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EDITORIALS
Jul 25, 2009

Flesh out the manifestoes

As Lower House elections near, each political party needs to accelerate the work of writing its "manifesto" or detailed election platform. As the coming election will be one in which voters choose a government, stuffing a manifesto with money-splashing projects is not likely to win people's hearts. It...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jul 25, 2009

Welcome to the caldron

"Atsui desu, ne?" (It's hot, isn't it?) This is the universal summer greeting in Japan. You can be in a crowd of complete strangers when someone will sidle up to you and, as an "ice-breaker," say, "It's hot today, isn't it?" And you agree with, "So desu ne." (Yes, it is).
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / LIQUID CULTURE
Jul 24, 2009

A bar crawl up Center Gai

Shibuya, I once wrote, is the heart of Young Japan, and the street named Center Gai is its throbbing artery. Some people pay handsomely for cliches like that.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 24, 2009

'Amalfi'

Films produced by Fuji TV — one of Japan's five national TV networks — have regularly hit the top of the box-office charts in the past decade. Fuji's biggest franchise started in 1998 with "Odoru Daisosasen The Movie" ("Bayside Shakedown"), a thriller starring Yuji Oda as a rambunctious detective...
Reader Mail
Jul 23, 2009

Human trafficking into America

Regarding the July 18 article "Human-trafficking not addressed: U.N. envoy": Although this story focused on Japan alone, I thought you may be interested in knowing that between 14,500 and 17,500 people are trafficked into the United States each year as well. They come from places all over the world like...
Reader Mail
Jul 19, 2009

The overall approach to tourism

Regarding the July 14 article "Aso's 'manga museum' plan cool with Aussies": After all the friction over whaling between Australia and Japan, it's good to read about something that generates positive feelings among comics fans in both countries. Japan needs to attract millions of tourists every year...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 19, 2009

A bird's-eye view of Japanese arts

Books on the specifics of Japanese culture (as compared to those on cultural generalities) were not always as available as they are now. The concept of culture did not have the political intentions that are now so much a part of it. Books on the purported uniqueness of the Japanese "national character"...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Jul 19, 2009

Tune in to nature's sounds

The phenomenal diversity of Japan, in its landscapes, climates, ecosystems, fauna and flora, has enthralled me for more than a quarter of a century. For part of each year I am extremely fortunate to be able to travel the length and breadth of the country seeking out its wilder places in order to experience...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 17, 2009

Enter the dance-rock dragons Shikari

"We were really worried before they came over 'cos England's so s--t," says Rob Rolfe, the drummer from British post-hardcore/metal/dance fusion band Enter Shikari of their anxieties before embarking on a 2008 tour with their friends, the Japanese punk-metal group Maximum the Hormone.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jul 17, 2009

Cool out at Two Rooms in the sky

The good news: The rainy season is over. The bad news: The Great Heat is now upon us, blanketing the city. The only recourse: eat lightly, eat late and eat outside. Here are a few places where you are likely to find the Food File enjoying the night sky, cradling a glass in the cool of the evening with...
Reader Mail
Jul 16, 2009

Motivation for planning an exit

As a foreigner married to a Japanese national and living in Japan legally, I find the new laws with regard to immigration quite troubling. I do not disagree with the Japanese government's desire to have a more effective system for visas and immigration of foreigners. However, I do have an issue with...
Reader Mail
Jul 12, 2009

Wrong target of quake resistance

The July 5 editorial "Education on earthquakes" doesn't say anything about education. This is yet another example of media hysteria and the lack of a sense of proportion.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 12, 2009

'Campaign' star no longer life of the party

Takafumi Horie, the former CEO of Livedoor Inc., has nothing to do with the documentary "Campaign," which had a special public screening at the Rise X theater in Shibuya the morning of June 30. However, the subject of the movie, politics, is close to his heart, so he agreed to discuss it with the film's...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jul 12, 2009

Japan's isle of exiles — and gold

Shaped like the Mark of Zorro, a rugged "Z" slashed across the Sea of Japan, Sado Island lies in the inhospitable Sea of Japan off the coast of Niigata Prefecture. Strangely, it warrants surprisingly little space in most guidebooks — which to my mind makes it an alluring place to visit.
EDITORIALS
Jul 8, 2009

Police's security camera plan

The National Police Agency has announced a plan to set up security camera networks in 15 residential areas in 14 prefectures, with 25 cameras installed in each area. The police already have 363 security cameras in operation at busy shopping and entertainment districts across the nation.
BUSINESS
Jul 8, 2009

Panasonic robot dispenses drugs

Panasonic Corp. said Tuesday it has developed a medical robot that dispenses drugs to patients, the electronics giant's first step into robotics.
COMMENTARY
Jul 8, 2009

Bolstering Japan-U.S. ties

The Obama administration has shown great good will toward Japan. This was evidenced by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's testimony at her Senate confirmation hearing, her choice of Japan as the first country she visited after taking office and the fact that Prime Minister Taro Aso was the first foreign...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 5, 2009

Flashing the cash while the majority suffer

There haven't been many silver linings to the dark cloud of the recession that descended more than a year ago. One is the media's general loss of interest in ostentatious displays of stuff that most of us could never afford anyway. Nowadays, it's easier to boost TV ratings with features about places...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Jul 5, 2009

Motoko Inagawa: Japan's foreign-talent guru shares her worldly wisdoms

In need of a couple of Portuguese missionaries? How about a boatload of Dutch traders — or a platoon of World War II U.S. grunts?
LIFE / Travel
Jul 5, 2009

Taking an Izu Islands tonic

Through half-closed eyelids, the sea sparkles. A bamboo screen dapples the sunlight, and the world is reduced to contrast, to flashes of light and shade. The air is a hot, distilled essence of summer. Each time the salt dries on my skin, I make the small commute from towel to waves and dive in. The water...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jul 5, 2009

Taking an Izu Islands tonic

Through half-closed eyelids, the sea sparkles. A bamboo screen dapples the sunlight, and the world is reduced to contrast, to flashes of light and shade. The air is a hot, distilled essence of summer. Each time the salt dries on my skin, I make the small commute from towel to waves and dive in. The water...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 30, 2009

Sample-product cafe targets young women

A cafe with a new concept will open Wednesday in Tokyo's Shibuya district, offering women product-marketing samples — and a place to hang out if they've missed the last train.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 28, 2009

When in war, why bomb the innocent?

How one feels about what one is reading can differ depending on where and when. Reading these essays while boarding a flight from Tokyo, transiting Hanoi and then arriving in Laos — all places that have been subjected to extensive U.S. bombing — is to feel the long arm of history tug at one's conscience....
CULTURE / Books
Jun 28, 2009

Making cycling trips cultural experiences

Among the thin crop of books on cycling in Japan are Josie Dew's hilarious account in "A Ride in the Neon Sun," of her trip from Tokyo to the edges of Okinawa and the extraordinary people and hospitality met. Then there is Leigh Norrie's more recent "Japan: 6,000 Miles on a Bicycle," an engaging account...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 28, 2009

Jackson enjoyed loyal following in Japan

Despite years of child molestation accusations and deep financial difficulties, Michael Jackson could always count on one nation for unquestioning fan loyalty and lucrative advertising deals — Japan.

Longform

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