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Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 7, 2010

Tortoise

Tortoise's blending of dub, electronica and jazz over its two decades in existence has established the instrumental five-piece as the band that brought progressive rock into the present.
JAPAN
May 5, 2010

Secondhand market grows

When Chie Matsumoto buys anything — from a DVD player to golf goods to a telephone — she now chooses secondhand goods because brand-new items aren't necessarily what she needs.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL: KEYES' POINT
May 5, 2010

Rusuban: The family oni is left holding the fort

"Daddy, when I grow up I wanna be a kyabajō (キャバ嬢, nightclub hostess)!"
COMMENTARY / World
May 4, 2010

Rural Africa planting seeds for bigger payoffs

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — After decades of bad news, at least three major trends are turning Africa's way: agricultural policies, rural demography and farm productivity all promise improved opportunities for farm families across the continent.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
May 4, 2010

What's your opinion of the conversation school industry in Japan?

COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
May 4, 2010

Last gasps of Japan's dying demagogues

Tally ho! The hunt is on for "fake Japanese" in Japanese politics.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
May 3, 2010

Accusations about Japan's youths lacking 'animal spirits' off mark

The old are invariably critical of the young. Japan is no exception. The older generation finds much to bemoan in the attitudes and behaviors of their successors.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
May 2, 2010

Renho: Japan's fiscal firebrand

Renho, a first-term Upper House member from the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, shot to stardom in Japan last November when, as a member of a government committee tasked with screening ministries' budget requests, she had several fierce, face-to-face battles with bureaucrats.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 2, 2010

He's unusual, so why not just kill him

In a review of the book "Shikei de Ii desu" ("The Death Sentence Is OK With Me") that appears in the Feb. 26 issue of Kinyobi, critic Tatsunori Yagashiwa asks if a society that "disregards illness" can properly judge criminal suspects.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 2, 2010

Downed in her prime, a beacon of Japan's emerging new culture

The formative culture of a country is its subculture. Mainstream culture is about the present; subculture creates the future.
SOCCER / World cup
May 1, 2010

Hirayama philosophical about World Cup chances

If Cameroon, the Netherlands and Denmark think they know what to expect from Japan at this summer's World Cup, one glance at Sota Hirayama should be enough to change their minds.
COMMENTARY
May 1, 2010

How news skews views

BEIJING — I am not good at flying kites. But during a recent visit to the Olympic Village of Beijing, I felt compelled to do so. Despite the cold and late hour, there were many kite runners around me. A salesman insisted that I try my hand before committing to any purchase, and I did. After purchasing...
JAPAN
May 1, 2010

Documentary shines spotlight on U.S. Marines

At a time when the fate of a U.S. Marines' Futenma base in Okinawa is dominating headlines, a documentary is shedding light on the troops and the training they undertake before living on foreign soil.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
May 1, 2010

By the pricking of my thumbs, something yummy this way comes

Every time I return to the States I cannot help but feel a bit . . . evil.
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2010

Floor manager bids Kabukiza adieu

When the Kabuki-za Theater in Tokyo's Ginza district closes its doors Friday after nearly 60 years, its floor manager will be bidding farewell to a place where he was devoted to providing the best of hospitality for the past 13 years.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 30, 2010

'The Box'/'9'

You'd be hard-pressed to find more than a handful of certifiably cult movies from the past decade, but Richard Kelly's "Donnie Darko" (2001) is definitely one of them. This strange hybrid about a troubled teen and his invisible friend (a giant evil-looking rabbit named Frank) could best be described...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 30, 2010

Only got 4Minutes to take the world

T he five young members of 4Minute sit dressed in tight, black leather outfits at a luxury hotel in Ebisu, Tokyo. It's one day before their Japanese debut, but they show no signs of nerves.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 30, 2010

'Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire'

"Precious" is a "woman's movie" — it speaks to women, rubs them rightly or wrongly, touches a few raw nerves. Male viewers may find it hard to stomach. The scene in the screening room after the lights came on reflected this. The distributors were grouped around the entrance doors, collecting the critics'...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 30, 2010

Hikari Mitsushima: from pop idol to screen diva?

Up until last year, 24-year-old Hikari Mitsushima was best known as a former member of the Okinawan idol group Folder 5.
COMMENTARY
Apr 29, 2010

Obama conceding lead in space exploration

In the movies, all the spacemen are Americans, but that's just because Hollywood makes the movies. In the real world, the United States is giving up on space, although it is trying hard to conceal its retreat.
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2010

Craft shops cash in on recession

Tomoyo Shibuya's coat is more than six years old, but she has no plans to ditch it. Instead of buying a new coat, she went to a handicraft shop, bought new navy-blue buttons, the same color as the coat, to replace the old silver buttons.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Apr 28, 2010

Durant not backing down in duel with Kobe

NEW YORK — A casual acquaintance e-mailed me a couple days ago to complain about the Eastern Conference playoff mismatches, as if I had something to do with the short supply of competition.
LIFE / Digital / JAPAN TIMES BLOGROLL
Apr 28, 2010

Hikosaemon

New Zealand-born Hikosaemon (who prefers to go by his YouTube moniker) was raised an army brat. His father's overseas postings allowed him to see a bit of the world at an early age, and a two-year stay in Singapore when he was 7 years old helped spark his interest in Asian cultures. After returning to...
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Apr 27, 2010

Sakamoto, the man and the myth

Even though he was assassinated more than 140 years ago, the name of Sakamoto Ryoma continues to pop up today, most recently as an inspiration behind the NHK drama "Ryoma-den" and as the historical figure favored by lawmakers of all ideological stripes.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
Apr 27, 2010

Hatoyama, credibility of Japan is at stake

Dear Prime Minister Hatoyama,
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Apr 27, 2010

Craftsman gets creative with Yakushima wood

Derrel Grisham is an American, but it was a sense of nostalgia that drew him to the island of Yakushima off the southern coast of Kagoshima Prefecture.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Apr 25, 2010

Tani pays tribute to Kimura with dramatic pinch-hit grand slam

The last time Yoshitomo Tani hit a grand slam, it helped send Takuya Kimura to his second Japan Series.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Apr 25, 2010

Results of carnal prohibition are no surprise

When the Vatican "scandal" erupted, I happened to be reading Kumagusu Minakata's writings on homosexuality — to be exact, his writings as selected, with comments, by Taruho Inagaki. I was doing so because Inagaki (1900-1977) won Japan's literary "grand prize" for his book, "The Aesthetic of the Love...
CULTURE / Books
Apr 25, 2010

Lights on, but who's home?

The first half of this book is told from the point of view of Kiwako, an office worker who kidnaps the baby of her married lover after being pressured into having an abortion herself. She passes through love hotels, bullet trains and ferries; she encounters crazy people and joins a religious cult; she...

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