Search - life

 
 
Reader Mail
Aug 30, 2012

Another chance for Abe to lead

Regarding the Aug. 25 front-page article "On sex slaves, Hashimoto on same page as Abe": It is very hard to believe that former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe seriously thinks of himself as a viable contender for the Liberal Democratic Party presidency who should be given another chance to lead the country....
Reader Mail
Aug 30, 2012

Harbinger of the future is here

Thank you for Stephen Hesse's insightful Aug. 26 article, "If we ruin the air, what will our children breathe?" Here in Missouri the drought of 2012 continues to oppress both farmer and rancher across the state. Rural water wells are going dry! Major cities are asking residents to refrain from watering...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 30, 2012

Nankai quake projected toll radically raised

As many as 323,000 people in 30 prefectures could be killed by a major earthquake and ensuing monster tsunami that scientists say could hit in the Nankai Trough off the Pacific coast, the Cabinet Office's Central Disaster Prevention Council said Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 30, 2012

The Tokyo Foundation hosts concert by young victims of Tohoku quake at Suntory Hall

When the final chord of the fiery Spanish-flavored "El Camino Real" by U.S. composer Alfred Reed echoed throughout Suntory Hall, it was a great moment for 16-year-old Mayuko Kawai.
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Aug 30, 2012

The customer is always right, but that's what's wrong in Japan's live-house scene

The roundly despised pay-to-play system in place throughout most of Tokyo's live-music scene, and to a slightly lesser extent in many other cities, is something I've written about in this column before.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Aug 30, 2012

'Our Planet' director focuses on Japan's locals

Just three years ago, in 2009, Yukio Shiba burst to stardom at age 27 with his masterful first play, "Waga Hoshi" ("Our Planet"), which premiered in Tokyo and the following year scooped Japanese contemporary theater's prestigious Kishida Kunio Award.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / HIT AND RUN
Aug 28, 2012

Houlton feels good about '12 Giants

D.J. Houlton is dealing with a case of deja vu.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Aug 28, 2012

Revival eludes nation's birthrate

It sounds like a broken record: Japan is beset by a low birthrate and an aging society.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LIGHT GIST
Aug 28, 2012

How did we end up here, in 'Hashimotopia,' 2022?

Walking home the other night, I glanced furtively over my shoulder and clocked the notorious tattoo-enforcement police heading in my direction. I ducked into a nearby konbini and cursed that bad decision inked onto my forearm in the 1990s.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Aug 28, 2012

Osaka: Where will Mayor Toru Hashimoto and his 'One Osaka' vision be in 2022?

Jeff Windham
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Aug 28, 2012

Paid leave, advice for foreign parents, JET's value: readers' views

Uncompetitive Japan Inc. Not being a Japanese person employed in a private Japanese company, it is hard for me to imagine the hardship experienced by the writer of the July 17 Have Your Say letter ("Working employees to death"). I can, however, say with a high degree of confidence that laws mandating...
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2012

DPJ fix for vote-value gap wins panel nod

The ruling Democratic Party of Japan voted Monday in an opposition-boycotted Lower House committee to back its legislation aimed at rectifying the national disparity in vote values, which is threatening the constitutionality of Japan's elections.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 28, 2012

Home purchases rise ahead of tax increase

Record low mortgage rates and the prospect of a consumption tax hike that will add the price of a new Toyota Corolla to the cost of an average home spurred Sumiko Morigaki into action.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Aug 27, 2012

Shifting views on the role of the Emancipator

Gore Vidal, who died at the end of July, was one writer whose essays I began to read years ago. I then moved on to his novels, though I saw one of his more famous Broadway plays, "The Best Man," only recently for the first time.
Reader Mail
Aug 26, 2012

Don't be shy about drinking up

Regarding Greg Blossom's Aug. 16 letter, "Wasteful ways to quench thirst": Putting pressure on people to hydrate "less wastefully" is more of the same sadomasochistic pressure Japanese people are already under to bear up under the heat. Thirty-nine people are reported to have died of heatstroke in July....
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Aug 26, 2012

Should the public trust Japan's leaders when the 'big one' hits Tokyo?

No two calamities are alike, yet the needs of victims vary only in scale, not in kind.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 25, 2012

Trial of the century reveals China's fractured leadership

The trial, conviction and suspended death sentence of Gu Kailai, the wife of purged Chinese leader Bo Xilai, has called into question not only China's legal system but also the very unity of the Communist Party leadership.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Aug 25, 2012

Moyes deserves shot with big club

David Moyes accepted the praise and plaudits in his typically unassuming manner.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 25, 2012

Veterinary clinics for the rich and famous pets

I walked into the veterinarian's office with my disgruntled cat. I'd been worried about my cat for a week already. Her health was steadily declining and I knew something was seriously wrong when the 4 a.m. Kitty Alarm stopped going off — that feline screeching that takes place outside the door to our...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 24, 2012

'Anata e (Dearest)'

To call Ken Takakura an icon is almost an understatement. He is not only one of the few stars left from the heyday of the studio era, but he has for decades embodied the sort of ideal Japanese male (stoic, self-sacrificing, unstoppable in a fight) who is vanishingly rare in real life. (Clint Eastwood...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 24, 2012

'The Grey' / 'Facing Ali'

The Grey" could be a welcome sight for those of us panting in summer's dog days of heat and humidity: miles of ice and snow stretching way into a horizon that merges with a forbidding, indeterminate sky. But in the next second, you realize this is a desperate tale of survival, unfolding in an Alaskan...
COMMENTARY
Aug 24, 2012

China seems loath to wait for Romney to learn

During the American presidential campaign of 2008, China was virtually a nonissue. During the televised debates between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain, China was barely mentioned.
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2012

Despite all the numbers, energy policy questions fall short

Numbers, numbers everywhere. So what are we to think?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 23, 2012

"Sukiya Carpenter: The Creator of Beauty"

Despite the recently rekindled popularity of traditional Japanese architecture, many admirers are not fully aware of the wa, the key to harmonious Japanese design, behind their structures. Sukiya is a residential architecture style that incorporates the refined aesthetics of the Japanese tea house and...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 23, 2012

Art director Hideki Nakajima throws down the gauntlet of design

In Hiroshima the sun is setting on a large retrospective exhibition by one of Japan's leading graphic designers, who for the past 20 years has been working at the edge of his discipline, carving out a unique niche for himself within a very prescribed industry.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 23, 2012

"Tokyo Illustrators Society Presents: Famous Sayings in Pictures"

This is the Creation Gallery G8's 18th exhibition featuring works contributed by the Tokyo Illustrators Society. This time, 165 artists have submitted pieces, all themed on famous sayings and aphorisms. These include "Nonviolence and civil disobedience" said by Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) and "Toriaezu...

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