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CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jul 25, 2010

The 'secret lives' of tomatoes; cooking with Japan rock's don; CM of the week: Mobagei Town

Everything you've always wanted to know about the tomato but were afraid to ask is explained on the long-running variety show, "Sekai Marumie Terebi" (The World Fully Exposed on TV; Nihon TV, Mon., 7:56 p.m.), hosted by comedians Beat Takeshi and Joji Tokoro.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jul 25, 2010

Savoring the wisdom of some Japanese predictions about Japan

FIRST IN A THREE-PART SERIES — I was 8 years old when we got our first television set, a 10-inch Admiral. That was in 1952, still early days for the new and exciting medium. It wasn't long before I was glued every week to my favorite program, "Criswell Predicts."
CULTURE / Books
Jul 25, 2010

Wartime confessions

Donald Keene, the foremost scholar of Japanese literature, mines the wartime diaries kept by some of the most prominent writers and intellectuals of the day in a book brimming with insights. Readers discover a gold mine of personal observations that deepen our understanding of what life was like when...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jul 25, 2010

On the hunt for snakes and dragons in Chinatown

Two years back I reviewed "Year of the Dog," about the exploits of detective Jack Yu, the creation of Chinese-American author Henry Chang, who portrayed New York's Chinatown as a frightfully sordid place. Yu, besides being forced to endure the slings and arrows of a race- baiting police department, suffered...
JAPAN
Jul 24, 2010

Reformist bar head works to raise way lawyers serve

Lawyer Kenji Utsunomiya has spent his career helping debtors overcome the burden of multiple loans, while pushing for legislation to reduce their numbers. An advocate for the underemployed, in 2008 he served as the honorary mayor of a makeshift "village" set up in Tokyo's Hibiya Park sheltering idled...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 24, 2010

Seattle pair put sake on local map

Japan abounds with foreigners attracted by its cultural opportunities, who live in the country and eventually make a livelihood by specializing in attributes the country has to offer. Scattered across the world, their counterparts reside in towns in Europe or America, those who, after spending time in...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jul 24, 2010

A few ifs and thens, Kipling style

Have you ever given serious thought about what might have happened if Rudyard Kipling had lived in Japan instead of India?
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 23, 2010

Poll thunder Down Under

SYDNEY — Two untested political leaders with no new policies to offer but with lots of vocal thunder — that's how Australians view the current battle for Canberra. By election day Aug. 21, when every eligible Australian adult is required by law to vote, the thunder will be sounding mighty hollow....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 23, 2010

Mexican metal act Moderatto hope to swap tequila for sake

Although their name may sound like the Spanish cognate for "moderate," parody glam-rock band Moderatto are anything but.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jul 23, 2010

Interactive exhibit presents art from a child's perspective

Ever wondered what goes through a baby's mind? Five groups of innovative artists take a guess with "Garden for Children," an interactive exhibit to be displayed at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, starting this weekend.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 23, 2010

In celebration of the yin of butoh

"In 1949, Tatsumi Hijikata saw Kazuo Ohno perform for the first time. He was moved and described Ohno-sensei's dance as geki yaku — like a powerful drug or deadly poison. Ohno-sensei was a dancer of powerful poison!" exclaims Takeshi Morishita of Keio University's Tatsumi Hijikata Archive.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jul 23, 2010

Events spur on a new generation of sake drinkers

At 5:30 p.m. on a recent Saturday evening, the line of people at the entrance to the Smile Nihonshu sake event was six deep. Inside the bar, groups of young people in their 20s and 30s clinked glasses and nodded along to a bouncy rendition of Bob Marley's "Buffalo Soldier" under a green-lit disco ball....
EDITORIALS
Jul 22, 2010

Retrial of the Fukawa case

A retrial of the Fukawa case — in which two men were given life sentences for their conviction of a murder-robbery committed 43 years ago — started July 9 at Mito District Court's Tsuchiura branch. In the case, no material evidence came forth. Mr. Shoji Sakurai and Mr. Takao Sugiyama, convicted on...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Jul 22, 2010

