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CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Oct 28, 2012

Kimutaku as a loser; Kabuki posture; CM of the week: Coca-Cola

Kimutaku is back in the coveted Monday 9 p.m. Fuji TV drama slot, which he used to own. SMAP's enduring heartthrob Takuya Kimura used to play topical professionals — airline pilots, race-car drivers, concert pianists — in his Monday night dramas, but in "Priceless" he does something unexpected. He...
CULTURE / Books
Oct 28, 2012

Is poetry lost or found in translation?

BRIGHT MOON, WHITE CLOUDS: Selected Poems of Li Po, edited and translated by J.P. Seaton. Shambhala, 2012, 224 pp., $14.95 (paperback) KANEKO TOHTA: Selected Haiku 1937-1960, translated by The Kon Nichi Translation Group. Red Moon Press, 2012, 256 pp., $12.00 (paperback) Two books of poetry, both pocket-size,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Oct 27, 2012

Jewish Japanese-American keeps multicultural connections in tune

Even in casual conversation, Danny Katz entertains. His voice doesn't just speak, it croons with comedic pacing, imitations and abrupt shifts in tone. He peppers his speech with accents, New York City slang, Japanese formalities or onomatopoeia.
EDITORIALS
Oct 27, 2012

A chance to pay pension arrears

At the beginning of October, a system started to allow people who are up to 10 years in arrears on premium payments for the kokumin nenkin pension to pay the unpaid premiums. Kokumin nenkin mainly covers self-employed or jobless people, but also serves as the basic pension for corporate workers. The...
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Oct 26, 2012

RV exhibition to cater to outdoors lifestyles

Attitudes toward RVs are changing as the once luxury items become more affordable according to the Japan Recreational Vehicle Association.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Oct 26, 2012

Director Kazuko Watanabe to stage localized version of 'Orpheus'

Tokyo's Bunkyo Civic Hall will mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of literary giant Ougai Mori with a one-off staging of Christoph W. Gluck's 1762 opera "Orfeo ed Euridice" as translated and reworked by Mori, and simply retitled "Orpheus."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 26, 2012

Festival/Tokyo theater event to give Asia a starring role

Japan has been on a bit of a losing streak for a while now. In 2010, it was overtaken as the world's second-largest economy by China, and in 2011 the nation was rocked by the Great East Japan Earthquake and the ensuing tsunami and nuclear crisis.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 25, 2012

Netlabels Ano(t)raks and Canata Records give the old DIY spirit a go with some new tools

Dai Ogasawara's fledgling online label Ano(t)raks has released music from six Japanese artists from the Kansai region since the summer. However, Ogasawara, who lives in Aomori Prefecture, has yet to meet any of them.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 25, 2012

What is art in the face of disaster?

Broadly speaking, two types of art have emerged in response to the Great East Japan Earthquake and the ensuing tsunami and nuclear crisis. On the one hand there is art that has been made for the crisis — that is to say, for the benefit of those who were or are suffering from its manifold effects. On...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Oct 23, 2012

Doctors discuss a face-lift for Japan's plastic surgery societies

Though it's hardly talked about in public, cosmetic surgery appears to be an increasingly popular option in Japan for people trying to enhance their looks and defy the signs of aging.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Oct 21, 2012

Hagi: restful cradle of a revolution

I had just been re-reading Paul Theroux's African travelogue, "Dark Star Safari," and was up to a part where he explains that he never books rooms on his journeys, just turns up and leaves the rest to chance.
Japan Times
LIFE
Oct 21, 2012

In search of the fearsome Onibaba

"Here's as close as I can take you," said my taxi driver, a charming fellow named Ishii whose pronounced zuzu-ben (Tohoku accent), was strong enough to cut with the proverbial knife.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Japan Pulse
Oct 19, 2012

Today's J-blip: 'Yurei Attack!'

