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COMMENTARY
Jan 6, 2012

Russia's mental adjustment

Through the centuries, every people — big or small — has been working out its own approaches to various sides of life that, summed up, predestine its mentality and national character.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 6, 2012

"New Year Exhibition: Modern Japanese Paintings"

Although its aesthetic origin originally came from China, nihonga (Japanese-style painting) developed into a style of its own through its focus on motifs deep-rooted in Japanese culture. Bijin-ga (paintings of beautiful women) and sansui-ga (landscape painting) in particular present subjects familiar...
CULTURE / Art
Jan 6, 2012

"New Year Exhibition: Modern Japanese Paintings"

Although its aesthetic origin originally came from China, nihonga (Japanese-style painting) developed into a style of its own through its focus on motifs deep-rooted in Japanese culture. Bijin-ga (paintings of beautiful women) and sansui-ga (landscape painting) in particular present subjects familiar...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 6, 2012

'Spamalot' cast hopes 2012 is Year of the Python

"This is Spam," says Eric Idle to a room full of Japanese journalists, holding up a can of the precooked meat product that he and his fellow Monty Python cast members mocked to lasting effect in 1970 in their iconic BBC TV series.
CULTURE / Art
Jan 5, 2012

Looking ahead: 10 shows to mark on the 2012 calender

"Fuyuko Matsui: Becoming Friends with All the Children in the World" Yokohama Museum of ArtDec. 17, 2011-March 18.www.yaf.or.jp/yma
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 5, 2012

Looking ahead: 10 shows to mark on the 2012 calender

"Fuyuko Matsui: Becoming Friends with All the Children in the World" Yokohama Museum of ArtDec. 17, 2011-March 18.www.yaf.or.jp/yma
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 5, 2012

Exposing new spins on old-school photography

For a truly fresh outlook on Tokyo, run, don't walk, to the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography to see Sohei Nishino's exciting photo-collages of Tokyo and nine other cities, on display through Jan. 29 along with works by other up-and-coming Japanese photographers.
CULTURE / Art
Jan 5, 2012

Exposing new spins on old-school photography

For a truly fresh outlook on Tokyo, run, don't walk, to the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography to see Sohei Nishino's exciting photo-collages of Tokyo and nine other cities, on display through Jan. 29 along with works by other up-and-coming Japanese photographers.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 1, 2012

Media awards: Tokyo powers down as idols power up

Media Figure of the Year: Tepco A fact of modern life that the Occupy Wall Street movement brought home to the average person is that corporations are nominally "persons," meaning they have been granted the same "rights" as individuals, at least in the United States. In Japan, such legal definitions...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Jan 1, 2012

A breath of fire for nature this new Year of the Dragon

May I wish all our readers, in Japan and abroad, a very happy New Year. After 2011, I think we need one.
Reader Mail
Jan 1, 2012

Socially conscious global model

I love Amy Chavez's Dec. 24 Japan Lite column, "" How wonderful it would be if the whole world were to behave like many Japanese as a social norm.
Japan Times
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Dec 30, 2011

Heian Period 'Godfather' brought to life on NHK

Marlon Brando's title character in the 1972 film "The Godfather" might not be the first thing that comes to mind at the mention of 12th century warlord Taira no Kiyomori, but the comparison has proven particularly effective for public broadcaster NHK, which will air a yearlong Sunday-evening drama about...
Reader Mail
Dec 29, 2011

Pressure for higher interest rate

Raymond Regalado's Dec. 18 letter, "Misleading criticism of debt," doesn't mention several factors that are important to this topic. The ratio of Japanese government debt to gross domestic product is around 200 percent. This is among the highest of any developed country. It is sustainable only due to...
Reader Mail
Dec 29, 2011

Spare us the propaganda routine

As a German, I can say that Andreas Kolb's "opinion" is surely not written by an Austrian. We share the same culture and we don't use terms like "yellow peril" in the German-speaking part of Europe. Nobody here would claim that German Chancellor Angela Merkel "broke a law" with regard to the planned...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 29, 2011

Kabuki returns to its Asakusa home for special New Year's performances

As kabuki fans will already know, for more than 30 years, the Kokaido (public hall) in Asakusa has celebrated the Tokyo district's history as a thriving entertainment area by reviving the Edo Period (1603-1867) tradition of New Year's special kabuki performances. These shows have also become a great...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 27, 2011

Time to change the way we live

Reeling off our names and nationalities between East Halls 1 and 2 of convention center Tokyo Big Sight, our group introduces itself: "I'm from Thailand," "Vietnam, hi," "We're Taiwanese", "Singapore", "Korea".
EDITORIALS
Dec 25, 2011

The earthquake year

The year of the earthquake and tsunami is how 2011 will be remembered in Japan. No bounen-kai (forget-the-year party) has passed without thoughts of those who lost so much in the triple earthquake-tsunami-nuclear disaster on or after March 11. The powerful 9.0-magnitude earthquake devastated the northeast...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 25, 2011

It's time to turn over a new leaf in the sheaf of identities we carry with us

Far be it from me to put soot in Santa's chimney, but there is a pet peeve I've just got to get off my chest.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Dec 25, 2011

Behold! Christ's grave in Shingo, Aomori Prefecture

One line of text from Wikipedia was all it took to lure me to the town of Shingo, in south-central Aomori Prefecture. It read: "The village promotes itself as the home of the Grave of Christ after a local legend."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Dec 25, 2011

Light and dark shades from Burma and Japan

"The Lady and the Peacock," Peter Popham's lucidly written biography of Aung San Suu Kyi, provides an intimate portrait of the tenacious woman who has given the people of Burma hope and inspiration during their long nightmare under military rule.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 24, 2011

Foreign residents and religion

This month, two common questions were heard among many foreign residents here: "What are you doing for Christmas?" and "Are you going home or staying here?"
Japan Times
CULTURE
Dec 23, 2011

New Japan Pro-Wrestling hits 40

High-impact slams, chokeholds and daredevil feats of athleticism aren't the usual way to celebrate a 40th birthday, but that's how New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) will be spending its big day.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 23, 2011

"Ueda Souko: Busho Chajin no Sekai Ten"

During the feudal times of the Momoyama Period (1573-1615), samurai culture had come under the influence of the then growing Zen Buddhism. Buddhist art in the form of rock gardens, the tea ceremony and ikebana thus became an important part of samurai life.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 22, 2011

Natural disasters rock year in music

The year 2011 in Japan was undoubtedly defined by the triple disasters of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, and the subsequent nuclear crisis. The impact of those catastrophes was also felt across the entire entertainment world. The industry pretty much put itself on hold for the remainder of March...

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