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Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 18, 2012

From the low key comes high art

The Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum is deceptive in more ways than one. Not only is it a lot younger than it looks — it was built in 2009 as a recreation of a Meiji Era building — but the interior doesn't quite match the exterior. The latter looks somewhat grand and even slightly palatial, but once inside...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Oct 14, 2012

Spirits linger on storied Kudaka Isle

The 25-minute hop from Azama Port to Kudaka Island provides just enough time to glimpse back at Okinawa's receding coast before turning to gaze at the shoreline looming — not that I expected a great deal from an island so easily and frequently linked by ferries to the much-developed mainland.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 13, 2012

Softbank-Sprint tie could be game-changer in Japan, abroad

If Softbank Corp. manages to acquire Sprint Nextel Corp., the deal would dramatically increase the mobile carrier's influence in both the domestic and overseas markets and severely rattle its major rivals, experts said Friday.
JAPAN / IMF-WORLD BANK IN TOKYO
Oct 12, 2012

Kajima develops technologies to cope with disasters

As a way to demonstrate its commitment to the growing corporate and social requirements for business continuity plans (BCP), Kajima Corp., Japan's leading general contractor, conducted a large-scale anti-disaster drill on Aug. 30. It was conducted on the assumption that a magnitude 7.3 earthquake with...
JAPAN / IMF-WORLD BANK IN TOKYO
Oct 12, 2012

KKE starts consultations for evacuation planning

One lesson learned from the tragic Great East Japan Earthquake disaster on March 11, 2011, is that hardware alone does not suffice to save the lives of so many people in affected areas.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 12, 2012

'The Expendables 2'

The "Expendables" franchise certainly deserves some credit for truth in advertising, although I suppose "The Disposables" or "The Predictables" might have been even more on the mark: This is the sort of generic action movie you're already forgetting as the lights come up.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Oct 12, 2012

Iwate likely to emerge as power in Eastern Conference

In the rapidly changing bj-league, the Eastern Conference welcomes a pair of new franchise — the Gunma Crane Thunders and Tokyo Cinq Reves — to the fold this season, while the mighty Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix, a three-time finalist and two-time champion, shift to the Western Conference....
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 12, 2012

Determined Swallows renew rivalry with playoff-tested Dragons

No matter what changes or how much time passes, it seems like the Chunichi Dragons find a way to make it into the Climax Series.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 12, 2012

Territorial disputes don't rain on Asia's largest parade of cinema

There was very little talk at the 17th Busan International Film Festival, Asia's biggest movie event of the year, of the ongoing conflict between Japan and South Korea over ownership of those rocks in the Japan Sea. It so happens that the festival's Asian Filmmaker of the Year Award was being given to...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 11, 2012

Superfly "Force"

Superfly does one type of sound so well that there is no reason to try anything new. The project — primarily the stage name of singer Shiho Ochi, with some songwriting assists from Koichi Tabo — plays guitar-centric rock indebted to the music of the 1960s and '70s. It's a style that suits her well,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 11, 2012

Taking a nostalgic train of thought

Train travel inspires nostalgia. There's no escaping it. It conjures up memories of childhood — playing beside the rail track at the bottom of the garden or with a miniature railway at home. However, politics and societal change have influenced and produced more controversial images of rail travel...
EDITORIALS
Oct 7, 2012

Disabled still face discrimination

Nearly 90 percent of the public believes that disabled people still face discrimination in society, according to a recent survey by the Cabinet Office. That was six points higher than those answering the same in the last survey in 2007. Clearly, the general public feels strongly that people with disabilities...
CULTURE / Books
Oct 7, 2012

Seen through the victim's eye

THE STORY OF MY ASSASSINS, by Tarun J. Tejpal. Melville House, 2012, 544 pp., $27.95 (hardcover) Tarun J. Tejpal's "The Story of My Assassins" begins, "The morning I heard I'd been shot I was sitting in my office. ..."
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / ONE-ON-ONE WITH ...
Oct 6, 2012

Newton confident Ryukyu will contend for another title

The Japan Times features periodic interviews with players in the bj-league. Jeff Newton of the Ryukyu Golden Kings is the subject of this week's profile.
BUSINESS
Oct 6, 2012

Nissan plans major boost in car imports

Nissan Motor Co. may overtake Volkswagen as Japan's biggest car importer as it steps up shipments of vehicles made offshore to mitigate the strength of the yen.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 5, 2012

