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Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 26, 2007

The punks descend

How much impact do surroundings have on a group? According to guitarist Lindsay McDougall of the Australian band Frenzal Rhomb, plenty.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Jan 23, 2007

Do you think Japan is a tolerant society?

Thomasina Larkin asks people whether they think Japan is a tolerant or intolerant society
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jan 20, 2007

Master of agility celebrates the Renaissance man

How many people have namecards that describe them as "business artists?" American-born William Reed is one. As a 7th-dan black belt aikido practitioner, licensed calligrapher, tap dancer, translator, bilingual trainer and speaker, published author and writer, blogger and entrepreneur, he brands his activities...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 19, 2007

Ishihara defiant, teflon to scandal

Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, an ex-transport minister, award-winning writer, Yasukuni Shrine pilgrim known for firing racist and sexist remarks from the lips, has recently drawn flak for taking pricey trips on taxpayer money and nepotism for choosing his son to work on an event he sponsored in Switzerland....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 13, 2007

English foibles bear humorous and educational manga

It's New Year's Day and the Yamada family, dressed in kimono, gather around the table for a feast, and to review English phrases they learned the previous year, like "take a breather" or "playing hooky."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 12, 2007

A collection of the semifamous

Purposely or not, bands tend to create personas along with their music. The persona is usually based on that of the lead singer or otherwise most conspicuous member, and musicians who find that their needs for self-expression don't jibe with their group's persona either quit for solo careers or set up...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 11, 2007

Big mouth strikes again ... and again

Is Lily Allen an outspoken genius or an unwarranted meanie? To help you decide, here are 10 of her top tongue-lashings.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Jan 7, 2007

Yoshiharu Habu: Japan's king of the board

Yoshiharu Habu shocked the shogi (Japanese chess) world when, on Feb. 14, 1996, at the age of 25, he won his 7th title to become the only person in the history of the ancient board game to simultaneously possess all seven titles -- Meijin, Ryuo, Kio, Oza, Kisei, Oi and Osho.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Jan 3, 2007

'Superavians' scrape a high life in the suburbs

BRISBANE, Australia -- Summer has arrived in the leafy Brisbane suburb of St. Lucia. The only things falling from the trees are exquisitely scented frangipani flowers and the odd possum. Not much to rake up, but somebody next door has been at it half the day by the sound of it.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Jan 1, 2007

Dreaming of a Japan of United States

A time to dream impossible dreams. The New Year holiday season is surely such a time. And one such dream might be a Japan of United States.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Dec 30, 2006

Charlton's coaching carousel like a comedy skit

LONDON -- During the 1960s, American comedian Bob Newhart gave the world what was to become a classic sketch on his Emmy-winning show. It was called "The Introduction of Tobacco to Civilization," wherein a telephone call from Sir Walter Raleigh prompted skeptical laughter in England.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 28, 2006

Provocative plays in the quiet

Spending as much time as I do in theaters guarantees that I am treated to some brilliant productions, others that are dire, and plenty in between. However, ones truly astonishing and most "provocative" (to use a key word in drama criticism these days), are naturally not thick on the ground.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Dec 25, 2006

How Japan's economy fared in 2006 and its prospects for 2007

There were two major developments in the Japanese economy in 2006.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 22, 2006

2006: The year that hip-hop finally grew up

The idea that rock is exclusively a young man's game hasn't held water for three decades. While there's still something off-putting about Mick Jagger's determined athleticism in the service of a catalog that's older than Justin Timberlake, there's no denying he can still fill football stadiums, and not...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 19, 2006

Take note: You needn't always think straight

'How-to" business books are stacked knee-high in bookstores and advertisements for motivational seminars continue to multiply through commuter trains.
COMMENTARY
Dec 19, 2006

Warming to carbon rations

LONDON -- Here's the plan. Everybody in the country will get the same allowance for how much carbon dioxide they can emit each year, and every time they buy some product that involves carbon dioxide emissions -- filling their car, paying their utility bills, buying an airline ticket -- carbon points...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Dec 12, 2006

Heizaburo and Reiko Kawaguchi

Heizaburo and Reiko Kawaguchi, 84 and 81, from Kobe, believe that simple meals and large servings of complex ideas from Japanese manga, anime and classical literature pave the way to a long and happy life. Trained as a fukuryu (underwater kamikaze diver), and later head of a 300-year-old family business...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 10, 2006

What remains 'Japanese' in such climates of change?

