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JAPAN / LIVING IN LUXURY
Jul 30, 2010

Modern era gentry's architectural gems

This is the first in a biweekly series appearing Fridays (Saturdays in some areas) that looks at photos and background stories of historic, architecturally significant mansions once owned by some of the wealthiest families in Japan.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jun 26, 2010

Big birds have big fun

With the evening breeze, the water laps against the heron's legs
JAPAN / PROMOTING TOURISM FROM CHINA
Jun 17, 2010

Tapping a golden market

The Chinese tourists had just one hour to shop — not a lot of time when you consider they were at the glitzy VenusFort mall in Tokyo's fashionable Odaiba waterfront district.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 6, 2010

Chaos will reign if hidden Buddhas die

"Hidden Buddhas," or hibutsu, are Buddhist statues that are kept out of sight, though only a few are kept so permanently. Most are put on display for worshippers at regular intervals: once or twice a year, once every several years, once every 33 or 66 years.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Feb 28, 2010

Bulking up in Bush Warbler Valley

I'd like to improve my grip on sumo wrestling, so when a friend invites me to watch the big boys tussle through a morning practice, I jump at the chance. I get off at Uguisudani (Bush Warbler Valley) Station on the Yamanote Line, where the station-identity jingle is of this warbler's mellifluous chortle...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 27, 2010

Teaching visitors traditional ways

Upon meeting Michi Ogawa, who is deftly aligning the collar of a kimono that she has tucked around her guest, a few adjectives might come to mind, like "graceful" and "soft-spoken," but "feminist" or "outspoken" probably wouldn't be among them. But speak with her about her concerns and some of your preconceptions...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Feb 14, 2010

Traditional Tokyo explored in mystery and quiz show; CM of the week: Docomo-Fujitsu

Traditional Tokyo gets the two-hour mystery treatment in "Yorozuya Chobei no Sumidagawa Jiken Fairu Sono Ni" (Chobei Yorozuya's Sumidagawa Incident File No. 2; TBS, Mon., 9 p.m.). The hero, Chobei Yorozuya (Kotaro Satomi), is a pawn shop owner in Tokyo's Asakusa district who has quit the police force...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 8, 2010

A feast for film buffs

The Japanese film industry, at least the top end where Toho and its media partners dwell, is looking forward to a prosperous 2010, with a lineup of crowd-pleasers that should thump the Hollywood competition.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 28, 2009

Be careful not to bend your gender in Japanese

One of the biggest omissions in Japanese textbooks, classes and one-on-one lessons is gendered language. Ignore it and at some point you will wind up sounding like a little Japanese girl — or a guy — when you didn't intend too.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 28, 2009

Be careful not to bend your gender in Japanese

One of the biggest omissions in Japanese textbooks, classes and one-on-one lessons is gendered language. Ignore it and at some point you will wind up sounding like a little Japanese girl — or a guy — when you didn't intend too.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 23, 2009

'Shizumanu Taiyo'

"I am big. It's the pictures that got small," Gloria Swanson declaimed in "Sunset Boulevard." In the Japan film industry, though, the pictures are getting bigger — gargantuan, in fact. Examples include the "Death Note" duology, the "20-seiki Shonen" ("20th Century Boys") trilogy, and "Ai no Mukidashi"...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Oct 16, 2009

Tea gets Grand treatment

This year's Tokyo Grand Tea Ceremony provides an opportunity for anyone to experience Japan's renowned tea culture.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Oct 6, 2009

Re: Mr. James, gaijin clown

Following are a selection of readers' responses to last month's Just Be Cause column by Debito Arudou, headlined "Meet Mr. James, gaijin clown":
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 2, 2009

Shin hanga bringing ukiyo-e back to life

The great print works of ukiyo-e, by the likes of Hokusai, Hiroshige, and Utamaro, became fine art almost by accident. Originally mass produced for the popular market, their status was roughly equivalent to that of illustrated calendars and posters of pop stars today. But, ironically, the fact that they...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 11, 2009

Breaking fairy-tale conventions of beauty

Against the tradition of bijinga (beautiful women pictures) that runs through Japanese art, there is an antithetical stream that draws attention to a grotesque and timeworn femininity. In noh plays, the celebrated early 9th-century beauty of the Heian Era, Ono no Komachi, is sometimes portrayed after...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Aug 16, 2009

Striking it rich on the Izu Peninsula

Gold may be heavier than water, but all that's rattling around the bottom of my panning bowl are lots of multicolored pebbles.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jul 17, 2009

Indie film fans can graze at The Pink Cow

More than a century ago in the basement of the Grand Cafe in Paris, pioneer filmmakers Auguste and Louis Lumiere dazzled audiences with one of the world's first public viewings of a motion picture.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jul 3, 2009

A new way of experiencing Japan's old city

In a city that rightly boasts of its numerous monuments to its glorious and illustrious past, the Kaleidoscope Museum of Kyoto provides a counterpoint to the ancient capital's architectural and religious treasures.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 24, 2009

Was Japan's first Western screen star shameful to his homeland?

The Japanese have a term for certain types of movies made outside the country featuring Japanese actors who play Japanese characters. It is kokujoku eiga. Eiga means "movies," and kokujoku, derived from the words for "country" and "insult," means "disgrace" or "denigration." In other words, kokujoku...
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 23, 2009

Housewives' essays tell other story of Japan

"Manga," "anime," kabuki, geisha — these are some of the images of Japanese culture that Westerners are most familiar with. But one writers' club is seeking to shift the spotlight with their recently published English-language book about everyday life in Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / FREEWHEELIN' ACROSS JAPAN
Mar 22, 2009

A rose among roots on Awajishima

I'm bent over double, throwing up water I've just drunk. I can't keep anything down.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Mar 15, 2009

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now Is hung with bloom along the bough

It's sakura (cherry blossom) time again, and I've got three special spots to recommend beneath the pale, poetic petals in Tokyo. One will present you with a single starlit beauty, another will have you rolling around in an expansive venue of varied cherries, or if the spirit moves you there's a climb...
LIFE / Travel
Mar 15, 2009

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now Is hung with bloom along the bough

It's sakura (cherry blossom) time again, and I've got three special spots to recommend beneath the pale, poetic petals in Tokyo. One will present you with a single starlit beauty, another will have you rolling around in an expansive venue of varied cherries, or if the spirit moves you there's a climb...
Reader Mail
Feb 19, 2009

Kyoto got what it asked for

Regarding the Jan. 13 article "Respect 'maiko' privacy, don't act like paparazzi, Kyoto tells tourists": All of Kyoto has aggressively promoted tourism to the international community. The city.kyoto.jp Web site provides a pamphlet that dedicates two pages to the maiko (apprentice geisha), the same amount...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2009

Choked with visitors, Kyoto takes slow road toward eco-tourism

The ancient capital of Kyoto conjures up many images among international tourists, ranging from quiet rock gardens and temples to performing geisha.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Feb 1, 2009

Chizu Saeki: Beauty's more than skin deep

Skincare guru Chizu Saeki's expertise is such that her abilities have been compared to those of a fortuneteller. She can, for example, determine people's physical and mental health condition, the key experiences that have influenced them, and even their outlook on life, merely by running her fingers...
CULTURE / Books
Jan 18, 2009

In love with China: from forbidden fruits to futile fantasies

CHINA DREAMS by Sid Smith. London: Picador, 2008, 183 pp., £7.99 (paper)

Longform

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