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CARTOONS / DAHL'S JAPAN
Feb 21, 2010

Wild Things

CULTURE / Books
Feb 21, 2010

Truly unique version of the foreigner's tale

Like a Yemenese bride-to-be who first sees the countenance of her fiance in a photo presented by relatives, Rebecca Otowa experienced a presentiment of her future in a black-and-white image of a building, a 350-year-old farmhouse in rural Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Feb 21, 2010

Feeling the heat

Winter whiteouts, freezing weather and power outages everywhere from Europe to Washington and Beijing have been making headlines these last few months, but as fingers by the million have been going numb, Japan has one nifty weapon of mass defrostation to alleviate the seasonal problem: self-warming pads....
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 21, 2010

Never mind 'strategy,' a basic education involves others' languages

"Americans have never been particularly interested in learning other languages and are even less interested today. . . . Our government spends 25 per cent less, adjusted for inflation, than it did 40 years ago on foreign-language training at university level."
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Feb 21, 2010

Seeking out fine sake at its Saijo source

As we walked out of the station, the sleepy town of Saijo stretched before us like a cat in the late-afternoon sun.The streets were quiet. Pockets of snow lay in the chilly shadows and melting frost dripped from the telephone wires.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Feb 21, 2010

Secret history of Takiji Kobayasshi; a detective's all-seeing eye; CM of the week: Leopalace 21

Since it was reprinted in 2008, the novella "Kanikosen" (The Factory Ship) has sold 500,000 copies. Originally published in 1929 by proletarian writer Takiji Kobayashi, the story was rediscovered by the current generation of young people who have tried to enter the workforce and, in many cases, failed...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Feb 21, 2010

Singing the praises of sparrows

In a rush of small wings, a fluttering, chirruping, congregation of familiar birds — Eurasian tree sparrows — descended on the bush in front of me. They chattered noisily among themselves, each shifting its position almost constantly as if unsure whether it had the right to be on any given perch....
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Feb 19, 2010

Broncos appear content with mediocrity

If a team is winning most of its games, it's probably wise not to shake things up and make a major overhaul to its roster.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 19, 2010

Shimizu takes sax to Bach's 'Goldberg'

In the center of a large practice room at Sumida Triphony Hall in Tokyo sits tenor saxophonist Yasuaki Shimizu, instrument at his lips, legs crossed, playing along with four other saxophonists. It looks like a scene from a music class: the graying, 55-year-old teacher instructing his younger students....
CULTURE / Film
Feb 19, 2010

'Coraline'

One of the things everyone seems to enjoy about "Avatar" — both the people who love the film, and those who are lukewarm about it — is that sense of really being able to sink into that glistening, glowing world of Pandora. James Cameron's film is perhaps the first to so exploit 3-D's potential for...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 19, 2010

Eleven

On Saturday June 21, 2008, a tearful Francois K was joined behind the turntables by Laurent Garnier, Theo Parrish and Danny Krivit for a final set at Club Yellow that went on into the late hours of Sunday. The formidable lineup of DJs and sell-out crowd were there for one reason, to say goodbye to a...
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Feb 18, 2010

Time for Okada to step back and take stock

National team manager Takeshi Okada vowed to get straight back in the saddle after his public dressing-down on Monday. After the beating he has just taken, a period of quiet reflection might be a better option.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 17, 2010

Keep your fūtō out of your mouth at the post office

A fun part of living thousands of miles from family and friends is sending packages home — that is, so long as you know the requisite jargon to communicate at the yūbin kyoku (郵便局, post office).
Japan Times
CULTURE / Japan Pulse
Feb 16, 2010

Japan's après ski party scene heats up

The apru00e8s ski scene in Japan is heating up, as more party events bring mixers to the moguls.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Feb 16, 2010

Where were the Japanese voices when the overseas fans declared Asa innocent?

In the last issue of Sumo Scribblings following the Hatsu Basho, mention was made of Asashoryu's self-destructive mindset in relation to the then recent allegations that he had up and punched somebody following a night on the beer in a plush neighborhood of Tokyo.
SOCCER / World cup
Feb 16, 2010

Okada escapes sack

Under-fire national team manager Takeshi Okada will lead Japan at the World Cup after surviving showdown talks with Japan Football Association president Motoaki Inukai on Monday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Feb 16, 2010

Help for Haiti from half a world away

A plain black bow adorns the coat of arms on the door of the Haitian Embassy in Tokyo, a poignant reminder to visitors of the hundreds of thousands who have died in the country since the devastating earthquake of Jan 12. It is a small gesture that belies the scale of the destruction wrought by the quake:...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Feb 14, 2010

Traditional Tokyo explored in mystery and quiz show; CM of the week: Docomo-Fujitsu

Traditional Tokyo gets the two-hour mystery treatment in "Yorozuya Chobei no Sumidagawa Jiken Fairu Sono Ni" (Chobei Yorozuya's Sumidagawa Incident File No. 2; TBS, Mon., 9 p.m.). The hero, Chobei Yorozuya (Kotaro Satomi), is a pawn shop owner in Tokyo's Asakusa district who has quit the police force...
EDITORIALS
Feb 13, 2010

New hope for Afghanistan?

It is increasingly clear that a purely military victory in Afghanistan is impossible. The resurgence of the Taliban and the weakness of the government in Kabul have forced a rethink of strategies to help stabilize the war-torn country. The results were evident at the recent London conference on Afghanistan,...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 12, 2010

China struggles with Internet reality

The Internet plays an increasingly vital role as a forum of public opinion in China as other forms of media remain under tight Communist Party control, though government restrictions on the Web will likely intensify, experts said at a recent symposium held in Tokyo.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 12, 2010

Phoenix fired up for Japan

"If I knew the answer to that, I would have done it earlier," jokes Thomas Mars, singer with French electro- poppers Phoenix, when asked how his band of perennially stylish underachievers has been transformed into a mainstream, gloriously out-of-place Grammy winning act of the moment.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 12, 2010

Kinoco Hotel "Marianne No Yuutsu"

With their first album proper, "Marianne No Yuutsu," Tokyo's Kinoco Hotel join the continuously growing legion of entertaining Japanese revivalist pop acts. Showcasing a similar fashion sense as Sendai throwback band The Captains, the attractive all-gal 1960s Group Sounds-inspired quartet sport matching...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 12, 2010

Cyber Arts Japan: As interactive as they want to be

"What are silk screen prints doing in a show of media art?"

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