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COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Sep 13, 2013

The dysfunctional family of Mother Nature

"From now on, I will carry my own water bottle," I promised Mother Nature. She had just scolded me as I came around the corner by presenting me with an angry beach covered with garbage. And this was not the first time she has told me off. Hundreds of beaches in the Seto Inland Sea are inundated with...
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 13, 2013

Neuroscientists reveal the sexiest parts of the body

The mind, said Raquel Welch, is an erogenous zone. And it is the brain, and how it organizes our erogenous zones, that has intrigued scientists for decades. Why is a nuzzled neck sexy when few would be turned on by a nuzzled nose? And why do men seem to have fewer erogenous zones than women? A new study...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 12, 2013

East-West sweets are a favorite fusion feast

In Japan, single-flavored foods are sometimes just too monotonous to attract new customers, and so snack companies are constantly going back to the planning board to come up with a hot new flavor of potato chips and chocolate. Often their inspiration comes not only from the Western origins of those snacks...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / JAZZ NOTES
Sep 11, 2013

Tony Bennett, New Cool Collective, Ai Kuwabara Trio Project impress crowds at Tokyo Jazz Festival

On seeing the lineup ahead of this year's Tokyo Jazz Festival, my initial feeling was the organizers had maybe cast their net a bit too wide with the acts booked, but those fears were completely unfounded.
CULTURE / Music / TOKYO JAZZ FESTIVAL
Sep 11, 2013

Tres-men

Tres-men are made up of percussionist Takahiro "Matzz" Matsuoka, DJ Yoshijiro Sakurai and keyboardist Yusuke Nakamura.
Japan Times
SOCCER
Sep 10, 2013

Three second-half goals carry Japan past Ghana

Manchester United star Shinji Kagawa sparked a second-half fightback as Japan came from a goal behind to beat Ghana 3-1 in a friendly on Tuesday night.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 9, 2013

A friend to kanji learners worldwide

Mary Sisk Noguchi helped readers unravel the complexities of Chinese characters, adding an element of fun to a process often fraught with frustration for many learners of Japanese.
ENVIRONMENT
Sep 9, 2013

Could man-made clouds help lower the planet's temperature?

With the planet warming inexorably, some experts are wondering whether the time may have come to deliberately attempt 'solar radiation management.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Sep 7, 2013

Miko Fogarty tells what it takes to be a teenage dance star

Unlike the stereotype of your average American teen, Miko Fogarty (16) is not talkative or exuberant. In this way she seems somewhat shy and reserved, almost as if she leans toward the Japanese part of her lineage despite being brought up in the United States. Or perhaps she's just sure of herself as...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 4, 2013

Shuji Terayama's underground public stage

Thirty years on from the death of Shuji Terayama, Japanese theater's most avant-garde provocateur continues his renaissance with a show of his films, photography and, most importantly, theater works at the Watari Museum of Contemporary Art, which follows on from the recent showing of printed ephemera...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 4, 2013

Rock group Zoobombs announce split, prepare for sudden farewell tour

This month marks the 20th anniversary of Tokyo rock 'n' roll act Zoobombs. It also marks their demise as the group has announced they will part ways at the end of September.
Reader Mail
Sep 4, 2013

Katakana-go a study handicap

Regarding Mark Schreiber’s Aug. 25 article, “When does one’s native language stop being native?”: Being bicultural myself, I grew up speaking and still do speak a mix of Japanese and English when among my bicultural friends.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 3, 2013

Is America now becoming an international outlaw?

