Search - life-style

 
Menu
Search
 
January 12, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access
5,748 results
Sort by: Relevance Newest Oldest
After adjusting your search parameters, press Enter on your keyboard or click on the red magnifying glass to run your query again.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 20, 2016

'Ken and Kazu': The yakuza isn't all guns and glamour

Most films about the yakuza depict its members as fully formed and distinctly different from the general run of humanity, somewhat like action figures just out of the box. The reality, as Hiroshi Shoji's "Ken and Kazu" shows us with a gritty directness and power, is more quotidian. For Shoji's title...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 14, 2016

Teppei Koike and Haruma Miura strut proudly onto the stage in 'Kinky Boots'

For fans of musicals in Japan, the buzz surrounding Teppei Koike and Haruma Miura is reaching a peak thanks to the pair's newest production: the first-ever Japanese version of the award-winning hit "Kinky Boots."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 13, 2016

Korean films take on the thorny topic of Japan

Last year, one of the biggest films in South Korea was a swashbuckling tale of freedom fighters battling against a cruel oppressor: Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 13, 2016

'Sing Street': 'I'm in a band' — it works every time

Filmmaker and former frontman for the Irish band "The Frames" John Carney completes his ode-to-music trilogy with "Sing Street" — following the star-studded "Begin Again" in 2013 and the excellent but underrated "Once" in 2007.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jun 11, 2016

'Phoenix': Osamu Tezuka's epoch-spanning manga masterpiece

"Hi no Tori" ("Phoenix" ) is a 12-part masterpiece by manga legend Osamu Tezuka. Started in 1954, Tezuka worked on the manga until his death in 1989. Acclaimed for both its story and style, "Phoenix" rises above the greatness of Tezuka's "Astro Boy" or "Black Jack" — it was, in translator Frederik...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 9, 2016

A contrarian chess player's message lives on

To those who distrusted the Soviet system but lacked the courage or the wherewithal to leave or fight, Viktor Korchnoi was a symbol of freedom.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 4, 2016

Black Illumination: Haruo Sato's lush, gloomy landscapes

Most of us, when we feel sad, assume there is a cause for our sadness. Often there is, and the feeling can then be addressed, diagnosed, resolved. But what about sadness without a cause? This is the terrain of melancholy and, while melancholy has a rich and varied history in the West, it takes on unique...
CULTURE / Music
Jun 3, 2016

Past the scandals and into the songs of 2016 so far

So far this year, most of the media attention paid to the music industry has focused on scandal rather than songwriting.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 12, 2016

Soba noodle association develops fun test for allergies

One of the major attractions for foreign tourists in Japan is delicious washoku (traditional cuisine). But visitors may not know that one dish includes an ingredient that can cause life-threatening allergic reactions — soba.
COMMENTARY / World / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
May 4, 2016

The complexities of 'they' versus 'xe/him/xir'

The long search to find a way to refer to people in English without relying on gender won't be ending anytime soon.
COMMENTARY / World
May 3, 2016

The Filipino game-changer

Electing Rodrigo Duterte as president would return the Philippines to the 'bad old days.'
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 27, 2016

Being a Russian media mogul is dangerous

Putin now controls almost every wide-reaching news outlet in Russia. All he has to do is jerk the leash from time to time.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Apr 23, 2016

In search of Japan's own Shakespeare

April 23 marked the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare (1564-1616), the greatest dramatist of the English speaking world. The anniversary has a particular resonance here: Few countries in the world have embraced Shakespeare with Japan's sustained passion.
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Mar 19, 2016

The Meiji Era and the soul of Japan: part 2

An ambitious young man of the 1880s, flattering a girl he may want to marry (or may not, if a more advantageous alliance materializes), asks her, "What are you reading these days, Osei?" When Osei in reply mentions "Outlines of the World's History" by William Swinton, Noboru, the young man, is suitably...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 13, 2016

Give me chocolate: Japan's growing obsession with the 'food of the gods'

People with a sweet tooth can get a glimpse of how Charlie Bucket felt when he first stepped into Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory in Roald Dahl's popular 1964 tale by popping into Musee du Chocolat Theobroma in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 8, 2016

As perceptions of animals evolve, so does English

In a language like English, which implicitly categorizes animals as things rather than persons, adopting the personal pronoun would embody the same recognition — and remind us who animals really are.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 17, 2016

Inspiration that comes in dreams and rice balls

Ichiko Aoba takes her seat at an old-fashioned coffee house in Tokyo's Shibuya district, and places a sketchpad and a plump pouch of rolling tobacco on the table. During the hour-long conversation that follows, the tobacco goes untouched, but the sketchpad gets a thorough workout. As she talks, the 25-year-old...
CULTURE / Music / David Bowie in Japan
Jan 15, 2016

The man who sold the world on music

The Starman has departed for his home planet. I can't imagine a world without David Bowie, but the strange thing is, he never was in my world, at least physically. So why do I feel the loss as dearly as I would my closest friend?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 6, 2016

