Search - culture

 
 
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jan 21, 2015

Mount Fuji is 'brown hill,' A-Bomb Dome is 'depressing': Whiners diss Japan's wonders

Let's explore what some disgruntled travelers have to say about Japan's most impressive World Heritage Sites.
Japan Times
JAPAN / DAVOS SPECIAL 2015
Jan 21, 2015

Business leaders confident of recovery in coming year

This is definitely the year in which Japan will end its deflationary spiral.
COMMENTARY
Jan 20, 2015

China learns airline etiquette, the hard way

China is facing a crisis of airborne sanity and civility as its population of travelers rapidly grows.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 20, 2015

Perseverance wins Ningen Isu an encore

Kimonos and heavy metal. It's a combination that few groups have pulled off convincingly. While the aesthetic may have been used last year to turn (or bang) more than a few heads in the West by heavy metal idol unit Babymetal, the tiny trio certainly wasn't the first to attempt it.
EDITORIALS
Jan 19, 2015

Building peace in the Arab world

Four years after the Arab Spring of hoped-for democratization, Japan needs to extend steady support for efforts to build peace in the Arab world and tolerance of diversified views and opinions.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society / FOCUS
Jan 18, 2015

Paris killings leave France troubled by 30 years of failure with immigrants

Latifa Ibn Ziaten knows a thing or two about terrorism.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2015

Japan’s Muslims dismayed by latest Charlie cover but united against violence

Japan's Muslim community speaks out on magazine Charlie Hebdo's defiant decision to place a Prophet Muhammad cartoon on the cover of its latest issue after last week's massacre.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 15, 2015

Documentary festival delivers an encore to Tokyo audiences

Last November, Japan Times film critic Kaori Shoji predicted that the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival's (YIDFF) program of screenings would slant toward sociopolitical analysis, focusing on substance over style. Audiences must have welcomed this weighty exposition of the documentary...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 13, 2015

Eat Osaka teaches you how to cook like a local

Here's a joke unlikely to be endorsed by the Osaka Government Tourism Bureau: "There are three great reasons to visit Osaka: great people, great food and because Kyoto doesn't have an airport." The truth hurts, even if it's also mildly humorous.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Jan 12, 2015

Tokyo: Why did you come to see the sumo today?

Mark Buckton talked to foreign visitors to the Ryokoku Kokugikan on Sunday as Hakuho began his quest to win a 33rd basho and become the most successful wrestler ever.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Jan 11, 2015

Foreign female dean opens doors for Japan’s working women

A brush with sexual discrimination gave Robin Sakamoto the drive to succeed as a working mom and push for on-campus facilities at Kyorin to help parents.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 10, 2015

Dull and authentic beats out polished TV

Another New Year's break, another two-week onslaught of inconsequential television programs based on the variety show model of comedians talking about themselves, watching videos of other people doing supposedly interesting things and playing games whose main entertainment function is humiliation. The...
Japan Times
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jan 9, 2015

A shadow falls on the golden arches

In Japanese culture, making an apology is considered a significant social skill, but no matter how well-chosen the words are or how low the bow is, it might not be enough to survive the tough world of business.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 9, 2015

We are all Charlie, too late

The hope must be that the assassinations of cartoonists and journalists at the weekly Charlie Hebdo will waken political and media leaders to understand that press freedoms have been badly eroded worldwide.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 9, 2015

Avoid trap of pitting Islamism against nativism

Many people fear dreadful political reactions to the brutal attack on the headquarters of the satirical weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Jan 9, 2015

Yohji Yamamoto — men, women and unisex

Yohji Yamamoto has certainly been busy, with collaborations flying off the shelves and new lines making debuts. Its partnership with baseball-cap brand New Era has been particularly buzz-worthy, with the brand's 59FIFTY caps and backpacks emblazoned with the Yohji logo selling out across the country....
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 8, 2015

Redzepi: 'I think the restaurant staff in Japan are some of the best on Earth'

Last year, while still only halfway through the extensive planning process, Noma chef Rene Redzepi sat down with The Japan Times in the extensive test kitchen above his Copenhagen waterfront restaurant and outlined his reasons and vision for Noma in Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 8, 2015

Keeping up with the shifting world

Designers can be an ambitious bunch, hoping to lead us all into a better, color-coordinated, minimalist future. "The Fab Mind" aims to show off attempts "to understand and to resolve social issues through design'," based upon the earth-shattering notions that the world is in the midst of change, and...
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 8, 2015

World leaders condemn attack on Paris magazine; Obama vows to help find killers

World leaders expressed outrage over the attack on a French magazine office in Paris that killed at least 12 people, with several countries calling emergency meetings of anti-terrorism officials to review security.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 7, 2015

Passion and prejudice in 1930s Ireland

"Jimmy's Hall" is a glimpse into Ireland in 1932 when the country was in a relative lull between wars, turmoil and strife. Director Ken Loach has consistently worked to bring the lives of the United Kingdom's working class to cinema screens. "Jimmy's Hall" is his second foray into Ireland following "The...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 7, 2015

Star Belgian choreographer celebrates manga and more

"Tokyo, my brother, my protector" was the tweet posted by Belgian-born Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui — often dubbed "the busiest choreographer in the world" — straight after he arrived here two months ago.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 7, 2015

Texas Republican proposes making cowboy hat the state's official headgear

The cowboy hat may become Texas' official headgear if a state representative has her way.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / THE HIGH GROUNDS
Jan 6, 2015

Nozy Coffee knows blends are old news

Sometimes a bit of youthful brashness goes a long way. Masataka Nojo was still just a university student when he started his coffee empire in 2009, from a humble coffee stand in Kanagawa Prefecture's Shonan region.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 6, 2015

Britain's alt-j finds inspiration in Miley Cyrus and Nara

An un-Googleable delta symbol name (∆), genre-hopping, challenging sounds and esoteric lyrics inspired by Japanese deer are not the usual recipe for surefire pop success. Yet when alt-j arrives in Japan for its debut headline show — catapulted by 1 million album sales, a Mercury prize and a nomination...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 5, 2015

Toronto traffic validates carbon tax opposition

For opponents of a carbon tax, traffic in the Greater Toronto Area, which includes fast-growing suburbs, offers plenty of ammunition.

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