What is national character, and how does it differ from custom, manners and fashion? People talk about "the Japanese" as if referring to a nationality with an immutable quality that has existed and will continue to exist throughout the ages; and yet, Japan and the Japanese of the past are so different...
BASKETBALL / ONE-ON-ONE WITH ...
Dec 3, 2006

Marshall calls upon wisdom of legendary coach Knight

The Japan Times will be featuring periodic interviews with players in Japan's bj-league -- the nation's first pro basketball circuit -- which has started its second season. Mikey Marshall of the Oita HeatDevils is the subject of this week's profile.
CULTURE / Books
Dec 3, 2006

Magic in the ordinary world

BLIND WILLOW, SLEEPING WOMAN by Haruki Murakami, translated by Philip Gabriel and Jay Rubin. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006, 334 pp., $24.95 (cloth). Just as fiction that is purely mundane can be, well, mundane, fiction that is only fantastic is often only dull. Authors such as Paul Auster and Jonathan...
Japan Times
LIFE
Dec 3, 2006

Deep and meaningful dance

Dutch artists Monique van Kerkhof and Rob Oudendijk have performed in many unusual places -- a synagogue and a company office in New York, and in a huge dried-up reservoir and an art gallery in Japan. But until Nov. 18, they and fellow dancers they brought together had never before entertained an audience...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 3, 2006

Dying traditions open up new choices after death

Every culture has its own way of dealing with death.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 1, 2006

Tale of the tape

Tapes 'n Tapes, this year's designated Internet-sparked American indie band are, for the moment at least, enjoying their rocket trip to notoriety. Touring their butts off since self-releasing their debut album "The Loon" about a year ago, the Minneapolis-based quartet have already achieved a certain...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Nov 28, 2006

Keiko Hisano

Keiko Hisano, 25, is a production controller for Nakabo Japan Co. Ltd., an Osaka-based knitwear manufacturer that produces clothing for many famous brands. Hoping to eventually become a designer, she is happy now just to be at the base of the design pyramid, whether running up and down Omotesando with...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Nov 23, 2006

Suspended in abstraction

'Maybe there are too many things in Tokyo," says Katsuhiro Saiki, "because for me, New York City is the only place where I can relax -- although I think it could be said that there are too many artists in New York City."
COMMENTARY
Nov 20, 2006

Ideological laundry unfurled

Japan's neo-nationalistic rightwing is its own worst enemy. It sees itself as the defender of Japan's global reputation. But by its own actions it besmirches that reputation.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 19, 2006

When in Rome, do hug granny as the Romans do

Last night, at Theater X (Cai) in Ryogoku, Tokyo, we finished a short season of plays I'd written, and eight of us -- Japanese cast and staff, with myself as director -- leave tonight on an adventure to present stagings in Sydney and Adelaide. I call this tour an adventure because doing the two plays,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 16, 2006

An ambassador of enlightenment

When I was a teenager living in New York some 20 years ago, I bought a tiny introduction to Zen Buddhism from a bookstore in midtown Manhattan. A $1 clearance-sale copy, it was so small that I could slip it into my back pocket.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Nov 14, 2006

Masatoshi Uchiumi

Masatoshi Uchiumi, 64, is a landlord in Tokyo's trendy Jiyugaoka area. Divorced and living alone, six years ago he lost most of his eyesight due to a hormone imbalance. Although despondent at first, he soon focused on enriching his life, through lessons in karaoke, voice-activated computers, haiku, English...
Japan Times
LIFE
Nov 12, 2006

Alien star flies off the shelves

Children's books typically feature anything from frogs or cats or pigs to dinosaurs and sometimes even people. Those authored by Tatsuya Miyanishi have all those -- but he's also written several books featuring Ultraman.

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