'Miss Doc' shows the struggles of a lone female doctor in rural Japan

Change comes slowly to the Japanese film industry. The hagiographic biopic about a doctor, scientist or similarly distinguished personage — rarely seen in Hollywood since the days of Jack L. Warner and Louis B. Mayer — is still alive and well here.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 28, 2015

Remembering men we loved (and one we 'lost') in 2015

2015 was the year the Nihon danji (Japanese male) came through for us.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 2, 2015

Bertrand Bonello's edgy portrait of Yves Saint Laurent

"When I close my eyes, I see piles of clothing. When I open them, I see only darkness." So says Yves Saint Laurent (in a stunning performance by Gaspard Ulliel) in the movie "Saint Laurent," which opens here more than a year after it took Cannes by storm. It has since bagged multiple awards on the film...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 29, 2015

The gorgeous world of Japanese gore

Zerai Naoi makes his living by keeping gore hounds fed on a shoestring budget. If you want to sample his work, it helps to have a strong stomach.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 23, 2015

Courtney Barnett's garden offers up some well-received tracks on 'Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit'

Courtney Barnett lives in Melbourne, Australia, in a house she was cleaning when she answered her phone. She said it was a nice day, "kind of cold," and sounded relaxed and happy to be home after a year of on-and-off touring to promote her album, "Sometimes I Sit and Think and Sometimes I Just Sit,"...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Sep 12, 2015

Sweeping beauties of Kumano's brush area

In the soft morning drizzle, a handful of people line up before an altar-like mound of stones where a small fire crackles and hisses. Each person in turn throws a handful of old brushes into the blaze. The local garbage incinerator? No — this is ritual cremation.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / They're Playing Our Song
Sep 5, 2015

A song to start a whole new beginning

Three years after World War II ended, my grandmother's friend told her she should apply to join the Takarazuka Revue, an all-female musical theater troupe that was established in the city of Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture, in 1913.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Aug 29, 2015

Documentary captures anti-nuclear protest movement's evolution

In the summer of 2012, tens of thousands of people gathered around the prime minister's office with one message — no more nuclear power. People flooded the streets of Tokyo's Nagatacho district, chanting and holding up signs saying "No Nukes!" in the hope their voices could be heard.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Aug 26, 2015

A lady's lot at Little League in Japan: lunches, liquids and lavatories

At one top kids' baseball program in Tokyo, gender roles are strictly prescribed and moms exist to serve.
CULTURE / Books
Aug 15, 2015

Memoir of Akira Kurosawa's right-hand man reveals a history of vexed scripts

The films of Akira Kurosawa used to be the gateway into Japanese cinema for many non-Japanese. (That role has since been assumed by the films of Hayao Miyazaki and other animators.)
30 minutes with Yuzuru Hanyu
Yuzuru Hanyu smiles during an interview in his hometown of Sendai in between performances of his latest tour, Ice Story.
Eight students recovering after hammer attack at university in Tokyo
Police investigate the scene after eight people were injured by a hammer-wielding woman on Hosei University's Tama campus in Tokyo on Friday afternoon.
Stage set for action-packed New Year Basho with yokozuna promotion battle
Kotozakura is in position to fight his way to a promotion to yokozuna going into the New Year Basho.
Race circuit and resort among post-event proposals for Osaka Expo site
A portion of the Grand Ring at the site of the Osaka Expo during a media tour late last month
Japan's health ministry reports record-high flu cases
A busy street in Tokyo on Dec. 30. The number of influenza patients per clinic, on average, in the final week of December was the highest since health ministry records began in 1999.
Can an international makeover help Tokyo salons meet foreign demand?
Otono Kuboki, a Japanese Canadian hair stylist for salon chain Sozo, is a key figure in the company's mission to elevate the viability of Japan's hairdressing industry to foreign residents.
Isekai anime offers a key to understanding globalization
“The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic” centers on three teenage protagonists who are transported into a fantasy world where they must grapple with a foreign culture.
Japanese space startup readies for second lunar lander launch
Ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada with the countdown clock for the launch of the startup's lunar lander, in Tokyo's Chuo Ward on Thursday
Emanuel leaves reform legacy amid historic shifts in U.S.-Japan alliance
Rahm Emanuel professes that the biggest thing he has brought to the U.S.-Japan relationship might be a fresh injection of vitality.
‘Unbound’ breaks NHK period drama tradition with a hero of the common folk
NHK’s latest taiga period drama, “Unbound,” centers on Tsutaya Juzaburo (Ryusei Yokohama), a commoner who becomes a successful bookseller and publisher.

Podcast

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

Longform

A man offers prayers at Hebikubo Shrine in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. The shrine is one of several across the country dedicated to the snake.
Shed your skin and reinvent yourself in the Year of the Snake
By Kathryn Wortley

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Challenging spirit and teamwork keep ANA flying high
Challenging spirit and teamwork keep ANA flying high

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER