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Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Oct 23, 2008

Inukai ready to face new challenges as president of JFA

On July 12, Motoaki Inukai became president of the Japan Football Association, bypassing four JFA vice presidents and one general secretary to land the most powerful job in Japanese soccer.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 2, 2008

Solutions demand end to nation-state myth

NEW YORK — This fall, thousands of college students will be taught a myth presented as fact. It is a myth that has helped fuel wars and may hinder finding solutions to the world's biggest problems. Though the origin of this myth is cloudy, science has proven its falsity, and a globalized world has...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2008

Americans finally getting to taste high-quality ramen

Nearly four decades after the first instant ramen factory opened in the United States, Japan's beloved comfort food finally is making inroads — even achieving cult status — in a nation where burgers and pizza still rule.
JAPAN / G8 SUMMIT 2008
Jul 8, 2008

Ainu artist, activist has spent a lifetime fighting prejudice

Shizue Ukaji was born in March 1933 in a small southern coastal area of Hokkaido known as Urakawa.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 3, 2008

Boston museum's ukiyo-e celebrates Japanese merchants' taste

Until recent years, ukiyo-e were regarded as somewhat declasse by Japanese art connoisseurs — and they are still sniffed at by many whose taste is informed by Zen and the tea-ceremony. But these colorful paintings and prints of what was then a truly exotic world did catch the eyes of foreigners who...
CULTURE / Music
Jun 26, 2008

CSS put their crazy show back on the road

It is January, and squeezed away upstairs in their favorite sushi restaurant in downtown Sao Paulo are the six members of CSS plus a stray boyfriend. (Turns out he belongs to producer-cum-drummer Adriano Cintra, the only fella in the group.) After 18 months touring the world, they are back home in Brazil...
CULTURE / Art / INSIDE ART
Jun 26, 2008

Few grab the reins that government set free

Rarely has a law with such potentially far-reaching consequences been greeted with such indifference and, apparently, had so little effect.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 14, 2008

Shared goals, IT connect Polish-Japanese couple

Jacek Strakowski from Poland and Mai Usami from Tokyo have information technology to thank for bringing and keeping them together.
Japan Times
JAPAN / MIXED MATCHES
May 31, 2008

Massage their main medium

KYOTO — Ted Taylor, 40, a native of New Mexico, was not planning on going to a farewell party held for someone he had never met. He was planning to return to Tottori Prefecture on that day in April 2006.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 27, 2008

Arbitrary rulings equal bad PR

Getting to know Japan is hard work: a complicated language, cultural esoterica, mixed messages about prudent paths to take. People who find their way around and assimilate deserve kudos and respect.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 18, 2008

Japan affords translators an elevated status not found elsewhere

Here's a little quiz for you.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 4, 2008

Japan's media plays nursemaid to nation's immature democracy

A major Japanese newspaper publishes an article denouncing the prime minister. Reporters hold a rally to criticize his Cabinet. The government responds by banning sales of the edition of the newspaper that carried the article, indicting its author for violation of the Newspaper Law. Rightwing agitators...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 25, 2008

It's hands-on in Kyoto

The standard visit to Kyoto is a test of endurance: you stay until you are sick of temples. This comes as a shock to first-time visitors, for while the city is rich in beautiful tourist spots, a true understanding of the nation's cultural heartland remains as elusive as a maiko (apprentice geisha) scurrying...
COMMENTARY
Mar 27, 2008

Prolonged unrest in Tibet could unravel China's monocracy

NEW DELHI — The monk-led Tibetan uprising, which spread across Tibet and beyond to the traditional Tibetan areas incorporated in Han provinces, marks a turning point in communist China's history. It is a rude jolt to the world's biggest and longest surviving autocracy, highlighting the signal failure...
Japan Times
JAPAN / MIXED MATCHES
Mar 22, 2008

Life's a smooth cruise for modern Tanabata couple

The stars aligned for Miki Otsuka and Cameron Scholes on July 7, 1997, in a chance meeting at a record store in Toronto.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 8, 2008

'Midori by Moonlight' sure to raise smile

Wendy Tokunaga is a role model for writers struggling to get into print. Her debut novel, "Midori by Moonlight," is the fifth she has written, having survived "hundreds and hundreds" of rejections from agents over a 12-year period.
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Mar 4, 2008

Dusting off the A-word

Causes are what activists take up as a matter of course. But in Japan, just doing that is a challenge, given the general aversion towards activism here.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 29, 2008

Slow-food movement creeps to Japan

Enjoying good food is a fundamental pleasure. But the slow-food movement asks whether "good food" can mean more than simply the flavor and presentation of a meal.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 24, 2008

New values rise from the ashes of conformity

Second of two parts
Reader Mail
Feb 3, 2008

Facebook adds to the isolation

Thank you for the editorial on the keitai culture. But it may be a case of too late. As the keitai culture has now "blossomed" into Facebook culture, we truly are on the road to further isolation. Weren't increasing advancements in technology meant to keep us closer together? anthony kimbley
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 10, 2008

Expat artists 'making a home' in NYC have little in common

For many Japanese artists who want to make it in the art world, New York City has yet to shake its image of being an art utopia where anyone can succeed: You'll find representation by a hip gallery! Share cerebral discourses with art star Jeff Koons! And work in a loft of immense dimensions in the Lower...
Reader Mail
Dec 23, 2007

'Research' can't hide self-interest

Once again I am amused at how Japanese work to conceal their self-interest in hunting whales in the Southern Ocean while claiming to engage in "scientific research." And it has been reported here that the official word from Tokyo is that Australia should be "calm." Meanwhile, the Japanese whaling ships,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 6, 2007

Look back in anger

One way to learn what happened in one of history's most noxious but disputed episodes is to ask Satoru Mizushima. After what he calls "exhaustive research" on the seizure of the then Chinese capital Nanjing by Japanese troops in 1937, estimated to have cost anywhere from 20,000 to 300,000 lives, Mizushima...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Dec 4, 2007

A cute and kind of sexy guide to Japan

Manga has conquered America. Or so declares the November issue of the U.S. tech magazine Wired, which carries a 10-page manga story describing how manga is reshaping American pop culture. Booming manga sales — which, according to the magazine, account for almost two-thirds of the $330-million graphic...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 17, 2007

Hopi activist brings two messages to Japan

Playing drum and chanting an eagle song, Ruben Saufkie Sr. — a Hopi messenger and silversmith — brings East and West into balance at the leading shrine in Zushi, Kanagawa Prefecture.
EDITORIALS
Nov 16, 2007

Shopping rules tourists

Tourist-wise, Japan has a somewhat divided character. Despite Japan's fascinating history and vast cultural treasures, tourists apparently come here primarily to go shopping. A recent Japan National Tourist Organization survey found that nearly 35 percent of the visitors were in Japan for the shops....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 8, 2007

New MOT curator aims to do a lot with a little

Yuko Hasegawa delivers instructions to her staff in an even, polite manner that often belies the burden they impose. It's a style perhaps more suited to a corporate boardroom than an art museum. But, since she took over as chief curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo (MOT), in April last year,...

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