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Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 16, 2012

In the garden of Shigemori's mind

The Zen gardens of Kyoto have attracted countless admirers and served as inspiration to many artists, designers and other creative people. Steve Jobs, for whom Zen Buddhism was an inspiration, praised Kyoto's gardens, and the minimalism of Zen aesthetics became a strong inspiration behind the design...
CULTURE / Art
Feb 16, 2012

In the garden of Shigemori's mind

The Zen gardens of Kyoto have attracted countless admirers and served as inspiration to many artists, designers and other creative people. Steve Jobs, for whom Zen Buddhism was an inspiration, praised Kyoto's gardens, and the minimalism of Zen aesthetics became a strong inspiration behind the design...
Reader Mail
Feb 12, 2012

The shift to autumn enrollment

With sufficient support, mentorship and development programs, the recent proposal to shift enrollment at the University of Tokyo to autumn could produce positive outcomes in three areas.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 10, 2012

'Kitsutsuki to Ame (The Woodsman and the Rain)'

In movies as in life, first impressions count. Hence all the money lavished on opening credits, all the thought devoted to opening scenes. Quite often though, the flashy, clever beginning comes to feel like a con, as the formulaic story wends its way to its predictable end.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Feb 4, 2012

Valentine's Day — the perfect holiday for one

Valentine's Day is coming up, and once again, you may be wondering how to deal with it in Japan.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 29, 2012

In disparity-ridden Japan, don't mind the gaps — just get out of them

This is a nation of gaps.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jan 29, 2012

Unconventional thinking is the way forward for Japan

Yubari, Hokkaido, claims several distinctions, few of them enviable. It is Japan's only bankrupt city, and also its most elderly. Forty-one percent of its sagging population of 13,000 (down from 117,000 50 years ago) is aged 65 or over. That's of nationwide significance because within 40 years, Japan,...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 28, 2012

Uniqlo's bet on tennis ace Nishikori pays off

Kei Nishikori's historic run at the Australian Open generated a torrent of publicity for his sponsor, Fast Retailing Co., but Sony Corp. and Adidas AG both missed out after declining to renew endorsement deals with Japan's top tennis player.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 26, 2012

Witnessing China's new cultural revolution

Chinese culture is on the long, slow rebound. Back in 1989, the Chinese government was shocked by the sudden appearance in Tiananmen Square of an icon of Western culture. This was a ten-meter-tall statue created by protesting students that was modeled on the Statue of Liberty, and called the "Goddess...
CULTURE / Art
Jan 26, 2012

Witnessing China's new cultural revolution

Chinese culture is on the long, slow rebound. Back in 1989, the Chinese government was shocked by the sudden appearance in Tiananmen Square of an icon of Western culture. This was a ten-meter-tall statue created by protesting students that was modeled on the Statue of Liberty, and called the "Goddess...
EDITORIALS
Jan 21, 2012

Risky nuclear loophole

The government has worked out a revision of the law on the control of nuclear reactors. Under the revision, the operational life span of a reactor will be legally limited to 40 years — in principle. But the revision contains an exception clause, modeled after one in use in the United States, for extending...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Jan 17, 2012

Indian doctor finds success in Japan

Ruby Pawankar stumbled across Japan in 1988, when as a young physician in Pune, western India, she accompanied her Indian husband here to curate an exhibition held as part of the Festival of India in Japan.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 16, 2012

Looking for a doomsday scenario to believe in?

