Search - entertainment

 
 
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 15, 2013

'White House Down'

Hollywood movies are all starting to feel the same these days, but in some cases almost literally. Just check out "White House Down," a "Die Hard"-in-D.C. popcorn flick that is almost exactly the same movie as "Olympus Has Fallen," which was released earlier this summer. Great minds think alike, as...
EDITORIALS
Aug 10, 2013

Why Mr. Silver is golden

American guru of statistical analytics Nate Silver, a winner in predicting political race outcomes, has removed his star from The New York Times to move to ESPN.
Reader Mail
Aug 10, 2013

Real contribution of U.S. bases

There are many problems with Yoshio Shimoji's Aug. 1 letter, "Don't cry for Okinawa's economy." Suffice it to say that the figures that Shimoji cites from "an Okinawa Prefectural Government document" grossly underestimate the economic contribution of the U.S. military bases. Indeed, based on my preliminary...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Aug 9, 2013

Film helps heal A-bombing, and family, wounds

In a poignant scene in the award-winning 2010 documentary "Atomic Mom," filmmaker M.T. Silvia tells the story of Sadako Sasaki, a Hiroshima atomic bombing victim, as she presents 1,000 paper cranes to Silvia's mother, Pauline, a former U.S. Navy biologist involved in radiation testing on animals in the...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 4, 2013

The latest gyaru-go: The top 10 words for gals on the go

The other day, I overheard two gyaru (ギャル, gals, i.e., fashion-conscious girls) talking, but I had no idea what they were saying.
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Aug 3, 2013

Is new yakuza journal good news for Japan?

If you're a well-connected Japanese gangster, you now have your own newspaper to keep you abreast of underworld life. Another perk of the job.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 28, 2013

World watches trans-Atlantic free trade talks

The world watches as negotiations commence between the U.S. and the European Union on potentially the largest regional free trade accord in history.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 27, 2013

NHK drama dives into the 'idea' of idols in rural Japan

When it was announced last year that entertainment Renaissance man Kankuro Kudo would write the script for NHK's spring-summer 2013 "TV novel," a few people probably wondered how the iconoclastic writer-director-actor would respond to the broadcaster's narrative strictures. In a recent interview with...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Jul 25, 2013

Ishizaki planning to continue playing career in Europe

Contrary to some speculative chatter in recent days that guard Takumi Ishizaki is on the verge of retirement, the word out of Germany is that the Fukui Prefecture native has his sights set on extending his overseas career.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 25, 2013

Fox loses second ad-skipping battle

A U.S. federal court decision Wednesday gave fresh support to a new technology that helps consumers avoid a basic irritant of television viewing — the commercial.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / TRAVEL INSIDER
Jul 23, 2013

HKG-TYO premium economy on Cathay; SAS direct to Bergen campaign; China Airlines JCB card

Cathay premium offer
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 21, 2013

'Motor City Madman' rocks political world

On the final morning of the 2013 National Rifle Association annual convention in May, the day was bright, the mood was festive and Ted Nugent was neither dead nor in jail.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jul 20, 2013

Theaters of war and peace in Kumamoto

The pamphlet tells me this is a "castle" — but the structure in front of me defies that description. Granted, my frame of reference is greatly informed by the impressive edifices of Kumamoto, Himeji and Matsumoto that date back to the gory Sengoku (Warring States) Period spanning some 150 years from...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 17, 2013

Slow Beach "Lover Lover"

Slow Beach is somewhat of a supergroup in Tokyo's indie-rock scene. The group finds Dai Ogasawara, founder of twee-leaning netlabel Ano(t)raks, hooking up with producer Kai Takahashi, who is responsible for some of the most interesting electronic compositions of the year, including a chilled-out remix...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / CHILD'S PLAY
Jul 16, 2013

Aquariums offer summer escape

This past Monday was Marine Day in Japan. Aside from creating a much-appreciated three-day weekend, the role of the holiday is to encourage people to reflect on the integral role the ocean plays in Japan's history. So, what better time to visit an aquarium? Japan has plenty of places to ogle fish, and...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jul 15, 2013

Trolls or media watchdogs?: Japan's foreign-born defenders

Have the foreign media got it in for Japan? Do they unduly focus on, and sensationalize, Fukushima radiation leaks, alleged racial intolerance and the self-aggrandizing policy pronouncements of the reborn Liberal Democratic Party?
WORLD / FOCUS
Jul 14, 2013

Media outlets rethink news embargo ethics

It's said that the news never stops. But often, its timing is stage-managed.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jul 12, 2013

Okinawan musician, club owner keeps folk traditions going strong

The back streets of Naha were dark, making it more difficult to find Shima-Umui, a music club run by Okinawan folk singer Misako Oshiro. The torpid air and smell of papaya rinds from a nearby bin spoke of the subtropics. A small sign, barely visible from the street, directed customers to the basement...
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Jul 9, 2013

Can METI's ¥50 billion fund unfreeze 'Cool Japan'?

Naysaying is almost always risk-free, especially if you do it online. If you're a cynic, you're usually right, and if you're wrong, you can just delete those errant tweets and posts and join the party.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 4, 2013

'New' Royal Ballet spans the frontiers of dance

For the first time in three years, one of the world's most esteemed ballet companies is bringing its talent to one of the world's most appreciative audiences, as part of a tour that explores the parameters of dance.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 4, 2013

'Lawless (Yokubo no Virginia)'

The relationship between singer Nick Cave and filmmaker John Hillcoat has been a fruitful one over the years; while Hillcoat has done a lot of music-video work for Cave's gothic-blues group The Bad Seeds, Cave has also worked on Hillcoat's feature films, providing music for "The Road" (2009) as well...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 4, 2013

Girl-group fans help push Japan music sales past U.S.

Ritsuhiko Tajima has about 100 CDs by his favorite band, girl group AKB48, many of them copies of the same disc.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / CHILD'S PLAY
Jul 3, 2013

Bubbles, music and paint as babies learn to create

For a moment, I wonder if I've accidentally strayed onto the set of a children's TV programme. Center stage are three grown men in matching T-shirts singing at the top of their voices in a Technicolor-bright toy-filled room more dazzling than Joseph's dreamcoat.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / NOTEBOOK
Jul 3, 2013

Kumamon visits Paris; Japanese Red Cross summer camps

EVENTS
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 27, 2013

Gifu man, 71, sues NHK for distress over its excess use of foreign words

A Gifu Prefecture man is suing NHK for mental distress allegedly caused by the broadcaster's excessive use of foreign words.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 25, 2013

Day traders creating, exploiting volatility

Sitting before a cluster of computer screens in an apartment with the drapes shut, it took Naoki Murakami seconds to make $3,500 betting $1 million that Tokyo Electric Power Co. shares would fall a fraction of a percent.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 25, 2013

Unpaid overtime excesses hit young

Some companies are compelling their younger employees to work more than 100 hours of uncompensated overtime a month to maximize their profits.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 24, 2013

Film copyright protections stymie world treaty on books for the blind

Hundreds of negotiators from around the world have descended on Morocco over the past week to finalize a treaty aimed at ensuring that millions of blind and vision-impaired people can get books in accessible formats such as audio, Braille and large print.
EDITORIALS
Jun 23, 2013

All aboard the luxury train

With Japan's train system the envy of the world, three railway companies will offer luxury trains to cruise Japan in a style reminiscent of the Gilded Age.

Longform

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