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Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 16, 2016

When to speak and when to shut up: the art of a Japanese 'benshi'

The silent films screened in Japan from the 1920s to '40s were never completely silent. Katsudo-shashin benshi, or benshi for short, delivered live narration that provided everything an audience might need to appreciate a film — from commentary to translation. Derived from Japan's many narrative art...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Oct 16, 2016

Japan must open minds to disability, not just physical spaces, in time for Tokyo Paralympics

Too much attention is being paid to accessibility while issues surrounding attitudes toward disabled people in Japan are being overlooked.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 16, 2016

Plan to cut down historic trees in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward faces local opposition

Plans to cut down 300 ginkgo and platanus trees in central Tokyo ahead of the 2020 Olympics sparks an online opposition campaign seeking to prevent them from being felled.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 15, 2016

Is the end near for Earth's biggest fish market?

Naotaro Endo's documentary "Tsukiji Wonderland" opened in Tokyo — in Tsukiji, in fact — two weeks ago. Under normal circumstances, such an accomplished and beautiful film would be evaluated on its aesthetic and edifying merits, but the timing of the release makes such judgments problematic.
Reader Mail
Oct 14, 2016

Unfortunate rise in ignorance and prejudice

I want to write about a little experience I had yesterday on my way back from work. It's an incident which I'm sure all of us living in Japan have experienced, and highlights two issues in this country.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Oct 13, 2016

Spooky sweets and cocktail treats; Halloween hotel haunting; refined elegance in the heart of Kyoto

Spooky sweets and cocktail treats
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 12, 2016

North Korea 'purges' top official amid spike in high-level defections

North Korea has purged a vice foreign minister, punishing the 72-year-old and his family with farm work after the nation's No. 2 official in London defected this summer, South Korea's JoongAng Ilbo newspaper said Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 11, 2016

Thomas Ruff: in the grand scheme of things

Thomas Ruff is one of the key figures of photography in the postmodern era, and his retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, will probably already be pencilled into your calendar if you have any interest in contemporary art.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 11, 2016

Donald Trump is the GOP's chemotherapy

Trump is a marvelously efficient acid bath, stripping away his supporters' surfaces, exposing their skeletal essences.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 9, 2016

It's not only Britain trying to re-divide Europe

Poland's nationalistic conservative government is steering the country away from the ideal of a united Europe.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Oct 8, 2016

Krys Lee: becoming North Korean and entering 'elsewhere'

Born in South Korea, raised in America, educated in England and equally comfortable speaking Korean or English, novelist Krys Lee has trouble pinpointing her "home." She is now based in Seoul, where her world is "intimate yet alienated," but when she returns to her old lives in the U.K. and U.S. —...
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 7, 2016

Suga, Inada admit to filling out blank expense receipts

Two key members of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet have admitted to filling out blank receipts as part of their expense claims, raising questions about their ethics and the efficacy of a political funds control law.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 7, 2016

Why are Chinese tourists so badly behaved?

Narratives of exceptionalism and nationalism are crucial ingredients in making an 'ugly Chinese' tourist.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 7, 2016

Macedonian envoy's Kanda River scene bags top prize in Japan Through Diplomats' Eyes contest

Macedonian Ambassador to Japan Andrijana Cvetkovik's take on the Hijiribashi Bridge over the Kanda River in Tokyo won her the Grand Prize in the 19th Japan Through Diplomats' Eyes photography contest this week.
Reader Mail
Oct 7, 2016

Team Hillary better than Trump for U.S. and the world

Regarding the editorial "An unnerving debate in the U.S." in the Sept. 29 edition, everyone knows that Donald Trump lost the first presidential debate to Hillary Clinton hands down, but the real reason was that so far Trump has spoken almost exclusively to audiences handpicked to support him and his...
Japan Times
CULTURE / NEWS AND NOTES
Oct 6, 2016

The Tolman Collection to decorate the Conrad Tokyo's lobby with 100 splashes of color

For decades The Tolman Collection has been a pillar in Japan's culture of modern art, thanks in large part to the care it takes in cultivating lasting relationships with specific artists.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Oct 5, 2016

Japan's English-language print media feel the pinch

Publications struggle for relevance in a world where news is available free, to all, all the time.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 5, 2016

Tsukiji: Still a fish in troubled waters

Director Naotaro Endo first started filming "Tsukiji Wonderland" in 2014, and it had been partly intended as a farewell to Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market, which faces a makeover and move after serving sellers and buyers for 80 years. When the film was made, the market was slated to move to Toyosu on Nov....
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 5, 2016

Brainy bees learn how to pull strings to get what they want

Scientists in Britain have managed to teach bumblebees to pull strings to get to food and then pass on what they have learned to others in their colony- showing a high level of intelligence despite their tiny brains.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 4, 2016

Pro-junta MPs plan military-backed party to keep current Thai chief as prime minister

Pro-establishment lawmakers in Thailand said they plan to ensure junta chief Prayuth Chan-ocha stays on as prime minister by fielding a proxy political party backed by the military in a general election planned for next year.
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 3, 2016

Japanese microbiologist Yoshinori Ohsumi wins Nobel in medicine for autophagy research

Japanese microbiologist Yoshinori Ohsumi on Monday won the 2016 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for his work on cell autophagy, a process that helps the body remove unwanted proteins.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Oct 3, 2016

Sunflowers look to extend dominance as WJBL prepares for tip-off

With the Japan national team winning at last year's FIBA Asia Championship and then giving some phenomenal performances at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, the popularity of women's basketball in Japan is currently at an all-time high.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Oct 2, 2016

Comparing elections in the U.S. and Japan: the good, the bad and the ugly

I love elections. Anywhere. It's fascinating to see how politicians craft public appeals. No matter how flawed the process, it's how nation-states recharge their legitimacy and publicly reaffirm their leaders' mandate to govern.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 1, 2016

Who advises Japan's business leaders?

Take a wild guess: Who's the second most influential management guru in Japan, after — it almost goes without saying — Peter Drucker?

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