When Barack Obama succeeded George W. Bush as U.S. president, the world heaved a collective sigh of relief. How ironic then that Obama risks making the U.S. the biggest international outlaw of our times.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / CHILD'S PLAY
Sep 3, 2013

Closely knit friends in Daikanyama

I am sitting at a low wooden table with a group of Japanese mothers discussing the pros and cons of different knitting stitches.
LIFE / Digital
Sep 3, 2013

Web giants pumping us for data

Should you be looking for an example of hucksterish cynicism, then the mantra that "data is the new oil" is as good as they come. Although its first recorded uttering goes as far back as 2006, in recent times it has achieved the status of an approved corporate cliche, though nowadays "data" is generally...
WORLD
Sep 2, 2013

U.S. in unending hunt for terrorists in spy agencies

The U.S. government suspects that individuals with connections to al-Qaida and other hostile groups have repeatedly sought to obtain jobs in the intelligence community, and it reinvestigates thousands of employees each year to reduce the threat that one of its own may be trying to compromise closely...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 2, 2013

Animation master Miyazaki to retire; fans in disbelief

The abrupt announcement about film director Hayao Miyazaki's decision to retire triggers tributes and disbelief.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Aug 31, 2013

Reds gain ground in J.League title race

Urawa Reds made up ground in the J.League title race with a 1-0 win over Albirex Niigata as front-runners Yokohama F. Marinos and Sanfrecce Hiroshima both lost on Saturday night.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2013

It's a kid's world at Festa 2013

Children enjoyed intercultural experiences ranging from Thai vegetable carving to learning Sri Lanka's Sinhala alphabet Saturday in Tokyo.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Aug 31, 2013

Naoto Kan speaks out

Naoto Kan took his first steps in the world of politics around 40 years ago as a pugnacious citizen-activist, admonishing those with power as only those without it can. He likes to say he's the same man now, but of course there's an irony in that. After all, in the intervening years he acquired about...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Aug 31, 2013

To J.D. Salinger, new book would likely seem a hit below the belt

J.D. Salinger would hate this.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Aug 30, 2013

High hopes for victims of female genital mutilation

A nondescript suburb on the outskirts of San Francisco. A plain brick building. Seven nervous women wait in the sunlight. They are here for surgery, which perhaps has as much claim as any other to describe itself as "miraculous."
Japan Times
WORLD
Aug 28, 2013

Strike on Syria could draw U.S. into protracted conflict

An imminent U.S. strike on Syrian government targets in response to the alleged gassing of civilians last week has the potential to draw the United States into the country's civil war, former U.S. officials say.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 27, 2013

The failure of Tahrir Square 2011

Two years ago, when I was in the Occupy movement, my comrades and I argued about revolution. Was revolution necessary? What is it? The split that destroyed our movement — as it did the Left during the 1960s — pitted revolutionaries against reformists. The most frustrating part of the debate, however,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 26, 2013

Observing the world in Yokohama's giant Orbi

What's on show at this new, nature-themed high-tech museum should appeal to your senses — literally.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 25, 2013

NASA's mission improbable: corral an asteroid

NASA is looking for a rock. It has to be out there somewhere — a small asteroid circling the sun and passing close to Earth. It can't be too big or too small. Something 6 to 9 meters in diameter would work. It can't be spinning too rapidly, or tumbling knees over elbows. It can't be a speed demon....
Japan Times
LIFE
Aug 24, 2013

Long-gone writer tells it how it is

When Kenji Miyazawa was writing his stories and poems nearly a century ago, Japan was a country with a two-pronged mission: To become the first non-white, non-Christian nation to create a modern prosperous state — and to be the leader of an Asian revival.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 23, 2013

'Senior moments' for foreigners — they could start in your 20s

"How do you know if you have Alzheimer's?" said the front of the pamphlet. The answer inside was: "If you can't remember what you ate for lunch, you don't have Alzheimer's. If you can't remember whether you ate lunch or not, that's Alzheimer's."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 21, 2013

Britain's 'YBA' have moved on, but they still inspire

In Ben Wheatley's recent film "A Field in England," a group of deserting soldiers fleeing the 17th-century English Civil War escape through a field of mushrooms, only to be captured by an alchemist and descend into a nightmare of both body and mind — all against the backdrop of the English countryside....

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