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Reader Mail
Sep 6, 2012

'DIY scene' is for true artists

Ian Martin's Aug. 30 column on Japan's live-house scene, "The customer is right, that's what's wrong," asks if most bands performing on live-house stages are mere hobbyists.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EMBASSY AVENUE
Aug 29, 2012

Philippine festival in Yokohama

The best of Philippine culture will be showcased in Yokohama during the Philippine Festival Barrio Fiesta, which is free and open to all and will be held Sept. 1 and 2 at Yamashita Park.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 27, 2012

French never blase about the American arts

One of the more instinctive knee-jerk comments in trans-Atlantic relations is that the "French don't like Americans."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 17, 2012

'Shokuzai (Penance)'

How much will they miss you when you're gone? Directors typically keep putting off the answer to that question as long as possible, working until they drop. Kiyoshi Kurosawa, whose 2008 dysfunctional family drama "Tokyo Sonata" won the Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival,...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 13, 2012

California dreamin' on such a debt-filled day

While central governments' fiscal problems plague many economies, a parallel crisis is enveloping many subnational governments around the world.
OLYMPICS / LONDON POSTCARD
Aug 12, 2012

Wishing the show could continue on indefinitely

There's a different vibe in the air as I walked around Olympic Park on Friday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Aug 12, 2012

Fading shades of pink

At its peak of popularity roughly four decades ago, the form of soft-core pornography known as pinku eiga (pink films) utilized more than 1,000 theaters to screen short, low-budget, erotic films churned out mainly by independent studios.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 9, 2012

Music industry takes baby steps toward digital content

Will it be the "carrot and stick" or just "the stick" that revives flagging digital-music sales in Japan?
COMMENTARY
Aug 8, 2012

Autopsies shine light on NFL's deadly problem

Are you ready for some American football? First, however, are you ready for some autopsies? The opening of the NFL training camps coincided with the closing of the investigation into the April suicide by gunshot of Ray Easterling, 62, an eight-season NFL safety in the 1970s.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / TRAVEL INSIDER
Aug 8, 2012

Fly to Middle-earth with official 'Hobbit' airline Air New Zealand; Aeromexico orders 100 Boeing aircraft; Cathay launches digital magazine

New Aeromexico planes
OLYMPICS / LONDON POSTCARD
Aug 5, 2012

Mexican announcers call archery with flair

The entertainment in the broadcast booth is sometimes just as exciting — maybe more so —than what's taking place on the playing field.
OLYMPICS
Aug 3, 2012

Olympic fans boosting U.K. economy

Visa, the only credit card accepted at Olympic venues and official shops, has reported that international visitors paid £445.3 million in England from July 23-29, in figures that were released to the media on Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 2, 2012

Media at the crossroads of profits and politics

On July 24, seven key News International personnel in the United Kingdom and one contracted private investigator were charged with 19 counts of conspiracy to hack mobile phone voice mails between 2000 and 2006. At long last, the allegations will be tested in court.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / TECH_JAPAN
Aug 1, 2012

Get your sick days ready for 'Dragon Quest X'

For many gamers, "Dragon Quest" is shorthand for Japanese role-playing games. The series is iconic. It's loved by players young and old.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / NOTEBOOK
Aug 1, 2012

Design a mascot for Shibuya; see a traditional water ceremony in Hibiya

CONTESTS
OLYMPICS / LONDON POSTCARD
Jul 29, 2012

Sports pub provides for a delightful night

There are — believe it or not — a few instances of non-Olympic routines on display in England.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 27, 2012

'The Dark Knight Rises'

Jean-Jacques Beineix, the director of "Diva" and "Betty Blue," once told me that "when fiction and reality collide, you have a problem." Beineix was talking about his 1992 film "IP5," in which beloved French actor Yves Montand dies from a heart attack in the film, and actually died from one just after...
Reader Mail
Jul 26, 2012

'Gun nut' got what he wanted

The Japan Times' decision to run the picture of the U.S. gunman with the July 22 front-page story about the movie theater attack was regrettable. It rewarded him for murder, giving the gun nut exactly what he wanted.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jul 22, 2012

A century of Tokyo taxis

The year 1912 is recorded in Japan both as the 45th year of Meiji Era and the first year of the Taisho Era. After a protracted illness, Emperor Mutsuhito expired, age 61, on the night of July 29 (although the official announcement came the next day). Through the remainder of the summer, the front pages...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 19, 2012

Greeen Linez debut revisits Japan's City Pop summer jams of the past

Nostalgia is nothing new in popular music. A disco revival during the 1990s (think Deee-Lite), led to a renewed fascination with the 1980s during the 2000s (think Chromeo and a synth-pop boom) and that decade even started seeing a '90s revival toward the end of it.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Jul 17, 2012

Employees should work toward a life of leisure, not live to work

Some readers' responses to Hifumi Okunuki's June 19 Labor Pains column, "In 'right-to-work' Japan, employees should also have the right to rest":
Japan Times
BASEBALL / HIT AND RUN
Jul 10, 2012

Milledge coming through for Swallows after being moved to leadoff spot

Lastings Milledge nearly put a ball into orbit against the Chunichi Dragons on a cool night at half-full (at best) Jingu Stadium last Thursday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 6, 2012

'Kueki Ressha (The Drudgery Train)'

Directors often find themselves boxed in by fan expectations. If a filmmaker who is known and loved for quirky pieces does a serious film or two, fans tend to complain he or she is sliding down a slippery slope toward dreaded respectability.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jul 1, 2012

Poor record not stopping BayStars from aggressive marketing

A professional sports team has essentially two goals: Trying to win a championship and promoting the team to attract fans.
Reader Mail
Jun 28, 2012

'Violent nonsense' over whaling

In Peter Wynn Kirby's splendid op-ed June 20, "Japan's tale of two stockpiles," he mentions that besides the problematic stockpile of plutonium, there is the similarly problematic mountainous stockpile of frozen whale meat for which there is now so little demand.

Longform

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