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LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 29, 2012

Halloween in Japan: no trick or treat, but scary spots galore

Japanese people generally have a well developed appreciation for the supernatural, and while the American practice of ringing doorbells in the neighborhood to demand "trick or treat" has yet to take root, Halloween-related events continue to grow in popularity.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Oct 28, 2012

Kimutaku as a loser; Kabuki posture; CM of the week: Coca-Cola

Kimutaku is back in the coveted Monday 9 p.m. Fuji TV drama slot, which he used to own. SMAP's enduring heartthrob Takuya Kimura used to play topical professionals — airline pilots, race-car drivers, concert pianists — in his Monday night dramas, but in "Priceless" he does something unexpected. He...
LIFE / Style & Design
Oct 28, 2012

Fashion Week Tokyo powers ahead

From start to finish, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tokyo's 2013 spring/summer collections hit new heights, literally, as the catwalk parades were staged way up in the event's new home at the Hikarie shopping tower in city center Shibuya.
EDITORIALS
Oct 28, 2012

A mother's message

Twenty years after Mieko Hattori's 16-year-old son, Yoshihiro, was fatally shot while studying in America, the outspoken mother has once again called for tighter gun control laws in the United States and around the world. Her latest speech was delivered in Baton Rouge, the town where 20 years ago her...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 28, 2012

Hashimoto needs a much thicker skin

There is a breed of political reporter that thrives on misanthropy. These journalists have no use for empathy when trying to understand issues or individuals. They are only stimulated by acrimony, by the need to reveal the darkest impulses of human endeavor. H.L. Mencken, the most eloquent of this ilk,...
JAPAN
Oct 27, 2012

Axed manager's sexual harassment lawsuit against Prada Japan fails

The Tokyo District Court on Friday quashed a demand by a former manager of Prada Japan that the firm pay her ¥58 million in damages for sexual harassment, ruling that telling her to lose weight wasn't so bad given that Prada is in the fashion business.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / Japan Pulse
Oct 26, 2012

The secret allure of the surgical mask

What started as a trend for the shy is growing into a style choice for some.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Oct 26, 2012

Japan to celebrate Halloween with parades

Expect a ghoulish time in Tokyo's Omotesando when the area holds its "Hello Halloween Pumpkin Parade" (www.harajuku-halloween.com) on Oct. 28, in which some 1,300 costumed revelers are expected to march. The parade starts at 1 p.m. on Omotesando street (near the station) and finishes at 2:15 p.m.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 26, 2012

'A Dangerous Method (Kikenna Mesoddo)'

In the opening scenes of "A Dangerous Method," we find Keira Knightley playing a young woman who is completely, utterly losing it. This is not just a "scream and smash some dishes" movie version of a breakdown, but total gibbering, thrashing, convulsing hysteria. It's frighteningly out of control, and...
EDITORIALS
Oct 26, 2012

Nation honors an athlete

The government will bestow the People's Honor Award on Ms. Saori Yoshida — a wrestler who has won three Olympic gold medals and 10 world championships — "for bringing hope and courage to society." As Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said in announcing the government's decision to give her the...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / EVERYMAN EATS
Oct 26, 2012

Women — the essential B-kyū ingredient

Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 25, 2012

Netlabels Ano(t)raks and Canata Records give the old DIY spirit a go with some new tools

Dai Ogasawara's fledgling online label Ano(t)raks has released music from six Japanese artists from the Kansai region since the summer. However, Ogasawara, who lives in Aomori Prefecture, has yet to meet any of them.
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Oct 25, 2012

Western stereotypes may explain Japan's Psy-lence

Amid all the excitement, analysis and general horse-dancing hoo-haa over Korean musician Psy's smash hit "Gangnam Style," one story that has provoked a certain amount of head-scratching among fans is the song's relative lack of success in Japan.
EDITORIALS
Oct 25, 2012

Monitoring sex offenders

A by-law went into force in Osaka Prefecture on Oct. 1 that requires people who have completed their sentences for sex crimes targeting children to report their addresses and other information to the prefectural governor for five years. Violators will face a fine of up to ¥50,000. The Osaka prefectural...
BASKETBALL
Oct 24, 2012

Evessa disaster was predictable, coach claims

In the aftermath of Osaka Evessa coach Zoran Kreckovic's getting fired on Monday, there were many stunned players and coaches around the bj-league, what with Kreckovic only lasting four games in charge. Teams play a 52-game season.
Japan Times
Uncategorized / TRAVEL INSIDER
Oct 24, 2012

KLM to fly to Fukuoka; SAS renews in-flight menu; Cathay's Auckland-Japan campaign

KLM to fly to Fukuoka
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Oct 23, 2012

Think 'white South Africa,' not 'Black Ships'; in unions' defense

Japan must play by the rules Re: Edward Moreno's letter "Bring back the Black Ships?" (Have Your Say, Oct. 2) in response to "Our mixed-race children deserve better than this, so why bother with Japan?" by Colin P.A. Jones (Zeit Gist, Sept. 4):
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Oct 23, 2012

Leadership development meeting draws Girl Scouts from around world

No matter what nationality you are, it's likely that several times in your life you have come across a Boy Scout or a Girl Scout dressed in that unique uniform — be it a friend or someone else from the community.
Reader Mail
Oct 21, 2012

Open up U.S. political system

Regarding Jennifer Rubin's Oct. 11 Washington Post opinion article, "The curtain falls on the U.S. left's forced exuberance," Rubin takes U.S. President Barack Obama's lackluster performance in the first presidential debate and runs with it; taking a mile where she was given an inch. The biggest problem...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 21, 2012

Watching the wealthy, a popular spectator sport

Twenty-five years ago, in what was to became known as the bubble economy, many Japanese suddenly found themselves awash in money.
EDITORIALS
Oct 20, 2012

New North korea approach needed

A decade has passed since five Japanese abducted by North Korean agents were returned to Japan on Oct. 15, 2002. That event took place a month after Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il held a summit that culminated in the signing of the Pyongyang Declaration in which...
EDITORIALS
Oct 20, 2012

Misuse of reconstruction funds

It has surfaced that a special account budget to fund the reconstruction of communities devastated by the 3/11 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disasters has been used to pay for unrelated projects. As to be expected, the shortage of funds due to budget mismanagement has angered affected residents. The...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 19, 2012

'The Conspirator'

When it comes to American presidents, Abraham Lincoln stands atop a lofty pedestal all by himself — beyond reproach and certainly beyond scandal. It's hard to conjure a mental picture other than that of the marble Lincoln Memorial statue, seated in Washington, D.C., as the words of the Gettysburg Address...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 19, 2012

Understand Japanese cinema

The Tokyo International Film Festival, which runs Oct. 20-28 at Toho Cinemas Roppongi Hills and other venues around the capital and the Tohoku region, is a great opportunity to see new Japanese films — with a couple caveats.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Oct 19, 2012

Ginza Okuda: Kaiseki master invites you to his second home

Autumn is the golden season. Fruit and hearty root vegetables; mushrooms, nuts and new-season rice; plentiful fish and seafood, too: This abundance is the palette from which Japan's top kaiseki chefs draw in creating their intricate, elegant multicourse meals. Few are as accomplished at the art as Toru...
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...

Longform

Eme-Ima Kitchen is one of over 10,000 kodomo shokudō in Japan. A term first used in 2012 to describe makeshift eateries offering free or cheap meals to disadvantaged kids, it now refers to a diverse range of individuals, groups and organizations working to provide not only food but a sense of belonging to both children and adults.
Japan’s ‘children’s cafeterias’ are booming — but is that a good thing?