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Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 13, 2010

Imperial Hotel maintains its pride, 120 years on

Charles Chaplin, Marilyn Monroe and Babe Ruth, and in recent years U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and former Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev are among the many celebrities who have lodged at the Imperial Hotel, Japan's first grand Western-style inn, which opened as a state guesthouse during...
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Nov 12, 2010

Ones to watch in Fukuoka, in the spotlight and in the shadows

Come Sunday, two rikishi participating in sumo's makunouchi division at the Kyushu Basho down in Fukuoka will attract much of the media spotlight, and interest from fans.
CULTURE / Film
Nov 12, 2010

'Ricky'

When Katie (Alexandra Lamy) meets Paco (Sergi Lopez) during a cigarette break at the cosmetics factory where they both work, her life is about a step shy of being in the dumps. The job is hard, she's underpaid, and her husband walked out on her years ago — leaving Katie to pay the bills and look after...
CULTURE / Film
Nov 12, 2010

'Spring Fever'

Director Lou Ye continues to prove he's one of the more daring directors working in China today with his latest, "Spring Fever." Or perhaps I should say, one of the more daring directors not working in China today, for Lou was placed on the government censors' blacklist in 2006 after his last film, "Summer...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 11, 2010

Dreaming of a new Edo era

SEOUL — All eyes have shifted to Seoul as Group of 20 leaders convene Thursday and Friday for the first time in the South Korean capital. The choice is long overdue, as South Korea is a remarkable success story: In one generation, the South Koreans, formerly pummeled by civil war, under constant threat...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Nov 9, 2010

Pachinko parlors pulling in pensioners

Bored? Need to get out the house but nothing too strenuous? How bout a friendly game of pachinko, gramps?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 9, 2010

Muslims in shock over police 'terror' leak

This time last month, Mohamed Salmi says he was just another anonymous foreigner living and working in Japan. Today he fears his life here may be over, and receives phone calls from reporters asking him if he is an al-Qaida "terrorist."
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Nov 7, 2010

A Kyushu tale of two cities in one

Fukuoka, the biggest city in Kyushu and a key gateway linking Japan to the rest of Asia, has the air of a modern metropolis. But the city is also rich in traditional culture and its residents' long-standing hospitality toward visitors is well known.
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Nov 5, 2010

Count Basie Orchestra at the Okura

The Hotel Okura Tokyo will hold its fourth annual Hotel Okura Live Index event on Dec. 24.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 5, 2010

Pontiacs

Taking their name from the iconic American automobile marque that will cease production this winter after 84 years, Pontiacs have plenty of heritage under the hood. The band reunites guitar-vocalist Kenichi Asai and bassist Toshiyuki Terui of quintessential Japanese garage-rock band Blankey Jet City,...
EDITORIALS
Nov 1, 2010

Shoplifters getting older

A sad trend is emerging with the all too common crime of shoplifting. Although the total number of crimes recognized by authorities declined to 1.7 million in 2009 from a peak of 2.85 million in 2002 — with shoplifting leveling off at 140,000 to 150,000 cases yearly — more and more elderly people...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 1, 2010

U.S. voters set to jump from frying pan to the fire

HONG KONG — Is the United States heading for disaster when the country goes to the polls Tuesday to elect all 435 members of the House of Representatives and a third of the Senate?
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Oct 31, 2010

Okinawan garden majesty

The world's first gardens may well have been made of coral, natural clusters of underwater beauty that could be glimpsed through the transparent water. Perfectly tone-coordinated, balanced and formed, they were refined by nature to a degree that may have suggested the divine.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 29, 2010

Ryo the Skywalker's new hope

Search the music section on social networking website Twitter and you'll see a long list of known global megastars, including Britney Spears and Kanye West. Directly under Justin Timberlake is Japan's only representative on the list — Ryo the Skywalker, the stage name of Ryo Yamaguchi.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 28, 2010

Big ideas are emerging from small countries

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Two decades ago, many people thought that the lesson of the 1980s was that Japan's variant of capitalism was the best model, and that other countries around the world should and would follow it. The Japanese model quickly lost its luster in the 1990s.
COMMENTARY
Oct 26, 2010

Asia needs to make wiser use of its water

SINGAPORE — Photographed from satellites in space, Asia and the other great continents are a spectacular sight. One of the most unique features of the panoramic view is water, in both liquid and frozen forms, which covers about 75 percent of Earth's surface.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Oct 26, 2010

Foreigners victims, perpetrators of sekuhara

When "Tracy," an American then in her late 20s, started her career in Japan as a JET instructor at a high school in Kagoshima nearly 20 years ago, nothing in her training could have prepared her for what she witnessed.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Oct 24, 2010

Flood control: Destroying neighborhoods to save them

If there was ever an example of government overspending, the long-term flood control project involving super-levees would be it.
MORE SPORTS
Oct 24, 2010

Perske arrested on drug charges

Japanese media report that Australian professional golfer Wayne Perske has been arrested on suspicion of cocaine possession.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 24, 2010

Nomo's legacy should land him in Hall of Fame

Fourth in a four-part series
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 22, 2010

Entrepreneurs' best friend growing long in the tooth

HONG KONG — Standard Chartered Bank has an advertisement currently running on television that is eye-catching and thought-provoking. Its central message is that "not everything that counts in life can be counted" and that the bank wants to be "here for people; here for progress; here for the long run;...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 22, 2010

An education in Japanese-style painting

Economically in decline, and with its traditional craft industries going the same way, the city of Kyoto, having lost its nominal status as Japan's capital city in 1868, turned to education. Sixty four elementary schools were established by 1869, and secondary schools followed. The 130th anniversary...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 21, 2010

Return of a maverick

HONG KONG — On the way to the airport in early 1990, I saw a strange face among the profusion and confusion of election posters. Not a European grandee, or indigenous Indian, or mestizo, or mulatto. It was more like Chinese, but surely not in this heart of Latin America.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Oct 18, 2010

Lawyers' livelihoods to get needier

Six years ago, the LDP raised the bar of number for the number of practicing lawyers in Japan but is passing the bar still that attractive?

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