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Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jul 20, 2013

Satirist's hilarious stories tenderly feature the deluded, feckless

These are golden times for American satirists. After years of relentless brilliance, George Saunders finally seems to have crossed into the mainstream with his absurdist short-story collection "Tenth of December." Now Sam Lipsyte seems to be making his move, backing up his smart and very funny 2010 novel...
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
CULTURE / Art
Jul 17, 2013

'The Mediterranean World: The Collections from the Louvre'

In a special exhibition, the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum is showcasing masterpieces of Mediterranean art from all eight curatorial departments of the Louvre. Some 200 works from the collection of the world-famous museum in Paris will be on display, including items from ancient Greece and Rome, spanning...
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...
LIFE / Digital / JAPAN WEB WATCH
Jul 16, 2013

Japanese adults spend crazy money on cellphone games

Over the last decade, people's behavior during their daily train ride has completely changed. In the past, Japanese were known to be avid readers of paperbacks (bunko) and manga magazines, and would do so even on Tokyo's notoriously crowded trains. Now, however, it is rare to spot someone on the train...
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...
WORLD
Jul 12, 2013

Microsoft revamps corporate structure

Microsoft announced a sweeping corporate reorganization Thursday that attempts to pull the firm into a better position to compete more fiercely with Apple and Google.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 10, 2013

Surveying the city from a different viewpoint

Beside Stephan Balkenhol's sculpture "Big Head with Three Part Relief" a note reads, "Nothing here is as it should be." This figureless "head" set against a black void represents "Mr. Everyman," that common figure, detached from his surround and considering his place in the world.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 10, 2013

'Why Not Live for Art? II: 9 Collectors Reveal Their Treasures'

First held in 2004, this exhibition is the second by Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery to present works owned by individual collectors. In the past 10 years, art collecting has become more common and the network between collectors has expanded. As the gallery revisits the world of private acquisitions, it...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 10, 2013

'Play'

This exhibition focuses on recreation in ancient Japan. More than 100 artifacts from the Kyoto National Museum's collection are being displayed, categorized under nine types of "play," such as festivals, indoor games, children's toys, and song and dance. Artifacts include toys and board games that once...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 9, 2013

Leaks play a critical role in health of democracies

How can a democracy determine whether there should be government surveillance of the kind that the NSA is conducting if it has no idea that such programs exist
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jul 8, 2013

Driven by regret over neighbor's death, first-time filmmaker declares war on suicide

Rene Duignan is passionate about life — so much so that he made an award-winning film about it. Yet Duignan, 42, is not a professional filmmaker; he's an Irish economist working for the European Union delegation to Japan. The documentary, titled "Saving 10,000 — Winning a War on Suicide in Japan,"...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 8, 2013

Propaganda: artifice by design

The word "propaganda" derives its modern use from the name of a 17th-century Roman Catholic institution, the Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide, or Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith. Established during the Thirty Years War (1618-1648, a sectarian conflict that devastated Europe following...
Reader Mail
Jul 6, 2013

Dumbing down 'The Road'

Regarding the June 25 article "Finally, 'The Last of Us' [video game] is here": How could anyone compare a simple-minded video game to the literary genius of Cormac McCarthy and his Pulitzer Prize winning novel "The Road"?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 3, 2013

'Yokai: Demons, Folklore Creatures and GeGeGe no Kitaro'

In collaboration with broadcasters NHK, the Mitsui Memorial Museum continues its annual summer exhibition series with an exploration of the history of the ghosts and demons of Japanese folklore: the yokai. Through an extensive collection of noh masks, handscrolls, ukiyo-e (woodblock prints) and more,...
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.
EDITORIALS
Jul 2, 2013

Services for depopulated areas

As the population in Japan's countryside rapidly declines, an advisory body to the prime minister proposes intercity cooperation to maintain public services.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jun 30, 2013

Delving into Ethiopia's ancient past and present

I'm edging my way through a long tunnel in pitch darkness, feeling for the roof so I don't hit my head, waving my trusty flashlight around to scan the walls and sandy floor and check for any unwelcome wildlife. I feel like Indiana Jones but a lot less brave.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 27, 2013

Everyday goods: the Japanese art of convenience

"Mingei" translates as "folk art" and is connected to objects that are made or used by ordinary people on an everyday basis. Usually this evokes hand-crafted objects, such as ceramics, baskets, items of woodwork, etc. As such, the term is evocative of the era before mass global trade. In modern Japan,...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 27, 2013

Five myths about the National Security Agency

One common denominator of NSA whistleblowers is that they feel ignored when attempting to bring illegal or unethical operations to the attention of higher-ups.
Reader Mail
Jun 27, 2013

NSA operations in the U.K.

Reports such as the June 23 AP article "U.K. surveillance operation 'bigger than' U.S. effort" demonstrate a lack of knowledge about the agreements that underpin the U.S. National Security Agency's worldwide eavesdropping system and its practicalities.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health / FOCUS
Jun 26, 2013

Drumming helps those with dementia reconnect

Standing in a room full of lined faces, Alan Yellowitz held up an orange drum shaped like a wineglass. "This one's called a djembe," he said. "It's from Ghana."
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Jun 25, 2013

The neglected stars of Norwegian design

What do you think of as a typical example of Scandinavian design? The massively copied 1950s bentwood chair series "Seven Chairs" by Danish architect Arne Jacobsen? The vividly colored Unikko poppy patterns by the Finnish textile company Marimekko? Or the ready-to-assemble furniture available at the...
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jun 24, 2013

State photo-ID databases become troves for police

The faces of more than 120 million people are in searchable photo databases that state officials assembled to prevent driver's license fraud but that increasingly are used by police to identify suspects, accomplices and even innocent bystanders in a wide range of criminal investigations.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Jun 22, 2013

Vienna embraces the culture of the bicycle

On the Praterstern, where cars, buses and trams converge from several busy streets on a road that loops around Vienna's central train station, a new digital counter stands under the eye of the Riesenrad Ferris wheel.
WORLD
Jun 22, 2013

Papers define limits of NSA's spy program

The National Security Agency may keep the emails and telephone calls of citizens and legal residents if the communications contain "significant foreign intelligence" or evidence of a crime, according to classified documents that lay out procedures for targeting foreigners and for guarding Americans'...

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.