Search - member

 
 
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 20, 2007

Faces of the screen queen

The screening of "I'm Not There" at the Toronto Film Festival earlier this month left many in the aisles whispering "Academy Award" in reference to just one member of the ensemble cast — Cate Blanchett.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 20, 2007

Filipinos respectful of a star's conviction

BANGKOK — Joseph Estrada, the disgraced former president of the Philippines, faces the prospect of spending his remaining years in prison after a special court in Manila found him guilty of amassing around $15 million in bribes and kickbacks. During the 30 months he ruled his country, from mid-1998...
COMMENTARY
Sep 20, 2007

Another Japanese prime minister falls

LOS ANGELES — Japan is of gigantic importance to the United States and to the world. This nation — of 127 million people squeezed into one relatively small island — developed into the second-largest economy in the world.
Reader Mail
Sep 19, 2007

'Criminality' at the gates

Regarding the Sept. 4 article "Hatoyama a hawk on . . . illegal immigrants": It is nice to know that Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama is irked by "immigrants" and that he links them with crime. How ironic it is, then, that recent funding scandals involving farm ministers, Vice Foreign Minister Yukiko...
LIFE / Language
Sep 18, 2007

Lang-8 puts networking onto a linguistic level

W ith the current enthusiasm for online networking sites reaching a fever pitch with people flocking to MySpace and, recently, Facebook by the millions — not to mention mixi, which has 8 million users in Japan — it was only a matter of time before there would emerge a Web site devoted to foreign...
JAPAN
Sep 16, 2007

'Shadow' leader Fukuda combative but seasoned

and Taro Aso raise their fists Saturday before officially registering for the Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election, which is scheduled to be held on Sept. 23. KYODO PHOTOS
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 16, 2007

They're fey, maybe not gay, but anyway, the 'talent' are coming out to play

It's been more than 9 months since this column last looked at Johnny's Jimusho, Japan's most powerful talent agency, and in the meantime a lot has happened to the young male charges of reclusive company president Johnny Kitagawa. For one thing, these charges, or at least some of them, are no longer young,...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Sep 16, 2007

Three cheers for the boys!

Take a moment to try to think seriously about cheerleaders. Nowadays, they don't just wear skimpy outfits, wave pompoms and do high kicks. Oh no, the cheerleaders jump, tumble and perform acrobatic stunts. And, of course, they dance, chant and smile as well. But colorful pompoms and short skirts apart,...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 14, 2007

LDP factions huddle to choose new leader

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party scrambled to find a successor to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday as former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda and Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga expressed their intention to vie for the LDP presidency and thus the prime ministership.
EDITORIALS
Sep 14, 2007

Ever ambivalent APEC

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), once derided as "four adjectives in search of a noun," is a study in frustration. APEC's strongest asset is also its greatest weakness. The group is made up of 21 member economies that account for 41 percent of the world's output and 50 percent of world trade....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 13, 2007

Blue Man Group: Attack of the 'Smurfs'

Butoh dance, attack art and the band Devo have all had a role in influencing Blue Man Group — which is bringing a two-month run of avant-garde theater to Japan.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 11, 2007

Boot-camp bukatsu no place for the fainthearted

Coming out of the Japanese education system, one is thankful for one thing: No more bukatsu (after-school activities)! No more running 50 laps around the school grounds until your lungs are almost bursting out from your throat, no more kowtowing to the senpai (seniors) or having to spend most of one's...
COMMUNITY
Sep 11, 2007

Have your say

The scapegoating of Asa Two thumbs up for James Eriksson and Debito Arudou on their article (Zeit Gist, Sept. 4), the first and only in Japan that actually looks at the facts of the whole (Asashoryu) situation and doesn't just follow the bandwagon of "Asa-bashing."
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 6, 2007

The magic of noh by firelight

At this time of year — and also in April and May, when it is neither too hot nor too cold for performers or audiences — takigi (firelight) noh is performed throughout Japan. Preferred venues are outdoor noh stages in the precincts of shrines, but as these are rare, special ones are often built in...
JAPAN / CABINET INTERVIEW
Sep 5, 2007

Yosano calls on his fellow ministers to behave

In the aftermath of farm minister Takehiko Endo's resignation Monday, only a week after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reshuffled his Cabinet, Chief Cabinet Secretary Kaoru Yosano called on his colleagues to behave appropriately in their positions as government ministers.
COMMENTARY
Sep 5, 2007

What's wrong with talking to save lives?

LOS ANGELES — How much might a human life be worth these days?
MORE SPORTS
Sep 4, 2007

IAAF chief heralds emergence of smaller nations at worlds

OSAKA — Speaking at the final daily news briefing of the 2007 IAAF World Athletics Championships on Sunday at Nagai Stadium, IAAF President Lamine Diack summarized the feelings of thousands of people here.
JAPAN
Sep 4, 2007

Media ignoring mercury-tainted dolphin meat: assemblyman

The Japanese media's lack of condemnation is the principal reason mercury-tainted dolphin meat continues to be consumed, including in school lunches, a local assembly member from Wakayama Prefecture said Monday.
EDITORIALS
Sep 4, 2007

A medical travesty in Nara Prefecture

Last week, a woman from Kashihara, Nara Prefecture, miscarried after nine hospitals refused to admit her. In August 2006, 19 hospitals refused to admit a woman, also from Nara Prefecture, who had lost consciousness during delivery. She died eight days after she gave birth in the 20th hospital. These...
BUSINESS / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
Sep 3, 2007

Merkel to Japan: Leading G8 not only about environment

Last week's visit to Japan by German Chancellor Angela Merkel gave Prime Minister Shinzo Abe a sobering lesson in G8 politics. Germany currently holds the G8 presidency but will pass the baton to Japan in January.

Longform

After the asset-price bubble crash of the early 1990s, employment at a Japanese company was no longer necessarily for life. As a result, a new generation is less willing to endure a toxic work culture —life’s too short, after all.
How Japan's youth are slowly changing the country's work ethic