Search - life

 
 
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League / J. LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Feb 2, 2012

Reysol not content to bask in memory of glorious 2011

It would take a Herculean effort for Kashiwa Reysol to match their 2011 achievements over the coming season, but the reigning J. League champions see no reason why they cannot raise the bar and go even higher.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 2, 2012

"Winter Exhibition of Netsuke Art by Jin Kuwabara"

Netsuke are decorative button-like toggles invented during the Edo Period (1603-1867) to fasten shut inro pill boxes and tobacco pouches that men wore hanging from their kimono sashes. They were usually made from ivory, wood, ceramics or deer antler and in the shape of animals or spiritual figures.
CULTURE / Art
Feb 2, 2012

"Winter Exhibition of Netsuke Art by Jin Kuwabara"

Netsuke are decorative button-like toggles invented during the Edo Period (1603-1867) to fasten shut inro pill boxes and tobacco pouches that men wore hanging from their kimono sashes. They were usually made from ivory, wood, ceramics or deer antler and in the shape of animals or spiritual figures.
JAPAN
Feb 2, 2012

Okinawa poll meddling irks defense chief

A senior Defense Ministry official came under suspicion Wednesday of not only trying to tamper with the upcoming mayoral election in Ginowan but taking similar action in 2010 for a vote in Nago — the two cities in Okinawa deeply connected to the controversial relocation of the Futenma U.S. air base....
COMMENTARY
Feb 2, 2012

Eventually not a drop of groundwater to drink?

The world is in the midst of a boom in groundwater use. The rate of extraction from aquifers more than doubled in the 40 years to 2000. It has continued to soar since then.
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.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2012

Fukushima puts East Asia nuclear policies on notice

The Fukushima No. 1 power plant crisis has turned the nation's long-term energy policy on its head and probably signals the start of a drastic reduction in the use of atomic power.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Jan 31, 2012

Ideas of note

Note pads that snap into action We revisit Postalco for yet another piece of stationery we've fallen in love with. This time it's the brand's new environmentally friendly Snap Pad.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Jan 31, 2012

Culture ensnares Czech Japanophile

Petr Holy, who over the past two decades has spent a considerable amount of his time learning the Japanese language and culture, is now in return trying to spread the culture of his home country, the Czech Republic, throughout Japan.
COMMENTARY
Jan 31, 2012

To prepare for nuclear war is to seek the peace of death

The world faces two existential threats: climate change, and nuclear Armageddon. Action on both is required urgently. Tackling the first will impose significant economic costs and lifestyle adjustments, while tackling the second will bring economic benefits without any lifestyle implications.
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.
BUSINESS
Jan 31, 2012

Manufacturing exodus stirs trade-balance fears

An exodus of manufacturing jobs from Japan may prolong trade-balance concerns after the nation reported its first annual trade deficit in 31 years last week.
Reader Mail
Jan 29, 2012

A less ascetic word for 'monk'

There must be a better word to apply to some male adherents of Buddhism than "monk," as used, for example, in the Jan. 19 Kyodo article "Matchmaking service gives Buddhist monks a boost in dating market." If there isn't, then perhaps we ought to make one because, in English, "monk" denotes a man living...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jan 29, 2012

Gallant cop, reporter on quest hit right notes

RED JADE, by Henry Chang. Soho Press, 2011, 248 pp., $14 (paper) KILLED AT THE WHIM OF A HAT, by Colin Cotterill. Minotaur, 2011, 374 pages, $24.99 (hardcover) It is pleasing to note that among the growing number of Asian-Americans producing works of fiction are authors who specialize in stories of crime...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Jan 29, 2012

Naha gardens within a garden

Amere 10-minute walk across busy Route 58 from the polyglot sidewalks, hotels and souvenir shops of Kokusai-dori, the faintly grubby, undulating Chinese boundary walls of a green enclosure announce the presence of a garden known as Fukushu-en.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Jan 29, 2012

Frontale counting on Nakamura to fill leadership role

An 11th-place finish last season suggests Kawasaki Frontale's days as a J. League championship contender are over, but playmaker Kengo Nakamura is refusing to go quietly as the club prepares for another tilt at a first-ever title.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jan 29, 2012

'Stepfather Step'; 'Kiruto no Ie'; CM of the week: Nichii Gakkan

Replacing the historical drama "Mito Komon" in its Monday evening slot is a much different type of series, a "humorous mystery" called "Stepfather Step" (TBS, 8 p.m.), based on a novel by Miyuki Miyabe.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 28, 2012

Kyoto-based Italian physicist blazes trail for foreign academics

Professor Giuseppe Pezzotti, 51, a materials scientist at Kyoto Institute of Technology, effortlessly switches from a newspaper interview in English to discuss research collaboration with a colleague in fluent Japanese. Even sartorially, he straddles East and West: While his torso is clad in button-down...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jan 28, 2012

Watching Nishikori Down Under

All Japan was watching as Kei Nishikori, the first Japanese tennis player to make it to the quarterfinals in a Grand Slam since Shuzo Matsuoka at Wimbledon in 1995, took on the No. 4 seeded Brit, Andy Murray, at the Australian Open Wednesday night. Nishikori, ranked 24th in the world, knew he was up...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 27, 2012

'J. Edgar'

Now here's a counterintuitive marketing strategy: Put heartthrob Leonardo DiCaprio on your poster, shot in unflattering white light, looking old, jowly and snarling. Presumably the promoters of "J. Edgar," director Clint Eastwood's biopic of long-time FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, know what they're doing,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 27, 2012

'Late Bloomers'

Is it just me or are women much happier than they used to be, up there on the digital silver screen? Compared with, say, five years ago, female characters seem to be doing well financially, getting the most out of love relationships and firmly ensconced in loving family circles. They always seem to get...
Reader Mail
Jan 26, 2012

Hospitals shouldn't get breaks

Reader John Wocher, in his Jan. 22 letter, "Tepco rate hike will hit hospitals," suggests that hospitals should get exemptions from increased electricity rates and consumption tax hikes. If not, he tells us to get ready for surgery with a flashlight and kerosene heaters.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CABINET INTERVIEW
Jan 26, 2012

Hirano backs Todai plan for fall enrollment

New education minister Hirofumi Hirano said he supports the University of Tokyo's recent proposal to shift the start of its academic year from April to autumn, a move that would put the school in line with international norms.

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