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Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 1, 2014

Million Dollar Arm: 'Even Disney can't completely botch a baseball tale'

There's something about baseball that truly gels with movies. My secret conviction is that it's impossible to make a really terrible baseball movie. Even Disney can't botch it up completely, which is why their new true-to-life baseball tale "Million Dollar Arm" will wind up making you cry and glad to...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 1, 2014

Kafka's worm takes a high-tech turn

"I work a lot in France, where manga and anime are enormously popular, although many theater producers think they are basically for children and are often too violent. However, they regard my robot theater as being an essentially Japanese art form," the pioneering dramatist Oriza Hirata said recently...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 30, 2014

tofubeats calls on pals for his 'First Album'

Yusuke Kawai tries to start a para para dance halfway through his Sept. 5 DJ set, but the inside of an Apple Store isn't an ideal space for this endeavor. Kawai, who records under the name tofubeats, is performing a special show at the recently opened Omotesando store. Half of the floor eagerly watches...
WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 26, 2014

Study finds solar system's water older than the sun

Water found in Earth's oceans, in meteorites and frozen in lunar craters predates the birth of the solar system, a study published on Thursday shows, a finding with implications for the search for life on other planets.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 25, 2014

Maestro Taijiro Iimori will mark his NNTT debut with Wagner's 'Parsifal'

The New National Theatre, Tokyo, will open its 2014-15 season with "Parsifal," the last completed opera by German composer Richard Wagner (1813-83). While opera fans will no doubt be thrilled at the long-awaited performance of this piece at the theater, they can expect an additional treat as Taijiro...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
Sep 17, 2014

Ex-NYC graffitist scratches the surface in Osaka and declares it 'dope'

Father of three Roler Miles, who grew up defacing walls and subways in New York, now runs a thriving spray-paint business, teaches Japanese students art and leads a team of artists at Universal Studios Japan in Osaka.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 16, 2014

Yemeni journalist devoted to bringing democracy, women's rights to her country

Japan is an ideal model for countries racked by conflict and poverty because of how it resurrected itself from the devastation of war and achieved peace, the first Arab woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize says.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Sep 13, 2014

Three get death sentence for China train station attack

A Chinese court sentenced three people to death and one to life in prison on Friday for an attack at a train station that triggered a sweeping crackdown on what Beijing calls militant violence.
Japan Times
WORLD
Sep 12, 2014

Playboy model, cheap seats lure youth to Royal Opera House's opener of 'Anna Nicole' in London

The Royal Opera House rolled out the red carpet for young people on Thursday for season opener "Anna Nicole," based on the life of the late American stripper and Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith whose voluptuous surgically enhanced cleavage attracted a billionaire.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 11, 2014

Dreams made in a galaxy far, far away

Is Chris Pratt on his way to becoming Hollywood's next big action hero? The guy whose face you may recognize from various romcoms, but more likely know as Andy Dwyer from the U.S. sitcom "Parks and Recreation," has been raking in the praise for his latest film, "Guardians of the Galaxy."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 10, 2014

Little Forest: Natsu/Aki (Little Forest: Summer/Autumn)

Japanese food culture might be ancient, but Japan's obsession with food in pop culture is relatively recent. The "gourmet boom" of the bubble-era 1980s — when Japanese had more money and leisure to dine in style, rather than simply fill their stomachs — was a big spur. The accompanying proliferation...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 8, 2014

City rankings out of touch with 21st century reality

These days there are so many news stories about disease, disaster, doom and death that some media apparently want to lighten the gloom by reporting silly surveys on the most pleasant city to live in.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / ADOPT ME!
Sep 7, 2014

A cat named Tore: It's about balance

Tore was in poor shape all-around when she arrived at the ARK shelter, but she cleaned up very nicely. She's now a lady you could take anywhere.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Aug 29, 2014

Corrupt Chinese hiding in Western nations elude Beijing's 'fox hunt'

When Yang Xiuzhu got wind in 2003 that Chinese anti-corruption investigators were looking into her affairs, she boarded a flight to Singapore. A few days later Yang changed her name and flew to New York.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Aug 28, 2014

Nearly 50 years on, Bradley recalls 1964 Tokyo Games

As Bill Bradley remembers an unforgettable time in a life filled with extraordinary accomplishments, national pride as a collective experience remains a cherished memory from the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 27, 2014

Farewell to Taiwanese cinema, but not to love

If Taiwanese director Tsai Ming-liang threw a dinner party, it's easy to guess who would be invited. Tsai has staunchly and consistently worked with the same small cluster of actors from his 1992 debut film "Rebels of the Neon God" through to "Stray Dogs," which will open in Tokyo on Sept. 6, under the...
EDITORIALS
Aug 25, 2014

Difficult time for pensioners

Pensioners' lives are likely to become even more severe in fiscal 2015 as scheduled increases in pension payments track lower than the rise in general prices.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Aug 23, 2014

The well-off families who are feeling unwell

We're not living right. It's obvious, though whose fault it is may not be, and what to do about it is certainly not.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 21, 2014

Harasser of manga author draws maximum sentence

The unrepentant man driven by jealousy to repeatedly threaten the author of a popular basketball manga gets a 4 1/2-year prison term, the longest allowed.
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Aug 16, 2014

The awakening of a nation permanently at peace

There's something to be said for national isolation. Peace, for example. The very few foreigners allowed into Japan during its 250-odd years of almost total seclusion, from the early 17th century to the mid-19th, were awed by the spectacle of a nation permanently at peace.
Japan Times
JAPAN / ASHIDA'S WAR DIARY
Aug 15, 2014

Former PM Ashida had many faces, grandson says

Hitoshi Ashida was born to a wealthy Kyoto farming family, spoke three languages and had a doctorate in international law, but also had many faces, his grandson recalls.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Aug 9, 2014

Ah, vaginas! In defense of taboos

Two words have been let loose on society by an artist who, for better or worse, may find the rest of her life and career inextricably bound up with them, "vagina" being one and "taboo" the other. The artist herself needs no introduction. She is (or briefly was) the most famous woman in Japan, thanks...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Aug 8, 2014

Center in Tokai helps foreigners

A new group has been established in the Tokai region to help foreign residents get educational, medical and welfare services in Japan.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 28, 2014

No letup in the inhumanity

Where are the peacemakers hiding? In China, Japan, South Korea, Ukraine, Russia and the Middle East, leaders have dug in and are picking at old sores and animosities, even trying to celebrate them.

Longform

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