Search - life

 
 
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Oct 11, 2015

Hoodie Monks mix beats with their Buddhism

The Hoodie Monks bring together two cultures that might at first seem like unlikely partners: Buddhism and hip-hop.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues
Oct 1, 2015

Neither here nor there: Stretched between Nigeria and Japan, family ties fray

This is the last of a two-part series on Japanese-Nigerian families torn between Asia and Africa. The first part can be found here.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 1, 2015

Former child soldier and refugee Ger Duany finds a future in Hollywood

Ger Duany was only 13 years old when he became a child soldier in his home country of what is now South Sudan. Spending his childhood living in constant fear of being killed, he did what he had to — he picked up a gun and shot back, the only way to survive in a war.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 26, 2015

Nation's youth are attempting to establish a new political norm

"Tell me what democracy looks like!"
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Sep 12, 2015

Broncos, family pay tribute to Uhle

Since the bj-league's inception in 2005, the Saitama Broncos have never been a model franchise.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Sep 5, 2015

Transcending issues on the summit of Mount Shichimen

There are times in life when you need a monk. That's when you head out to Yamanashi Prefecture and climb up the sacred Mount Shichimen — to find Keishin-in Temple and get a Buddhist perspective on all things human, including love.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Aug 10, 2015

Rubio defends stance against abortion under all circumstances, called 'out of step'

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio on Sunday defended his stance against abortion without exceptions for rape or when a mother's life was in danger that he was asked about during a debate among Republican presidential candidates on Thursday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 8, 2015

Mass murder and Sion Sono

A disturbed individual kills, and the media searches for reasons why. Sometimes, the killer obligingly cites a pop culture phenomenon as inspiration. Mark David Chapman, the man who shot John Lennon, saw himself as the living embodiment of Holden Caulfield, the hero of J.D. Salinger's "The Catcher in...
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jun 29, 2015

For many black Americans, Confederate flag debate merely a distraction

As calls grow to remove the Confederate flag from public spaces across America's South, Vanessa White says she questions whether that would mark real progress for black Americans like her.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 24, 2015

'Selma' director Ava DuVernay unveils women activists of civil rights era

A filmmaker needs more than directing skills to make it in the big league, and an activist needs more than a political agenda to change the world. Ava DuVernay brings this point home in "Selma," the first major motion picture portrayal of Martin Luther King Jr.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Jun 17, 2015

A mother's ordeal, passed down as an anti-war lesson

A daughter stays true to the anti-war message left in her mother's harrowing account of the Battle of Okinawa.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 10, 2015

Surviving flamboyantly in a super-aged society

The older you get, the more you need to live in the city. Simone de Beauvoir once said that to her biographer, and it's probably true. As an iconic presence on the streets of Paris until her death in 1986, de Beauvoir showed that city living was one of the secrets to aging well and living life to the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 27, 2015

Capturing the grief and confusion of an immigrant Asian mother

Asian mothers always seem to overdo it — both in real life and in cinema.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
May 23, 2015

Shifting the scales of juvenile justice

In light of 13-year-old Ryota Uemura's recent murder in Kawasaki, the country is once again split over whether or not to revise the law governing crimes committed by minors.
Japan Times
JAPAN / GENERATIONAL CHANGE
May 3, 2015

'Omotenashi' a facade, wheelchair-bound consultant says

Unlike other students who enjoyed full mobility and could easily find jobs as convenience store clerks or waiters, the choices available to Toshiya Kakiuchi, 26, were limited as he sought to finance his studies at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues
Apr 29, 2015

A child rape at St. Mary's school in Tokyo, then a 50-year wait for closure

My dear children, whom Jesus, our Saviour, has loved so much, whom he bends down to embrace and bless, come to us, stay with us. We will be the guardian angels of your innocence.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 28, 2015

Orpheus descends on Japan

Of all U.S. playwright Tennessee Williams's many major works — including "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "The Glass Menagerie" — "Orpheus Descending," which opens in Tokyo next week with a star-studded Japanese cast and multi-award-winning English director Phillip Breen at the helm, is among those...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Apr 26, 2015

'Zero Overtime Bill' is the thin end of the wedge for workers' rights

Although you may feel this amendment to the Labor Standards Law has nothing to do with you, the net will be cast wider and before you know it we will all be caught up in it.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Apr 25, 2015

Olympian Bruce Jenner makes transgender history by identifying as a woman

Olympic gold medalist and reality TV star Bruce Jenner said on Friday that he identifies as a woman, becoming the highest-profile American to come out as transgender.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Mar 23, 2015

Spare a thought for the Western men trapped in Japan

Japan can be the best place in the world for some, but for others it can be a trap — especially for Western men.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Mar 8, 2015

Labor of love left to wither and die in Fukushima

Forced to abandon his life's work, the 72-year-old creator of a renowned rose garden in Fukushima wants Tepco to compensate him and allow him to start over.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / JAPAN TIMES BLOGROLL
Feb 23, 2015

Sharla in Japan

Sharla of Sharla in Japan is a 29-year-old, Canadian-born, Tokyo-based “YouTuber” (“That's what they call it here,” she says). With over 200,000 subscribers to her channel, she documents her life.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Feb 20, 2015

Chicken one day doesn't mean feathers on the next

Hisako and Ryoichi Maeda (66 and 67) are the proprietors of Torisue, a tiny take-out-only yakitori shop in the Bontan area of Tokyo's Koto Ward, just a short walk from Monzen-Nakacho Station. Torisue is famous as a B-kyu (B-grade) gourmet favorite and fans from near and far will line up outside on Kiyosumidori...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 18, 2015

The mysterious attraction of an aging, domineering chauvinist

Love never was and never will be logical. Your 20-year-old daughter rolls her eyes at May-December romances in the movies — until she gets engaged to a 50-year-old guy. And you will declaim loud and long against her choice, until you start dating a 20-year-old yourself. I am speaking in a general way,...
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS / TYSON-DOUGLAS SHOCKER REVISITED
Feb 10, 2015

Douglas reflects on Tyson fight 25 years later

The youngest heavyweight champion in history, making his 10th title defense, entered the fight with a 37-0 record and had never been knocked down during his pro career; Douglas was the 42-1 underdog. Tyson's reign ended 28 minutes, 22 seconds into the fight, at precisely 1:22 into the 10th round.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 21, 2015

Avignon chief sees culture and politics sharing the stage

"The Avignon Festival is not only about shows and theater, but also about thinking, searching and seeking to understand the world and its politics — and offering an opportunity for three weeks' intellectual life experience every year," Olivier Py, the event's artistic director, declared with passion...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
Jan 14, 2015

African-American community gets a voice in Tokyo

The African American Youth Travel Program NPO, which organized a recent demonstration in Tokyo in response to the Ferguson case, brings black U.S. youths to Japan to broaden their horizons.

Longform

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