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JAPAN
Jun 8, 2009

Pandemic test eyed for cell phones

A few months from now, a highly contagious disease will spread through a Japanese elementary school. The epidemic will start with several unwitting children, who will infect others as they attend classes and wander the halls.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Jun 7, 2009

Director Tran talks of moving from violence to Murakami's famed 'Norwegian Wood'

Born in Vietnam and raised in France from age 12, Tran Anh Hung made an indelible debut as a filmmaker in 1993 with "The Scent Of Green Papaya." A delicate, sensual film, where the patter of rain on garden leaves or the rustle of wind on mosquito netting was as prominent as its story of a servant girl...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
May 31, 2009

Where whimsy meets wonder

Antiques tell tales of values, past and present. It's a good guess that whatever survives for a century or so in the tight confines of a Japanese home is either a work of art, a tool of cunning design, or an item of great sentimental value.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 30, 2009

Tourism looks for a boost

YOKOHAMA — Aiming to stimulate domestic tourism and boost foreign tourism, Tabi (Travel) Fair 2009 kicked off Friday in Yokohama with promoters and public organizations from around the nation pitching their local specialties.
CULTURE / Film
May 29, 2009

'High Kick Girl'

Movie-action scenes are as choreographed as "Swan Lake," but the exceptional ones that make it real — Buster Keaton standing stock still as the side of a house falls on him in "Steamboat Bill Jr., Jackie Chan sliding 30 meters down a pole in a shopping mall in "Police Story" — linger on in memory...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 29, 2009

'Chandni Chowk to China'

Indian filmmakers have apparently been learning much from Hollywood's hits: They've picked up on the use of digitally-generated FX, they're learning to work crossmarket platforms, and they've also mastered the art of making comic-book plots so stupefying they could serve as large-animal tranquilizers....
LIFE / Food & Drink
May 29, 2009

Simple, refined French in Ebisu

If you don't have the luxury of an expense account, A ta Gueule, a tiny French hideaway in Ebisu, promises a gourmet experience that won't break the bank.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 29, 2009

Dynasties that knew good living

Off the beaten path in the Kita-ku district in northern Kyoto sits a veritable jewel, the charming Koryo Museum of Art, which houses a collection of Korean traditional arts. Koryo is unique in Japan for its more than 20-year mission of exhibiting traditional Korean artwork.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 29, 2009

Classical music lovers get set for Matsumoto

"Sending out high-quality Western classical music from Japan" was the goal for renowned cellist and conductor Hideo Saito (1902-74), who studied in Germany. In 1955, he cofounded the Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo, where he devoted the latter half of his life to music education and taught many...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
May 27, 2009

Matching beats, solar chats and tiny vids

Pace me with your rhythm stick: Yamaha is improving the connection between music and physical workouts with the release this month of the BF-1 BODiBEAT digital music player (¥29,800). The BODiBEAT chooses the songs in a playlist you upload to the device that go best with the pace of your workout. A...
LIFE
May 24, 2009

City's new gateway to worlds apart

When I was walking to Osanbashi Pier, I noticed that the asphalt road changed to a wooden deck leading me up a slope to a grassy hilltop.
CULTURE / Books
May 24, 2009

The enduring tradition of tanka

WHITE PETALS by Harue Aoki. Shichigatsudo, 2008, 126 pp., ¥1,500 (paper)
Japan Times
LIFE
May 24, 2009

Happy Birthday Yokohama!

For untold generations it was a muddy little fishing village on present-day Tokyo Bay. Then the destiny of Yokohama (meaning "broad beach") changed forever when a U.S. naval squadron led by Commodore Matthew Perry dropped anchor there in February 1854.
Japan Times
LIFE
May 24, 2009

The beat goes on in Japan's jazz hub

As one of Japan's longest-standing maritime gateways to the world, Yokohama has absorbed many cultures from the West over the last 150 years — not least its abiding love of jazz.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 22, 2009

Tattoo you — Mika's call to arms

"I believe in my voice as a singer," declares Mika Nakashima, alluding to the three words tattooed in English around her right wrist. " 'Trust your voice,' in a broad sense, means we should accept everything and believe in many things. I learned this in New York and developed myself in many ways that...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 15, 2009

Gauguin: 'I shall never do anything better'

Was he just a "Sunday painter" who abandoned his wife and five children for a bohemian life in a distant island paradise — where he died of syphilis and poverty in the arms of a teenage mistress?
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / STYLE WISE
May 14, 2009

Say hello to Belgium's best, aptform, the Land of Tomorrow and Forever 21

Bold Belgium "Avant garde" doesn't even begin to describe some of the amazing creations that have come from the Belgian fashion capital of Antwerp over the years. Intelligent designers from the city successfully fuse fantasy with reality, and the "6+ Antwerp" exhibition at Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
May 10, 2009

Kawasaki risen from the grit with plenty to offer

Back in December 1972, having just taken a job with a Japan Airlines subsidiary, I moved into the company's bachelors dormitory at Miyauchi 2-chome in Kawasaki's Nakahara Ward.
LIFE / Food & Drink
May 8, 2009

Sweet wines starting to trickle out of Romania

Since ancient times, wave upon wave of foreign conquests have washed over Romania, changing — sometimes obliterating — parts of the region's cultural identity.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
May 8, 2009

Pampering at the Cerulean, wine and dine at the Mandarin, and cycle tours in Kyoto

Treat yourself at the Cerulean The Cerulean Tower Tokyu Hotel has put together a special package that includes treatments at its aesthetic salon and lunch at its main restaurant, Coucagno.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
May 6, 2009

Shedding light with a green gadget

Innovation to monitor: Eizo Nanao is addressing the power-wastage produced by computer screens with the 20-inch EV2023W and 23-inch EV2303W FlexScan monitors, which incorporate its creative EcoView Sense feature. The essence of this innovation is that the monitors automatically switch to electricity-...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
May 3, 2009

Encore Matsuyama!

Nibbling a sweet mikan from Ehime, prime terroir for Japan's citrus, I decided to explore somewhere I had a vague feeling might be an interesting off-the-beaten ramble.
JAPAN
May 2, 2009

American missing on volcanic island is award-winning poet, assistant professor

The missing American man last seen Monday on Kuchinoerabu Island, Kagoshima Prefecture, is an award-winning poet and assistant professor at a U.S. university, according to his family and the school.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
May 1, 2009

Korean BBQ, Shinto weddings and Golden Week buffet

Korean BBQ by the bay Toraji Corporation, operator of Korean BBQ restaurants in Tokyo, opened its first in-hotel restaurants last month at the Hotel InterContinental Tokyo Bay.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 29, 2009

Ace your Japanese proficiency test with the best free Web tools

The Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) comes up on July 5, so it's time to get studying. What will be your strong points? More importantly, what will be your weak points? The test is divided into three categories — writing/vocabulary; listening; and reading/grammar — and most struggle with...

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?