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CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Nov 24, 2011

Late-night dancing should not be a crime in Japan

Imagine a town where playing rock music is under a curfew and police crack down on unlicensed late-night dancing. Are you thinking of the town from the film "Footloose"? Or are you thinking of Fukuoka? Kumamoto? Yokohama?
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Nov 23, 2011

Coach K's winning formula is a lesson for all sports teams

What leads to long-term team success in team sports?
COMMENTARY
Nov 22, 2011

Syrian uprising victimized

Syrians continue to be victimized, not only in violent clashes with the Syrian military, but also by regional and international players with various agendas.
COMMENTARY
Nov 22, 2011

Guess who's suddenly inviting Uncle Sam to dinner?

Real-life diplomacy reveals, as Lord Palmerston, twice British prime minister (1855-8, 1859-65), famously put it: "We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and those interests it is our duty to follow." Over the decades the Palmerston Principle...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 21, 2011

You think you're funny, but really you're not

In this age of shūshoku hyōgaki (就職氷河期, the employment ice age) the one industry that's filling young people with hope and plans for the future is this: the world of owarai (お笑い, comedy).
CULTURE / Books
Nov 20, 2011

Beauty and purpose in design

NEW JAPAN ARCHITECTURE, by Geeta Mehta and Deanna MacDonald. Tuttle Publishing, 2011, 224 pp., $49.95 (hardcover) There are fewer contiguous architectural zones in Japan — areas where we can follow the accumulated contours of a set of perfectly integrated buildings — than there are in Europe. Instead,...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Nov 20, 2011

Nico Nico Douga, Warner launch video on demand service

This week, Japan's expanding online video service operator Nico Nico Douga made a surprise announcement, launching a movie distribution service in partnership with Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 20, 2011

The B-class-food boom reveals true Japanese cuisine

Two weeks ago, an advisory panel to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries recommended it apply to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization for recognition of Japanese cuisine as an intangible cultural asset. The panel made its suggestion after UNESCO granted...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 18, 2011

"Modes from Rococo to Art Deco: Make up, Hair and Fashion"

Since ancient times, beauty has been a concern for many women, something that has led to various styles in fashion and makeup within different cultures, philosophies and historical periods.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Nov 18, 2011

Proud love pervades NHK's 'Madame Butterfly'

"Well, little Chrysanthème, let us part good friends; one last kiss even, if you like. I took you to amuse me; you have not perhaps succeeded very well, but after all you have done what you could: given me your little face, your little curtseys, your little music; in short, you have been pleasant enough...
Reader Mail
Nov 17, 2011

Blithe rhetoric toward disaster

I must condemn the Nov. 10 Washington Post article by Nicholas Eberstadt, "Five myths about global population," in the strongest language possible for its irresponsible position on the problem of the burgeoning human population. Such bland denial of the wolf that is at everyone's door borders upon insanity....
EDITORIALS
Nov 17, 2011

Tarnished corporate image

The admission by Olympus Corp., a major maker of cameras and endoscopes, that it has covered up investment losses since the 1990s damages not only the firm but also the image of corporate Japan.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 17, 2011

Language imperialism — 'democracy' in China

If you are an American or European citizen, chances are you've never heard about shengren, minzhu and wenming. If one day you promote them, you might even be accused of culture treason.
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA
Nov 17, 2011

Bending the rules with architecture

German-born, Tokyo-based architect Florian Busch says that witnessing a building rise from an open plot of land is like watching a plant grow.
EDITORIALS
Nov 15, 2011

Ocean awash with tsunami trash

Japan is a country where homeowners and shopkeepers sweep up in front every morning and garbage collection points are spick-and-span. Schoolchildren are taught to clean their classrooms. Cleanliness is one of Japanese culture's most strongly held values. So, it is maddening, and embarrassing, that an...
Reader Mail
Nov 13, 2011

Occupy Tokyo a welcome sight

Regarding Michael Hoffman's Nov. 7 Bilingual page article, "Occupy Tokyo lacks focus but still demands change": I am a 21-year-old African American who has watched and participated in the Occupy Wall Street movement of Oakland, California. I am happy to hear that the movement supporting the future of...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 13, 2011

Media takes both sides of TPP debate

Last week Kyodo News conducted a survey on the public's understanding of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which Japan is thinking of joining. The TPP basically constitutes a free-trade zone among member countries in the Pacific rim region, including the United States, but right now it is still in the negotiation...
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Nov 13, 2011

'Calamity' awaits those unready for climate-change refugees

There is a wonderful expression in Japanese: Fūdo ni nareru, which means something like "to become acclimatized to natural conditions."
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 13, 2011

Will trickle-down class discrimination rob Britain of what's so great?

Britain may be broken, but London is hot. A recent trip to the city exhilarated me.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Nov 13, 2011

Taking it easy on Tokashiki

In the days of the Ryukyu Kingdom, from the 14th to 19th centuries, Chinese envoys would come to Shuri Castle on the island of Okinawa to officiate at the coronation of the Ryukyu kings. When their ships were spotted from the 227-meter peak of Mount Akama on the northeast coast of outlying Tokashiki...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2011

Japan will join TPP dialogue, Noda decides

Japan will join the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda officially announced Friday night, a day after he delayed making an declaration on the country's stance on the free-trade initiative.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 12, 2011

Searching for connections drives young documentarian

Megumi Nishikura, a young documentary filmmaker in Tokyo, consolidates her goals under one main theme: "I want to remind us of our common humanity, to remember that we are all humans with the same hopes and desires and we all deserve to be respected.
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Nov 11, 2011

Experience, versatility keys to Golden Kings' success

The Ryukyu Golden Kings, coming off a third consecutive Final Four appearance, look poised to make another run at a championship.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 11, 2011

"Undressing Paintings: Japanese Nudes 1880-1945"

The nude may now be a common and popular subject for artists, but in Japan, depicting a naked person was considered immoral and obscene during the early Meiji Period (1868-1912). This exhibition explores how modern Japanese artists such as Seiki Kuroda and Busho Hara struggled to introduce Western art...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 11, 2011

"Emerging Master 1: Makoto Aida "Be it Art or not Art"

Tokyo Wonder Site begins its "Emerging Master" series with Makoto Aida — the artist who famously goaded Disney lawyers with crazed and sexualized depictions of Mickey and Minnie Mouse, and who has garnered controversy as much as acclaim. But with his anti-establishment career and a number of challenges...

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