Search - culture

 
 
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 5, 2015

Saying goodbye to steel production in China

As China's domestic economy slows and competition increases amid widespread disgust with air pollution, one surprisingly popular option for the massive, state-owned steel mills is to bid China goodbye.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jan 5, 2015

The myths and misery of translating Japanese video games

Given ever-expanding access to the culture of Japan, people worldwide have many different reasons for studying the Japanese language these days. But I don't know if job opportunities for non-Japanese have expanded as rapidly. Many folks probably fall back on the same set of options as always: eigo kyōshi...
Japan Times
JAPAN / 70 YEARS OF PEACE AND PROSPERITY
Jan 4, 2015

Patriotic few battle addiction to peace

The Japanese school system's treatment of modern history is so slipshod that having a rational debate on the need for war is nearly impossible, young nationalists say.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 3, 2015

The highlights of Japanese media in 2014

My choices for the most significant public phenomena of last year are associated with traditional media rather than the social kind, which isn't to say these phenomena didn't impact social media and vice versa, only that TV, newspapers and magazines still affect our perception of the world.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jan 3, 2015

Novelist Mizumura fights to arrest fall of Japanese literature

The abiding belief among some native English speakers in Japan is that Japanese people need to use more English instead of sheltering in the comfort of a mother tongue barely spoken beyond their archipelago.
WORLD
Jan 3, 2015

Website names Ecuador as top retirement country

Ecuador has been named the best country to retire in by InternationalLiving.com.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 2, 2015

How to root out the poison of extremism in Pakistan

The intertwining of religious terrorism, the colonization of the state by the army and the obsession with India as an existential threat has mutated into a virulent toxin feeding parasitically on Pakistan.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 2, 2015

Still no insurance for mental illness

The U.S. remains a country in its infancy when it comes to mental health care, despite the undeniable turning point marked by the enactment of the Affordable Care Act in 2013.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 2, 2015

Sierra Leone's president calls for week of fasting, prayer over Ebola

Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma asked the country to begin a week of fasting and prayers on Thursday to end the Ebola virus that has killed more than 2,700 of his countrymen.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jan 1, 2015

Most read Life stories of 2014

From cannabis growers to tips on learning Japanese, these were some of the most read Life section articles of 2014.
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 1, 2015

Kansai region on course to enhance its blossoming arts renaissance

In its 2013 policy report, the Agency for Cultural Affairs vowed to build "a nation based on culture and the arts" through the promotion of regional festivals, artist-in-residence programs and other events.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Jan 1, 2015

Looking back on, preserving traditional New Year's activities

"Shogatsu," the term for the New Year's holidays in Japanese, is a time when people take the first three days of the New Year off to spend time relaxing with their families and engaging in traditional activities to remind themselves of their heritage.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NATURE'S PANTRY
Dec 30, 2014

Niigata home brews enhance teatime

Goushi Iijima sits in front of the irori ( a traditional ash fireplace), his back ramrod straight yet somehow deeply relaxed. With measured, fluid movements, he pours cold-infused green tea into delicate clear glass cups set on lacquerware saucers.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NAGOYA RESTAURANTS
Dec 30, 2014

Head to a temple for a New Year's meal

Although there are countless places to visit on New Year's Eve, one of the liveliest is Osu Kannon, a temple that is busy most days of the year and packed to the brim during the holidays.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Dec 30, 2014

Insects crawl onto our dinner plates — that's a good thing

I am a fairly fearless eater. I've dined on boiled goose blood and fish bladders in Hong Kong, llama pate in Chile, and fermented whale meat on the Faroe Islands — although I draw the line at Greenland's seal-and-blubber soup. Upon hearing that the Mandarin Oriental Tokyo had recently started offering...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 30, 2014

'Kohaku' rallies the J-pop acts, but don't count enka out just yet

On New Year's Eve, many families in Japan inevitably wind up gathered around the TV to watch a selection of holiday programming. One of the most popular shows is NHK's "Kohaku Uta Gassen."
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 30, 2014

Their nation in pieces, Iraqis ponder what comes next

The machine gun poking out from between a framed portrait of a Shiite imam and a stuffed toy Minnie Mouse was trained on anyone who approached the checkpoint.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 29, 2014

The Sony hack and cyber ransoms

The recent Sony Pictures attack made clear that hackers have the ability to do more than just take sensitive data. The increasing popularity of extortion shows that big companies won't be the only targets.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Dec 28, 2014

The year in education: After all the talk, can Japan walk the walk in 2015?

With ideas coming in thick and fast in 2014 and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe having effective carte blanche after his landslide election victory, it's now or never for key education reforms.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 28, 2014

Hacking of low brow movie raises high stakes issues

The movie 'The Interview,' featuring the supposed blowing up of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, is a sad commentary on the idiocies of our troubled times. It should not have been made.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 27, 2014

Learning to love robots

With half the decade complete, we examine an industry that has significantly changed the way we think about ourselves.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Dec 27, 2014

Isolation helps preserve Ishigaki's unique charm

In his 1926 story, "The Man Who Loved Islands," D.H. Lawrence wrote, "Isolate yourself on a little island in the sea of space, and the moment begins to heave and expand in great circles, the solid earth is gone, and your slippery, naked dark soul finds itself out in the timeless world."
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Dec 27, 2014

20 Questions: best answers of 2014

Japan Times On Sunday contributors select the responses that made them laugh loudest over the past 12 months
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Dec 26, 2014

Sanrio's 'Nutcracker' offers visual experience in 3-D

For anyone raised in the West, the year-end holidays in Japan can be a jarring experience, at least for the uninitiated. Decorated trees, illuminated boulevards and carols in convenience stores coincide with Colonel Sanders statuettes remade into Santa Claus and mini-skirted chorus girls in reindeer...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Dec 26, 2014

Scam shows China's shortage of brides reaching critical mass

In the villages outside Handan, China, a bachelor looking to marry a local girl needs to have as much as $64,000, the price tag for a suitable home and obligatory gifts. That is a bit out of the price range of many of the farmers in the area.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Dec 25, 2014

Japan Times Advisory Board serves up brickbats, praise for newspaper's coverage

Ichiro Fujisaki, who formerly served as Japan's ambassador to the United States, praised the paper for its "readability." He said he senses that the editors try to choose phrases and words that are easy for Japanese readers to understand.

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