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January 26, 2025
 

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JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
May 9, 2010

Astronauts need company: Should we send a rover or a humanoid?

If you've heard the arguments about whether it's better to send robots or humans on space missions, get ready for them to intensify: There are whole varieties of subarguments.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Apr 21, 2010

Move by Nets triggers flood of memories

NEW YORK — Play "Misty" for us — the Nets closed the coffin on the Izod Center last week with one more loss.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Apr 18, 2010

Brace yourself — I did say 'cute'!

When did you last go out into the woods at night? In this age of media-induced fears, and with far more than half the world's population now being urban- dwellers, fewer of us brave the outdoors even during daylight hours, let alone at night.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Apr 11, 2010

Italian toads fuel case for animals' seismic sense

Have you ever anticipated an earthquake? Some people report that they have "sensed" a temblor before it struck. They may claim to have felt a "foreboding" that something was going to happen. When an earthquake then strikes, it is easy to retrospectively join the dots and attribute that vague sense of...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 26, 2010

Chronicling a collection

Last fall, Tokyo's Museum of Contemporary Art (MOT) quietly launched a series of exhibitions seeking new interpretive approaches to the institution's permanent collection of modern and contemporary art. Tucked away in a modest group of second-floor galleries, the first exhibition in the series, "Chronicle...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 17, 2010

You can count on the tales behind number-kanji

When giving talks on Japan in elementary school classrooms in the United States, I chalk the kanji 一, 二, and 三 on the blackboard and ask the children to guess their meanings. "One, two, three!" they shout, easily intuiting three kanji introduced to Japanese schoolchildren in the first grade. Japanese...
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Mar 14, 2010

Pens and pools: prisons for cetaceans

The death in February of a killer-whale trainer at SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida, made headlines all over the world. As has been widely reported, Dawn Brancheau, an experienced orca trainer, was dragged by her hair into the whale's pool, where she died of traumatic injuries and drowning.
BUSINESS
Mar 6, 2010

Toyota secretive on 'black box' data

SOUTHLAKE, Texas — Toyota has for years blocked access to data stored in devices similar to airliner black boxes that could explain crashes blamed on sudden unintended acceleration, according to an Associated Press review of lawsuits nationwide and interviews with auto crash experts.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Japan Pulse
Feb 24, 2010

Pulse Rate: 社畜 (shachiku)

In our new series, Pulse Rate looks at why everyone seeking info on 'corporate cattle' and black-listed companies in Japan's search engines.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Feb 20, 2010

Stuck in a not so hairy situation

One way I kill time on my monotonous commutes across municipal Tokyo is to scout out the hairpieces in the strap-hanger set.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Feb 14, 2010

Could 'Godzilla cherry blossom' save Japanese culture?

Cherry blossom is as quintessentially Japanese as sushi and samurai.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Feb 10, 2010

Knicks lose a legend with McGuire's passing

NEW YORK — The easiest columns to write are about people you love.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jan 24, 2010

Eschewing the cheerlessness of modern-market memoirs

Those who have read Donald Keene's 1996 memoir "On Familiar Terms" may wonder whether it was necessary for him to bring out another that covers much the same ground. One suspects that Keene published "Chronicles of My Life" simply because he had been asked to write a series of columns about his life...
Reader Mail
Jan 21, 2010

Grateful for right to proselytize

In his Jan. 17 article, "Will the Tiger find a way out of the Woods?," columnist Tom Plate finds commentator Brit Hume's statement on American television that Christianity might offer a public figure (such as golfer Tiger Woods) a greater opportunity for repentance to be not only virtually unconstitutional...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Jan 17, 2010

Learning old ways to build for today

For lovers of traditional Japanese architecture, a visit to Akihisa Kitamori's laboratory at the Kyoto University Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere (RISH) would likely evoke similar emotions to those felt by an animal-rights activist in a cosmetics test lab full of tormented rabbits.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jan 10, 2010

Beware: Reading this may swamp your sea horses

Reading this column could be an unforgettable way to start the new year.
COMMENTARY
Dec 28, 2009

Star artists reveal the essence of a nation's bureaucratic ways

LOS ANGELES — In America, trying to understand what makes other complex countries and cultures tick is usually done in the university classroom, through travel abroad or by following the mass news media. But there's another option that sometimes produces gold: Peering into other cultures through the...
COMMENTARY
Dec 20, 2009

Wake up a friend about China at Christmas

LOS ANGELES — Attention last-minute holiday shoppers: We have an easy-to-purchase gift to recommend. And we guarantee that it will fit all sizes, shapes and tastes. This is assuming your intended recipients are intelligent, literate and eager to learn about the world.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Dec 13, 2009

How to survive a 'fearful age'?

