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Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 26, 2014

Jazz artist Emi Meyer teams up with guitarist Seiichi Nagai for a warm, poppy album

Jazz artist Emi Meyer had plenty to be happy about in 2008. She had just self-released her debut album "Curious Creature," she was performing shows around Kyoto and major labels in Tokyo were attempting to woo her. The half-American, half-Japanese Meyer, though, says the situation wasn't so sunny.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 24, 2014

Topping the pops not as hard as it used to be

Disney's almighty Marvel Entertainment Group musters its superpowers to transform a motley collection of AM radio hits from the 1970s into the No. 1 pop music album in the U.S.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Aug 23, 2014

Cheap train to the north with Basho

On July 19, the Yamagata Shinkansen debuted a luxury ashiya (foot bath) service. A ticket from Tokyo to Yamagata City, in Tohoku Prefecture, costs around ¥11,000, but 15 minutes in the foot bath car is extra. If Matsuo Basho, Japan's most well-known poet, were to retrace his 156-day-long trek through...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Aug 23, 2014

Wena Poon on life and death in occupied Kyoto

As a child living in a tiny apartment in Singapore, Wena Poon listened to radio plays broadcast in a variety of languages and watched TV — everything from Chinese sword-fighting operas to popular American series such as "M*A*S*H." "There was nowhere to go outside," Poon says, "so I just sat around....
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Aug 22, 2014

Comiket grows stronger each year

Held twice a year and famous among otaku (fanboys and fangirls) the world over, Comiket, short for Comic Market, held its 86th event Aug. 15-17 at Tokyo Big Sight in Odaiba. With more than 550,000 people reportedly attending the event over the three days, Comiket has grown significantly since its early...
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Aug 22, 2014

Haruki Murakami's Cool Japan

I was in New York last week to host a launch event for the English translation of Haruki Murakami's latest novel, "Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage." My good friend and Murakami translator Ted Goossen, professor at York University in Toronto, joined me, as did pianist Eunbi Kim, whose...
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 22, 2014

How WWII could have ended

A Soviet attack on Japan proper leading to the destruction of the Emperor system and the establishment of a communist government frightened Japan's militarists even more than the atomic bombings at the end of World War II.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 21, 2014

'Playing with Sound: Yuri Suzuki'

All of designer-artist Yuri Suzuki's works involve an element of play and focus on our relationship with sound, noises, music and electronics. As his first major solo exhibition in Japan, "Playing with Sound" is an interactive show that offers visitors unusual aural experiences and introduces them to...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 18, 2014

Nonprofit group aims to help female students meet their potential

Tokyo-based nonprofit organization Hanalabs is offering female college students in Japan a chance to advance their careers by devising solutions to social problems affecting communities in need of revitalization.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Aug 16, 2014

Chasing the ghost of Musashi in Kyushu

In the spring of 1645 a man lay dying in Kumamoto, on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu. He sensed that his time was near, asked for someone to help him into a seated position and tucked his short sword into his belt. This way he could greet death with dignity. The dying man was the celebrated swordsman...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Aug 16, 2014

Punk author Kou Machida on his offbeat samurai story

You wouldn't expect a punk musician to write decent novels, any more than you'd expect a boxer to be good at darning. The talents prized by the former vocation — restlessness, insouciance, hard-wired disregard for authority — don't lend themselves to the rigors of the author's life: all those long,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 14, 2014

The bright sparks of photography

Photography, because it is both familiar and accessible, is an excellent medium for young people to use for self-expression. With this as a guiding principle, the Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts (K*MoPA) in Yamanashi Prefecture has sought since its founding in 1995 to contribute to society by purchasing...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 14, 2014

'National Treasures of the Munakata Shrine'

The location of the city of Munakata, on the coast of northern Kyushu and close to Oshima and Okinoshima islands, helped it become a historical cultural hub that welcomed incoming crafts shipped from Korea, China and Persia.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 14, 2014

'Imari: Japanese Porcelain for European Palaces'

