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EDITORIALS
Jul 24, 2011

A book for the times

This month, Mr. Jun Ikeido won the prestigious Naoki Prize for popular fiction; the Akutagawa Prize for new writers of literary fiction was not awarded as the judges found no exceptional work deemed worthy of the prize.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jul 24, 2011

Powering Japan's future

Last year, Japan produced close to one quadrillion watt-hours of electricity — that's 1 followed by 15 zeros. The vast majority of that — which translates into one billion megawatt hours (MWh) — came from coal, natural gas and nuclear power plants operated by 10 utilities that, only a few months...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 23, 2011

Takeda's Actos diabetes pill needs new cancer-risk warning, Europe says

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.'s Actos diabetes drug may be kept on the market with new warnings, the European Medicines Agency said after reviewing research showing the drug carried a slightly increased risk of bladder cancer.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jul 22, 2011

Gospel event to sing prayer for Tohoku

The bombastic and expressive vocals of gospel music are far removed from traditional Japanese culture, which may be why the genre is so popular here.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jul 22, 2011

Okinawa ropes in some fun

The Yonabaru tug-of-war on July 31 will pit the city's east side against its west in a competition that dates back some 400 years.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 22, 2011

Orchestrating a ska paradise for the summer

It's a standard response for bands to say they are surprised by their longevity and accomplishments, but Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, Japan's best-known ska act, are unlikely to be overly humble.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 21, 2011

Watusi Zombie "N×A×R×A"

Nara-bred rock 'n' roll trio Watusi Zombie have played at Fuji Rock and toured in the United States. Their gigs are highly charged, chaotic affairs. Vocalist/guitarist Jugem Tanimura has been known to incoherently scream lyrics into a microphone decorated with a Buddha mask, and it's not unusual to find...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 21, 2011

Looking beyond the landscape view

Most of us understand bridges to be structures that help us keep our feet dry. However, in the latest exhibition at the Mitsui Memorial Museum, "The Bridge in Japanese Art: From Ama-no-Hashidate to Nihonbashi," it turns out that we've only been partly right. The bridge is also a device to help us see...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 21, 2011

Years in the making, Warpaint to hit Fuji

Even when enjoying some downtime in her Los Angeles home, Jenny Lee Lindberg still feels as if she is "whirlwinding around." But then, it has been that sort of year for the bassist in Warpaint: her band has spent 12 months carrying the "next big thing" tag.
EDITORIALS
Jul 21, 2011

Step 2 of nuclear crisis control

The government and Tokyo Electric Power Co. on Tuesday announced the start of Step 2 of the road map to bring the crisis in the stricken reactors of Tepco's Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant under control.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 21, 2011

Root & Branch Presents UBIK

Hiroshi Watanabe has been a trailblazer in the Japanese electronic-music scene since graduating in 1994 from the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, producing beats under the monikers Nite System, Quadra, Tread, Crank and 32 Project just to name a few.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 21, 2011

From the favelas of Brazil come street-style dancers supreme

In a weeklong festival of street-dance performances and competitions being held at Kanagawa Arts Theatre (KAAT) in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, starting from July 30, one dance group perhaps stands out in particular for its emotionally charged performances.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 21, 2011

Beach House live out teen dream by coming to Japan

Earlier this year, indie-rock group Beach House found themselves in unfamiliar territory. Two of the Baltimore duo's older tracks were sampled by much buzzed-about R&B project The Weeknd on their hyped-up debut mixtape meaning once intimate dream-pop was now serving as the soundtrack for drug-powered...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 20, 2011

Navigating the road to riches

A switchover of global growth engines is taking place. Developing economies as a whole are now the source of more than half of global GDP growth. As a result, concern has naturally shifted to a new question: Are there risks that some or many of these developing countries could fall prey to the "middle-income...
JAPAN
Jul 20, 2011

Brittleness factor of aging reactors key restart criterion

In the world of nuclear reactor science and safety, the ductile-brittle transition temperature, which is used to measure the strength of the inner wall of a reactor pressure vessel, is a critical factor.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 18, 2011

India trying to woo Myanmar from China

Even as a senior Burmese diplomat in Washington has defected, Burmese prodemocracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has suggested that some people, both at home and abroad, have deceived themselves into thinking a new government has brought change to her country.
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Jul 18, 2011

Don't fall ill in a nuke crisis

The residents of Minami Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, are still being denied full medical services even though more than four months have passed since radiation leaks started from the nearby Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power station in the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake and...
Japan Times
JAPAN / WEEK 3
Jul 17, 2011

Films focus on Japan's nuclear flashpoints

The crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11 has revealed the danger posed by the storing of spent nuclear fuel in pools at the plant, because after the pools drained partly or wholly the fuel heated up and discharged radiation.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 16, 2011

Canadian martial artist finds the way to tea of tranquility

The intricate stained glass window in the heavy wooden door provides an artistic and unusual welcome. Stoop inside the restored Kyoto machiya (town house) and step into a future melded with the past. Drinking in the Art-Deco/Taisho roman decorations, your eye moves away from the geometric stained glass...
JAPAN
Jul 16, 2011

Key players got nuclear ball rolling

How did earthquake-prone Japan, where two atomic bombs were dropped at the end of World War II creating a strong antinuclear weapons culture, come to embrace nuclear power just a few decades later?
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jul 15, 2011

See real stars at Yebisu Garden Place's summer film screenings

The era of the drive-in movie theater might be gone, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy your favorite flicks under the stars.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jul 15, 2011

Get dolled up in Hiroshima

In an attempt to "popularize" their city, the Hiroshima Cosquerade Committee will be celebrating Japan's cosplay (dressing up like manga and anime characters) culture by throwing their third convention.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 15, 2011

'Peace'

Most serious documentaries made in Japan, especially for television, follow a basic just-the-facts format. A presenter or narrator and various talking heads explain and interpret what we are seeing, from beauty shots of tourist spots to footage grabbed on the run in a war zone. Meanwhile, in the background,...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jul 15, 2011

Celebrated U.S. ballet to tour Japan

Local audiences will have the chance to see premier ballet when the American Ballet Theatre (ABT) and its international cast of dancers return to Japan this month.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Jul 15, 2011

Will heartthrob Mukai shine as the shogun?

This year's NHK Sunday evening drama has already entered the history books for one, perhaps inauspicious, reason. On March 12, a day after the Great East Japan Earthquake, NHK announced that the following day's broadcast of "Go," as the show is titled, would be canceled to make way for news coverage....
JAPAN
Jul 14, 2011

Japan must ditch nuclear power: Kan

Japan should gradually become a society that does not have to rely on atomic power, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Wednesday amid the continuing nuclear crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant.
Reader Mail
Jul 14, 2011

Volunteers get wrong message

Regarding Tomoko Otake's July 10 Timeout article, "Company team helps fill Tohoku gap": I am a "long-term" volunteer who has been in Ishinomaki (Miyagi Prefecture) for almost a month, and have no plans to return to my home in Osaka in the near future.

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’