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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,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Oct 30, 2007

Lean, green and no hippy aftertaste

Imagine a lasagna without the meat. Now drop the cheese and pasta too. Not much left?
EDITORIALS
Oct 29, 2007

China and Japan

Despite recent statistics, China may not ever dominate Japan in the way many alarmists fear, but the balance of power between the two countries will undoubtedly continue to shift in the near future. The readjustment in relations, though, may occur in unexpected ways that are less obvious than government...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ROAD
Oct 28, 2007

Design climbs into the driver's seat

Japanese automakers' attention to the style stakes is on display at the Tokyo Motor Show, but they still need to shift it up a gear.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 25, 2007

'Afro Samurai': anime international

On paper, the making of "Afro Samurai" reads like a recipe for an identity crisis. An animation about an African-American swordsman in a futuristic feudal Japan, it sprang from the mind of a Tokyo illustrator and was brought to fruition in English by a Japanese-U.S. production team, A-list Hollywood...
CULTURE / Art
Oct 18, 2007

Design meets art at 'Roppongi Crossing'

The world loves Japanese design. Because of this, Design Week, coming up next month, is arguably one of the most successful international events in Tokyo. By contrast, Tokyo Fashion Week and Tokyo International Film Festival hardly generate in those fields' fans the rabid excitement that the designers'...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Oct 14, 2007

Illustrating Japan's top cover star

For more than 30 years, Masamichi Oikawa has drawn the cover art for Pia magazine, reports staff writer Edan Corkill
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 7, 2007

Disparate values may still a democracy make

US President Lyndon B. Johnson used to say of people, "Once you've got 'em by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow."
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Sep 2, 2007

Cultural affinity bodes well for growing ties with India

Legend has it that in ancient times a mask made its way from India to Japan. One look at today's Noh mask called Beshimi would confirm this legend: Its tea-colored complexion, large eyes and ample nostrils certainly make it look nothing like a Japanese, but like a native of India.
COMMENTARY
Aug 28, 2007

Thai character trumps flaws of politics

LOS ANGELES — When social scientists or journalists are in doubt, sometimes it's best to consult the artist.
CULTURE / Books
Aug 19, 2007

Keeping up with anime is by no means kids' play

The Anime Encyclopedia: A Guide to Japanese Animation Since 1917, Revised and Expanded Edition, by Jonathan Clements and Helen McCarthy. Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press, 2006, 867 pp., illustrated, $29.95 (paper) The only real problem with anime is that there's way too much of it. Try to get a quick grasp...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / TAKING A CHANCE
Aug 15, 2007

Hoppy enjoying comeback after radical shift in management

Hoppy, a sparkling low-alcohol beverage usually mixed with "shochu" distilled spirits, debuted in 1948 and became popular mainly in and around Tokyo as a cheap alternative to beer after the war.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 2, 2007

Last words on hell from the skies

"Moreover, the enemy has begun to employ a new and most cruel bomb, the power of which to do damage is, indeed, incalculable, taking the toll of many innocent lives."
Reader Mail
Jul 25, 2007

Admirable, humorous production

The popular American TV cartoon "The Simpsons" is universally and consistently described as America's, or TV's, "favorite dysfunctional family." So it was in the July 12 Associated Press article "Vermont town named home of 'The Simpsons.' "
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 5, 2007

Exposing our tacky selves

Walking through an exhibition of Martin Parr's photography is an emotional experience. The Englishman's works make you laugh, snicker, cringe; they prompt self- and societal reflection; but most of all they make you marvel at the dry wit and superior eye that Parr has for things simultaneously insipid...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jun 24, 2007

Somewhere between history and the imagination

David Mitchell is one of Britain's most influential novelists. "Ghostwritten" (1999), his first novel, was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award and won the Mail on Sunday/John Llewellyn Rhys Prize. Shortlisted for the 2002 Man Booker Prize for fiction, his second novel, "number9dream" (2001),...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 7, 2007

A midsummer bonanza

Many of the hottest tickets theatergoers are after this summer come courtesy of one person — English director John Caird.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Jun 6, 2007

Reflecting on life's amazing twists and turns

I came to Japan in October 1962 to learn martial arts.
Reader Mail
Jun 3, 2007

Western values have made a mess

I was wondering about recent headlines involving a decapitation, baby deaths, etc., in Japan, and my mother said she knew why this degradation of Japanese society was happening: the integration of Western ideas and culture into Japanese society. I agreed with her. Think about it: Japanese thought with...
Reader Mail
May 30, 2007

Best part of student exchange

Regarding the May 20 editorial, "Don't be shy about study abroad": I am a Norwegian with the good fortune to have made friends with many Japanese foreign students while studying at the Grieg Academy in Bergen, Norway. We have had many students from Tokyo and Sapporo as one-year exchange students....
Japan Times
LIFE
Apr 22, 2007

Mutual benefits as East meets East

Prior to the 1990s, most people in Japan probably knew little more about India than it was the home of curry, snake-charmers and the Taj Mahal.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Apr 13, 2007

Kyoto style comes to Edo

Traditional Japanese dance forms are steeped in rules that often equal the number of dance moves that they consist of. But Kamigata-mai is different, as will be demonstrated at a free performance to be given on April 28 at Fukagawa Edo Museum's Small Theater.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 29, 2007

Third point of Roppongi

With the opening of Tokyo Midtown on Friday, the Art Triangle Roppongi concept is now complete. Comprised of the Mori Art Museum, the new National Art Center (NAC) and the elegant new Suntory Museum of Art -- part of the Midtown project -- the idea of a new precinct for art in Tokyo is ready to be tested....
Reader Mail
Mar 28, 2007

Can't beat immersion option

I agree wholeheartedly with the March 13 editorial. Japanese folks should learn English in order to succeed, but because of culture and identity, they tend to shy away from challenges. The only time I've seen these phobias fade is when I'm in a karaoke bar listening to a drunk Japanese singing American...

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