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Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 23, 2013

Mystery of Henry IV's missing head divides France

Richard III may have had an ignominious resting place under a car park in Leicester, in England's East Midlands, but spare a thought for Henry IV. First the French monarch was disinterred from the royal sepulchre by revolutionaries and thrown into a mass grave. Then his head was cut off and — allegedly...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / EVERYMAN EATS
Feb 22, 2013

Foodie Media 101: Eat all about it

Every Monday night at 7, Japanese TV viewers are treated to the sight of comedians being locked inside a fast-food restaurant. Formica tables take the place of iron bars, and instead of three square meals a day the cast is fed a steady diet of the shop's specialties — tonkatsu breaded pork cutlets,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 14, 2013

Breathing life into the forgotten and neglected

Painter Daisuke Fukunaga (b.1981) states: "If the world is the stage of a theater, I want to paint the bustle of the things waiting behind the blackout curtain rather than the heroine." His motifs are of things forgotten and neglected, but unlike his earlier works of 2007, which realistically depicted...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 14, 2013

'The Beauty in Everyday Life: Musée Hamaguchi Yozo — Spring Exhibition'

Printmaker Yozo Hamaguchi (1909-2000) is best known for his ground-breaking work in colored mezzotints. His predominant use of soft but dark coloring, which gave the mezzotints a peaceful and serene quality, differentiated his work from other print artists, and led to the global recognition of his aesthetic...
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 11, 2013

'Good seed' versus 'evil weed': Hemp activists eye legalization

In the cannabis plant family, hemp is the good seed. Marijuana, the evil weed. Michael Bowman, a gregarious Colorado farmer who grows corn and wheat, has been working his contacts in Congress in an attempt to persuade lawmakers that hemp has been framed, unfairly lumped with the stuff people smoke to...
Reader Mail
Feb 10, 2013

Town spoiling for dressing-down

Regarding the Feb. 7 AFP article "Put pants on 'David' replica, locals urge": Who would have thought that there was such a level of modesty in a culture that created such graphic works of erotica as the Shunga illustrated texts for newlywed couples or the modern "adult" manga? What gives?
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 8, 2013

Horsemeat fan vs. the neigh-sayers

A few dabs of equine DNA found in so-called 'beefburgers' caused quite a kerfuffle last month, shocking unsuspecting customers of the British supermarket chain Tesco (and then other stores) into outrage.
Reader Mail
Feb 7, 2013

Ripples in Japan's fan culture

Regarding Ian Martin's Feb. 1 article, "AKB48 member's 'penance' shows flaws in idol culture": Putting aside any particular opinion on the scandal surrounding AKB48 member Minami Minegishi, it is plainly wrong for Martin to imply that Japan's fan culture is the cause, rather than an effect, of Japan's...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 1, 2013

'Jiro Dreams of Sushi'

To describe "Jiro Dreams of Sushi" as a foodie film is akin to picking an English rose and calling it a flower. This documentary by New York-based David Gelb is at once a celebration of one of the world's most popular and coveted meals, and a firsthand observation of Japan's most famous sushi chef at...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 31, 2013

'Motoju Miyosawa: Katazome Stencil Dyeing'

After meeting Muneyoshi Yanagi, a pioneer of the famous Mingei (folk arts) movement, artist Motoju Miyosawa (1909-2002) became a major advocate of the beauty of frugality, a quality that Mingei followers believed everyday objects possessed. During the 1960s, however, he chose to travel internationally...
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2013

Noted scholar Kyoko Iriye Selden dies in U.S.

Kyoko Iriye Selden, a scholar and teacher at Cornell University, died in Ithaca, New York, on Sunday at the age of 76 after contracting pneumonia.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 24, 2013

'Pi' among 'unfilmable' books conquered at last on the screen

There are certain novels they say just can't be filmed, but guess what? Most of them have been. "Dune"? "Naked Lunch"? "The Virgin Suicides"? "The 120 Days of Sodom"? "Ulysses"? All done — "Ulysses" twice, even.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Jan 19, 2013

Zen and the cross-cultural art of tree-climbing

In the upstairs meeting room of a camping lodge in Komagane, Nagano Prefecture, two women and about 20 men walked slowly and intently in circles one rainy day last November. At the front of the room, a weathered and wiry Englishman intoned the sort of instructions a yoga aficionado would find familiar....
Japan Times
CULTURE
Jan 17, 2013