Pharmacist Masaaki Goto

Masaaki Goto, 83, runs a tiny pharmacy in Tokyo. Japan has the highest number of prescriptions per capita in the world and, after the United States, it is the world's second largest pharmaceutical market. There are about 50,000 community pharmacies in the country, and large drug stores and convenience...
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League / J. LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Jul 22, 2010

Clubs cope with roster changes as season resumes after World Cup

The World Cup was always going to cast a long shadow over this year's J. League championship, and how teams now deal with the fallout will play a significant part in the destination of the title.
JAPAN / GROWING OLD ALONE
Jul 21, 2010

Elderly living alone increasingly dying the same way

Die unnoticed and in two months all that is left is the stench, a rotting corpse and maggots.
COMMENTARY
Jul 21, 2010

Rwanda: Kagame's dilemma

Did Paul Kagame really stop the genocide in Rwanda 16 years ago, or did he just interrupt it for a while? That question frightens him so much that he will not risk everything on the outcome of a democratic election.
LIFE / Digital
Jul 21, 2010

Bloggers in blue spread their net

Teenagers and marketers aren't the only ones riding the social- media wave — several police departments in Japan have joined in, running their own community blogs to improve communication with residents.
COMMENTARY
Jul 20, 2010

Student-teacher relationship sliding in India

CHENNAI, India — The suicide of a 13-year-old schoolboy suggests there is something grossly wrong with a society and its education system. Rouvanjit Rawla, a student of class 8 at one of India's most prestigious schools, La Martiniere, in Kolkata, killed himself after the principal caned him. The tragedy...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Jul 20, 2010

What was your favorite World Cup moment?

Kai TsuchiiStudent, 13 (Japanese/American)The moment that Landon Donovan scored the winner against Algeria and the USA hopped to the top of the group in a split second. Great goal, great timing — amazing to change the fate of the team with one kick of the ball!
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jul 20, 2010

Immigration procedures face huge shakeup

As of July 1, there are big changes afoot for the laws governing foreign residency in Japan. Not since 1990, when the categories of residence increased from 18 to 27, has the Ministry of Justice's Immigration Bureau undergone such a wholesale reordering of its operations.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jul 18, 2010

Kujukuri: the long, long beach on Tokyo's doorstep

If it was thousands of miles from home, I would wistfully think of this as an exotic and special place. It has almost everything I want in a seaside hangout: Empty beaches backed by pine forests, not condos; surfing waves; fishing piers; hilltop viewpoints; and family farms growing corn and watermelons....
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Jul 18, 2010

Will Edo Castle's tower rise again?

What does Tokyo have as a genuine landmark?
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Jul 18, 2010

Bathing in northern 'megaherbs'

When I first visited New Zealand in 1994 I was impressed by its astounding landscapes — the stunning beauty of its landforms, coasts and islands. However, I was soon not so enamored of its much-publicized "clean green" image when I realized the incredible destruction wrought on the ecosystem by its...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jul 18, 2010

Arashi idol in 'Summer Lover' drama; behind the scenes of the Sky Tree; CM of the week: Calorie Mate

The ratings for "Moon Lovers," the drama series that just ended in the coveted Monday 9 p.m. slot at Fuji TV, were not as high as expected despite the participation of heartthrob Takuya Kimura. Maybe a younger Johnny's idol, Jun Matsumoto of Arashi, will have better luck with "Natsu no Koi wa Niji-iro...
JAPAN
Jul 17, 2010

Sumo's seamy underbelly

NAGOYA — Sumo is more than a sport to Japan. It's like a religion, a bastion of traditional culture and a matter of national pride. Wrestlers aren't just athletes — they are icons, role models and, often, larger-than-life heroes.
JAPAN
Jul 17, 2010

More tax income needed: governors

WAKAYAMA — Prefectural governors warned Friday that the ruling bloc's loss in Sunday's Upper House election means more political gridlock ahead, and unless local leaders work with the coalition and the opposition camp to pass legislation and secure more tax income, regional growth and quality of life...

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