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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Oct 28, 2010

Ryokan owner Kazushi Sato

Kazushi Sato, 63, is the owner of Tsurunoyu Onsen, a hot-spring ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) in Akita Prefecture. Nestled within beech woods deep in the mountains, Tsurunoyu is surrounded by natural beauty — bears wander freely, feasting on mountain grapes, and edible wild mushrooms grow in enough...
Japan Times
LIFE
Oct 24, 2010

Biodiversity inspiration

The value of biodiversity can be argued from various perspectives. Foremost, in practical terms, there's its ecological service value, as we depend on it to provide us with breathable air, useable water and productive soil, for filtration of global gases and liquids, and as the resource for all of our...
MORE SPORTS
Oct 24, 2010

Kostner skates to win at NHK Trophy; Murakami third

NAGOYA — Italy's Carolina Kostner skated steady if not spectacular on the way to victory in the ladies singles at the NHK Trophy on Saturday night.
Japan Times
LIFE
Oct 24, 2010

Key facts and figures

Key data drawn from numerous quoted sources here succinctly suggest the enormous range of problems and issues facing delegates to COP10 — and the world.
LIFE
Oct 24, 2010

Have we hit those 'limits to growth'?

Forty years ago, a team of scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology raised the first warnings about possible "limits to growth."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 23, 2010

Megijima, where the wild, cute things are

Megijima (Woman Tree Island) is a small island in the Seto Inland Sea where 200 very quiet people live. It is said that long ago Megijima harbored demons. No wonder there are only 200 people left. The island was made famous by the legend of Momotaro, the Peach Boy.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 23, 2010

Ballplayer is in a league all her own

Bessie Noll won't celebrate her 16th birthday for another year, but she's already got a sweet swing on her future.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Oct 23, 2010

No hopes where next year never comes

I have a luncheon friend who has been deep in the dumps all week. He sits slumped over, picks at his food and won't speak. The only way to bring him to life is to stick him with the tab.
COMMENTARY
Oct 22, 2010

Are China and Japan on a collision course?

LOS ANGELES — The people of China and Japan deserve better leadership at the top than they have been getting. But better leadership is not immediately in prospect for either ancient nation. That means relations between the two giant economies will probably get worse, when improvement is urgently needed...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 22, 2010

Jazz artist Martino overcomes amnesia for second take on life

Jazz musician Pat Martino's storied career could easily be turned into a compelling biopic. A long, historical outing cut in half by amnesia that was overcome by music therapy using the patient's own recordings has "Hollywood screenplay" written all over it.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 22, 2010

'Son of Rambow'

"Son of Rambow" is one of those very British comedies, in the tradition of "The Full Monty" or "Calendar Girls," in which the not-so-promising group of amateurs rally and put on the big show. In this case, it's a pair of 10-year-old boys in rural Hertfordshire circa 1982 — misfit Will Proudfoot and...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 22, 2010

'Wakiyaku Monogatari (Cast Me if You Can)'

When I hear rants from foreigners about the badness of Japanese acting, I don't rise to the defense of the hammy emoting or smarmy mugging I've seen on the screen here, of which there's been plenty. But I do run through the long list in my head of the Japanese actors, from stars to supporting players,...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 21, 2010

JAL chief touts 'amoeba' style of management

Japan Airlines Corp. CEO and Chairman Kazuo Inamori voiced confidence Wednesday in turning the ailing airline around, saying it is improving financially and will achieve restructuring goals through his "amoeba" management style.
Japan Times
JAPAN / HANEDA COMEBACK
Oct 20, 2010

Ota Ward hopes hinge on airport

For many foreigners visiting Tokyo, places like Akihabara and Harajuku are the must-see spots.
LIFE / Digital / TECH_JAPAN
Oct 20, 2010

Japanese cell-phone users don't just talk about weather — they vote on it

A surprising number of Japanese purchase their weather information from cell phones, services that don't just tell you if it's raining — they let you vote on it.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 20, 2010

Battling language’s law of diminishing returns

Before I left Japan in May, I planned a pub crawl in Tokyo's Shibuya district with some friends. My friend Brian had to work until 7 p.m., so I first went for ramen with a couple of Japanese friends. One spoke English but the other didn't, so I figured I would speak only Japanese in order to make sure...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 19, 2010

Marines push Hawks to the limit

FUKUOKA — You just can't leave the stadium or switch the channel when these Marines are playing in this postseason.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Oct 19, 2010

Tokyo: If you were stuck underground like the Chilean miners, what's the first thing you would ask to be sent down the chute?

Daniel LynchMarketing, 23(Australian)I'd like to be sent some Clive Barker novels because I'd really need to read something, and his books are imaginative, so they would keep my mind off things.
JAPAN
Oct 18, 2010

Nations gather for COP10 biodiversity conference

NAGOYA — Representatives of over 190 signatories to a United Nations biodiversity pact are set to gather in Nagoya Monday for a two-week marathon conference that some have billed a "Kyoto Protocol for all living things."
Reader Mail
Oct 17, 2010

Kudos for Bilingual page topics

I would like to thank Kaori Shoji for a characteristically entertaining and informative Bilingual page column on Oct. 13, "In rice we trust — come winter, war or wage slips." Even though I've studied Japanese for 28 years, the column's contributors keep coming up with things I don't know, so I keep...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 17, 2010

Aeon 'digging grave' for temple funerals

Last year, a friend who lives in Tokyo received a letter from the Buddhist temple where her family grave is located. The temple is in a town in Gunma Prefecture, and while none of her relatives live there any more, they visit the grave for the proper seasonal observances.
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
Oct 17, 2010

Korean peerage, national census, assasinaton of party leader and sanctions for South Africa

100 YEARS AGOWednesday, Oct. 12, 1910
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 16, 2010

Professor finds meaning in silence

In Japanese there's a word for it, that prolonged silence that cuts into a conversation, bringing discomfort and interrupting flow: shiin. We've all experienced that dead-air tension, but surprisingly there are different levels of comfort with silence, depending on the language being spoken.
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Oct 15, 2010

Tohoku Derby highlights tipoff of sixth season

Finally, after weeks of anticipation, the bj-league's sixth season will tip off on Saturday.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 15, 2010

Rebalancing global growth

WASHINGTON — Finance ministers and central bank governors in Washington at the IMF/World Bank annual meetings ended their discussions last weekend with a whimper of a final communique. There was much talk of currency war and trade war in the hallways and hotels, but in the end the leaders postponed...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 15, 2010

Lopez-Curval tells moving motherly tale

"Meres et Filles" (released in Japan as "Kakusareta Nikki)" is a film about women. But contrary to expectations, it's not a celebration of womanhood. Director Julie Lopez-Curval (working from a script by Sophie Hiet) is more concerned with the telltale details of women's lives: the momentary coldness...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 15, 2010

A modern twist for Japan's National Ballet

It doesn't seem quite right to mention hirsute, mustachioed actor Tom Selleck and baseball legend Bobby Valentine in the same breath as David Bintley, the new artistic director of The National Ballet of Japan. However, if you're unlucky enough to have seen Selleck's 1992 film "Mr. Baseball" or know of...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 15, 2010

Breaking old conventions to find the new

Ryota Aoki (b.1978) says that he wants to see things that never before existed in ceramics. Personally, too, he is the exemplification of that ethos. We do not usually expect a celebrated ceramicist to be wearing a turban, have both ears pierced and be listening to hip-hop in the background as he sits...

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