Search - life

 
 
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Nov 25, 2012

The convoluted crime spree of Amagasaki's 'piranha family'

By next week, the media will start compiling lists of the top news stories of 2012. The short list can be expected to include natural and manmade disasters, political bombshells, international disputes, indiscretions by celebrities in the worlds of sports and entertainment and, of course, sensational...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 24, 2012

Yaeyama stray cats steal the show on the beaches of Taketomi

After eight days on Miyakojima in which again our departure was delayed by bad weather, we finally set sail for Ishigaki Island, part of the Yaeyama Island chain and the end of our sailing trip through Japan.
JAPAN
Nov 24, 2012

World Economic Forum task force to tackle Japan's financial gender gap

The World Economic Forum has announced the launch of a task force to close Japan's economic gender gaps by 10 percent by 2015.
BASKETBALL
Nov 24, 2012

Iwate outlasts Yokohama in OT

The Iwate Big Bulls held off the host Yokohama B-Corsairs in overtime on Friday night, winning 89-84 in the bj-league series opener.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Nov 24, 2012

Sri Lankan keen to showcase Japanese innovation

Monte Cassim, 65, slips effortlessly from English to Japanese and back, as befits one of the few non-Japanese to have served as president of a major Japanese university. After heading Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Beppu, Oita Prefecture, from 2004 to 2009, the Sri Lankan architect and engineer...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 24, 2012

America through the eyes of Benjamin Franklin

When he was a young man, Benjamin Franklin wired together a set of batteries he had just invented and used them to shock turkeys slated for a Thanksgiving feast. Thus he added yet another invention to his list: the fried turkey. "The birds killed in this manner eat uncommonly tender," he wrote.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 23, 2012

'Hick'

All you need for a movie is a gun and a girl." So wrote Jean-Luc Godard way back in 1961, and some 50 years later people are still testing that theory. The latest young director to do so is Derick Martini, whose "Hick" stars Chloe Grace Moretz ("Hugo," "Kick-Ass") as a jailbait teen runaway, and a Smith...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 23, 2012

Musician Shugo Tokumaru starts to adjust to the spotlight

Among the many billboards looming over Shibuya Station crossing, one of the busiest and most famous intersections in Tokyo, is one for Tower Records that features musician Shugo Tokumaru. The picture looks slightly awkward. The artist sits on a spiral staircase and clutches a guitar, positioned just...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 23, 2012

'Trouble With the Curve' / 'Dream House'

The season of family gatherings is upon us, and here are two movies featuring The Dad in a big way. Though not as familiar as The Mom, The Dad is a cozy Hollywood institution, often deployed to prod at adult male shortcomings — from cold, distant workaholic to warm-hearted slob around the house. There's...
Reader Mail
Nov 22, 2012

To succeed after high school

It's time for teachers, professors, parents, boards of education and ministry officials to get together, take a good look at the education system and ask, "Why is it that high school study, so focused on preparation for university entrance, does so little to prepare students for actual university life?"...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 22, 2012

We've got TNGHT: Young producers Hudson Mohawke and Lunice join forces to bring a new spin on hip-hop

The Red Bull Music Academy studios in South London are the venue for my interview with Ross Birchard (26) and Lunice Fermin Pierre II (24) — better known as Hudson Mohawke and Lunice — about their new project TNGHT. As graduates of the classes of 2007 and 2010 respectively, both have benefited from...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 22, 2012

"Kyohei Sakaguchi: Practice for a Revolution"

As a college student, architect Kyohei Sakaguchi met a homeless man who he remembers as "Mr. Suzuki." Amazed by Suzuki's ingenious survival skills, Sakaguchi became interested in the life of the homeless and spent time observing and interviewing them.
BUSINESS
Nov 22, 2012

Exports at three-year low as recession nears

Japan is suffering its worst year for exports since the 2009 global contraction as Europe's debt crisis, China's economic slowdown and the Senkakus dispute with Beijing hurt manufacturers and deepen the risk of a recession.
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2012

Parties jockey over tax, nukes, TPP

Whether to hike the consumption tax, join the Trans Pacific Partnership free-trade talks or abandon nuclear power are the three main issues on which the 16 parties vying in the Dec. 16 Lower House election will stand or fall, especially the smaller, single-issue groups that may be sought out for partnerships...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 20, 2012

Abe call for unlimited BOJ easing rattles bond market

The bond market is growing more concerned that a new administration led by opposition leader Shintaro Abe calling for unlimited easing will stoke inflation and weaken the nation's finances.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 18, 2012

Miyamoto dedicated 2,000th hit to late friend, mentor Higuchi

Three Japanese players joined the Meikyukai (Golden Players Club) during the 2012 season by reaching the career 2,000-hit mark. Tokyo Yakult Swallows infielder Shinya Miyamoto, Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters veteran Atsunori Inaba and Fukuoka Softbank Hawks retiring slugger Hiroki Kokubo are the newest...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Nov 18, 2012

Story behind drug scandal that rocked bj-league to core

Nearly six months after being released from Osaka Prefectural Police custody, Dana Washington, wife of bj-league legend and former Osaka Evessa star Lynn Washington, decided it was time to tell her side of the story.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Nov 18, 2012

Minor Soseki work gets first English translation

NOWAKI, by Natsume Soseki, translated and with an afterword by William N. Ridgeway. Center for Japanese Studies, The University of Michigan, 2011, 120 pp., $15 (paperback) As the translator notes in his afterword, and Donald Keene and Angela Yiu suggest in quotations used as blurbs on the back cover,...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Nov 18, 2012

The little 'black bird' is a hit, from Liverpool all the way to Asia

It is 50 years this year since the best-selling band in history, The Beatles, released their first single, "Love Me Do." They were set to catapult Britain into the Swinging '60s and launch a global musical phenomenon.
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
Nov 18, 2012

Democrats win, Italy joins anti-Red pact, Takeshima blocks Japan-ROK accord, Sony buys CBS Records

Ever since Colonel (Theodore) Roosevelt split the Republican Party, and the Democrats at Baltimore chose Dr. (Woodrow) Wilson for their presidential nominee, it was apparent to all unbiased observers that the Democratic candidate would prevail.
BASKETBALL
Nov 18, 2012

Golden Kings edge HeatDevils, remain unbeaten

The Ryukyu Golden Kings celebrated their ninth victory in as many games this season, edging the visiting Oita HeatDevils 85-82 on Saturday evening in a clash between the Western Conference's first- and second-place clubs.
EDITORIALS
Nov 18, 2012

Public libraries are thriving

That Japanese public libraries are thriving may come as no surprise to anyone, but an education ministry report found that the number of books checked out by elementary school children from the 3,274 public libraries nationwide reached an average of 26 per child in fiscal 2010. That is up from 18.8 in...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 18, 2012

It'll take more than few fine or foreign words to make Australia Asian

Australians have always been uncomfortable with their nation's geography.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Nov 17, 2012

LDP-DPJ grudge match may see unity after poll

Friday's dissolution of the Lower House sets the stage for a no-holds-barred grudge match between the ruling Democratic Party of Japan and the Liberal Democratic Party, while emerging "third-force" political groups are seen struggling to raise public awareness enough to change the current two-party system....

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