Search - places

 
 
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 21, 2008

The Japanese art of useless homes

Last spring, when the effects of the American sub-prime loan disaster were being felt but the world economy was still relatively OK, there was an article in the Asahi Shimbun written by one of the paper's financial reporters who recalled several years earlier a visit from a friend living in the United...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Dec 21, 2008

Southern All Stars-inspired drama; Takeshi as Tojo; and communal living

Though they officially retired a few months ago, Japan's most beloved rock band, Southern All Stars, just won't go away. On Monday, Nihon TV will present a special two-hour drama, "Za Naminori Resutoran" ("The Wave-riding Restaurant") (8:54 p.m.), which is built around 30 SAS songs.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Dec 19, 2008

Let's pray to the Great Black One

In Tokyo, it's prudent to pray to the Great Black One if you want to improve your financial outlook for the coming year. Putting in a good word for U.S. President-elect Barack Obama wouldn't hurt as well, once you arrive at the Slope of the Great Black One, or Daikokuzaka, a back street minutes from...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 13, 2008

Beyond Pax Americana?

NEW YORK — It has become popular to suggest that when the dust settles from the global financial crisis, it may become clear that the United States-led postwar world has come to an end.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Dec 10, 2008

Sony brings home the convenience of FeliCa

Smart money: Japan's old-fashioned notions about money are evaporating one innovation at a time. Although people are getting used to carrying around cash that they can't see, managing those funds often involves a trip to a convenience store or a bank. Sony Corp. will relieve some of that hassle next...
Reader Mail
Dec 7, 2008

Fingerprinting law is unjust

Regarding the Nov. 29 article "Fingerprint screening stops 846": We're all glad that immigration authorities are stopping people from using fake passports, but that does little to change the fact that the fingerprinting law is fundamentally flawed.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / SPORTS SCOPE
Dec 5, 2008

Spirits with Koga as she claimed JLPGA money title

Miho Koga was finally able to break through.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 5, 2008

Politicians failing to engage youth

One of the oldest rules in politics the world over is that young people stay away in droves.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Dec 5, 2008

'Kyoto Winter Special'

Following its great success last year, the "Kyoto Winter Special" promotional campaign returns with a "Four Nights for the Price of Three" accommodation package at the Hyatt Regency Kyoto from Dec. 7 to March 18.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 5, 2008

Restaurant & Wine Cellar Davis: What delicacies hide in Takanawa

When Shoko Davis first opened her Wine Cellar more than 10 years ago, it felt like the ultimate neighborhood restaurant. Not just because it ticked all the boxes in terms of food, drink and ambience, but also because it was so far off most people's radar.
JAPAN
Dec 4, 2008

Passive smoking has restaurant diners breathing fire: survey

Despite steps taken by the government to curb passive smoking, a survey released Tuesday by drug maker Pfizer Japan Inc. found many are still bothered by other restaurant diners' lit cigarettes.
COMMENTARY
Dec 1, 2008

Lessons for India after three days of terror

WATERLOO, Ontario — Mumbai is remarkably resilient in bouncing back to a semblance of normalcy within days. We've been here before — in 1993 and again in 2006 — when terrorists killed more than 200 people each time. Each time the government expresses shock, promises resolute action against the...
EDITORIALS
Nov 30, 2008

More horror in Mumbai

Terrorists launched a multipronged siege of the Indian city of Mumbai last week, which left at least 195 people dead and more than 300 wounded. The attacks are an offense against all civilized people and must be roundly condemned. But words alone are not enough. Those responsible for this outrage, and...
Reader Mail
Nov 30, 2008

Noxious fumes from ashtrays

In recent years here, smoking while walking on public streets has been outlawed in many places and smoking outside of designated smoking zones is becoming less and less acceptable. As a nonsmoker, I appreciate these efforts, but one unfortunate result of such restrictions is to concentrate smokers in...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Nov 30, 2008

Splendors for all: the best of Asia

It's all subjective of course, but read on for this traveler's picks of the places to go for (almost) anything you might choose to do in this splendiferous and ever-fascinating part of the world.
Reader Mail
Nov 30, 2008

Extend the lives of unwanted pets

I was surprised, as I'm sure many people were, to read that public health centers dispose of unwanted and lost animals so quickly. According to the Nov. 26 article "Was wrong bureaucracy targeted?," a pet owner can bring a pet to a public health center and the animal will be put down within a day. That's...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 28, 2008

Chanson musicians bring a little warmth to a Japanese winter

As a genre, chanson is difficult to pin down. In French, it simply means "song," and for most of France's history the word described anything from madrigals to romantic poetry. Since the end of World War II, it has come to represent a pop style that places a premium on the fluidity of the French language....
JAPAN
Nov 28, 2008

Japanese man among the slain

A Japanese businessman was among the scores of people killed in Mumbai by multiple terrorist attacks on major landmarks in India's financial capital, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday.
JAPAN
Nov 27, 2008

Japan lags U.S. in using Net to mobilize voters

When Tadamasa Kimura says he is envious of Barack Obama's victorious campaign to become president of the United States, it's not because he's an unsuccessful aspirant to political office.
COMMENTARY
Nov 26, 2008

Common sense versus PC

Presumably the recent remarks of former infrastructure minister Nariaki Nakayama about Japan being ethnically homogeneous were correctly reported. If so his remarks were tactless, in view of Japan's Ainu population, but also showed an ignorance of history. The Japanese are generally considered to be...
Reader Mail
Nov 23, 2008

Piece on pot says nothing new

Regardless of my views of marijuana use, I have to say that the Nov. 19 editorial "Students and marijuana" is a sad excuse for an editorial. Yes, in Japan, smoking marijuana is a crime; in other places in the world, it is not. This is a fact, and that this law was broken by a few people is another boring,...
Reader Mail
Nov 23, 2008

Anachronistic arms 'freedom'

Regarding Joseph Marriott's Nov. 16 letter, "Right to bear arms still relevant": While I respect Marriott's "right to bear arms," he does not have the right to bear arms anywhere near me. The "right to bear arms" is vaunted, it seems, proudly by many Americans as a sign of independence and freedom. That...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Nov 23, 2008

Where are world's 'targeted' tourists visiting in Japan?

As part of the Visit Japan Campaign, the central government identified 12 "target" countries and regions on which to concentrate marketing activities. Have their efforts paid off? We asked industry insiders from each of the selected countries how Japan was perceived as a tourist destination.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 23, 2008

Judging Japanese architecture as the epitome of environmental art

"We sense the natural in things that form a happy link with their surroundings. . . . A natural architecture is architecture that creates this propitious connection."

Longform

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