This little book has all you need to tell killer stories of Japanese ghosts — and to get away from them.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Oct 19, 2012

Ex-Apache forward Baker poised for return with Broncos

Veteran forward Dameion Baker, who suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon on May 17, 2009, in the championship game at Ariake Colosseum, while playing for the Tokyo Apache and hasn't played a pro game since then, will join the Saitama Broncos in the coming days, a source familiar with the deal told The...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Oct 19, 2012

Print show profits to fund scholarships

One of Japan's most respected exhibitions of prints takes place this weekend, as the Tokyo American Club plays host to the College Women's Association of Japan's annual print show.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 19, 2012

Tokyo International Film Festival hits 25

This year, Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) celebrates its 25th edition and will hold commemorative programs, including a three-day screening of six Japanese films from the Showa Era (1926-89) in the very Showa-esque district of Nihonbashi.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / IN THE RECORD
Oct 18, 2012

XLII

A mainstay of the Tokyo underground electronic scene and cofounder of the Raid System label/collective,
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 18, 2012

Mamadrive "Mousou Tengoku"

On their first full-length album, Kobe's Mamadrive prove pretty good at capturing the energy and power of their live shows. Masako Shibuya's strong voice leads the songs and her distorted bass lines work with Maika Sasakawa's guitar riffs to weave counter-melodies around the vocal ones. The noisy and...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Oct 16, 2012

Colored contact lenses get a new 'macho' vision

Hiromu Uetake's muscular physique and distinct side-shaved haircut, not to mention the tattoos peeking from below his T-shirt, make him quite a striking sight. But when talking to him, it is his left eye I can't keep my own eyes off. Every now and then there's a flicker of something that makes me stare...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Oct 16, 2012

Niseko puts faith in powder to revive tourism boom

Throughout most of the 2010s, the meteoric rise in popularity of Hokkaido's ski resorts among foreign visitors was widely documented in both the domestic and overseas media.
BUSINESS
Oct 13, 2012

Toyota knew of switch defect four years before mass recall

Toyota Motor Corp. first learned in 2008 about a defect in power-window switches that Wednesday prompted it to recall 7.43 million vehicles worldwide for fire hazards, according to documents filed with U.S. regulators.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Oct 12, 2012

Tax auditors running out of cheaters, ponder purpose in life

The economy is so bad, even tax investigators have nothing to do.
Japan Times
JAPAN / IMF-WORLD BANK IN TOKYO
Oct 12, 2012

Exploring, rediscovering fine arts

While much has changed since Japan last hosted the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group in 1964 — a year that symbolized the nation's achievement of reconstruction after World War II through the hosting of the meeting and the Summer Olympics — art has always reflected,...
JAPAN / IMF-WORLD BANK IN TOKYO
Oct 12, 2012

Kajima develops technologies to cope with disasters

As a way to demonstrate its commitment to the growing corporate and social requirements for business continuity plans (BCP), Kajima Corp., Japan's leading general contractor, conducted a large-scale anti-disaster drill on Aug. 30. It was conducted on the assumption that a magnitude 7.3 earthquake with...
JAPAN / IMF-WORLD BANK IN TOKYO
Oct 12, 2012

KKE starts consultations for evacuation planning

One lesson learned from the tragic Great East Japan Earthquake disaster on March 11, 2011, is that hardware alone does not suffice to save the lives of so many people in affected areas.
JAPAN / IMF-WORLD BANK IN TOKYO
Oct 12, 2012

Project lends helping hand to industry, small brewers

Sake, like Japanese fashion, anime or even sushi, can be an acquired taste. Just like those other cultural exports from Japan, sake comes in a wide variety of different styles and flavors, and while your first taste may not be precisely what you're looking for, it can be rewarding for those who keep...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 12, 2012

Ahead of TIFF appearance, Corman critical of films 'made for festivals'

The high-minded fare of the film festival circuit and the cheap thrills of B-movie pulp couldn't seem farther apart, but the circuit will be closed when king of the B-movies Roger Corman heads the competition jury at this year's Tokyo International Film Festival.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’