Fujiwara chases a scoop in news-themed thriller

There aren't many celebrities who would make good journalists, but something tells me Norika Fujiwara is one. She's well-traveled, socially active and not constrained by the mechanisms of public-relations strategies.
BUSINESS / NOTEBOOK
Jan 16, 2013

Canadian Embassy ceramics exhibit; Hello Kitty collaboration with Godiva

Exhibitions
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 11, 2013

'Tokyo Kazoku (Tokyo Family)'

A director for the Shochiku studio since 1961, Yoji Yamada is best known for the Tora-san series about a wandering peddler, played by Kiyoshi Atsumi, who is forever falling in love but never gets the girl. In speaking about the 48 installments of this popular series, which started in 1969 and ended...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 10, 2013

At last, Russia wins the seal of French approval

President Vladimir Putin has finally done it. Russia has been vying for the West's esteem for centuries, with approval by the French — a sought-after prize since the time of Peter the Great — coveted the most. But, despite the defeat of Napoleon and the World War I alliance, Russia could never get...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jan 7, 2013

No loss for words when expressing scale of DPJ's defeat

December's election aftermath offered a good chance to learn synonyms for "crushing defeat" and "overwhelming victory." Taihai (大敗, great defeat), kanpai (完敗, total defeat) — not to be confused with kanpai! (乾杯, cheers!) — kaimetsutekina haiboku (壊滅的な敗北, annihilating defeat),...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 3, 2013

"Kimono Beauty"

The kimono is one of Japan's most famous traditions. Recently, it has garnered even more international attention as not only a fashionable garment but also as an art form.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 21, 2012

Stately pleasure dome rises in China's Chengdu

by Sebastien Blanc CHENGDU CHN AFP
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 19, 2012

Bolster energy, security ties: top French envoy

Japan and France can have a solid role to play in today's globalized world if the two countries share a common goal and pursue further cooperation, French Ambassador Christian Masset said recently in Tokyo.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Dec 16, 2012

Mount Fuji's lacustrine Gang of Five

Among Japan's many physical features, none comes even close to matching the manner in which its loftiest peak has carved out the fondest niche in the national psyche. The Mount Fuji name and image are evident practically everywhere in Japan today — as they have been one way or another over the centuries....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / WEEK 3
Dec 16, 2012

Pyongyang offers a rare 'real' photo opportunity

Most images of North Korea appearing in the media express just a few aspects of that country — namely, repression, militarism, poverty, backwardness, gloom.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Dec 15, 2012

Writer, teacher, advocate finds her stride in the Japanese countryside

For Jane Joritz-Nakagawa, her sociopolitical outlook colors all aspects of her life, as a writer, educator or activist. "Activism runs through what I read and what I write and what I'm teaching; It's all one big thing, as the same mindset invades all those activities. It is inescapable," she says.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Dec 14, 2012

View waves from a new vantage

American photographer Clark Little gives nonsurfers a chance to see what they're missing in a series of pictures he is showing at the "Clark Little Photo Exhibition" in Tokyo.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 13, 2012

"Beauty and Artistry of Great Masters of Modern Ceramics in Japan: Kenkichi Tomimoto, Uichi Shimizu and Kosei Matsui"

Inspired by the British ceramist Bernard Leach, Kenkichi Tomimoto decided to pursue a career as a ceramicist at the beginning of Taisho Era. He was also influenced by Soetsu Yanagi, who spearheaded the Mingei (folk arts) movement, and succeeded in creating a new style of gold and silver embellished pottery...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Dec 9, 2012

There are 'snow monsters' who can help save Tohoku

Yes, it's true. Spending some money on skiing among snow monsters and soaking in hot-spring baths is a good way to help the Tohoku region of northeastern Honshu recover from the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011, the terrible tsunami it triggered and the ongoing nuclear crisis that followed....

Longform

Eme-Ima Kitchen is one of over 10,000 kodomo shokudō in Japan. A term first used in 2012 to describe makeshift eateries offering free or cheap meals to disadvantaged kids, it now refers to a diverse range of individuals, groups and organizations working to provide not only food but a sense of belonging to both children and adults.
Japan’s ‘children’s cafeterias’ are booming — but is that a good thing?