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COMMENTARY / World
Aug 19, 2013

Larry Summers and a tale of two Harvard professors

It is hard to imagine any private bankers being so callous and socially unconscionable as Larry Summers, a leading candidate to be the next chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 19, 2013

Darren Johnston: dance's accidental controversialist

In 2003, prominent arts writer Allen Robertson wrote in The Times: "If there was a Turner Prize for dance, Darren Johnston would undoubtedly be on the shortlist."
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Aug 17, 2013

How green is Tohoku's 'Green Connections' project?

On its surface, the plan seems like an environmentalist's dream come true: Take wreckage from the March 11, 2011, Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami in the Tohoku region of Honshu and pile it along the washed-out coastline; cover the crumbled concrete and broken wood with soil; then top it all with...
CULTURE / Books
Aug 17, 2013

Revisiting the works of director Takashi Miike

Takashi Miike is one of the few Japanese filmmakers now working, Takeshi Kitano and Hayao Miyazaki being two others, who enjoy a measure of recognition outside Japan's insular film world. Though hardly a household name in Kansas, Miike has long been a favorite with the international Asian Extreme Cinema...
Japan Times
WORLD
Aug 16, 2013

Flying reptiles that weren't so scary after all

For most of us, "pterodactyls" are large, vicious and ugly gargoyles with leathery wings and jaws lined with savage teeth, the sort of disreputable brutes we find in Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Lost World," the "Jurassic Park" franchise — even a recent episode of "Doctor Who."
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Aug 15, 2013

Shout your feelings out at temple event

When was the last time you yelled? Anyone in Japan knows that being loud in public isn't something that happens too often. Train cars are usually quiet and even concerts don't get too raucous.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 15, 2013

A political maelstrom in the South China Sea

However arbiters decide in the Philippines' complaint against China over conflicting claims in the South China Sea, it appears that China will simply refuse to abide by it.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Aug 14, 2013

Jeté-ing from ballet to kitchen-sink drama

Though she's moved from elegant arabesques to doing the washing up, former prima ballerina Tamiyo Kusakari is stealing the show in "Ani Kaeru (The Older Brother Returns)," a kitchen-sink drama playing every night through Sept. 1 at Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre in Ikebukuro.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 14, 2013

Bieber's monkey keeps Billboard editor on pitch

In a typical day, Bill Werde ponders everything from Justin Bieber's pot smoking to Robin Thicke's topless women, with hundreds of ear-worms along the way.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 14, 2013

Smany "komoriuta"

Netlabel culture in Japan — referring to Web-only music labels that distribute tunes online, usually for free — has been around long enough to develop its own set of minor celebrities and "star" imprints. Bunkai-Kei has become one of the most popular of these Internet institutions, and its latest...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 14, 2013

'Medieval Japanese Art'

In medieval Japan — the Kamakura Period to the Muromachi Period (1193-1573) — power shifted from the nobility to the warrior class. Revealing the influence of this political disruption, this exhibition focuses on artwork produced at that time, much of which referenced Chinese Zen culture.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 14, 2013

'Aichi Triennale 2013'

The theme of this second Aichi Triennale is "Awakening — Where Are We Standing?" and it aims to make us rethink the role of art as Japan continues to recover from the Great East Japan Earthquake and following disasters.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 13, 2013

Hope amid Mideast turmoil

No one put the chances of reviving the Israel-Palestine peace process at more than minimal. Yet it has happened. Now is not the time for despair in the Middle East.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 13, 2013

Forget the beach, try an on-the-job vacation

KidZania, the theme park where children can role-play professions such as doctor or firefighter, has proved popular around the world: entertainment centers are now operating in 10 countries in addition to Japan, including Mexico, Indonesia and Portugal.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 12, 2013

Toyokazu Nagano: Dad's pictures of the kids that others do want to see

In 2008, Toyokazu Nagano, like proud parents do, started taking pictures of his daughters: eating breakfast, playing outdoors — slices of everyday life. However, for each candid image he took, he was vexed by missing another perfect moment.
Japan Times
LIFE
Aug 10, 2013

Seven years on, and everyone's itching for more

To date, including his all-male production of "The Merchant of Venice" that's set to run next month at Sainokuni Saitama Arts Theater outside Tokyo, Yukio Ninagawa will have staged 29 of the 38 plays attributed to William Shakespeare — and his ambition to direct the entire oeuvre remains undimmed....
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Aug 10, 2013

Toba and Kashikojima: pearls of tranquillity beside Ise Bay

In places where land submerges itself beneath water, modes of transportation immediately change and, in some cases, endings become beginnings.
Reader Mail
Aug 10, 2013

Policy at odds with its purpose

Chris Clancy's Aug. 1 letter, "Language policy hurts children," makes for an interesting debate as a followup to the July 14 editorial "More people studying Japanese." I can understand that children must be the ones who are affected the most.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Aug 9, 2013

FC Tokyo's Watanabe embracing challenges he faces

FC Tokyo striker Kazuma Watanabe is excited to be leading a new wave of Japanese goal scorers in the race for this season's J. League golden boot, but that does not mean he is about to sit back and let his countrymen beat him to the prize.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 9, 2013

Robots' abilities still far from human, but getting ever closer

It may seem uncomfortably close to science fiction, but robots are moving ever nearer to acquiring humanlike abilities to see, smell and sense their surroundings, allowing them to operate more independently and perform some of the dangerous, dirty and dull jobs people don't want to do.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 8, 2013

'Pacific Rim'

Alien monsters vs. giant robots? Geek alert, people. "Pacific Rim" is so nerdy that it actually refers to its behemoths by the proper Japanese monster-movie genre name, kaiju.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 8, 2013

'To the Wonder'

An intensely personal film by Terrence Malick ("The Tree of Life," "The Thin Red Line"), "To the Wonder" explores the lives and loves of four people, to the near complete exclusion of everyone else. The films revels in solitude and celebrates seclusion with what seems like voluptuous ardor.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 8, 2013

Tokyo beach reopens after five-decade effort

The seawater by Tokyo's Kasai Rinkai Park is only slightly cooler than body temperature, and its beach contains a mix of tiny gravel and seashell fragments instead of fine white sand.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 7, 2013

Gaffe-prone leaders are doing Japan no favors

It is in Japan's long-term interest for its politicians to avoid remarks that could exacerbate ill will toward Japan and thus detract from its goal of economic revival.

Longform

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