "Ue wo Muite Aruko" — better known as "Sukiyaki" overseas — became Japan's first, and only, No. 1 hit single in the United States.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Aug 16, 2014

Gomez earning his stripes with Tigers

Mauro Gomez probably couldn't believe his luck when he saw the pitch Chris Seddon threw him.

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