You've probably heard about the Mayan carvings that predict the year 2012 will be our last. Supposedly, the war and creation god Bolon Yokte will return, bringing with him certain doom. Scholars have been trying to tamp down those claims, saying that's an erroneous interpretation of the Mayan calendar,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 14, 2012

Globe-trekker devotes self to kids needing special attention

German Birgit Zorb-Serizawa has lived and worked on four continents in her career in special education, and she has spent many years providing opportunities and support for international families in Japan with special-needs children.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 10, 2012

Local Japanese school is the obvious choice if you want your child to fit in

The first day of elementary school, a milestone in a child's life, brings a mix of emotions for parents. The pride and joy of seeing their child taking his first steps into the world are tempered with feelings of anxiety in moms and dads everywhere.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jan 8, 2012

Rock meets French cuisine in 'Hungry'; launch of 'Taira no Kiyomori'; Shin-Sereberu:

Synergy is the name of the game in the new drama series "Hungry" (Fuji TV, Tues., 10:15 p.m.), which incorporates two themes: rock music and French cuisine.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jan 8, 2012

Holding court on warped ideas of sex and love

LOVESICK JAPAN: Sex, Marriage, Romance and Law, by Mark D. West. Cornell University Press, 2011, 272 pp., $29.95 (hardcover) Nobody else explores the law in Japan quite like Mark West, bringing it to life and close to home. "Lovesick Japan" is an entertaining and insightful examination of the courts,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 6, 2012

'Perfect Sense'

Will the world end with a whimper or a bang? That may well depend on whether you're at the multiplex or the art house. While blockbusters continue to relish the visual bombastics of Armageddon (the most wanton example being "2012"), a number of smaller films are also delving into the dark dramatic potential...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 5, 2012

Exposing new spins on old-school photography

For a truly fresh outlook on Tokyo, run, don't walk, to the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography to see Sohei Nishino's exciting photo-collages of Tokyo and nine other cities, on display through Jan. 29 along with works by other up-and-coming Japanese photographers.
CULTURE / Art
Jan 5, 2012

Exposing new spins on old-school photography

For a truly fresh outlook on Tokyo, run, don't walk, to the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography to see Sohei Nishino's exciting photo-collages of Tokyo and nine other cities, on display through Jan. 29 along with works by other up-and-coming Japanese photographers.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Jan 1, 2012

A breath of fire for nature this new Year of the Dragon

May I wish all our readers, in Japan and abroad, a very happy New Year. After 2011, I think we need one.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 1, 2012

What 2011 means for Japan in 2012 and beyond

We asked three long-term foreign residents to give their thoughts about Japan's past year and the coming year.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 30, 2011

Lacking powerhouses, it was a lean year for Japanese movies

Some years, the top four or five Japanese films quickly leap off my short list to my annual Best Ten. But this was not a great year for the local film industry, in terms of either box office or major awards winners. No masterpieces, in other words, though several have stayed with me, usually more for...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / LIGHT GIST
Dec 27, 2011

2011: a year of disaster in quotes

This year produced more than its share of memorable quotes, many of which were inspired by the March 11 disaster and its aftermath. But figures from other fields, from sports to entertainment, also said things worth repeating. Here is a sampling, in chronological order:
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 27, 2011

Many angles to acquiring Japanese citizenship

Nationality has long been a controversial issue in Japan. For most, it is something they are born with; for others, it is something they had to fight for. For some, nationality may be a source of pride, while for others, it may be the cause of discrimination.
EDITORIALS
Dec 24, 2011

Vaclav Havel, eternal dissident

The death of North Korea's supreme leader, Kim Jong Il, has obscured the passing of a truly heroic figure: Vaclav Havel. The Czech writer and dissident who became his country's first postcommunist president died Dec. 18. Mr. Havel was Mr. Kim's worst nightmare — an incorrigible and irrepressible dissenter,...
COMMENTARY
Dec 23, 2011

Learning about dignity

On Dec. 19 the United Nations General Assembly, meeting in New York, adopted a historic new U.N. Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Dec 18, 2011

Education for all from '60s Tokyo tale

J-BOYS: Kazuo's World, Tokyo, 1965, by Shogo Oketani. Stone Bridge Press, 2011, 211 pp., $9.95 (paperback) Like an affliction that allows you to function in an apparently normal manner but seditiously disables the sufferer, the dark legacy of war, never far from the minds of the adults in the story,...

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