Japan first began producing porcelain during the early 17th century in Hizen Province, now the city of Arita in Saga Prefecture. Techniques from Korea were used with aesthetics influenced by Chinese Jingdezhen porcelain, a popular style at that time. Since many of the products were created for export...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 13, 2014

Barren rocks fuel South Korean passions in islet spat with Japan

Holding a notepad full of questions, 15-year-old Ko Yu-jeong rushes up to a South Korean diplomat after his speech, asking how she can better argue the case for her country's control of a set of islets also claimed by Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 12, 2014

Review: File-Under Records 12th Anniversary Party at Huck Finn

Mere seconds after Melt-Banana started into its set, I get kicked in the face and am left with a busted nose. Still, I enjoyed the show.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Aug 7, 2014

Aomori warns foreign players about fraudulent agents

Despite having a collection of 80-plus import players for all recent seasons and the fact that 30 foreign-born head coaches, including one (Howie Landa) who never coached in the preseason or regular season, have been hired since the league's first game was played in 2005, there's no information on the...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHILDREN LEFT BEHIND
Aug 7, 2014

Foster parent shortage takes growing toll on children

Veteran foster parent Mika Hobbs was surprisingly frank when she confessed how nerve-racking her job can be.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 7, 2014

'Tanoshimu Ajiwau: Lyricism of Modern Japanese Paintings'

The Uemura family's contribution to Japanese-style painting spans three generations of talented and important artists — Uemura Shoen (1875-1949), her son Shoko (1902-2001) and her grandson Atsushi (1933-). Known for its collection of Japanese-style paintings by all three, the Shouhaku Art Museum's...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 7, 2014

'20th Anniversary Commemorative Exhibition: Basically. Forever'

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts, which is known for its support of young photographers, the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography is presenting a number of works from the Yamanashi Prefecture museum's collection.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 6, 2014

Ebola mortality rate expected to rise as outbreak runs its deadly course

The death rate so far in the world's worst outbreak of Ebola is not as extreme as recorded in the past, but experts expect it to prove no less virulent in the end, once more victims succumb and the grim data are tallied up.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 4, 2014

Most shared Japan Times stories from July

In case you missed them, here are the most shared stories from The Japan Times for July 2014. The top 10 most shared new stories Welfare ruling stuns foreigners The landmark decision by the Supreme Court that permanent foreign residents of Japan are not entitled to welfare benefits will discourage more...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 3, 2014

Bible left in North Korean sailor's club triggered U.S. tourist's arrest

American tourist Jeffrey Fowle was arrested by North Korean authorities for leaving a Bible under a bin in the toilet at a club for foreign sailors, a source familiar with Fowle's case said.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 31, 2014

'Time and the Painting: 24 Episodes'

The Bridgestone Museum of Art has in its collection close to 160 paintings related to the concept of "time."
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Jul 31, 2014

Okura charity art exhibition turns 20; 'anti-aging' Swiss skin treatments; mango mania

In commemoration of the 20th anniversary of its annual summer charity art exhibition this year, the Hotel Okura Tokyo will hold a special exhibition 'The Pursuit of Japanese Beauty,' in the hotel's Ascot Hall on the second basement level of the South Wing, from Aug. 8 to 31.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 31, 2014

Fourth female suicide bomber strikes Kano, slaying six

Fourth female suicide bomber strikes Nigeria's Kano, slaying six
Japan Times
Events / Events In Tokyo
Jul 29, 2014

Patterns of fun at the National Museum of Modern Art

Whether lines, circles, squares, triangles or other shapes, in our daily lives, we are constantly surrounded by patterns and designs.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NAGOYA RESTAURANTS
Jul 29, 2014

Organic Cafe Polan no Hiroba: Vegetarian and vegan fare in Nagoya

Finding a decent vegetarian meal in Nagoya can be a tough task in and of itself, so finding an almost-all-veggie venue that is also vegan-friendly is a very rare treat indeed.

Longform

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