Search - life

 
 
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 9, 2014

NASA Mars rover Curiosity finds key evidence for lake at landing site

Billions of years ago, a lake once filled the 96-mile- (154-km) wide crater being explored by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity, bolstering evidence that the planet most like Earth in the solar system was suitable for microbial life, scientists said on Monday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
Nov 28, 2014

A world away from Ferguson but feeling the flames

I went through an entire day in Yokohama without a single person mentioning that my country was on fire. Of course, they knew, but what could they have said, anyway?
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Nov 21, 2014

The birth of a new kind of personal documentarian

A baby who, diagnosed with trisomy 18, is expected to live only one year; a man devastated by the recent death of his wife; and a father and son whose familial bond is as strong as any other, despite not being blood related — at first glance, these people seem like they have nothing in common.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Nov 10, 2014

Foreign wives of Japan offer NHK and 'Massan' criticism and kudos

Ellie's successors question the character's swift mastery of Japanese and penchant for hugs but welcome the issues she raises.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 25, 2014

The romantic notion of rural relocation

Yu Iwamoto began adult life working in the slums, refugee camps and precarious schools of Afghanistan. Had he even heard, back then, of the Oki Islands off the coast of Shimane Prefecture?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
Oct 22, 2014

Another island nation, idolized and imitated: Jamaica and I

Only in my 30s did I learn that I, too, had roots, or at least branches aside from my mother's, which only extended to some cotton plantation south of the Mason-Dixon line.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 17, 2014

Rising hope for nations with falling birthrates

The lamentations of some economists in the advanced economies would have us believe that a shrinking population is a bad thing. In fact, the benefits of demographic stability, or even a slight decline, outweigh any adverse effects.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Jul 19, 2014

House of the Sleeping Beauties and Other Stories

Yasunari Kawabata's novella "House of the Sleeping Beauties and Other Stories" is one of his finest works. It is primarily concerned with the connections between the youth and old age, sex, death, life and memory.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 16, 2014

Reflections on the dark side of a tropical island

Naomi Kawase was once Japan's best-known female director abroad; now she is one of its most internationally prominent directors, regardless of gender.
Japan Times
JAPAN / JAPAN TIMES FORUM ON FEMALE SCIENCE MAJORS
Jun 30, 2014

Examining women's roles in Japan's corporate structure

Rikejo, or women majoring in the sciences, are currently under the spotlight in Japan. As the country faces a severe labor shortage, a declining birthrate and a rapidly aging population, there is a need to employ more female talent.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
May 25, 2014

With one eye on the future, globe-trotter builds a foundation for change

Having lived in Punjab, California, London and Tokyo and set herself one huge goal after another, Sonia Dhillon-Marty is now trying to make a difference through her Tokyo-based nonprofit foundation.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Society / ANALYSIS
May 22, 2014

For 'dirty man of Asia,' Russian gas deal offers clean solution

"If I work in your Beijing, I would shorten my life at least five years," Premier Zhu Rongji, a career politician from Shanghai, quipped in 1999, referring to the notorious air pollution in China's northern capital.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
May 21, 2014

Shirai triumphs with 'The Tempest'

"I'd like 'The Tempest' I am creating to be on the smallest scale ever, but as it's a very spacious stage at the New National Theatre, Tokyo, it won't have the most compact set. Nonetheless, I will try to present it as stories from within the confines of one man's memory."
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Apr 30, 2014

To boost economy, recruiting stay-at-home dads

Manabu Tsukagoshi, a Tokyo-based consultant, took a month of paternity leave after his second child was born. That prompted his wife, a homemaker, to get a full-time job in the financial industry.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 13, 2014

Surviving the latest trend in American cinema

Who is this man? The protagonist in "All is Lost" is also its sole character — an older (but astoundingly fit) stranded sailor portrayed by 77-year-old Robert Redford. He's unnamed, and does not speak except for right at the beginning of the film when he's reciting a letter to persons unknown. The...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Feb 1, 2014

Pursuit of happiness

The merry residents of Japan have long sought to attain the 'pleasantest of all diversions
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Jan 3, 2014

Drawing out the demons and dreams of Fukushima

Artist Geoff Read is currently focused on helping Fukushima's children articulate their hopes and fears. As he explains, 'In my Strong Children Japan Project, the most important thing the pictures can do is to help these children have a safer childhood.'
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Dec 28, 2013

There's a cloud above our silver generation

Travel back with me, reader, 60 years in time. It's 1953. Two booms are in full swing: one economic, the other reproductive; the first fueled largely by the Korean War, the second, in part, by the first. Among the 2 million babies born in Japan that year — nearly twice as many as were born this year...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 26, 2013

U.S. 'sledgehammer' justice sidelines the judge

'Sledgehammer' justice waged against nonviolent repeat offenders in the U.S. is said to have removed the role of judges and to have turned prosecutors into sentencers.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Dec 22, 2013

Don't let the holidays leave you homesick this year

Homesickness is a particular concern for foreign residents in December, when the holiday season starts to conjure up images of family dinners and drinking parties with old friends. For new arrivals, it's further complicated by the simultaneous challenge of adjusting to a different culture.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Dec 14, 2013

Beyond Newtown: 71 other young children killed by deliberate gunfire in 2012

The man with the gun burst into the apartment and opened fire. The first victim was a young woman, dead at 21. The second victim was her 25-year-old roommate. But it was the third victim who would cause the most anguished screams when the bodies were discovered. Shot in the head, he was a 6-month-old...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Nov 15, 2013

TELL vet helps cast net wider to reach kids, stop suicides

The Tokyo English Life Line has been providing support and counseling services to Japan's international community for 40 years. Vickie Skorji, the new director of the Lifeline hot line service, has played a pivotal role in its activities.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Nov 1, 2013

Writer, translator, yoga instructor finds inspiration in 'the voices that history silences'

Leza Lowitz has shared the worlds of kamikaze pilots and their last letters to their families, published lesbian writings by contemporary Japanese poets, specifically sought out Ainu writers, and journeyed into the mind of Japan's foremost modernist poet, Nobuo Ayukawa.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 18, 2013

Shōchū and the art of conflict resolution: an islander's insight

If you don't drink shochu, you're bound to have problems adjusting to island life. It's like moving to Okinawa and not partaking in awamori: It's a part of the local culture.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Sep 20, 2013

Expat ambient musician and artist prefers not knowing what he's doing

Sitting in his home recording studio in Tokyo, surrounded by dozens of instruments that he has collected over the years, Morgan Fisher is in the center of his universe.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 9, 2013

A friend to kanji learners worldwide

Mary Sisk Noguchi helped readers unravel the complexities of Chinese characters, adding an element of fun to a process often fraught with frustration for many learners of Japanese.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jul 26, 2013

Brit Scoutmaster jogs for health, charity

Running up a mountain probably wouldn't be most people's idea of a pleasant weekend leisure activity, but Brit Colin Yarker thrives on the physical and mental challenge of trail running.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jul 8, 2013

Driven by regret over neighbor's death, first-time filmmaker declares war on suicide

Rene Duignan is passionate about life — so much so that he made an award-winning film about it. Yet Duignan, 42, is not a professional filmmaker; he's an Irish economist working for the European Union delegation to Japan. The documentary, titled "Saving 10,000 — Winning a War on Suicide in Japan,"...

Longform

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