Search - things-to-do

 
 
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 22, 2007

Imagine all the soldiers and sailors singing and dancing in harmony

With the expected passage of a bill setting procedures for a referendum to revise the Constitution, the Japanese people are going to have to think carefully about what sort of changes they want made to the charter. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has staked his political career on revising the Constitution,...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Apr 22, 2007

Who dares take the 'Q' out of Japan's 5-star kyushoku?

Is one of the great institutions of Japanese cul- ture succumbing to a slow, gnawing attack? It may be. I tell you, if this icon is lost, all we'll have left of the culture will be a few cartoons and some rusting karaoke machines.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Apr 22, 2007

Spending habits of sports celebrities, impulse buying science special and a comic soap opera

Every sports freak knows superstar pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka's strikeout stats and salary details, but do they know the really important things about the Red Sox pitcher, such as what his wife spends their money on? This and other vital information will be revealed on "Sports Legend" (Nihon TV, Monday,...
Japan Times
LIFE
Apr 22, 2007

Indian schools make a mark

Every day at the Global Indian International School (GIIS) in Tokyo's Edogawa Ward starts with yoga. All the students -- from kindergarteners to 14-year-old ninth-graders -- have a 20-minute session in their classrooms. The focus is on breathing, which it's thought helps them to relax and concentrate...
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
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Apr 21, 2007

John Kaizan Neptune

"The older the fiddle, the sweeter the tune," John Kaizan Neptune said.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Apr 21, 2007

The cherry blossom in a court of its peers

Imagine a clearing in the forest, where several species of flowers are blooming.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Apr 20, 2007

Slugger Zuleta powers Marines to victory over Buffaloes

CHIBA -- After only pushing across a single run in the first game of their series with the Orix Buffaloes, the Chiba Lotte Marines were in need of a fresh start. After a rainout the previous day, the Marines returned to the diamond with a vengeance Thursday night at Chiba Marine Stadium.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Apr 20, 2007

Kinsai: Nakame's hip new super kitchen

The three sturdy wooden doors that form the frontage of Kinsai open out onto busy Yamate-dori, a 10-minute walk from Naka-Meguro Station. It's an unromantic location, but that doesn't deter the well-clad clientele who have been filling the place every night since it opened at the beginning of this month....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 19, 2007

Shinwa Contemporary Art Auction

Shinwa Art Museum, Ginza Last Saturday
COMMENTARY
Apr 19, 2007

Asia's latest great power joins the game

The test would hardly have made the news outside of India if the local air-traffic controllers had posted a warning in advance, but when an Indonesian airliner had to turn around in Indian airspace last Thursday and return to Jakarta to avoid flying into the missile's path, it was bound to draw attention....
BASKETBALL
Apr 18, 2007

Veteran Hasegawa confident Albirex can make bj-league final

Even at age 36, Makoto Hasegawa is still on fire.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Apr 16, 2007

Politicians on quest for referendums should be doubted

Proposals establishing the procedure for a referendum on constitutional reform were rushed through parliament last week. While both politics and legal procedures preclude the actual tabling of reform proposals before 2010, the stage is being set with no-holds-barred determination by Prime Minister Shinzo...
COMMENTARY
Apr 16, 2007

Preserving the countryside

LONDON -- In Britain we have not yet quite lost the battle to preserve the countryside, but it is far from won. In Japan, however, it looks to many outsiders as if preservation is a lost cause.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Apr 15, 2007

Fortune-teller forecasts pop singer, conversations with the dead and psychic powers

It's a great week for fortunetelling fans, especially those who like a little abuse with their forecasts. Superstar spiritualist Kazuko Hosoki will be the center of attention on three different shows this week on three different TV networks.
CULTURE / Books
Apr 15, 2007

Cop walks a tightrope in N. Korea

THE CORPSE IN THE KORYO by James Church. New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2006, 280 pp., $23.95, (cloth) A lot of people get killed in "The Corpse in the Koryo," and nobody seems to miss them.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Apr 15, 2007

A great naturalist, and a pretty good shot

BORNEO, CELEBES, ARU, by Alfred Russel Wallace. London: Penguin Books, 2007, 112 pp., with maps, £4.99 (paper) The great naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) traveled widely in what was then called the East Indies and which we now know as Malaysia and Indonesia. Between 1854 and 1862 he wandered...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Apr 15, 2007

Stroll the streets of vending-machine heaven

Fancy some fresh eggs and veggies to go with your can of coffee in the morning? Or how about some sake with a steaming bowl of oden (soy-sauce based stew) for an evening enkai (party)? Who needs restaurants and supermarkets when you can get all you need from vending machines?
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Apr 15, 2007

Women flock to join 'college of change'

Saturday, March 31, was the final day of school for 47 graduates of the interestingly named I'M Personal College in Tokyo.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Apr 14, 2007

When life's a drag, wear a costume

Do you think Japanese people are too serious? Do you ever speak to someone in Japanese only to have them just stare back at you in confusion? Do you find living in Japan downright depressing sometimes? You may need help. You may be a gaijin.
BASEBALL / MLB'S EFFECT ON JAPAN
Apr 14, 2007

NPB players in need of strong union like MLBPA

Last of four-part
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 13, 2007

The cutting edge of Chiba

When a meandering road trip along the coast in southern Chiba took me to Nokogiri-yama ("saw mountain"), I didn't think I'd come across Japan's largest Buddha, or the oldest umeboshi (salt-cured plums) and cheapest fresh fish I'd ever laid eyes on.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 13, 2007

The godfathers of indie rock

Twenty-five years into a career that will likely not end until one of its members blasts off this mortal coil, Sonic Youth defies whatever characterizations you throw at them.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 13, 2007

'Dresden'

German movies are making headway into mainstream international cinema ("Perfume" and "Head On" leap to the mind), opening up a new window from which to view stories of love, obsession, history and war. "Dresden" takes all these themes and weaves them into one episode: the bombing of Dresden during World...
BASEBALL / MLB'S EFFECT ON JAPAN
Apr 13, 2007

NPB needs major reform, vision to prosper like MLB

This is the third installment in a four-part series.
SOCCER / J. League
Apr 12, 2007

Reds down Shenhua, stay atop group

SAITAMA -- An early attacking flurry had promised goals aplenty for Urawa Reds but their victory margin over Shanghai Shenhua was limited to a solitary Yuki Abe header just before halftime in their AFC Champions League Group E match on Wednesday evening.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 12, 2007

Best when grotesque

One good point about public museums in Japan having "funding issues" is that rather than pulling in the art that the public really wants to see and turning themselves into virtual Musee d'Orsays or ersatz Guggenheims, they instead focus on more academically valuable and locally relevant work.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / MLB'S EFFECT ON JAPAN
Apr 12, 2007

Foreign managers change face of Japanese game

This is the second installment in a four-part series.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 10, 2007

Cracks appear in Tiger's major myth

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- A 4-iron wasn't the only thing that Tiger Woods broke Sunday at the Masters.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 10, 2007

Pass the pills to get me through spring's upheavals

Most things go through upheaval in spring, especially so in Japan.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?