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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
May 4, 2013

Off on a spring tangent on the Shikoku 88-temple pilgrimage

This week 14 years ago, I finished a five-week, 1,350 km journey running the Shikoku 88-temple pilgrimage. One of the axioms of the pilgrimage is: "You will, and must, get lost." I envision the great master Kobo Daishi, the patron saint of the pilgrimage, with a huge map of the pilgrimage in front of...
Events / KANSAI: WHO & WHAT
May 4, 2013

International cultural festival on tap in Suita

A fair is being held in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, on May 11 and 12 to offer various cultural experiences from around the world.
EDITORIALS
May 4, 2013

Mr. Kaieda must lead and fight

An Upper House by-election victory in Yamaguchi Prefecture is a boon to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ahead of nationwide Upper House elections this summer.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
May 3, 2013

Opponents face off over Constitution Day

With revising the pacifist Constitution rapidly emerging as the primary issue in the upcoming Upper House election, proponents and opponents of change alike used Friday — Constitution Day — to press their cases.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 3, 2013

'Harry Potter' star to feature in 'Tokyo Vice' yakuza thriller

Producers announce that Daniel Radcliffe will take the lead role in the film adaption of crime reporter Jake Adelstein's memoirs about Japan's underworld.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 3, 2013

'Gangster Squad'

You know the drill," says L.A. gang lord Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) to his henchmen, and they immediately pick up actual drills and get to work on their victims. The screen gets sprayed with enough blood to relieve a drought. So if Mickey Cohen says "Hammer it out," are those henchmen going to get hammers...
COMMENTARY / World
May 3, 2013

China's rift with Japan is open challenge to U.S.

As Chinese maritime vessels continue to enter the Senkaku Islands' waters, there is continued focus on the tense state of Sino-Japanese relations.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
May 3, 2013

Long-running festival brings flowery floats to Fukuoka this weekend

One of Japan's oldest citizen-run events hits the city of Fukuoka this long-weekend, as the annual Dontaku Festival winds its way into town.
Japan Times
Events / Events In Tokyo
May 3, 2013

End Golden Week with Cinco de Mayo party

The timing of this year's Golden Week holidays doesn't allow many people to travel far. You can, however, get a taste of Latin America if you head down to Yoyogi Park.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 2, 2013

The disconcerting unity of Raphael

Harmony can sometimes have a disconcerting side. This is one insight to emerge from the Raphael exhibition at the National Museum of Western Art, the centerpiece of which is one of the artist's acknowledged great works, the "Madonna del Granduca" (c. 1505).
JAPAN
May 2, 2013

Heritage status will mean big changes

Local and prefectural governments and businesses surrounding Mount Fuji welcomed the news that the World Heritage Committee is expected to designate Japan's most famous and popular mountain as a World Heritage site, despite concerns about what it will mean to the local environment and questions about...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 2, 2013

'Katsushika Hokusai and Kawanabe Kyosai: Fantastic Comics'

Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) is one of the best-known ukiyo-e (floating world) painters and print makers of the Edo Period (1603-1867). His most famous series of prints, "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji," includes the internationally acclaimed "The Great Wave off Kanagawa" and "Fuji in Clear Weather."...
Reader Mail
May 2, 2013

Modicum of remorse isn't there

The recent visits of Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso and other Cabinet ministers to Yasukuni Shrine defy common sense. At least one of the ministers said he was making the visit in both a private and public capacity, a blatant contradiction. It is hard to know why these visits are made when the government...
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 1, 2013

Obama renews vow to close Guantanamo

U.S. President Barack Obama vows to revive his push to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / CHILD'S PLAY
May 1, 2013

Watching moms get funky can get babies into the groove

My baby is staring at me in shock. This may be something to do with the fact that I am hopping in a circle on one leg, shaking a ring of jingly bells in each hand and singing nonsensical sounds.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
May 1, 2013

A most dangerous spy

Ana Montes has been locked up for a decade with some of the most frightening women in America. Once a highly decorated U.S. intelligence analyst with a two-bedroom co-op in Washington, Montes today lives in a two-bunk cell in the highest-security women's prison in the nation.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 1, 2013

Please, no more Yasukuni visits

For the White House to welcome Japan to the TPP talks and to tell China to back off on the Senkakus, while Japan's top leaders visit Yasukuni Shrine, is ridiculous.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 1, 2013

Fake school uniforms let some turn back the clock

A 17-year-old high school boy in Tokyo likes to hang out with his friends on weekends sporting a blazer and white shirt, the typical uniform of high school boys — not his casual clothes or his school-designated "gakuran" high-collar jacket.
LIFE / Digital
May 1, 2013

Fragile systems make twits of us all

On Tuesday, April 23, a tweet from Associated Press (AP) revealed startling news. There had been explosions in the White House and Obama had been injured. The tweet was a hoax — the AP Twitter account had been hacked via a clever phishing exploit — but it briefly caused havoc. The Dow Jones Industrial...
COMMENTARY / World
May 1, 2013

The paradox of the Boston bombing

Essentially the Boston bombers' stories are not so different from those of America's home-grown 'lone wolves' — typically white and equally disenchanted.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
May 1, 2013

Female-friendly shared workspace a boon for moms

Yushi Katayama began to think seriously about leaving Japan after the birth of his son, Shota, in 2012.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 30, 2013

Hashimoto eyes tieup with Okinawa group favoring Futenma base plan

Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, coleader of Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party), is expected to sign a policy agreement with a local Okinawa political group that supports relocation of the Futenma military base within the prefecture.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji