Search - life

 
 
LIFE / Language
Jan 31, 2006

Three is the magic number for haiku and Japan

"The easiest to hurt are these three: The eye, the elbow and the knee."
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jan 29, 2006

Beverlin back for another chance after Tommy John surgery

Call this the year of the recycled foreign player in Japanese baseball.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 29, 2006

Graphic view of Pyongyang

PYONGYANG: A Journey in North Korea, by Guy Delisle, translated by Helge Dascher. Montreal: Drawn & Quarterly, 2005, 176 pp., $19.95 (cloth). A consideration of North Korea must be, one supposes, a howl of rage, a moan of despair, or some combination, and this anger and despair must certainly be molded...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 29, 2006

With Horie's downfall, who can young Japan look up to?

The media has had a field day with Takafumi Horie, the 33-year-old founder of the communications firm Livedoor.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jan 28, 2006

The rah-rah radish, part II

On Shiraishi Island, the radish rah-rah starts in December, when you see "o-baa-chans" pushing wheelbarrows full of daikon. The esteemed radish is wheeled around -- entire radish families are given rides. In December and January, they are pulled out of gardens and transported to houses. If you look closely,...
JAPAN
Jan 27, 2006

Government moves to plug latest Horie loophole

Financial Services Minister Kaoru Yosano said Thursday the government will submit a bill to the Diet to establish a registration system for investment unions to prevent organizations with murky backgrounds from conducting questionable stock transactions.
JAPAN
Jan 27, 2006

China again top Japan trade partner

Japan's trade with China totaled 24.949 trillion yen in 2005, making it the country's biggest trading partner for the second year running despite souring bilateral relations, according to Finance Ministry data released Thursday.
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2006

China toxin spill Hokkaido-bound?

A chemical spill in a river that has already caused an ecological disaster in parts of China and Russia could eventually reach the sea and wash ashore in Japan, researchers warn.
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2006

Chanter's 'harem' of 10 in Tokyo investigated

Police said Wednesday they are investigating a 57-year-old man who is apparently living in Tokyo with 10 women in their 20s and 30s and a baby.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2006

Texts combine piano with basic English for kids

A Tokyo-based publisher of music books has debuted texts that let children combine piano study with English in an effort to help them continue playing instruments.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2006

Horie involved in buyouts, execs now say

Livedoor Co. executives, including Ryoji Miyauchi, the Internet company's No. 2 man, have reversed themselves and are now telling prosecutors that President Takafumi Horie was involved in corporate takeovers currently under scrutiny, investigative sources said Tuesday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 25, 2006

Will Horie's impact on Japan business world last?

The arrest of Takafumi Horie, 33, founder of high-flying Internet startup Livedoor Co., has shocked business leaders and prompted some soul-searching.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jan 25, 2006

Saving our environment one step at a time

Having ended 2005 with a rant (see below), let me begin 2006 on a more positive note by introducing some valuable environmental education resources.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Jan 24, 2006

DoCoMo's D902i phone, Signeo's MP3 player, Rooshopper tote bags, TEPCO's cooking heater, Stand Kamimakiki

It's the start of a new year and that often means making changes in your life. Want to be an eco-friendly shopper? Looking to make some much needed improvements in the household? Or maybe you just want to make the people around you exhibit signs of envy by sporting some new 2006 gear. Here are a few...
EDITORIALS
Jan 23, 2006

Killer's motives remain in the dark

The Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence handed down by lower courts to Tsutomu Miyazaki, 43, who was charged with kidnapping and murdering four young girls in Saitama Prefecture and Tokyo 17 years ago. The highest court concluded that the original judgment recognizing Miyazaki's legal competence...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 22, 2006

The new Japanese woman, from virginity to menopause

INSIDE AND OTHER SHORT FICTION: Japanese Women by Japanese Women, compiled by Cathy Layne, foreword by Ruth Ozeki. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 2006. 237 pp., 2,400 yen (cloth). As Ruth Ozeki writes in her foreword to this very interesting collection of new writing: "Japanese society is undergoing...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 22, 2006

When notoriety helps sell books

TOPPAMONO: Outlaw. Radical. Suspect. My Life in Japan's Underworld, by Manabu Miyazaki. Tokyo: Kotan Publishing, 2005, 460 pp., $26.95 (cloth). THE APPRENTICE by Lewis Libby. New York: St. Martin's Griffin, St. Martin edition, 2005, 265 pp., $12.95 (paper). Japan's student movement ended with a whimper...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jan 21, 2006

My dog -- the Buddhist

When it comes to matters of religion, I tend to equivocate.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jan 21, 2006

The rah-rah radish, part I

The cold winter months on Shiraishi Island are dedicated to the daikon, a long, white tapered radish that looks more like a weapon than a vegetable. The kanji for "daikon" literally mean "big root," but I suspect this is a typo for "big brute." At 7 to 12 cm in diameter and 30 to 40 cm long, the radish...
CULTURE / Music
Jan 20, 2006

Don Matsuo "O-re-ha-si-na-i-yo?"

Over a trippy, electronic beat on the title song, Don Matsuo sings "nobody knows my mind inside." The line speaks volumes about a musician who's spent the last decade, both in the Zoobombs and now as a solo artist, continually revamping his acclaimed music and songwriting process.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jan 20, 2006

Hitting the ski slopes in class

For city-dwelling snow lovers, winter can be an especially bleak time of year. Bare, gray streets feel all the colder without a dusting of white. Outdoor fun is limited -- no beach parties, no beer gardens, no leisurely walks in the park. The initial glow of the after-work pub grows dim and so does going...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 19, 2006

Director Yanagimachi explores the human condition

Mitsuo Yanagimachi is enjoying a moment in the sun after nearly a decade in the twilight: His new film "Camus Nante Shiranai (Who's Camus Anyway?)" was screened in the Director's Fortnight section at Cannes, picked up for distribution in the United States and showered with rave reviews from everywhere....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 19, 2006

With new name, Sakata Tojuro free to revive kamigata-style acting

In 1953, kabuki actor Nakamura Ganjiro III (then known as Nakamura Senjaku) scored his first major success on a Tokyo stage with his unorthodox perfomance in "Sonezaki Shinju (Double Suicide at Sonezaki)," a 1703 work by the celebrated playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon. The director, Nobuo Uno, allowed...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 19, 2006

"Stuff Happens" : So what do you think about it?

The night I got back home from the premiere of "Stuff Happens," the BBC World television news led off with a report on a further mess in Iraq -- the chief judge in the trial of deposed president Saddam Hussein had resigned following criticism of his "soft attitude" toward the defendant. I felt strongly...
SUMO
Jan 18, 2006

Asashoryu fends off tough challenge to grab share of lead

Grand champion Asashoryu defeated Kotomitsuki on Tuesday to grab a share of the lead heading into the final stretch of the 15-day meet at the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Jan 17, 2006

Kato, cartoonist who drew 'Mappira-kun,' dead at 80

Cartoonist Yoshiro Kato, known mainly for the newspaper strips he drew for decades taking a satiric look at ordinary life, died of respiratory failure Jan. 6, family members said Monday. He was 80.
JAPAN
Jan 15, 2006

Murakami ups Matsuzakaya stake

An investment fund led by financier Yoshiaki Murakami has become the top stockholder of department store operator Matsuzakaya Co. with a 5.46 percent stake, Matsuzakaya officials said Saturday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 15, 2006

Infamous English word is just an import

HONG KONG -- Apart from Thatcherism and the creation of the modern game of soccer, some cynics say that the major English contribution to modern international life has been the widespread promulgation of the dreadful "F" word.

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