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Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
May 28, 2013

281_Anti Nuke's anger at authority is at a critical mass

More than two years after the triple reactor meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, hundreds of thousands of residents of the Tohoku region of northeastern Honshu remain displaced, the power station teeters on the brink of further disaster and large swaths of northern Japan are so irradiated...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
May 28, 2013

Osaka: What do you make of Mayor Toru Hashimoto’s comments about “comfort women” and his suggestion that U.S. forces in Okinawa use local brothels?

He's a perfect example of why 'diapers and politicians should be changed often, and for the same reason'! He's too incompetent for Osaka, and should be 'promoted' to national government. I've lived here for 30 years; I miss the old days when mayors and governors concentrated on administering Osaka and stayed out of the limelight. Hashimoto should take his showboating to Tokyo and leave Osaka under the radar.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
May 26, 2013

Wisteria wanderings in Kameido

Each year, I tell myself I have to make time to enjoy the famed trellises of wisteria blossoms at Kameido Tenjin in Tokyo's eastern Koto Ward. Then, I blow it. This year, I enlist my mother-in-law, who's savvy about such things, to get the timing just right. "It'll be really crowded," she warns.
LIFE
May 26, 2013

Whatever some say, there's no Japanese-language 'code' to be deciphered

Ever since Japan opened to the outside world in the middle of the 19th century after some 250 years of isolation imposed and enforced by its ruling shoguns, the Japanese language has been widely regarded as a kind of code.
Reader Mail
May 26, 2013

Break-time habits tell the score

Around 25 years ago, when Japan was enjoying the "bubble economy," ordinary company workers would eat out for lunch quite often and then have a cup of coffee in a "traditional" coffee shop. Company workers, who were called "corporate warriors" at the time, rarely ate instant noodles from a cup in their...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
May 25, 2013

The junkie and his fix

"Weird," he says. "Give me something weird."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues
May 21, 2013

Fear and incarceration, from Kampala to Nagoya

"I was stopped by two men in a government-registered vehicle, blindfolded and dragged off the street. They took me away to a house in a place I did not know. I was forced into a room with blood all over the walls and floor, where two men lay. I couldn't tell if they were dead or alive. They had been...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
May 21, 2013

Precedent backs (nearly) equal pay for equal work

In 2012, Japan had 51.73 million workers, of which 33.3 million were regular employees, or seishain, according to the latest survey by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. Contingent, or nonpermanent, workers (including part-timers, haken dispatch and shokutaku semiregular employees) numbered 18.43 million, over 35.5 percent of the workforce.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
May 19, 2013

Authorized life of Thatcher is clear-eyed, rich in details

It is a tricky deal being an authorized biographer. Charles Moore's big advantage over those who have previously tackled Margaret Thatcher is that he has been provided with material denied to them. Of the arrangement that he was offered by his subject, he writes: "I would have full access to herself...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
May 17, 2013

Veteran leadership makes Fukuoka favorite over Kyoto

The Rizing Fukuoka and Kyoto Hannaryz renew their rivalry on Saturday in the Western Conference final at Ariake Colosseum. Tipoff is set for 2:10 p.m.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
May 14, 2013

Tokyo: What do you make of Gov. Naoki Inose's comments about Muslims and Istanbul's Olympic bid?

I think many people in Japan see all foreigners as fighting with each other, not just Muslims. But, focusing on the positives [and ignoring Inose's negative comments], I see Istanbul as the better option [to be 2020 host].
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
May 12, 2013

Allowing Nijinsky's ballet to tell his life

How can we separate the dancer from the dance? Vaslav Nijinsky's art was a vanishing act, and his mystique depended on gestures that lasted only a second, like his leap through a window in "The Spectre of a Rose," or the slight but scandalous quivering of his thighs that mimed ejaculation when, performing...
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 11, 2013

Universities lure students with upscale dorms

Universities in Japan are doing everything they can to attract students amid the aging society and decline in young people.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 11, 2013

Genesis of a brawl: Decades of Sherpa resentment fuel confrontation on Mount Everest

It's an irresistible contrast. On the one hand, modern mountaineering superstars with their blogs and sponsorship deals, scrapping with outraged Sherpas on the slopes of Everest. On the other, one of the defining images of the 20th century, the photograph of Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary standing...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / EVERYMAN EATS
May 10, 2013

Chains that bring local dishes to you

Thanks to Japan's comprehensive network of bullet trains and regional airports, it's easy for the culinary adventurer to sample local specialties at their point of origin.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 9, 2013

LA and Tokyo mix it up at Dublab

As cities, Tokyo and Los Angeles could not be more different. But as creative places, both cities resonate with one another as creative partners.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / SWEET INSPIRATIONS
May 3, 2013

Custard treats are anything but square

How long does it take a business to achieve cult status in Tokyo? Years or decades in most cases. For Omotesando Koffee it was barely a matter of weeks.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 2, 2013

'Elegance of the imperial Court -The world of Kyoto Maki-e'

In Kyoto, the decorative Japanese lacquer technique of maki-e is called Kyo-Maki-e. Invented during the Nara Period (710-794), maki-e became popular during the Heian Period (794-1192). It developed alongside the traditional tea ceremony, which flourished in Kyoto from the Muromachi Period (1336-1573)....
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / TRAVEL INSIDER
May 1, 2013

KLM's Miffy campaign; Cathay's eCoupon offer; Singapore to add Japan flights

KLM's Miffy campaign
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 28, 2013

Cook Islands paradise isn't plain sailing for all

They span an area the size of western Europe, but the Cook Islands may seem like the ends of the Earth when viewed from Japan — an 11-hour flight away south to New Zealand, followed by a four-hour "local hop" to the capital, Avarua, on the main island of Rarotonga.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Apr 26, 2013

Sample a sweet Golden Week experience at the National Confectionary Expo

Sweets mean different things to different people. Some say such treats are their perfect stress release, while others say they bring back childhood memories.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 26, 2013

Cost of the American dream

The U.S. Fed policy of low interest rates and easy money is criticized for creating a 'bubble machine' from which asset prices could rise without growing jobs.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 23, 2013

Shigeru Ban: between function and beauty

Architecture is rooted in the basic human need for shelter. But the profession today pays little attention to situations where the need for shelter is most urgent, such as after a disaster.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 22, 2013

Ways to 'spell' Japanese out loud

I dial a number and ask to speak to my literary agent, Mr. Suzuki.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Apr 21, 2013

'The Cat Lawyer and the Invisible Man'; Imalu as a barista; CM of the week: Loto 7

A sequel to an award-winning original script solicited by TBS and Kodansha publishing, "Neko Ben to Tomei Ningen" ("The Cat Lawyer and the Invisible Man"; TBS, Mon., 9 p.m.) stars Hidetaka Yoshioka as Taro Momose, a graduate of the University of Tokyo's law department whose introverted personality and...
WORLD
Apr 20, 2013

The unintended paradoxical legacy of the lady in blue

Two former prime ministers were buried this week. One was a gloriously battling heroine of freedom, Boadicea in pearls, who put the Great back into Great Britain and won the Cold War with a little assistance from U.S. President Ronald Reagan. The other was the empress of evil, Cruella de Vil in a twinset,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / A TASTE OF HOME
Apr 19, 2013

There's more to British food in Japan than fish and chips

Authentic British food is hard to come by in Japan, and the food at the theme-pub chains isn't often great. However, there are a handful of expat-run places that get it right — and should hit the spot for homesick Brits.

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