Search - u_times

 
 
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
May 13, 2013

J. League's opening game stirs memories 20 years on

Players involved in the J. League's first-ever game share their recollections of the beginning of a new era for Japanese soccer.
Japan Times
LIFE
May 12, 2013

'Beauty' as beheld in Japan through the ages

In July 2006, Shinzo Abe published a book titled 'Utsukushii Kuni e' ('Toward a Beautiful Country'), but what does he mean by 'beautiful country'?
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
May 12, 2013

Will Mount Fuji celebrate World Heritage status by blowing its top?

On May 1, Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs announced it had received notification that Mount Fuji had been recommended for World Heritage status by the UNESCO-affiliated International Council on Monuments and Sites. Formal approval is expected at the World Heritage Committee meeting in Cambodia next month.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 11, 2013

Obama's Guantanamo hunger strike problem

When the military doctors force-feed Guantanamo Bay detainee Fayiz al-Kandari with a tube shoved into his stomach there are three stages to the pain.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
May 10, 2013

Ideas to trump names on TEDxTokyo stage

TEDxTokyo is set to kick off its fifth annual event on May 11 at Hikarie Hall in Shibuya Ward, featuring a bevy of talented speakers, among whom are many you've likely never heard of.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
May 9, 2013

Political novice takes on entrenched parties in landmark polls

Winning a grass-roots political campaign in Pakistan or anywhere else depends on having committed, hardworking volunteers. Iftikhar Ali Mashwani, an aspiring provincial lawmaker, has come to realize that his supporters are neither.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 9, 2013

Fukushima activist fights fear and discrimination based on radiation

Sachiko Banba aches for children in Fukushima Prefecture, who worry whether they can lead a normal life.
WORLD / Science & Health
May 9, 2013

Hardy words that cross cultures traced

You, hear me! Give this fire to that old man. Pull the black worm off the bark and give it to the mother. And no spitting in the ashes!
Reader Mail
May 9, 2013

Limits of planning good health

Chris Flynn (May 2 letter, "Australia's declining smoking rate") seems to believe I'm a shill for the local agricultural interests here in rural Kumamoto based on my opposition to tobacco restrictions.
Reader Mail
May 9, 2013

Myanmar's respect for Japan

The May 3 editorial "Japan's approach to Myanmar" is timely and meaningful. It not only reflects the good will of The Japan Times toward the people of Myanmar but also provides a good grasp of the prevailing situation there. I only hope that the contents are not lost on Myanmar policymakers in the Japanese...
COMMENTARY / World
May 8, 2013

Globalized sacrificial altars

The Bangladeshi garment factory collapse poses moral questions for politicians and business executives worldwide, including: What is the value of a human life?
Japan Times
WORLD
May 6, 2013

Syrian conflict risks ancient heritage

A Shiite king ruled northern Syria more than a millennium ago from behind the towering walls of the citadel in Aleppo. In later centuries, Arab armies repelled medieval crusaders from the hilltop fortress, Mongol invaders damaged it and Ottomans used it as military barracks.
EDITORIALS
May 5, 2013

Mr. Inose does not understand

The Tokyo governor's remarks about Olympic Games rival Istanbul shows that he is not yet quite ready to participate in international society, let alone host the games.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
May 4, 2013

Manned Mars trip no longer a dream

The notion of landing astronauts on Mars has long been more fantasy than reality. The planet is, on average, 225 million km from Earth, and its atmosphere is not hospitable to human life.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
May 4, 2013

Master craftsman carries on sashimono tradition

On the floor of an eight-tatami workshop sits master craftsman Yoshio Inoue in a spot he has occupied for decades. His atedai, the long, low slab of wood that serves as a workbench, is in front of him, and within easy reach are scores of tools — chisels, planes, hammers, saws, clamps and other implements...
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...
CULTURE / Music / MONEY AND MUSIC
May 2, 2013

Universal-EMI is the dinosaur in the room

Last September, the European Commission and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission approved Universal Music Group's buyout of EMI. Since then, the two record companies have been merging their operations worldwide. In Japan, the combined Universal-EMI entity will have a market share of between 15 percent and...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Apr 30, 2013

People's award: glittering honor or political tool?

The People's Honor Award, bestowed on those who have made tremendous achievements in their careers, has often drawn criticism for its vague nomination criteria and opaque selection process.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 30, 2013

North Korea's weapon of choice: news agency

North Korea has kept the surrounding region on edge in recent weeks primarily by using its weapon of choice in times of warmongering: its state-run news agency.
COMMENTARY / World / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Apr 29, 2013

Photos of carnage would check war sentiment

Would most Americans remain indifferent to the wars their government wages in far-off lands if their media broadcast videos each day of the shattered bodies?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Apr 28, 2013

Re-creating the life of a 17th-century concubine

As G.G. Rowley notes in the preface to her lovingly researched, elegantly written study of Imperial concubine Nakanoin Nakako, the history of her subject's period, the late 16th and early 17th centuries, 'has traditionally been written as the history of men.'
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Apr 28, 2013

African elephants pluck at Japan's heartstrings

Next time you attend a shamisen performance, neither you nor most anyone else there will likely notice the elephant in the room. And those who do probably won't have given it much thought.
Reader Mail
Apr 28, 2013

Challenge of modern retirement

I have the opportunity to hold seminars for those who have worked in traditional Japanese companies, to give them hints on living a happy life after they retire. In former times, seminar participants tended to be eager to know how far their pension benefits would go and how to practice a thrifty lifestyle...
Reader Mail
Apr 28, 2013

Survival as a nation ruled by law

Regarding the April 18 article "Pulvers wins Noma translation prize": I can't thank former Japan Times columnist Roger Pulvers enough for his great contribution of introducing Japan's literary legacy to the world. That said, with all due respect, my thoughts are a little different from his March 31 article,...
Reader Mail
Apr 28, 2013

Ways to check violence in U.S.

Regarding The Washington Post editorial that was printed in The Japan Times on April 20 under the headline "U.S. Senate misfires": In spite of recent mass shootings, a gun background-check proposal failed to win a sufficient majority in the U.S. Senate, apparently because of pressure from the National...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 26, 2013

Murakami's 'Jellyfish Eyes' blends kawaii and creepy into a postquake critique

In the West he's been referred to as 'the other Murakami.' To those in Japan, the difference is so prominent that very few would ever confuse artist-cum-filmmaker Takashi Murakami with novelist Haruki Murakami.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 26, 2013

Cost of the American dream

The U.S. Fed policy of low interest rates and easy money is criticized for creating a 'bubble machine' from which asset prices could rise without growing jobs.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 25, 2013

As U.S. economy picks up, richest get richer

Wealth inequality widened dramatically during the first two years of the economic recovery, as the upper 7 percent of American households saw their average net worth increase 28 percent while the wealth of the other 93 percent declined, according to a report released Tuesday.

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