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Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 15, 2015

Successor to Hayao Miyazaki's throne turns Shibuya into a realm of beasts

Mamoru Hosoda ranks first among the Japanese animation directors seen as successors to now-retired industry giant Hayao Miyazaki — and for good reason.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 14, 2015

'MOT Collection: Postwar Art in Close-Up'

July 18-Oct. 12
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 14, 2015

'War and Postwar: The Prism of the Times'

July 18-Jan. 31
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 14, 2015

Industrial-metal act Godflesh teams up with Daymare for tour

Often cited as influencing acts such as Ministry and Nine Inch Nails, as well as post-metal bands from the 2000s like Isis and Pelican, industrial metal band Godflesh are coming to Japan for a three-city tour from this Friday.
EDITORIALS
Jul 13, 2015

National Stadium boondoggle

The government should adopt a simpler design for the new National Stadium to reduce its ballooning construction costs.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech / ADVANCES IN PROGRESS
Jul 13, 2015

Major players are bringing voice assistant tech to the fore

In sci-fi movies, it's common to see a character having spontaneous conversations with robots and humanoids, like C-3PO of "Star Wars" fame.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jul 13, 2015

Nagoya subway line's late-night service extension finds marginal success

In a widely publicized event last July, the Higashiyama subway line in Nagoya extended its operating hours to provide the "latest last train for subways in Japan."
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Jul 13, 2015

Backlash spreads as supporters of Confederate flag rise up to defend embattled symbol

An eight-mile convoy of pickups, motorcycles and cars wound through a central Florida town on Sunday in a show of support for the Confederate flag, as a backlash against its banishment from public landmarks across the South picks up steam.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KYOTO RESTAURANTS
Jul 10, 2015

Ogawa: Dining at a six-seat restaurant in Kyoto's traditional nightlife district

The Kyoto neighborhood of Gion is small but complicated. Wedged between the hills of Higashiyama and the Kamo River, it contains some of Japan's most picturesque and well-trodden streets, but there's also a warren of back-alleys and lanes with bright lights and seedy goings-on.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Jul 10, 2015

Pre-orders of Harper Lee's new novel biggest since 'Harry Potter' on Amazon

"Go Set a Watchman," the much-anticipated second novel by "To Kill a Mockingbird" author Harper Lee, is the most pre-ordered print title on Amazon.com since the last book in the "Harry Potter" series, Amazon said Thursday.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 9, 2015

Greeks, Germans and these so-called deadlines

Some of what has gone wrong with the tedious bailout talks between Greece and its northern European creditors can probably be attributed to cultural differences.
EDITORIALS
Jul 8, 2015

No fresh ideas on regional drain

The government is coming up short in developing fresh ideas to halt the population exodus to the big metropolitan areas.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jul 8, 2015

PGA match joins exodus, dumps Trump links over slur on immigrants

Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump suffered a fresh blow on Tuesday with the announcement that a professional golfing event scheduled for October at a Trump course in Los Angeles will be moved, the latest fallout from his vitriol against undocumented immigrants from Mexico.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 5, 2015

RIP Land Rover Defender, the greatest car ever

Regulation and marketing-driven blandness, the enemies of everything original, have killed one of the world's last real cars.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / They're Playing Our Song
Jul 5, 2015

The songs that tried to teach Japan to kill

It looks like the 1940s are back, but not in a way you'd expect. Military songs are reportedly becoming fashionable with certain segments of youth.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 5, 2015

China lobbies U.N. tribunal on Manila's claims

China's claims to the disputed South China Sea will come under international legal scrutiny for the first time this week, but while Beijing has officially refused to take part in the case, which was filed by the Philippines at a U.N. tribunal, it has made its presence felt.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jul 4, 2015

On mountain peaks and tourist trash

Discussing Mount Hayachine, ethnologist Kunio Yanagita observed that it stood on, "a somewhat different plane from the normal world." This could be a description of mountains in general, a landscape where we may experience nature in the raw, and even at times, a numinous presence.
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2015

IOC says Tokyo's preparations 'outstanding,' but costs need watching

The cost of venues for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics will have to be carefully watched and managed, but the Japanese capital's preparations are otherwise "outstanding," IOC Vice President John Coates said on Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 30, 2015

'Funakoshi Katsura: A Sphinx in Myself'

June 27-Aug. 30
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jun 27, 2015

Visualizing Japan's 'ugly' online desires with cultural critic Hiroki Azuma

In 2009, critic and philosopher Hiroki Azuma had a dream. It was a recurring dream (as befitting of someone well-versed in the psychoanalysis of Freud and Jacques Lacan), and riddled with complexities. In his own words, which open the introductory chapter of "General Will 2.0: Rousseau, Freud, Google,"...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jun 27, 2015

'Aperture' magazine comes to Tokyo

Think photography and its history, and it's easy to recall iconic images of New York, Paris or London — cities whose buildings and street life have long provided compelling subjects. Constantly changing, Tokyo is now securing its place in that history of urban images.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 27, 2015

Home electronics market loses its spark

On May 25, Yamada Denki Co., the largest home electronics retailer in Japan, announced that it would be closing 46 outlets. Given that the stores had been losing money for at least a year and Yamada operates more than 1,000, the announcement wasn't surprising, though the swiftness of its actions was....
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Jun 26, 2015

China annihilates ancient coral ecosystems in its island-building: scientists

Concern is mounting among some scientists that China's reclamation work in the disputed Spratly archipelago of the South China Sea has done severe harm to one of the most important coral reef systems in Southeast Asia.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 25, 2015

'Ghost in the Shell' prequel fleshes out characters' origins

Internationally renowned sci-fi anime series "Ghost in the Shell" is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a new prequel, "Ghost in the Shell: The Movie."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 25, 2015

Julianne Moore shines as Alzheimer's patient in 'Still Alice'

Flashback to 1995 when a new actress named Julianne Moore was beginning to get noticed for her work in the Todd Haynes film "Safe," where she played an affluent Southern California suburbanite who becomes afflicted with a mysterious environmental illness. Some 20 years and four Oscar nominations later,...
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Jun 25, 2015

Mississippi Republican senator wants 'unifying' flag, no longer with Confederate emblem

Mississippi Republican Sen. Roger Wicker said on Wednesday that his state's flag, which features a Confederate battle emblem in its upper left corner, should be replaced with one that is more unifying.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 24, 2015

An ill-mannered hunt for fleeting beauty in Mike Leigh's 'Mr. Turner'

'Mr. Turner," a biopic of 19th-century English landscape painter J.M.W. Turner, came about when Mike Leigh, one of Britain's most-treasured filmmakers, teamed up with English actor Timothy Spall. The film is a grand testimonial to the alchemy that happens when two great artists get together to channel...
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 24, 2015

Confederate flag flap is one of many such disputes worldwide

Around the world, countries have long struggled with questions about flags similar to those faced by South Carolina, which is under pressure to remove a Confederate flag from its statehouse in the wake of the shootings that killed nine people at a black church.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat