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Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 16, 2008

'The Bucket List'

One of the fuzzier concepts floating around the cloud of pop psychology that has descended upon America in the last decade —like some wizard's curse of stupefaction — is that of "closure." A term lifted from Gestalt psychology by way of grief counseling, its popular meaning has become merely the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 25, 2008

'I'm Not There'

A bio-pic is difficult to get right, but a bio-pic of a living musical legend — in this case Bob Dylan — seems too daunting to contemplate.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 1, 2008

'Half-alien' group foresees disaster, Japan UFO landing

In December, Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura caused quite a stir with his bold statement that "UFOs definitely exist." In subsequent clarifications, the government claimed that there have been no confirmed sightings, but if a UFO was to appear, "fighter jets would be scrambled to attempt...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 11, 2008

Wise man from Japan now the black pope

HONG KONG — An American Maryknoll priest in Hong Kong preached that the greatest blessings in life come when you least expect them, a rain shower on a hot day, a friend unexpectedly turning up, remission in a crippling illness, an inspiring idea just when your brain seemed to have turned into blancmange....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 7, 2008

The gobbiest girl in London, innit?

Adele cringes: "I can't believe I did a peace sign on TV — like Ringo Starr!"
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 1, 2008

Amalric's mind's-eye view

Mathieu Amalric is best known outside France for his role in Steven Spielberg's "Munich," but in his own country he has been one of the best-loved actors since the mid 1990s.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 1, 2008

'Le scaphandre et le papillon'

Jean-Dominique Bauby (Jean-Do to his friends) could hardly complain. He enjoyed a successful career (editor of Elle France magazine), had three cute kids, his relationship with his separated wife was amiable, and his mistress had recently moved in to live with him.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 17, 2008

EU and Japan's demographic challenge

BRUSSELS — Although we may be far away geographically, the biggest challenges facing both Japan and Europe today are remarkably similar. That is to say, how do we adapt to the huge changes in our countries brought about by globalization and by an aging population?
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Jan 9, 2008

At home with Dr. Nakamatsu: Japan's most eccentric inventor

The declining birthrate is a well-known issue in Japan, but for renowned inventor Dr. Yoshiro Nakamatsu, it is merely another challenge. Two weeks ago at a press conference in Tokyo, Nakamats, who prefers to drop the "u" from his name, unveiled a new bottle of Love Jet, a product first introduced nearly...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 13, 2007

'What is Hollywood anyway?'

Ken Watanabe's latest film opens with an image of a polar bear resurfacing into the brilliant spring sunlight after months living underground. It's tempting to see the scene as a metaphor for a career that has alternated between stretches of intense, highly acclaimed work and long periods of hibernation....
BUSINESS
Oct 12, 2007

Sony Financial rises 3.8% in biggest Japan IPO of year

Sony Financial Holdings Inc. gained 3.8 percent Thursday on its first day of trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange after raising ¥320 billion in Japan's largest initial public offering this year.
Japan Times
Reference / Special Presentations / WITNESS TO WAR
Aug 16, 2007

'War orphan' recounts feeling of abandonment

It was a rainy day in mid-August 1945. World War II was about to draw to a close, but nobody in the tiny Chinese village knew it. All they knew was that chaos was breaking out, and that the Russian military was approaching from the north.
EDITORIALS
Aug 12, 2007

Summer recuperation

The famous psychologist William James once said, "We learn to swim in winter and skate in summer." What he meant was that relaxing downtime is essential for unconsciously processing the lessons from busier times. James never experienced the heat and humidity of a Japanese summer, but if he had, he might...
Japan Times
LIFE
Aug 12, 2007

Japan's Paradise Lived

It's a strange world we're about to enter.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 9, 2007

A sex trip that aims to ease our anxieties

The Japan Times gets up close and personal with director John Cameron Mitchell and actress Sook-Yin Lee about the sexiest film of 2007
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Jun 17, 2007

Japan's master of an ancient Muslim art

For Kouichi Honda, writing a beautiful line is what life is about. Getting every detail right — the subtle curves, the varying thicknesses and the density of the ink — matters to him as much as life itself.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 31, 2007

'Mourning' turns into celebration

"Mogari No Mori (The Mourning Forest)," the Japanese film that crept up from behind bigger-name productions to win the Grand Prix at this year's Cannes Film Festival, revolves around an old man's unswerving desire to find his wife's grave.
COMMENTARY / World
May 29, 2007

A prodigal divides Australia

SYDNEY — The prodigal son has returned from exile in Cuba. After five years of bitter controversy, David Hicks, Australia's gift to world terrorism, is back in hometown Adelaide, South Australia, safely locked away but still dividing a nation's conscience.
EDITORIALS
May 6, 2007

Kiosks and koban

Two of Japan's most respected institutions — kiosks and koban (police boxes) — have gone empty in recent weeks, upsetting many who regularly depend on them. The shock waves are still reverberating around the country, but especially in Tokyo, where their essential everyday services were reported closed...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 19, 2007

'Babel' role simply 'had to be me'

Rinko Kikuchi reveals how she clung to movies like a lifeline during her tumultuous teenage years, and now she views acting as her way of returning the favor -- while director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu says she was robbed of an Oscar
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 12, 2007

Transforming our way of living

This year, the Doomsday Clock devised by the Chicago-based Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists was advanced two minutes, for the first time in five years. It now stands at 11:55 p.m., just five minutes away from the "midnight" of human annihilation. This change not only reflects last year's nuclear test...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Apr 5, 2007

The rewards of hardship

One of Japan's most influential 20th-century ceramic artists, Mineo Okabe, was relatively unknown -- and certainly under-appreciated -- during his lifetime. Today, though, potters take great inspiration from, and collectors go gaga over, the bold new forms and styles he created.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 8, 2007

Realizing the potential of an aging society

Japanese society stands on the cusp of change. Starting from this year, large numbers of the postwar baby-boom generation will reach retirement age -- the so-called "2007 problem." The country's over-65 population already stands at 25.6 million, more than 20 percent of the total, and this percentage...
Japan Times
LIFE
Jan 28, 2007

The Courtship

Insight, fate and human frailties intermingle in this love story for winter from the pen of MICHAEL HOFFMAN
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Jan 7, 2007

Yoshiharu Habu: Japan's king of the board

Yoshiharu Habu shocked the shogi (Japanese chess) world when, on Feb. 14, 1996, at the age of 25, he won his 7th title to become the only person in the history of the ancient board game to simultaneously possess all seven titles -- Meijin, Ryuo, Kio, Oza, Kisei, Oi and Osho.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 14, 2006

Emerging from the nuclear shadow

"At any given moment in history, precious few voices are heard crying out for justice. But, now more than ever, those voices must rise above the din of violence and hatred."
EDITORIALS
Aug 12, 2006

Japan Post Corp.'s sketchy road map

Japan Post Corp.'s 10-year road map for postal service privatization is ambitious. If things develop as the road map envisages, a mega-bank and a mega-life insurance firm will be established, possibly creating competition problems for existing private banks and insurance firms. But the road map appears...
LIFE
Jul 30, 2006

What's Japan's secret of 'many happy returns'?

Japan may never have become the world's No. 1 economy, and, faced with other rising Asian powers, it probably never will be. Nonetheless, there is one thing at which Japan proudly excels above all nations: its people's longevity.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jul 23, 2006

Dark chronicler of a dubious Jewish uniqueness

Who are the Jews? What do Jewish writers have in common with each other? What, strictly speaking, is a "Jewish" writer . . . and, for that matter, what is meant by "strictly speaking"?

Longform

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