Search - weekly

 
 
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 10, 2008

Pawing in enough to be a fat cat

The world's most coveted kitty wears just a bow, doesn't have a mouth to feed and has never been in trouble.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 8, 2008

It might be lousy, but political TV drama 'Change' lives up to its title

Pre-premiere hype is important for Japanese TV drama series since their broadcast runs tend to be limited to 13 weeks. They don't have time to build an audience the way more open-ended series do in the West. As many people as possible have to tune in right from the start.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Apr 22, 2008

Yellow dust storms getting worse

Each year, most of Japan's prefectures are affected by what is known as yellow dust, which appears as a yellow fog in the atmosphere for a few days, often in late winter and early spring. A mixture of des ert sand, arid topsoil and man-made pollutants from Central Asia, China and Mongolia, the annual...
Reader Mail
Apr 13, 2008

Tough to read new weather forecast

I have subscribed to The Japan Times for over 18 years but this is the first time that I've felt the need to write. My concern is the new format for the weather forecast. What happened to the instructional weather map, the percentage chance of rain and the "Today's Weather" description? Is The Japan...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Feb 13, 2008

Pollen set to come out of hibernation

For sufferers of "kafunsho" (pollen allergy), it's hay fever season again.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Jan 28, 2008

Watching the world's biggest roadshow

NEW YORK — I was recently amused to read the following observation quoted in an intellectual history of modern Japan: "The system in which people vie to get elected head of state through indulgence in garrulity and by flaunting gestures like those of low-class actors is a singularly bizarre custom...
Japan Times
LIFE
Jan 27, 2008

Justice Minister talks in death-penalty riddles

What does Japan's justice minister, Kunio Hatoyama think of the looming introduction of citizens' juries, also known as the lay-judge system — which is potentially the most revolutionary change set to affect Japan's trial system since World War II?
JAPAN / MIXED MATCHES
Nov 16, 2007

Tokyo couple share humor, love of rock-climbing

To provide more coverage of topics closely related to non-Japanese residents, The Japan Times is launching the series "Mixed Matches" about international couples.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Oct 2, 2007

Japan faces hunger pains as poor slip through net

First in a two-part series
Japan Times
LIFE
Apr 1, 2007

Drawing on experience

Cartoonists in Japan are as abundant as the cherry blossoms at this time of year -- but Rieko Saibara is probably the only one who has both a lyrical and rebellious side to her work -- along with an astonishing power and what has been called a "lethal poison.''
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Jan 29, 2007

Same hot buttons a hundred years later

NEW YORK -- What was the world like 100 years ago? That was not the question I had in mind when I idly wondered if I could find exactly how French actress Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923) had described British playwright/novelist Oscar Wilde on one special occasion. As this is the age of the Internet, I quickly...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 13, 2007

English foibles bear humorous and educational manga

It's New Year's Day and the Yamada family, dressed in kimono, gather around the table for a feast, and to review English phrases they learned the previous year, like "take a breather" or "playing hooky."
JAPAN
Sep 20, 2006

Minister won't warn media for naming juvenile suspect

Justice Minister Seiken Sugiura said Tuesday he will not issue a warning to the media for releasing the name and photograph of a 19-year-old suspected of killing a 20-year-old female student, saying they had not infringed on his rights.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 30, 2006

Dawn of news for Chinese journalism

PRAGUE -- A remarkable incident has emboldened Chinese journalists. Earlier this year, the government suspended publication of the newspaper Bing Dian Weekly, provoking unprecedented open protest, which received extensive media coverage worldwide.
Japan Times
Features
Feb 19, 2006

Back in time with a legend reborn

Fifty years ago this week -- when Prime Minister Ichiro Hatoyama was reopening diplomatic relations with Moscow; bullet trains or expressways had yet to be built; and a bank staffer's monthly pay was about 25,000 yen -- Tokyo publisher Shinchosha launched the weekly Shukan Shincho, priced at 30 yen....
BUSINESS
Jan 20, 2006

JAL may ax Vegas, some L.A. flights by autumn

Trouble-plagued Japan Airlines is close to stopping service on four international routes by this fall, including one from Kansai International Airport to Los Angeles and others from Narita airport to Las Vegas, sources said Thursday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 25, 2005

Economic challenges and opportunities lie ahead for Japan

The rapid aging of the Japanese population is both a challenge and an opportunity as it will force the nation to confront structural problems with its economy and make tough choices, visiting French journalists said at a recent symposium in Tokyo.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Aug 25, 2005

Hit piece on Valentine, Marines another black eye for journalism in Japan

Is it just me, or has the level of media assaults on prominent foreign sports figures in Japan increased markedly in the past few months?
JAPAN
Jul 30, 2005

NHK, Asahi still trading blows in censorship row

NHK and the Asahi Shimbun are still at odds over allegations that an NHK war crimes documentary was censored under political pressure, and a new report by the daily threatens to add fuel to the fire.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 5, 2005

More travel information

Vladivostok is most easily accessible by plane from Niigata, which is served two or three times weekly by Air Vladivostok. Flights also depart twice a week from Toyama and Kansai International.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 12, 2005

In Japan's tabloid world, truth trumps pulp fiction

TABLOID TOKYO: 101 Tales of Sex, Crime and the Bizarre from Japan's Wild Weeklies, by Geoff Botting, Ryann Connell, Michael Hoffman and Mark Schreiber. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 2005, 255 pp., 1,400 yen (paper). Aside from the sight of middle-age Japanese businessmen happily reading comic books,...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 1, 2005

Rise in defamation suits threaten media: journalists

The increasing number of lawsuits being filed in response to allegedly defamatory news articles is posing a threat to media organizations and freedom of expression by discouraging aggressive reporting, several journalists said at a recent symposium in Saitama.

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan