Search - entertainment

 
 
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
May 23, 2015

The changing face of Tokyo's 'red-light' district

"How would I describe Kabukicho? Frankly, I'm not sure," popular author Hirokatsu Azuma was quoted as saying in the now-defunct monthly Gendai magazine back in January 1999. "If you say it's a scary place, you could be right; and if you say it's a place where you can have fun, well, that's right too."...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 21, 2015

Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia searches for that 1-in-5,000 movie

Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia director Seigo Tono has been with the event since its second edition in 2000, when it was called the American Short Shorts Film Festival and showed only U.S. films. Since then it has evolved into what Tono describes as "a global event, featuring cutting-edge shorts from...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
May 19, 2015

U.S. court: YouTube can show 'Innocence of Muslims' film despite complaint by actress, outrage

Google Inc. should not have to remove an anti-Islamic film from its YouTube website because a woman complained that she was duped into performing in the film that depicted the Prophet Muhammad as a pedophile, a U.S. appeals court ruled on Monday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
May 17, 2015

Black filmmakers 'find their edge' in Japan

This month's green-tinged Black Eye focuses on black filmmakers in Tokyo — a group of brothers forging their dreams into reality, getting it done here in the Land of the Rising Sun.
COMMENTARY / World
May 17, 2015

A richer Asia will be poorer without elephants

Asia's indigenous animals are increasingly under threat, none more so than the iconic Southeast Asian elephant.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: TECH
May 16, 2015

Gadgets that let you see into the future

Don't let this gadget go down the toilet
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
May 16, 2015

Japan's runners need a change of pace

In "The Way of the Runner," Adharanand Finn has written an entertaining account of Japan's obsession with long-distance running (and training). However, the problem is when he veers off the running track into the land of cliche. Consider this: Finn writes that bread only comes in packets of three slices,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
May 14, 2015

Maya Inoue makes a play to refine her father's theatrical legacy

Hisashi Inoue's death at the age of 75 on April 9, 2010, at his home in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, was a major event in the postwar Japanese theater world. It moved many dramatists to stage works by the great author and playwright who combined comedy and searing social and political commentary into...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
May 11, 2015

Tokyo ramps up 'English village' plan as 2020 approaches

As Tokyo gears up to host the 2020 Olympic Games, demands for action are growing to overcome Japan's notorious English-speaking phobia.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 9, 2015

Sound waves: the music of Okinawa

How is it possible that a people who have experienced poverty, famine and discrimination, outlasted efforts at cultural annihilation and suffered the indignities of occupation can manage to celebrate life in song and dance with a passion and joy that belies everyday reality?
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / CHILD'S PLAY
May 9, 2015

If the kids get bored, let them bake cake

The oven is pre-heating, the flour mix is being stirred, the cupcake holders are laid out and a team of diminutive chefs, in white hats and flowered smocks, are running amok.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
May 9, 2015

Micaela Braithwaite: 'Follow your intuition and it will lead you to the things you love'

YouTuber on sticky rice, the Japanese work ethic and being the 'mayor' of a ward in Fukuoka.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 7, 2015

Korean pop band Bigbang back with new single after three years

South Korean boy band Bigbang is back on the music scene after a three-year hiatus, with a new single delving into the stresses of daily life.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 7, 2015

Australia's Sex Party stripped of official registration

The Australian Sex Party, a tiny party known for its salacious name and election-day antics, said on Thursday that it had been deregistered after the country's election watchdog ruled it did not have enough activists.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / They're Playing Our Song
May 3, 2015

The tune that Japan wanted after the war

Michiko Namiki (1921-2001) was a fresh face in the Japanese entertainment industry when World War II came to an end. She had lost her father and brother during the fighting, her mother in the Tokyo bombings and her first love was killed on the front lines. Her story wasn't dissimilar to that of many...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / EXPO MILANO 2015
May 3, 2015

Take advantage of the opportunity to step out of Milan and enjoy all that Italy has to offer

Ancient caves housed people 9,000 years ago
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 30, 2015

Model-turned-actress Tao Okamoto gets ready for her closeup after landing roles in 'Hannibal' and 'Batman v Superman'

From renowned photographers and major fashion labels to famous Hollywood directors; it seems everyone wants a piece of Tao Okamoto these days. The model-turned-actress, who made her big-screen debut in the blockbuster "Wolverine" two years ago, is set to appear in the third season of the American TV...
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 30, 2015

Investors seek out risky U.S. loans in throwback to pre-crisis days

Japanese investors are plowing back into the same types of risky U.S. corporate-loan investments that caused them losses during the 2008 financial crisis.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 27, 2015

Unified elections help diversify representation in Tokyo

Liberal Democratic Party-backed candidates lose three of five key mayoral races in the final wave of unified elections as voter turnout sinks to another record low.
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
CULTURE / Music
Apr 24, 2015

Awesome City joins a major club

Bassist Takumi Matsuzaka had a clear plan in mind when he launched his band, Awesome City Club, in early 2013.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Apr 24, 2015

Three more women say Bill Cosby drugged, sexually assaulted them

Three more women on Thursday accused Bill Cosby of sexually abusing them decades ago. Janice Baker Kinney, Marcella Tate and Autumn Burns said at a press conference hosted by celebrity attorney Gloria Allred that Cosby, 77, drugged and sexually assaulted them in separate incidents between 1970 and 1982....
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS / MAN ABOUT SPORTS
Apr 21, 2015

Decline of NCAA men's hoops result of poor fundamentals

"Speaking as a fan, I think (men's college basketball) is a joke."
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 21, 2015

How altruism makes the world a better place

Studies show that people who are generous are typically happier and more satisfied with their lives than those who do not give.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 21, 2015

Diversity saved the Kano school

Kyoto National Museum's "Kano Painters of the Momoyama Period: Eitoku's Legacy" is the follow up exhibition to the 2007 "Kano Eitoku, Momoyama Painter Extraordinaire" and focuses on Eitoku's successors who produced work during the period 1596-1615.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 20, 2015

Sony unveils flagship Xperia Z4 smartphone in Japan

Sony Corp. unveiled the latest version of its flagship smartphone on Monday, with the product set to debut in Japan this summer.

Longform

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