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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
May 12, 2012

Can Japan's countryside be saved from the edge of extinction?

Once upon a time in Okayama, Japan, lived an old man and an old woman who had no children of their own. One day, the old man went into the forest to cut down bamboo while the old woman went to the river to wash clothes. While at the river, she noticed a giant peach bobbing up and down in the water. She...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 11, 2012

Clooney comes of age as land and loves collide

Of all the descriptors actor George Clooney gets pegged with, "father" is not usually among them. Academy Award-winner? Sure. Activist? Yes. Sexiest Man Alive? You bet. It was his turn as a dad in "The Descendants" last year, however, that earned him a Golden Globe award and an Oscar nomination.
COMMENTARY / World
May 9, 2012

Chen saga heavy on diplomacy — and luck

Amid so much uncertainty over the fate of human rights advocate Chen Guangcheng and his family, the role that luck played in Chen's saga stands out.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
May 8, 2012

The best of Views from the Street

A pick of some of best —and the rest — of the vox pops over the years, in chronological order:
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 5, 2012

Japan a fond spot in solitary Kiwi's running quest

In this age of reality TV, cheap exhibitionism and superhuman feats, is there still space for the common man? Justyn "Jup" Brown's reply is a resounding yes.
Japan Times
LIFE
Apr 29, 2012

Otosan, Japan's top dog

Upper House election night, 2010. All over the country people are watching television and waiting to see if there will be an upset as the results from polling stations slowly trickle in.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 22, 2012

Matsumoto in May means 'crafts '

England gave the world the Windsor chair, but it was the city of Matsumoto in central Nagano Prefecture that reinvented it for Japan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 17, 2012

Bread and becquerels: a year of living dangerously

My New Year's resolution back in January was to survive this year, and many more to come, which means keeping myself and my family as far from harm's way as possible.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Apr 15, 2012

Wild Watch turns 30 this month

As April 2nd's 30th anniversary of my first Wild Watch column in The Japan Times neared, I was in India — teeming Delhi to be precise, with its cacophony of people, honking traffic and barking dogs, though a tailorbird would stop and call outside my window, where a palm squirrel never tired of chattering....
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Apr 11, 2012

Evessa claim star Washington has decided to 'retire'

Osaka Evessa power forward Lynn Washington has been the most recognizable player in bj-league history.
COMMENTARY
Mar 28, 2012

The inexorable march of creative destruction

In retreat, Sears set to unload stores
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Mar 27, 2012

JET teacher outfoxes board, Dr. Savoie's Hague prescription: readers' responses

Some responses to Patrick Budmar's Feb. 28 Light Gist column, "Teacher outfoxes board, exposes bid to fleece JETs":
Japan Times
LIFE
Mar 25, 2012

Petals 'perfect beyond belief' stir poetic

Two natural facts have had a disproportionate impact on Japanese culture: cherry blossoms are beautiful, and they fall.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Mar 16, 2012

League to test all players for drugs after Washington arrest

After Osaka Evessa star Lynn Washington's Tuesday arrest for his alleged involvement in smuggling a package (1 kg to 1.5 kg, various published reports stated) of marijuana into Japan in November, the bj-league reacted by announcing league-wide drug testing of players will be conducted by Friday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 15, 2012

Let the theater help you become as free as a bird

One day, William Tuckett's big sister decided that she wanted to take ballet classes. Soon after, Tuckett's mother realized that if both her children went to the class, she could have two hours free to herself. He may have had no choice attending classes at age 6, but the now world-renowned dancer and...
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 10, 2012

J. League big guns set sights on Reysol's crown

The following is the second of a two-part preview for the upcoming J. League season. Team-by-team previews of the nine highest-ranked teams competing in the first division are listed.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Mar 4, 2012

Taro Yamamoto: Actor in the spotlight of Japan's antinuke movement

On a rainy midwinter day, Taro Yamamoto stood with a small group of people in front of Shimokitazawa Station in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward and addressed passers-by in that artsy youth-culture hub.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 16, 2012

Spiritualized forgets the past and moves on with 'Sweet Heart Sweet Light'

It is just four days before Christmas but Jason Pierce seems oblivious to festive cheer. The leader of influential space-rockers Spiritualized, sitting in the home studio where he has spent the last two years creating the band's forthcoming seventh album "Sweet Heart Sweet Light," has issues on his mind....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 11, 2012

Enjoying the quiet life in Kanazawa, in black and white

Coincidence can shape people's lives in many ways. Ask Mark Hammond, and he will certainly agree.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 10, 2012

Constructing green cities to save the economy

Want to grow the economy? Shrink your city's emissions.
COMMENTARY
Feb 8, 2012

World economy's uncharted territory

"The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there." — L.P. Hartley, English novelist
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 3, 2012

DiCaprio visits America's dark past in 'J. Edgar'

Leonardo DiCaprio admits that he didn't hear much about the famously feared J. Edgar Hoover while he was growing up. That doesn't stop him from making an astute observation: "The man was a troll."
LIFE / Digital / TECH_JAPAN
Feb 1, 2012

Despite first loss in 30 years, Nintendo is still a contender

Late last month, Nintendo signaled that for the first time in more than 30 years it was posting an annual loss — of $845 million — something that until recently had seemed virtually impossible.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 31, 2012

Back in Russia: peeling, meeting and shopping

In mid-December, while trying to understand what was happening in Russia, I checked Twitter and found a tweet that somehow signified everything.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Jan 27, 2012

Vets have Shiga making strong bid for trip to Final Four

The Shiga Lakestars sit three games behind the first-place Ryukyu Golden Kings in the Western Conference standings, and the 17-9 club has demonstrated it has a legitimate shot at reaching the Final Four for the first time.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 24, 2012

American claims Tokyo cop assaulted son, 8

Elementary school student Jian Macdonald had always thought policemen were cool — especially ones that rode fast motorcycles.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 24, 2012

Troupe takes Japanese folk tales abroad

A Tokyo-based actors' group working to spread Japanese folk culture abroad is now helping the Japanese-Brazilian community preserve the culture of their ancestors.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jan 7, 2012

Confessions of a beer lover on the New Year

So, how's your New Year's resolution coming along? "The what?" you say? Given up already, have you? Well, I haven't given up mine. And so enthusiastic am I that I've already completed three weeks of my resolution even though we're only one week into the New Year. And I don't even consider myself an overachiever....
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Jan 1, 2012

A breath of fire for nature this new Year of the Dragon

May I wish all our readers, in Japan and abroad, a very happy New Year. After 2011, I think we need one.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat