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CULTURE / Film
Apr 24, 2009

'Gran Torino'

You can take Clint Eastwood out of the "Dirty Harry" movies, but you can't take Dirty Harry out of ol' Clint. So it would seem upon viewing "Gran Torino," an Eastwood-directed film in which the 79-year-old plays a tough retiree who goes vigilante to take on gangbangers terrorizing his neighborhood.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 10, 2009

Bach leads Tokyo classical festival

"I told myself to combine the study of commerce and my passion for music," says French producer Rene Martin, who has built on those foundations to pursue his vision of democratizing classical music through the annual spectacular he's named La Folle Journee (Days of Enthusiasm).
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Apr 5, 2009

Gender-bender drama, 'Three Kingdoms' spinoff anime, little-known big biz

In Japan, the term "new half" usually refers to a man who becomes a woman through some sort of medical procedure, but on the new daytime drama series, "Mama wa New Half" ("Mom is a New Half") (TV Tokyo, Mon.-Fri., 1 p.m.) it simply describes a man who performs in drag at a special "new-half pub" in Tokyo....
CULTURE / Books
Apr 5, 2009

Looking at history: the argument for facts over theory

Positivism in historiography means an emphasis on facts over theory, documentary evidence over deductions from premises. It may also be called "nitty-gritticism," George Akita suggests in "Evaluating Evidence," a book that recounts the author's dealing with primary sources and the problems he has come...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Mar 29, 2009

Uncovering an ukiyo-e master in Obuse

The small town of Obuse nestles quietly in the foothills of the Japan Alps, a 30-minute ride on a local rail line from the prefectural capital of Nagano City.
CULTURE / Film
Feb 20, 2009

'Halfway'

"Halfway" ("Harufuwei") has one of those katakana titles that is supposed to sound vaguely exotic and mysterious to its intended audience — Japanese of about the same age as its teenage protagonists — but may strike native speakers as prosaic, even boring.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 20, 2009

Snow yaks and yetis — an ice man cometh

Fans of Pop Surrealism were no doubt tickled pink to hear of their messiah, painter Mark Ryden, making an appearance in Tokyo for the opening of "The Snow Yak Show" at the Tomio Koyama Gallery. The solo exhibition features eight new works from the masterful painter, each exquisitely detailed in his characteristic...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 20, 2009

Worst Taste: as stupid as they wanna be

"I like bands that are energetic and stupid. And with no sense of fashion. We hate fashionable bands whose music is no good."
CULTURE / Books
Feb 15, 2009

From a master of versatility

The last page of Donald Richie's most recent offering, "Botandoro," reveals that he has, in his long and productive life, published no fewer than 35 books. The word "prolific" is unavoidable.
CULTURE / Books
Feb 15, 2009

From a master of versatility

BOTANDORO: Stories, Fables, Parables, and Allegories — a Miscellany, by Donald Richie, edited and with an introduction by Leza Lowitz. Printed Matter Press, 2008, 272 pp., $20 (paper) The last page of Donald Richie's most recent offering, "Botandoro," reveals that he has, in his long and productive...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 13, 2009

'Changeling'

Clint Eastwood, at 79 (yes, you read that right), continues to create films that garner plaudits such as "gutsy and virile," "seething with power," and "frighteningly potent."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Feb 12, 2009

State minister Seiko Noda

Seiko Noda, 48, is Japan's state minister in charge of science and technology policy, food safety, consumer affairs and space policy. As a member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and of Prime Minister Taro Aso's Cabinet, she is entrusted with running 21 different departments. Not one to crack under...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 30, 2009

'Dare mo Mamotte Kurenai'

The popular media maw, from the Brit tabloids to the Hollywood paparazzi, chews up its subjects, from celebs to criminals, everywhere, anytime. If you're at the receiving end, it's probably an awful experience. Nonetheless, there's something special about the voracity of the Japanese media, with its...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CLOSE-UP
Jan 4, 2009

Japan's 'Mr. Television'

Picture the world's busiest television presenter, and imagine yourself squinting through the glare of high-wattage celebrity, struggling to breathe in air perfumed with pampered showbiz egos.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Jan 4, 2009

Monta Mino: Japan's 'Mr. Television'

Picture the world's busiest television presenter, and imagine yourself squinting through the glare of high-wattage celebrity, struggling to breathe in air perfumed with pampered showbiz egos.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Dec 17, 2008

In praise of 'Ice Birds'

The rush, chatter and babble of a stream on a summer's day is a great delight; the constantly shifting sounds make entrancing music and provide a wonderful source of entertainment for the wait-and-see naturalist.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 12, 2008

'Alatriste'

Touted as the most expensive Spanish production ever made, the $28 million swashbuckler "Alatriste" refrains from flaunting its price tag.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 14, 2008

'Born into Brothels'

A few weeks back, I reviewed "American Teen," an intimate documentary of one school year in the lives of some Indiana teens. It was an amazingly candid portrait of the lives of these kids, with hazing, breakups and breakdowns portrayed completely unguarded.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 13, 2008

Modern maki-e

I don't express otaku culture," says Tomotaka Yasui at the Megumi Ogita gallery in Ginza, where he is having a solo exhibition of three new works. "Now in foreign countries, all people hear about is otaku culture. I want to introduce other aspects of Japanese culture to other countries — Japanese style,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 7, 2008

'Sakura no Sono'

In 1990, Shun Nakahara — a religion-studies major at the University of Tokyo who later became a porno director — released his first straight feature, "Sakura no Sono" ("The Cherry Orchard"). Based on an Akimi Yoshida manga, the film described the day a drama club at an exclusive girls' school stages...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 2, 2008

Explosive new anime packed with surprises

'I was looking to do something different, but at the same time if it was too unique, it could fail," says Masayuki Miyaji, director of PlayStation Network's new anime series "Xam'd: Lost Memories." "But then if it fails, that might even be more fun."
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Sep 28, 2008

A step-by-step guide to owning a home in Japan

So you are ready to be king of your own castle in Japan. Adios to the days when you, a mere rent-paying tenant of a grotty apartment, worried about landlords taking you to the cleaners for spilling tea on the carpet or making minuscule holes in the walls to pin up framed pics.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Sep 24, 2008

Micro Four Thirds standard breaks mirror

Capture the moment: In the world of photography, the unveiling of the Micro Four Thirds lens-mount system last month was a truly historic event. This new standard for next-generation digital SLR cameras, though easily overlooked by the average consumer, is being hailed as the most significant camera-market...
CULTURE / Books
Sep 21, 2008

From Murakami's memoir to your own diary

WHAT I TALK ABOUT WHEN I TALK ABOUT RUNNING by Haruki Murakami, translated by Philip Gabriel, London: Harvill Secker, 2008, 192 pp., £9.99 (cloth) MURAKAMI DIARY by Haruki Murakami, London: Vintage, 2008, 176 pp., £9.99 (paper)
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 12, 2008

'Paco to Maho no Ehon'

Tetsuya Nakashima is being hailed as a genius by the Japanese film world, an epithet that didn't occur to many in the 1990s when his pitch-black comedies, including "Natsu Jikan no Otonatachi (Happy-Go-Lucky)" (1997) and "Beautiful Sunday" (1998), were playing to tiny audiences here and getting little...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 4, 2008

Devo uphold their duty now for the future

As I sit down opposite the gray-haired man in a black shirt and glasses, someone comes to clear the clutter off the table — a stick-thin, retro-futuristic guitar that has been rigged for its strings to explode at the climax of a solo. His flame-haired partner takes a seat; he's wearing a full suit...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / FREEWHEELIN' ACROSS JAPAN
Aug 29, 2008

The naked and the (almost) dead

The feast of fish being delivered to our table is fit for the Emperor, as is the price of the room I'm eating it in at Inubosaki Kanko hotel in Choshi, a small seaside town in northeastern Chiba Prefecture. But I'm not complaining about forking out ¥36,000 for one night as it's the biggest and best...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 23, 2008

Risk-averse telecoms stifling innovation: Natsuno

One of Japan's top cell phone innovators says that for all his country's technological prowess, it could never have produced the iPhone.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Aug 17, 2008

Death is big business in Japan

Like it or not, we will all die one day.

Longform

A man offers prayers at Hebikubo Shrine in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. The shrine is one of several across the country dedicated to the snake.
Shed your skin and reinvent yourself in the Year of the Snake