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April 28, 2024
 

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CULTURE

Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2014
Granpa leads high-tech revolution in farming
A 70-year-old entrepreneur is promoting the indoor, computer-assisted cultivation of vegetables to establish a business model that can draw young people back to agriculture.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 20, 2014
Why not teach students what's going on now?
Who do textbook publishers think it's smart to start a fourth-grade history textbook with prehistoric humans who lived 10,000 years ago? Why not begin by teaching students what's going on now?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 19, 2014
'The refusal of time' is worth every minute
The former Rissei Elementary School site, nowadays an occasional cultural events center, was earlier home to the Kyoto Dento, the electric company whose technology helped industrialist Katsutaro Inabata to demonstrate the Lumière Brothers' cinématographe camera in 1897 — Japan's first experience with film. Significant as a historical spot for the beginning of cinema in Japan, the venue now inaugurates the build up to the 2015 "Parasophia: Kyoto International Festival of Contemporary Culture" with the Asia premiere of William Kentridge's "The Refusal of Time" (2012).
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 5, 2014
'Prelude Exhibition — William Kentridge: The Refusal of Time'
"The Refusal of Time" is a collaborative work between South-African artist William Kentridge and science historian Peter Galison. A five-channel video installation with a complex sound system, this large-scale installation presents Kentridge's innovative animation and a large "breathing machine" sculpture called an "elephant." The piece explores themes of science, globalization, colonialism and memory, outlining the history of our changing comprehension of time. The 'refusal' of the title is both a personal and political statement.
Japan Times
JAPAN / AT A GLANCE
Feb 2, 2014
Transformational Akihabara has its finger on the pulse of pop culture
Tokyo's Akihabara district is always transforming itself.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 2, 2014
The conspicuous tendency to wish China well
If China fails and falls, the rest of the world will suffer more than a headache or a short-term setback. We need to be cautious about pessimism that might fuel self-fulfilling prophecy.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2013
Cool Japan Fund chief says crafty marketing key to regional revivals
Japan has a wealth of undiscovered products that can be sold around the world, with a little ingenuity, the CEO of the Cool Japan Fund says.
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 12, 2013
Author divides U.S. into 11 American nations
Red states and blue states? Flyover country and the coasts? How simplistic.
Japan Times
Events / Events In Tokyo
Oct 31, 2013
History repeats itself in Tokyo's Asakusa area
Asakusa is a busy but attractive area of Tokyo that still retains much of its historical charm. Legend has it that, in the year 628, two fishermen found a statue of the bodhisattva Kannon mysteriously floating in the Sumida River. The chief of the village enshrined the statue in what is now Sensoji Temple, Asakusa's main tourist attraction.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 28, 2013
Japan, China and South Korea designate Yokohama as East Asia City of Culture
The culture ministers of Japan, China and South Korea met Saturday in the ancient South Korean city of Gwangju and designated one East Asia City of Culture in each country.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jun 2, 2013
Taking anime too seriously
'Why study anime?' the author of this study of anime asks himself. Good question, thinks the reader. Why indeed 'study' a pop art whose appeal is less to thought than to mass, unreflecting, spontaneous enjoyment?
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
May 28, 2013
Revamped 'Shin Megami Tensei IV,' a new 'DoDonPachi Saidaioujou' and collectable merchandise
Most collectible statues are a few inches or perhaps 30 cm tall. Typically, they are not life-size. But this is no typical statue.
CULTURE / Books
May 5, 2013
Exploring a world of all things cute and the people who buy them
'Hello, Cutie!' is a cute book about cute things and the (sometimes cute) people who create those things.
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Apr 10, 2013
Pop tourism gains traction
Pre-flight shopping at Narita airport a couple of weeks ago, I passed a mannequin sporting a light-blue necktie and a turquoise wig with pig tails dangling down to its mini skirt. The vision spoke volumes: It was Hatsune Miku, of course, Japan's holographic, animated virtual pop star, beloved fashion icon and model for pop culture fans and cosplayers worldwide. But why was she suddenly manning the plaza concourse of Japan's busiest tourist portal, standing tall beside Uniqlo and Shu Uemura?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Mar 24, 2013
Alterations of idealized beauty in China, Japan
THE SEARCH FOR THE BEAUTIFUL WOMAN: A Cultural History of Japanese and Chinese Beauty, by Cho Kyo (Zhang Jing), translated by Kyoko Selden. Rowman & Littlefield, 2012, 287 pp., $49.95 (hardcover)
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 21, 2012
Hatsune Miku goes highbrow
On her own, Japanese pop superstar Hatsune Miku can't sing. Nor can she rap, dance or DJ. She is drug- and alcohol-free because she can't indulge in either, and she can't have affairs or engage in offstage shenanigans fit for YouTube scandals or tabloid headlines. Now entering her sixth year as a beloved idol with a global fan base, she looks as youthful and demure as she did when she debuted. She can't even get old.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Japan Pulse
Dec 3, 2012
Japan's top 10 buzzwords for 2012
Here they are: the top 10 phrases and words that made waves in 2012.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jul 15, 2012
On the trail of treasures at Kyoto's Toji Temple
The man unfurled the scroll and hung it on the wall of the makeshift tent to reveal a majestic mountain soaring to the heights in bold black brush strokes. It was a scene showing nature in all its grandeur dwarfing a lone human figure halfway up the mountain.
EDITORIALS
Jun 10, 2012
Exporting 'Japanland'
The government's Cool Japan strategy of promoting the country abroad has taken another step as the trade ministry plans to recreate trendy districts of Tokyo in cities across the globe. The plan is aimed at promoting Japan and encouraging exports by organizing areas for Japan-style shops, restaurants and atmosphere in new markets abroad.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Japan Pulse
Feb 29, 2012
New dishes on company cafeteria menus
Company cafeterias, not usually the realm of gourmet fare, are making a name for themselves, and their company's brand, by serving up unique dishes.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.
Number of homeless in Japan hits record low
Homeless people sleep on the street in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward in August 2021.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
'So hot you can't breathe': Extreme heat hits the Philippines
A pedestrian cools himself with a folding hand fan as he waits for a ride along a road in Manila on Wednesday, as extreme heat hit the Philippines.
Air China to buy 100 locally made C919 jets in $11 billion deal
A Comac C919 during an aerial display at the Singapore Airshow at Changi Exhibition Centre in Singapore in February
Casa del Cibo: A thriving jewel born from Tohoku’s harsh past
When chef Ryohei Ikemi moved to Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, and opened Casa del Cibo in 2011, it was the first proper Italian restaurant in the city.
Tokyo's Koto Ward by-election a race unlike any other
Natsumi Sakai, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan’s candidate and one of four female candidates running in the by-election, touts her experience as a cancer survivor and midwife as having prepared her to tackle issues that women currently face.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.
Top U.S. and China diplomats talk tough amid warnings of new ‘downward spiral’
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on Friday
Kyotographie's strong 12th edition shines light into the margins
Yassine Alaoui Ismaili, who goes by Yoriyas, turned to photography, shooting motion while in motion himself, after an injury forced him to give up his career as a professional breakdancer.

Podcast

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Vol. 34: Tokyo, a vanguard city for sustainability
Vol. 34: Tokyo, a vanguard city for sustainability

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