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WORLD / Politics
Dec 16, 2016

Hacker breached U.S. election agency that checks security of voting machines

The U.S. agency charged with ensuring that voting machines meet security standards was itself penetrated by a hacker after the November elections, according to a security firm working with law enforcement on the matter.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 13, 2016

Young artists to keep your eye on

In Kurt Vonnegut's 1982 novel "Deadeye Dick," a Japanese man walks into an all-night drugstore and gestures for the protagonist, Rudy Waltz, to follow him outdoors. There they gaze at the decapitated cupola of Rudy's childhood home, glistening white in the moonlight. It reminds the homesick man of Mount...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Dec 10, 2016

Defining J-horror: The terror of deep time

The horror genre is not typically thought of as a "slow" genre. In fact, horror films today often feel like stimulus-response tests where shocking events happen suddenly and without warning. However, Japanese horror directors take up another tradition, one where events unfold gradually. A case point...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Dec 10, 2016

'Between Land and Sea': Disentangling architect Kiyonori Kikutake from metabolism

Kiyonori Kikutake (1928-2011) was a leading Japanese architect of the postwar period and is best known for his central role in metabolism, the avant-garde architectural movement. "Kiyonori Kikutake: Between Land and Sea" disentangles Kikutake from the legacy of metabolism and provides new perspectives...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Dec 10, 2016

Japan's humble school lunch: social leveler and sacred cow

Beyond the inculcation of good eating habits and an appreciation of wholesome food, Japan's school lunch program stresses the importance of community and helps children understand their responsibilities within the group.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 9, 2016

Aerial photos capture dark side of solar power plants

Koichiro Otaki started taking aerial pictures of photovoltaic power stations in April 2015. At first, it was an innocent desire to capture their sheer scale and aesthetic value that motivated him, he says.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 6, 2016

Early days for Sejima's Hokusai museum

At some point in the future, the new Sumida Hokusai Museum in Tokyo will be considered with great affection by a lot of people. Like Tokyo Tower and Starck's Asahi Beer Hall — which have had their fair share of criticism but are now an inextricable part of what makes Tokyo one of the world's kookiest...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 6, 2016

Painting and Weaving Opportunity: Yohji Yamamoto, Yuuka Asakura

Dec. 10-March 12
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 6, 2016

Analyzing Pottery: Glazes

Dec. 10-Feb. 12
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 2, 2016

Robot inspired by 'Space Odyssey' to take on the burden of laundry

Hate doing laundry? Shin Sakane has a solution.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Nov 30, 2016

The diversity of religion captured on film

Reflecting on the rise of a generation of Japanese that has grown up suspicious of organized religion — particularly those who came of age in the shadow of 1995's terror attacks by the Aum Shinrikyo cult — Nihon University's College of Art has put together a Religion Film Festival, which will be...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Nov 26, 2016

A dark, bittersweet childhood becomes a manga masterpiece

"Sunny" is a manga masterpiece. Page by page, it quietly transcends similar slice-of-life comics in its depiction of children in a foster home, their caregivers and estranged parents. Written and illustrated by renowned manga artist Taiyo Matsumoto, this six-volume collection, which won the prestigious...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 20, 2016

Toyomu imagines life after Kanye

American rapper Kanye West's seventh album, "The Life Of Pablo," felt inescapable when it emerged this past February. But that wasn't the case in Japan. Streaming music service Tidal — which initially had exclusive rights to "Pablo" — isn't available here.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 20, 2016

The hushed ambience of Ex Confusion

As the summer of 2014 came to a close, Atsuhito Omori found himself in a good position. The Nara-based artist who records ambient music as Ex Confusion had released an album titled "Flow" through buzzed-about New York label Orchid Tapes. Artistically, however, things weren't clicking.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Nov 17, 2016

Sipping Champagne in the night sky; Boogie on down to sweet grooves; accommodation amenities on offer

Sipping Champagne in the night sky
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Nov 16, 2016

'Nuclear Nation' offers a long, hard look at Fukushima refugees' plight

'Nuclear Nation 2016' re-examines the situation facing Fukushima refugees forced to abandon their homes and evacuate from their hometowns after the Fukushima disaster.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Nov 12, 2016

Remembering the forgotten woman of Japanese modernism

Chika Sagawa is an anomaly in the history of Japanese poetry. Born in Hokkaido as Aiko Kawasaki in 1911, she became one of Japan's first modernist poets, refusing to use the traditional poetic forms of tanka and haiku. The nation was changing in the early 20th century — Westernizing, nationalizing,...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 8, 2016

Witch hunts follow Thai king's death

Thailand's much revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej passed away Oct. 13. His death has heightened the anxiety felt by some members of the Thai public about the country's uncertain future without the charismatic monarch. Increasingly many royalists are expressing their concerns through a series of witch-hunt...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 8, 2016

'The Universe and Art: Princess Kaguya, Leonardo Da Vinci, teamLab': Art that moves beyond our world

In the beginning, long before Netflix and Google Maps, our ancestors had only the sky, the sun, the moon and the stars to guide, dazzle and humble them. Naturally, as religions began to form, the first place to look was up, because surely that's where the deities dwell, right? And that yearning to better...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 8, 2016

Reality and imagination: a double brush

One take on the past two centuries of artistic development is as a cacophonous cache of "isms." With latter-day Japanese museum curation, impressionism regularly glistens as the golden-haired, oft-cited draw among recurrent "ism"-titled exhibitions — historical precedents, collection-building imperatives,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Nov 5, 2016

Tokyo Design Week: The professionals

Tokyo Design Week (TDW) seemed a little pared down this year, with a notable absence of a handicrafts creators' fair and only one awards exhibition. Nevertheless, it still offered the familiar lineup of products, interactive installations, architectural models, artworks and robots, as well as a new outdoor...
EDITORIALS
Nov 4, 2016

Getting a better grip on GDP data

The government is on the right track in trying to develop better methods to collect and analyze economic data.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Nov 2, 2016

Tokyo Station Gallery celebrates Ken Takakura's traditional virtues

Ken Takakura (1931-2014) was a major film star for nearly five decades. He also became a national icon for embodying traditional virtues, especially in his dozens of gang films for the Toei studio in the 1960s and '70s.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Oct 29, 2016

Leonard Wong: freedom in restraint

Shanghai designer looks to break away from producing conventional collections
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Oct 29, 2016

Mina Perhonen: a natural-born style

Be it a dress, a teacup or a chair, there is something instantly recognizable about a Mina Perhonen creation. Perhaps it's the natural motifs, exquisite textiles and unexpected color combinations. Or maybe it's the nostalgia-tinged atmosphere paired with clean-lined contemporary silhouettes.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Oct 29, 2016

Are Japanese really 'docile'?: challenging an enduring myth

A common perception abroad is that Japanese society is docile. This is partly thanks to Western writers who tried to create a single profile of the Japanese in the early to mid-20th century, such as Ruth Benedict in her 1946 book "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword." Today, this dangerous myth of consensus...
Japan Times
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Oct 28, 2016

Premier League teams remain behind rest of Europe

The Premier League is awash with money. Middle-class clubs can afford to pay fees of £30 million. Never has the top flight been so prosperous.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?