'Casino Jack' / '4:44 Last Day on Earth'

As late-stage capitalism enters its terminal phase, democracy sees an epic fail, giving way to a kind of corporate plutocracy. The problem is all too clear: Government, in just about every country you can think of, has been bought and sold.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Oct 5, 2012

Nash hungry to build off Grouses' success last season

Bob Nash has been around the game long enough to know that he doesn't need to go out of his way to complicate things.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 4, 2012

Chairlift taps childhood memories of Japan for inspiration

Next week will mark Brooklyn, New York-based synth-pop duo Chairlift's first gig in Japan, but it won't be the first time here for Caroline Polachek.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Sep 30, 2012

Time seems to slow as Joei-ji Garden comes alive

"The whole countryside was full of snakes sunning themselves along the roads and swimming in the ditches and newly flooded rice-fields. ... Out in Sesshu's old garden behind the temple, the pond was starred with tiny twinkling water-lilies." Such was, in part, how Glenn W. Shaw described the rural outskirts...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Sep 28, 2012

Parker not expecting to win fifth straight scoring title

Shimane Susanoo Magic forward Michael Parker, the four-time reigning scoring champion, predicted on Monday he won't win the scoring title this season.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 28, 2012

Monstrous robotic behemoth brings anime fantasies to life

It's hard to say whether technology will ever catch up with sci-fi anime and realize an era when giant robots roam the earth, but for artist Kogoro Kurata and student Wataru Yoshizaki the future can't come soon enough.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 27, 2012

Tadanori Yokoo prepares to 'move on' in different ways

Tadanori Yokoo, bad boy of the Japanese art scene since the 1960s, is showing nine works, most of which were made within the last couple of years, at Scai The Bathhouse in the Yanaka district of Tokyo. The small exhibition, titled "Destination the Teshima Art House Project" serves to not only showcase...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 27, 2012

Singapore's bid to become Asia's newest art hub

Three Tokyo-based Japanese contemporary art galleries — Tomio Koyama Gallery, Mizuma Gallery and Ota Fine Arts — inaugurated new spaces at Singapore's Gillman Barracks at an opening party on Sept. 14, joining 10 other galleries from the Philippines, Indonesia, Australia, Korea, China, Germany, Italy,...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / ONE-ON-ONE WITH ...
Sep 26, 2012

Kreckovic facing huge rebuilding task in Osaka

The Japan Times periodically features interviews with personalities in the bj-league. Coach Zoran Kreckovic of the Osaka Evessa is the subject of this week's profile.
BUSINESS
Sep 25, 2012

Toyota plans slew of new hybrid models

Toyota Motor Corp. said Monday that it will introduce 21 new gasoline-electric hybrid models by the end of 2015 to meet the growing demand for fuel-efficient cars.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / MIXED MATCHES
Sep 25, 2012

Cheers! Wine shop serves as a bridge for couple

Jamie Paquin and Nozomi Mihara, who jointly own an all-Canadian wine shop that opened in Tokyo last year, met by chance at a cafe six years ago.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Sep 23, 2012

No trusting those who descend from heaven

Just for fun, try this whimsical little experiment: search the Japan Times website for "regain trust." It's an expression that recurs so often, and has such a long history, you'd almost think it meant something.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Sep 23, 2012

Adrift from Kyoto's Amanohashidate on Heaven's Floating Bridge

The Japanese have long had a fondness for categorizing impressive features of the world around them into numbered lists. And in this enterprise, trios hold particular fascination. Thus, in addition to the Three Great Festivals and the Three Great Night Views, among well over 100 prestigious triads are...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Sep 21, 2012

Spa treatments with afternoon tea; thematic gourmet delicacies; resort plan with seasonal fare

Spa, afternoon tea set at Westin Tokyo Even as temperatures continue to slide lower, the summer heat remains. So to help with getting rid of summer exhaustion, The Westin Tokyo in Yebisu Garden Place offers a special relaxation plan called Doux ensemble, through Nov. 10.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 21, 2012

Sake tastings mark the arrival of fall

Sake lovers eagerly await the coming of autumn, when spring's brash young brews begin to mellow and develop complexity. Unsurprisingly, this season is prime time for tastings, and October means sake events all over Japan.

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