The other day I attended a preview screening of "The Road," the new film of Cormac McCarthy's post-apocalyptic 2006 novel of the same name.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Dec 6, 2009

Rika Kayama: Finding satisfaction in being ourselves

Psychiatrist Rika Kayama is an outspoken doctor specializing in mental illness, a best-selling writer and a popular social commentator.
COMMENTARY
Oct 26, 2009

Paranoids feast on China's 'peaceful rising'

LOS ANGELES — Paranoid people tend to live longer, goes the old joke. And so it is in this spirit only — not out of a desire to engage in Cold War China-bashing — that we raise concerns about China. So here's the paranoid's question: Just what is China really up to?
COMMENTARY
Oct 21, 2009

Another twist and shout from North Korea

LOS ANGELES — Like the baby that hurls its rattle out of the crib to grab attention, North Korea has never been known for a subtle diplomatic style. Right now, though, it appears to have abandoned, temporarily at least, the crude infantile approach for a more adult turn.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Oct 11, 2009

In cross-cultural situations, remember those emoticons

"My first child was born on December 27th, 1839, and I at once commenced to make notes on the first dawn of the various expressions which he exhibited."
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 15, 2009

Did technology kill the KTO star?

In 1977, nine years after Tony Elliott started the then-alternative media London Time Out magazine, Kansai Time Out printed its first issue, an eight-pager with local listings and a smattering of Japan-related articles. Dominic Al-Badri, chief editor from 1997 to 2004, recalls that the info-packed pages...
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Sep 13, 2009

Sex in space could be the key to the survival of humans

I've been thinking about sex in space. Not from any interest in a potential new porn genre, or because I've got a chance of joining the 62-mile-high club any time soon. No, my concerns are loftier even than that: I'm worried about the future of humanity.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 4, 2009

Denzel holds the lead

"I think it's hard to generalize," says actor Denzel Washington about movie remakes. He and John Travolta — as the villain — costar in a remake of the 1974 "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3," which starred Walter Matthau and was much noted for its powerful score by David Shire. Comparisons between the...
Reader Mail
Aug 27, 2009

Dillon's witty take on differences

After reading Thomas Dillon's Aug. 22 column The right word and the right to choose it" and Amy Chavez's "Oscar the Grouch would be homeless here," I was struck by the contrast in tone by two long-term foreigners in Japan.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 13, 2009

Berlusconi's scandals are no laughing matter

ROME — Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's political and sexual exploits make headlines around the world, and not just in the tabloid press. These stories would be no more than funny — which they are certainly are — if they were not so damaging to Italy and revelatory of the country's immobile...
Japan and South Korea were stable U.S. allies. Not anymore.
Supporters of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol protest in Seoul on Tuesday. The previous leaders of the U.S. and Japan, along with Yoon, focused on strengthening alliances and regional stability through cooperation whereas newly elected U.S. President Donald Trump’s approach to foreign policy may prioritize transactional relationships.
Chinese tourist fatally struck by train in Hokkaido
Hokkaido Railway temporarily suspended train services after a 61-year-old Chinese tourist was fatally struck by a train in the city of Otaru, Hokkaido, on Thursday morning.
Trump fires 17 inspectors general in late-night purge
U.S. President Donald Trump throws pens to the crowd after signing executive orders during the inaugural parade inside Capital One Arena in Washington on Monday.
Trump spurs surprise world rally in first week on trade respite
U.S. President Donald Trump is seen on a giant screen during his address by video conference at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday.
Chinese court gives death penalty to man who killed Japanese boy
A woman lays a bouquet of flowers outside Shenzhen Japanese School following the murder of a 10-year-old Japanese child who was on his way to the school, in Shenzhen in September.
What are the real issues behind the Fuji TV scandal?
Fuji Television's poor handling of sexual misconduct allegations against celebrity Masahiro Nakai has led to an exodus of sponsors from the broadcaster.
The cartoon chaos of ‘Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi’ was ahead of its time
Animated series “Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi” premiered on Cartoon Network on Nov. 29, 2004, and ran for three seasons. The show is based on real-life J-pop band Puffy.
How 'Twin Peaks' turned David Lynch into Japan's favorite weirdo
“The Elephant Man” and “Twin Peaks” director David Lynch became a favorite among Japanese moviegoers who flocked to new arthouse cinemas (known as “mini theaters”) popping up around the country in the 1980s and ’90s.
As parliament opens, ruling coalition enters uncharted territory
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers a policy speech at the Lower House of the parliament in Tokyo last November.
Dodgers introduce Japanese pitching phenom Roki Sasaki
Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki speaks during his introductory news conference with the team in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Ayumi Matsuki, a priestess at Yoshiwara Shrine, shows off some "o-mamori" charms. She says visitors to the shrine have increased since the NHK drama “Unbound” began airing this month.
Tracing Tsutaya Juzaburo, Edo’s media maverick
By Alex K.T. Martin

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