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Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / BACKSTREET STORIES
Jan 30, 2011

Aoyama warmth beats the cold

Kotto-dori (Antiques Avenue), a pin-straight link between Aoyama and Roppongi avenues in Tokyo's Minato Ward, was once a melange of pricey boutiques and high-end antique stores. Word has it that the street is going through changes, so I set off to see what's up.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jan 28, 2011

Osaka to celebrate tower

Artists from across the Kansai area are holding a series of art workshops and performances to boost the profile of Tsutenkaku, a longtime landmark in Osaka, from Feb. 5 through Feb. 13.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 28, 2011

Hirayama: Paying simple tribute to the Silk Road

Recently Stephen Fry's BBC comedy quiz show "QI," was in trouble over panelist's comments regarding Tsutomu Yamaguchi, a survivor of both atomic bombs dropped on Japan. Amid generally admiring chit chat about Yamaguchi, panelists treated the bombings with a degree of levity typical of the show, prompting...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Jan 27, 2011

Designs that are tidy, clean and stylin'

Tidy brand squeezes out another good design
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jan 23, 2011

Mystery at a crossroads of continents

By the time I reached the small town of Palmyra, way out in the middle of the Syrian desert, I had become somewhat accustomed to the ways of the locals.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 21, 2011

Facebook and dark matter

HONG KONG — News that Goldman Sachs has taken a $450 million stake in Facebook in a deal that puts a $50 billion valuation on the fledgling company raises interesting and somewhat troubling questions beyond the immediate gawping and jaw-dropping headlines that a spotty-faced Harvard dropout aged 26...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 21, 2011

'Why is it Masterwork?'

Bridgestone Museum of Art
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 21, 2011

'Aki Sasamoto: Strange Attractors'

Take Ninagawa
COMMENTARY
Jan 20, 2011

The price of climate change?

SINGAPORE — Generations of Australians have learned that their island-continent is a land of alternating droughts and floods. Recent prolonged rain and devastating flooding across eastern Australia, particularly in the state of Queensland, underscore this heartbreaking cycle.
EDITORIALS
Jan 12, 2011

Local bellwether elections

The results of coming local elections in Osaka and Aichi prefectures could have a great impact on the shape of Japan's local government. The people concerned need to carefully watch and consider the moves of two men — Osaka Gov. Toru Hashimoto and Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura.
EDITORIALS
Jan 9, 2011

An embarrassment of riches

Japan's rich past is of course a national treasure, but the sheer volume of items to be cared for and preserved for future generations can be overwhelming.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Jan 9, 2011

Are Japan's fish lovers eating tuna to extinction?

Pick up a newspaper in Japan these days and you'll almost always find a story in it about the state of bluefin tuna somewhere in the world.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 7, 2011

Fill up on Morimura's unusual 'side dishes'

Some artists are accorded such historical importance that virtually everything they do or have done comes under close scrutiny. Other artists are effectively known for a single thing, such as the nominal Italian Surrealist, Giorgio de Chirico, who is primarily known for his so-called "metaphysical paintings,"...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 7, 2011

Buzz overseas spells success at home

For Japanese music acts, success abroad has traditionally been the reserve of noise-rock bands such as Boredoms and Melt-Banana, for whom potential barriers like language or cultural disparities do little to hinder their pursuit of abstraction. More conventional Japanese indie bands have traditionally...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 7, 2011

Realizing the genius of Leonardo da Vinci

A temporary pavilion in Tokyo's Hibiya Park seems like an unlikely venue for showcasing the hallowed works of Leonardo da Vinci, but for this particular exhibition, the big top-like structure is appropriate. "Leonardo da Vinci: The Genius" is aimed straight at the general public. Designed, produced,...
Reader Mail
Jan 6, 2011

Plea bargains aid organized crime

The Jan. 3 editorial, "Problematic prosecution report," suggests at one point that prosecutors offices "make a concrete proposal for introducing the plea bargaining system while accepting electronic recording of the entire interrogation process."
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jan 6, 2011

Massage away the blues with sensory therapy

A pot of tea brews next to a bowl of fruit on the kitchen table. Three flying porcelain ducks hang on the wall. A pile of books sits on the shelf. And somewhere in the distance, the sound of bird song mingles with the chime of church bells.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jan 1, 2011

Your 108 misleading karmas

Happy New Year! Did you visit a temple (or shrine) on the first of January, and ring the bell 108 times, per Japanese tradition? The ringing of the bell represents the 108 bonno — defilements of man. Have you even wondered what exactly the 108 bonno are? Here is a list:
CULTURE / Books
Dec 26, 2010

Drinking down great fiction

Writers often gather in exotic places, finding inspiration in the unknown. Suzanne Kamata, long-term Japanese resident and writer, honors this literary tradition by editing an annual anthology of work by writers connected to Asia. Titled "Yomimono" (literally, reading thing), Kamata first published the...
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Dec 24, 2010

Ueno Museum celebrates its new look

The Tokyo National Museum in Ueno Park is ready to show off its new look.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / ART BRIEF
Dec 24, 2010

'The World of Red and White'

Hasegawa Machiko Museum Closes Feb. 13
CULTURE / Music
Dec 24, 2010

Counting out 2010 with the best beats across the country

Over drinks with a former Tokyo-based promoter recently, our conversation turned to the state of the city's nightclub scene. In Europe, nightclubs can usually guarantee a certain number of patrons to show up on any given night, which is great for DJs who are scouted to perform at those clubs. In Japan,...
EDITORIALS
Dec 21, 2010

Dubious referendum in Nagoya

Mayor Takashi Kawamura of Nagoya led a signature collection for a referendum to recall the city assembly because it opposes his policies. Last month, the city's election management commission decided that many of the some 465,000 signatures collected by a group supporting the mayor were invalid and that...
CULTURE / Books
Dec 19, 2010

Final word on the year's best reading

Like the ancient Greeks who were outnumbered by Persian hordes at the battle of Thermopylae, a motley gathering of British and Indian troops was almost overpowered at Kohima, but managed to resist the Japanese forces intent on taking India. Only a regiment, not a whole division, of Japanese soldiers...

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