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COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Mar 13, 2011

Must young Japanese live the nightmare of old people's dreams?

Not long ago, I came to loathe a particular word. The word — which I used to believe in and cherish — is now, perhaps, the most misused of all those in the Japanese language. It is yume (dream).
JAPAN
Mar 12, 2011

Antipiracy law rife with hiccups

The enactment of the antipiracy law in June 2009 was a statement by Japan that it was ready to step up to the plate and take part in the global effort against piracy off Somalia.
EDITORIALS
Mar 12, 2011

Harvesting rare-earth metals

Rare-earth metals are called "vitamins for industry" because the addition of trace amounts to such metals as iron, copper and aluminum boost their quality, making them stronger, more pliable or more viscous. They are used in many products, including cell phones, electric cars, medical treatment devices,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 12, 2011

Tomioka Silk Mill ranks as Meiji Era industrial gem

In his youth, Shinji Takahashi was a featherweight boxer. Today, working with his two younger brothers in a family legal practice based in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, he is a heavyweight lawyer and committed activist.
BUSINESS
Mar 12, 2011

Nippon Life to buy stake in India insurer

Nippon Life Insurance Co. is in talks to purchase a stake in India's Reliance Life Insurance Co. to boost business overseas, a source said.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 11, 2011

A puppeteer of traditional Japanese arts

As a photographer, Hiroshi Sugimoto creates artworks that start off as visions from his imagination. His celebrated "Seascapes" series, for example, which features oceans and skies devoid of all traces of human activity, began with the notion of a vista that could be viewed today in the same way that...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 11, 2011

Cuban singer teams with Japanese pianist

A Cuban singer and a Japanese pianist are teaming up to bring salsa music to Yokohama.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 11, 2011

The Centre Pompidou brings the surreal to Tokyo

In its passage from the art world into everyday speech, the word "surreal" has ended up as mere shorthand for the bizarre and the unusual. But it originally referred to something deeper.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 11, 2011

Mount Aso to be set ablaze as part of old farming ritual

Each spring, residents of the towns surrounding Kumamoto Prefecture's Mount Aso gather to hold the Aso Fire Festival. Several events will be held as part of these festivities during March.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 11, 2011

Kaisoku Tokyo

Kaisoku Tokyo pride themselves on blazing through their setlist so fast that you can almost see smoke rising off their instruments when they're done. Combining the terse punk power of Melt-Banana with the bounciness of Polysics, their supercharged performances last around 15 minutes (with most songs...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2011

Activist fighting for LGBT rights

Harvey Milk is part of U.S. history but Japan has yet to see anyone like him 32 years after his assassination, according to Taiga Ishikawa, an openly gay candidate running for the Toshima Ward Assembly in Tokyo.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 11, 2011

Kyoto lights up during the spring hanatoro

I nternationally admired for the spring cherry blossoms and the cascade of scarlets, crimsons and cinnamon-colored leaves during autumn, the city of Kyoto needs little dressing up. Away from the treetops, though, the city still manages to put on a show with the illuminated nightscapes of the biannual...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 11, 2011

'Sone Yutaka: Perfect Moment'

Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 11, 2011

'Nobuyoshi Araki: Theater of Love'

Taka Ishii Gallery Photography/Film
JAPAN
Mar 9, 2011

Maehara donation trap easy to fall into, and rectifiable

The Democratic Party of Japan-led administration finds itself again on the brink, following Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara's resignation Sunday for taking illegal donations from a foreign resident who has a Japanese name.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 9, 2011

Reduce global imbalances with wholesome asset diet

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Doctors have long known that it is not just how much you eat, but what you eat, that contributes to or diminishes your health. Likewise, economists have long noted that for countries gorging on capital inflows, there is a big difference between debt instruments and equity-like investments,...
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Mar 9, 2011

A brighter side: amateur sumo

Given the dark days for the world of professional sumo and the suspension of the Haru Basho, Sumo Scribblings is turning its focus the amateur sumo season, which is just getting underway. To learn more about the landscape, we spoke with Katrina Watts, who serves as a board member of the International...
BUSINESS
Mar 8, 2011

JR West taps low bond yields to refinance loans

West Japan Railway Co., starting the nation's newest bullet train service this week, is slashing interest costs by using the world's lowest bond yields to refinance government loans.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 8, 2011

Toyota set to unveil new vision

Toyota Motor Corp., which traditionally gets a majority of its profit in the United States, will outline a strategy for growth in emerging markets in a 10-year plan the automaker is set to release this week, two sources said.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Mar 6, 2011

Tadao Sato: 'Japan's single finest film critic'

Tadao Sato laughed an embarrassed laugh as he recalled that three years ago, in London, he had been referred to as a "legend." Though adding to his discomfort, I had to admit that in my university days I had thought of him in the same way. And I still do.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Mar 6, 2011

Annual awards aim to support photojournalists

Floods in Pakistan, an earthquake in Haiti, an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and violent suppression of human rights the world over: The prize-giving ceremony at this year's Days Japan International Photojournalism Award, which was held in Tokyo on Thursday evening, was a graphic reminder of the catalog...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 5, 2011

Harmonia Opera marks milestone

Emiko Iinuma's voice has a distinctive sugared drawl, a sweet residue from her early years as a student at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. It is more than the drawl that attracts — her voice dances, leaps across decades, travels up and down pitch, whispers hardship and rises in forthright determination....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 4, 2011

Ke$ha

When she emerged in 2009 fully developed as a club-kid pop diva, Kesha Rose Sebert was seen as a trashier version of whatever it is Lady Gaga is supposed to represent. But if you have to resort to comparison for the sake of description, it would be more accurate at this point in time to call Ke$ha the...

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji