Search - entertainment

 
 
EDITORIALS
Dec 28, 2007

Drain of public trust in 2007

In the past year, Japan has been rocked by political turmoil — especially the devastating defeat of the ruling coalition in the July 29 Upper House election, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's abrupt resignation in September and Mr. Yasuo Fukuda's ascent to power. An attempt to form a grand coalition between...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 26, 2007

Lightning-fast arms named robot of the year

A mechanical arm that picks 120 items a minute from a conveyor belt won Japan's Robot of the Year award last week, defeating a dozen other flashier finalists, including a walking humanoid, a firefighter robot and a transparent torso for simulating surgery.
EDITORIALS
Dec 21, 2007

More allegations of bribery

Former Vice Defense Minister Takemasa Moriya has been served a second arrest warrant accusing him of taking a cash bribe of some ¥3.63 million. Mr. Motonobu Miyazaki, a former executive of defense equipment trader Yamada Corp. and subsequent founder of defense-related trader Nihon Mirise Corp., and...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 21, 2007

Inspired by repression

I am a very private person," says Marjane Satrapi, author of "Persepolis" and co-director of the new film based on her graphic novels. It's a curious statement coming from someone who's poured her own life into an autobiographical novel, but as she repeatedly pointed out to The Japan Times, it's not...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Dec 19, 2007

The Nintendo DS levels up, and phones make kids safer

Double vision: Nintendo's two-screened DS is set to become even more of a must-have product thanks to the DSVision, which will allow users to watch videos and read e-books and manga on the portable console. Users simply download the media to their computer, transfer the content to a microSD card, and...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 14, 2007

Wrapping up the music of 2007

Stuck for what musical goodies you should get this festive season? The Japan Timess called upon some industry experts, and our own elves, to pick the year's best entertainment.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Dec 14, 2007

Two plays to cross the generations

Over the winter holiday entertainment season, two musical dramas stand out — one especially for children, the other for everyone, but both are tried-and-tested from previous premiere stagings.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 7, 2007

'Tsubaki Sanjuro'

The films of Akira Kurosawa have generated far more remakes than those of any other Japanese director, beginning with the John Sturges 1960 Western "The Magnificent Seven," a reworking of Kurosawa's "Shichinin no Samurai (Seven Samurai)."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 6, 2007

Out from under noh's shadow

'F or kyogen actors, Japan losing the war in 1945 was a wonderful event as it liberated kyogen from its long subjugation to noh," actor Shigeyama Sennojo says. "For the first time in 400 years, kyogen was recognized as an independent form of theater."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 6, 2007

Look back in anger

One way to learn what happened in one of history's most noxious but disputed episodes is to ask Satoru Mizushima. After what he calls "exhaustive research" on the seizure of the then Chinese capital Nanjing by Japanese troops in 1937, estimated to have cost anywhere from 20,000 to 300,000 lives, Mizushima...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 30, 2007

Ramen shop brings a taste of tonkotsu to Himeji

Noodle bars in Japan — especially those serving cheap, quick bowls of ramen (egg noodles) — play a key part in catering to the inebriated, just as kebab shops do in my native England.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 22, 2007

A taste for blood, arts and culture

One haunting image that lingers in the mind after seeing the exhibition "Legacy of the Tokugawa — The Glories and Treasures of the Last Samurai Dynasty" at the Tokyo National Museum is a carved-wood statue of Ieyasu (1543-1616), the first of the Tokugawa shoguns, now the deity of the Shiba Tosho-gu...
BUSINESS
Nov 20, 2007

Sony halves software fees to spur PS3 game designers

Sony halved the fees it charges for a software development kit for the PlayStation 3 video game machine Monday to encourage outside designers to make more games for the struggling console.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Nov 17, 2007

No holds barred in fight for dolphins

Within minutes of meeting Allison Lance, one might start to wonder if she was a dolphin in a past life. Her enthusiasm and passion in her drive to protect her animal friends is so strong that it touches just about every area of her life.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Nov 16, 2007

Kyoto's Ultra-man in bedroom revolution

"Shotgun Blues" is the latest track off Hidenori Fujiwara's turbo-charged musical conveyor-belt of rock 'n' roll madness, and it's a blast of bluesy punk that sounds like Kings of Leon being chain-whipped by Iggy Pop in a dark alley.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 16, 2007

'Waitress'

Pie-making is a tricky business, as are most other things in life. In "Waitress," pie-maker (or rather, pie-genuis as she's known to her friends) and waitress Jenna's habitual reply to "How are you doing today?" is a rolling of the eyes and a quiet, heartfelt, "Same old shipwreck."
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Nov 10, 2007

Buddy Hackett, Bob Newhart and why I came to Japan

The man on my right is not comedian Buddy Hackett. But perhaps — if you're a little drunk and have an imagination — you might think he is.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 9, 2007

'Vacancy'

Some film reviewers seem to have the idea that their job involves simply telling you the film's story. They'll walk you through the first act, the second act and often well into the third act, stopping just short of ruining the ending for you. But really, haven't they already spoiled the beginning and...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Oct 31, 2007

NFL foray recalls days when London boasted title team

LONDON — Occasionally life deals you a good hand.
Japan Times
LIFE
Oct 28, 2007

Masters of all they survey

"How do you get to the Seibu department store?"
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 26, 2007

'Vitus'

How does the world (and a parent in particular) deal with a child prodigy? Though Swiss film "Vitus (Boku no Piano Concerto)" doesn't provide any definite answers, it parts the curtains on the mystery, letting us share a little in the experience of getting to know and learning to love an incredibly gifted...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Oct 26, 2007

Japanese comic storytelling in English

Rakugo story-teller Katsura Kaishi will give an English-language performance on Nov. 7 in Shimokitazawa, Tokyo. Originating in the Edo Period (1603-1868), this traditional form of Japanese entertainment sees a lone rakugo-ka (story-teller) sitting on a stage in kimono relating a long and complicated...

Longform

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