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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Oct 4, 2013

Passion for swords led Briton to forge career as expert

Tucked away in a quiet residential street in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward, the Japanese Sword Museum offers a glimpse into an era where men staked their honor and their lives on the blade.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 2, 2013

'Takamikura and Michodai: Chrysanthemum and Nippon'

In celebration of the Emperor's 80th birthday and the 25th anniversary of his reign, replicas of the takamikura (Chrysanthemum throne) and michodai (a curtained platform) are being displayed at Kyoto's Zohiki Urushi Museum. Created between 1913-1915, these models were made around the same time as the...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / OUR MAN IN TOKYO
Sep 30, 2013

Beninese ambassador brings TV star power to diplomacy

Beninese Ambassador Zomahoun Rufin says — half-jokingly — his dream is “to become the next Japanese prime minister.”
WORLD / Science & Health / FOCUS
Sep 30, 2013

Law may lead to disparities

Half a century ago, the creation of Medicare and Medicaid was a triumph of American egalitarianism. Within a decade, the United States went from a country where 1 in 3 people lacked health insurance to a nation where just 1 in 10 went without coverage.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 29, 2013

American Dream fading for many in wake of financial crisis

Four years into an economic recovery in which most of the benefits have flowed to the top earners, a majority believes that the American Dream is becoming markedly more elusive, according to the results of a Washington Post-Miller Center poll exploring Americans' changing definition of success and their...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Sep 28, 2013

Solitude is where you find it

Under cartoon-blue skies washed by early-autumn typhoons, I stand at Sendaizaka-ue (summit of Sendaizaka Slope) in Tokyo's Minato Ward. Sendaizaka was named for daimyo lords from Edo Period (1603-1867) Sendai, now in Miyagi Prefecture, who maintained a yashiki (suburban home) on the slope that today...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Sep 27, 2013

When worlds collide

My Japanese language skills mostly stink. And always have.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / EVERYMAN EATS
Sep 26, 2013

Shopping tips from the Costco queen

Talk about a crazy idea: A big-box American retailer seeks to enter a market where customers value precision and sophistication in their shopping experience.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 26, 2013

Actor-director Okuda revisits wreckage of 3/11

Actors see how directors do their job — and not a few imagine they can do it better. But the number of Japanese actors who move successfully into the director's chair is small.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 26, 2013

Mandatory organ donation

It is estimated that 18 people die in the U.S. every day due to a national shortage of organ donations. This crisis could be solved if organ donation were mandatory.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 23, 2013

Tokyo hopes to recover its luster with special zones for foreign businesses

To bolster Tokyo's dwindling profile in Asia, the metropolitan government has launched the Special Zone for Asian Headquarters project to persuade more than 500 foreign companies to set up shop here by 2016.
Japan Times
WORLD
Sep 22, 2013

Syria Islamists rake in funds

Syria's Islamist extremists are getting a fresh torrent of cash from Arab donors hoping for an uprising to erupt across the region.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Sep 21, 2013

Crossing the Himalayas through memory to Ladakh

I'm in a small van careering along a rough and narrow road beside a rushing river with brightly painted temples along its banks and craggy peaks towering overhead. We're traveling in the prescribed Indian fashion — drive as fast as you can and hope for the best or, better still, pray.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Sep 21, 2013

Tsushima: a boundary island of Japan

If you want to get to Tsushima, an island in Nagasaki Prefecture, by ferry, you will have to start in Fukuoka — or a quicker option would be to start your journey in Busan, South Korea. The jet foil from Busan zips passengers across the nearly 50 km separating it from Tsushima in little over an hour....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Sep 21, 2013

Six great thinkers' 'lessons'

Life is a career that none of us chose. The rich and credulous hire life coaches to flatter them. Others who crave enlightenment can sign on to the School of Life set up by entrepreneurial egghead Alain de Botton.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Sep 19, 2013

Sony, Microsoft to square off at Tokyo Game Show

In Japan, the Tokyo Game Show (TGS) is gaming's main event. This year, heavyweights Sony and Microsoft are set to square off at Chiba's Makuhari Messe convention center with brand new consoles in tow. Who will come out on top?
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Sep 19, 2013

Mandarin Oriental’s Pink Ribbon campaign; Hilton Tokyo’s new Wine Garden; Park Hyatt invites U.S. chef to New York Grill

Mandarin Oriental charity campaign
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 18, 2013

Rock God Dam's teen mastermind: Eighteen-year-old student pulls off two-day music festival for charity

With 90 minutes to go before the start of the Rock God Dam music festival, organizer Nakako Isoo is trying to find one of the headlining acts. She's supposed to pick up Virginia band Suburban Living, but comes back to Shibuya club Vuenos alone. "They are going shopping," she says. "I will try one more...
CULTURE / Music
Sep 18, 2013

Various artists "Tanukineiri Drink Sampler"

It's getting harder to listen to netlabel-released albums in one sitting recently. Electronic-music compilation series "Fogpak" recently put out a collection featuring 48 different artists (should we call the Guinness people?). Now Tanukineiri Records has popped out "Tanukineiri Drink Sampler" — 90...
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Sep 18, 2013

For world, U.S. gun violence is new norm

Jimmy Davis, a 41-year-old London disc jockey, was saddened when he heard about the latest mass shooting in the United States. But like much of the world after the attack Monday at Washington's Navy Yard, he was no longer shocked.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Japan Pulse
Sep 18, 2013

Rent a dude for ¥1,000: an interview with Takanobu Nishimoto of Ossan Rental

Would you pay u00a51,000 to kill time with a hip 46-year-old guy?
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Sep 16, 2013

Before you leave Japan, there's an awful lot to do

Preparing to leave Japan can be an overwhelming and time-consuming process, especially if you try to do it in less than two months, as my husband and I did. But regardless how much (or little) time you have to get ready, we learned a few things from our experience that might make yours easier. This isn't...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Sep 16, 2013

Osaka: What on Earth should be done about the deteriorating situation at Fukushima No. 1?

As Tepco plays 'whack-a-mole' with myriad problems at the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, readers offer their advice to the utility and Abe's government.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: TECH
Sep 16, 2013

New smartphone enhancements, health help, free coupons and eye protection

Sony unveiled its high-end lens attachment for mobile phones at the consumer electronics show IFA in Berlin on Sept. 4 .
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 16, 2013

Manmohan Singh's losing battle with the markets

A welter of problems confound Indian Prime MInister Manmohan Singh's promises to wipe the tears of poverty from the eyes of Indians.

Longform

A man offers prayers at Hebikubo Shrine in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. The shrine is one of several across the country dedicated to the snake.
Shed your skin and reinvent yourself in the Year of the Snake