author

 
Menu
Search
 
November 22, 2024
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

Meta

Eric Prideaux
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 13, 2003
Who copped my hip-hop?
On a visit to Tokyo's trendy Shibuya Ward several years ago, I came across a Japanese teenager dressed from head to toe in baggy hip-hop wear, one of the first "B-Boys" I'd ever seen here. Still relatively new to Japan, I was curious about whether this young man represented some growing awareness of...
COMMUNITY
Mar 23, 2003
By the people, for the people
Pop into any bookstore and you'll find shelves overflowing with comic books about samurai, yakuza, war, business, baseball, soccer, golf, examination hell, high-school romance, office affairs -- in every genre from sci-fi to porn. And that's just the tip of Japan's manga iceberg.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 20, 2003
Newcomers fan a breeze of change
With his goatee and buttoned-up, collarless shirt and jacket, Satoru Aiko blended in seamlessly with other young Japanese hanging out near JR Kamakura Station on Sunday evening. Except that Aiko stood perfectly still, ceremoniously erect.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 16, 2003
Making a match all manner of ways
It wasn't so long ago that the Japanese ideal was to be married by age 25, typically to someone handpicked by parents. At its core, matrimony was an economic arrangement with all the romantic overtones of a mortgage contract.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 26, 2003
Reasoning against Iraq 'catastrophe'
Few were the world leaders who, in the immediate aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001, withheld moral support for the United States. Longtime friends and onetime foes, Christians, Jews and many Muslims alike sang as in one chorus: They would root out terrorism where it lurked. It seemed the birth of a new world...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 12, 2003
A price on their heads
Help wanted: Able-bodied, handsome men required to wine and dine as many women as their schedules permit; some extracurricular cosseting may be called for. Educational requirements: None. Salary: Enough to make a salaryman gag.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 22, 2002
The Christmas business
Japanese marketers are well aware that Christmas ranks second in popularity only to New Year's -- above even the Bon holiday in August, when people flock back to their hometowns to pay respect to their ancestors.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 8, 2002
Brief encounters in the darkness
It stirs to life when the high-rise office lights click off floor by floor, when bleary-eyed men in suits drift away to their homes in the suburbs and beyond. It simmers with activity even as the most garrulous crows snooze beneath the stars.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 24, 2002
Designed to deceive
The next time you visit a department store, head over to the luxury-goods section, stop in front of a leather bag by Louis Vuitton or Gucci, and just reach out and touch it.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 10, 2002
Getting up close with photojournalism
When a photojournalist sets out to document the human condition and aims the camera's lens at another person, he or she breaches the membrane of privacy that surrounds us all. It's a lot like joining in a dance -- but being (almost always) uninvited.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 27, 2002
The long goodbye
Without a traditional funeral, common thinking goes, the departed souls of Japanese would aimlessly wander the earth for all eternity. The ritual occupies the very core of the Buddhism practiced in Japan today, and the fees charged for it -- as high as the price of a luxury car -- are a main source of...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 6, 2002
Lifelong learning makes a dream come true
"Youth," said George Bernard Shaw, "is a wonderful thing. What a crime to waste it on children." Could he have said the same of a college education?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 6, 2002
Building bridges by degree
Life was tough for Yanan Shen at his undergraduate alma mater, located between Shanghai and Nanking in China's Chang Zhou area.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 29, 2002
Ken Hirai: Soul to soul
We've seen Ken Hirai do it time and time again: mesmerize audiences with his silky tenor voice and those sexily svelte good looks -- kneading the air up on stage as if to squeeze from it any drop of passion that his music has somehow failed to discharge.
COMMUNITY
Sep 8, 2002
Hey Taxi!
An arm stuck out from the sidewalk and Hideaki pulled up his cab, let the customer in . . . and immediately sensed trouble.
CULTURE / Film / CLOSE-UP
Sep 1, 2002
Films, Zen, Japan
Donald Richie is regarded as the leading Western authority on Japanese film. He first came to Japan in 1947 as a civilian typist for the U.S. Occupational forces -- an intelligent, restless 22-year-old in search of purpose.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 18, 2002
Tourmaline trinkets
It's all systems go. The negative-ion air conditioner, negative-ion fan and negative-ion dehumidifier are all plugged in and humming away, dutifully belching out zillions of the negatively charged particles that, their manufacturers say, take on dust and neutralize pollutants around the house.
COMMUNITY
Aug 11, 2002
Seeing is believing: Junichi Yaoi's experiences with the supernatural
Junichi Yaoi's otherworldly encounters took place decades ago, but in his memory, it's as if they happened yesterday.
COMMUNITY
Jul 30, 2002
Learning goes both ways in JET program
I first came to Japan in 1991 as an English instructor with the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program and ended up staying twice as long as I originally planned. Here are some recollections from that period.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 21, 2002
Take a dee . . . p breath
Umberto Pelizzari sits deep in meditation on the side of a boat, his legs dangling in the water, his hands clasped on his lap. He pulls a swim cap over his head and crosses himself.
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?
By Kathryn Wortley

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’
Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER