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COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Aug 27, 2011

Summertime's biggest fans

"The first time I went to see a fan dance . . ."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 27, 2011

Mask maker keeping Shimane tradition alive

Hanging on the walls of Jake Davies' home are around 20 artifacts that seem at odds with the idyllic village in Sakurae, Shimane Prefecture where his rustic abode is set.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Aug 26, 2011

Drunken dance to hit Tokyo

The Koenji district in the west of Tokyo is known for used-clothing stores and record shops — the perfect spot for any music lover to settle down in.
COMMENTARY
Aug 25, 2011

Why Chris Christie isn't running for president

Near the statehouse office of New Jersey's 55th governor sits a sort of shrine to the 34th. Fortunately, Chris Christie is unlike Woodrow Wilson.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 23, 2011

Peace Boat-Rolls Royce talks lay bare ethical minefield

Convinced the recovery in Tohoku will result in the birth of widespread corporate philanthropy in Japan, in the same way the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake prompted the proliferation of volunteerism, Peace Boat director Tatsuya Yoshioka spent a day in June shepherding a busload of businesspeople on a...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 22, 2011

Whose fault is the rise and fall of the Japanese ojisan?

The Japanese ojisan (おじさん, middle-aged and older male) hasn't been too genki (元気, full of cheer) or assertive lately. Just the other day, I witnessed a company nomikai (飲み会, drinking party) at a beer garden where the only persons swilling nama (ナマ, draft beer) by the tankload, pulling...
Reader Mail
Aug 21, 2011

No country for Asian refugees

Regarding the July 6 article "UNHCR exec lauds refugee strides, urges more": In the 1970s, Japanese vessels in the South China Sea rescued a lot of boat people who hoped to live in Japan. After several years, though, most of them left for the United States and other Western countries.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WEEK 3
Aug 21, 2011

Three Mile Island's lessons for Japan

In the early hours of March 28, 1979, human errors and mechanical failures combined to cause a cooling system to stop working at the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. One of the station's two nuclear cores overheated, thrusting the plant into a crisis that would...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 21, 2011

Korean television dramas are not the real problem

On July 23, actor Sosuke Takaoka tweeted that he was sick of all the Korean dramas on Fuji TV, a network he "used to be indebted to," and demanded more "traditional" Japanese programming. "If anything related to South Korea is on," he continued, "I just turn it off." The backlash was swift, and the actor...
EDITORIALS
Aug 21, 2011

More money for women athletes

The women's soccer team has won more than a first place victory in the Women's World Cup. They have also won increased financial support for women athletes in Japan. The Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry (MEXT) announced recently it would be increasing financial support for...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 20, 2011

Gendercide: India's ticking demographic bomb

Ernest Hemingway's collection of stories, "Men without Women," examines tense gender relationships. In a particularly poignant story, a young man convinces his partner to have an abortion, viewing their unborn child as a hindrance to the status quo. Frustrated, the woman gives in.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Aug 19, 2011

Kimono exhibition provides a taste of history

This weekend is the last chance to view a rare collection of antique kimono from the Meiji Era at a traditional merchant house. Hosted at Nishijin Tondaya, a registered national cultural asset built in 1885, the exhibition features kimono that are around 120 years old. Visitors now have the opportunity...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 18, 2011

The Morning Benders

There are lots of summer festivals now. How did you end up deciding to do Summer Sonic?
COMMENTARY
Aug 17, 2011

Britain gropes for solutions

The images of burning buildings and looting of shops that took place between Aug. 5 and 9 in parts of London and other major cities, including Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool, have rightly made the English people ashamed. The damage caused has been serious and some families have lost their homes...
JAPAN
Aug 16, 2011

Venture to push 'anime' in LA

Innovation Network Corporation of Japan, a semipublic body tasked with enhancing the value of the nation's businesses, announced Monday it will establish a new firm to remake existing domestic "soft" content, including movies, "anime" (animation), TV dramas and songs, to sell them to Hollywood, aiming...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 16, 2011

Volunteers feel for Tohoku, but their duties lie in Nepal

In the physiotherapy ward at Katmandu's Bir Hospital, a middle-aged woman lay in bed, her back strapped to a big mechanical device. Rukmini Roka, 56, who suffers from chronic backache, struggled to stretch her legs as required by the special therapy machine.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Aug 16, 2011

Post-3/11 meeting leaves group of strangers weeping in Bath

Here at our home in Louisiana in March, my daughters and I were so touched by the news of the Japanese earthquakes and tsunami that we decided to fold 1,000 origami cranes — a senbazuru — to send to Japan.
Reader Mail
Aug 14, 2011

Innate keys to a bright future

One of the many interesting and unique aspects of Japanese culture that I experienced as a foreigner in Japan from 2003 to 2010 was jishuku. Jishuku refers to voluntary moderation in one's actions, typically after a terrible event or occurrence involving loss of life or human suffering. Jishuku is a...
Reader Mail
Aug 14, 2011

Against the English-teaching odds

I am from Bangladesh and a student of English linguistics and literature who is about to graduate (B.A. with honors) from a local university. It has been my dream to go to Japan and become a teacher. The history and culture and literature of Japan have always intrigued me.
CULTURE / Books
Aug 14, 2011

Blavatsky's Book of the Dead

THE TIBETAN BOOK OF THE DEAD: A Biography, by Donald S. Lopez, Jr. Princeton University Press, 2011, 175 pp., $19.95 (hardcover) In 2005 a journalist telephoned the eminent scholar of Buddhism and Tibetan Studies, Donald S. Lopez, Jr., and asked him whether "The Tibetan Book of the Dead" was the most...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Aug 12, 2011

Celebrate Earth with top beats

Enjoy an exciting weekend getaway to Niigata Prefecture for Japan's longest-running music festival, Earth Celebration. Now in its 24th year, this event takes place on Sado Island, which is home to the internationally acclaimed Kodo drumming group.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 12, 2011

Ireland excoriates Vatican over new reports of abuse

In my first few days as editor of The Universe, the leading English-language Catholic newspaper, I had a long conversation with the monsignor who was a member of the board, an adviser to the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, and who wrote a religious "Agony Aunt" column for us.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Aug 12, 2011

Half-time drum show is full-time fun

Some of America's finest drummers and brass-players marched into Japan this week for Drumline 2011. The tour will hit several prefectures and give locals a taste of the energized spectacle that comes during the half-time show at American football games.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BY THE GLASS
Aug 12, 2011

Grape adventures in northern climes

If you're thinking of taking a break from the sweltering heat of Japan's southern and central regions, Hokkaido is the perfect destination. As well as its wonderfully fresh local cuisine, stunning natural scenery and balmy climate, the northern island is also home to a burgeoning wine culture that looks...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 11, 2011

"Eel Expo Tokyo"

The University Museum, The University of TokyoCloses Oct. 16
COMMENTARY
Aug 9, 2011

Threat from the antidemocrats

The recent massacre perpetrated by a lone gunman in Norway has made leaders in democratic countries review the threat to their societies from extremist anti-democratic elements.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / MIXED MATCHES
Aug 9, 2011

Top blogger illustrates Chinese wife's struggles

W ith his winning of the prestigious Alpha Blogger Awards 2010, Tokyo-based cartoonist Junichi Inoue is now recognized as one of the most influential Japanese bloggers.
Reader Mail
Aug 7, 2011

Japan no match for aftereffects

The only problem with True Spence's implication that a modern Japan cannot exist without nuclear power ("Kan's escape from nuclear reality," July 31) is that the corollary is not so certain. Serious future meltdowns and nationwide radiation excesses could well mean that nuclear power or its effects could...

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