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December 13, 2024
 

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OLYMPICS
Aug 13, 2008

Phelps in esteemed company at top of Mount Olympus

BEIJING — Here's the answer to an obscure trivia question: Michael Phelps' middle name is Fred.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 27, 2008

Cancerlike corruption thrives in heads of bureaucrats

The ongoing investigation into charges of bribery and employment-rigging in the Oita prefectural school system has occasioned more than the usual amount of harsh commentary you hear when public servants do bad things. That's probably because in this case it is believed that the minds of innocent youths...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 29, 2008

Akihabara killer followed plot mapped by the media

After serial killer Tsutomu Miyazaki was hanged on June 17, some death-penalty opponents wondered out loud if Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama had signed the execution order as a response to the indiscriminate murders of seven people on the streets of Akihabara nine days earlier. Of course, Hatoyama didn't...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jun 29, 2008

286 reasons to reflect on a Japan long gone, but worthy of reflection

I recently gave a talk on Japanese culture to a group of foreign students at Tokyo Institute of Technology. They hailed from a variety of places, including Scandinavia, the United States and Asian countries. I began by asking them to give me a keyword or two that they thought characterized Japanese life...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / ONE-ON-ONE WITH ...
Jun 22, 2008

Aoshima provides enthusiastic analysis for Japan's hoops fans

The Japan Times will be featuring periodic interviews with players in the bj-league — Japan's first professional basketball circuit — which wrapped up its third season in May.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 22, 2008

An impressionable connoisseur of cultures

TRAVELS IN THE EAST by Donald Richie, with a foreword by Stephen Mansfield. Berkeley, California: Stone Bridge Press, 2007, 180 pp., $14.95 (paper) Donald Richie continues to write learnedly, wittily and insightfully about Japan, of whose culture he is one of the world's greatest interpreters. Readers...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 29, 2008

The last splash of spring

Tokyo's multifaceted gallery scene usually slows down a bit in the summer, so May has seen a whack of openings across the city.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 22, 2008

Winding up in bondage

Consider, for a moment, tattoos. Removable and temporary tattoos are gaining in popularity. But there goes the whole cachet of tattoos, really. The very reason they're worth having is, in fact, the ordeal you go through to get them and the finality of the decision. Therein lies the line that separates...
BUSINESS / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
May 5, 2008

Japan lags European peers on female empowerment

The latest EU-Japan summit wrapped up on April 23, with Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda holding talks with European Council President Janez Jansa (the Slovenian prime minister) and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. The meeting came at a time when both Europe and Japan are facing an enormous...
COMMENTARY
May 2, 2008

Publicity stunt on Everest

NEW DELHI — As a triumphal symbol of its rule over Tibet, China is taking the Olympic torch through the "Roof of the World" to the world's highest peak, Mount Everest, which straddles the Tibetan-Nepalese border. That publicity stunt will only infuse more politics into the Games, already besmirched...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 10, 2008

The international community is betraying Afghanistan

HONG KONG — It is a magnificent land, a high plateau, landlocked, bitterly windswept and freezing in winter; sweltering, parched and dry in summer. It has a proud stiff-necked people who reflect the tough climate, rugged, stubborn, fiercely tribal, traditionally loyal but with a tenaciously vicious...
LIFE / Digital / JAPAN TIMES BLOGROLL
Mar 19, 2008

Mutant Frog

Mutant Frog Travelogue is the blog of Adam Richards, Joe Jones and Roy Berman, three friends who met while studying in Japan. The eclectic subject matter includes posts on technology, law, culture, politics and plenty more. With the three writers living at various times in Japan, Thailand, the U.S. and...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 14, 2008

'Yurei vs. Uchujin'

Even film directors need a break from the routine, don't they? Especially Takashi Shimizu, who has spent much of this decade making seven installments of his hit "Grudge (Ju-on)" J-Horror franchise, including two films for Hollywood, about vengeful ghosts who move from victim to victim like viruses....
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 9, 2008

The art of Frances Blakemore: a love affair with Japan

AN AMERICAN ARTIST IN TOKYO: Frances Blakemore — 1906-1997, by Michiyo Morioka. Seattle: The Blakemore Foundation/University of Washington Press, 2007, 200 pp., profusely illustrated, $35 (cloth) Living more than 50 years of her life in Japan, artist Frances Blakemore was a close and sympathetic observer...
CULTURE / Books
Mar 2, 2008

Verbal and visual tributes to the poetry of Santoka

HAILSTONES / ARARE / ZIARNA GRADU: Haiku by Taneda Santoka, English translations by John Stevens, Polish Translations by Wioletta Laskowska & Lidia Rozmus, with sumi-e by Lidia Rozmus. Deep North Press, 2006, 33 poem-cards, $50 (boxed) SANTOKA: A Translation With Photographic Images, English translations...
COMMENTARY
Feb 14, 2008

Why is the Pentagon begging for billions?

LONDON — Last week the Pentagon asked Congress for the biggest defense budget since World War II: $515 billion, plus an additional $70 billion to cover the costs of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq for part of the coming year. The United States is proposing to spend more on the armed forces, quite...
CULTURE / Art
Feb 7, 2008

"Wako Works of Art: 15 Years/Part III"

Wako Works of Art, Shinjuku, Tokyo
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 30, 2008

Asia's high stake in Persian Gulf stability

SINGAPORE — Could a radio operator, whose identity is unknown, cause a war between the United States, the world's most powerful nation, and energy-rich but radical Iran? Perhaps not. But it now appears that someone — maybe a prankster — almost triggered a shootout between the two sides earlier...
BASKETBALL / ONE-ON-ONE WITH ...
Jan 26, 2008

Planells confident expansion Golden Kings will blossom with time

SENDAI — Hernando Planells, the head coach of the expansion Ryukyu Golden Kings, sat down after his team's 87-78 loss to the Sendai 89ers on Sunday and spoke at length about his players, the challenges of building a team from scratch and his overall impressions of the bj-league.
BASEBALL
Jan 20, 2008

Whiting pays tribute to Boyer, Halberstam

In an exclusive piece, best-selling author Robert Whiting reminisces about two men, Clete Boyer and David Halberstam, both of whom died in 2007, who had a profound impact on his distinguished career.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ROAD
Jan 13, 2008

Ranking Japan's most scenic skylines

Mountaintop vistas and an absence of patrol cars make for a slice of motoring heaven.
Japan Times
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Jan 1, 2008

All signs point toward wild, wacky year in Japanese sports

It was an unforgettable year for sports in Japan in 2007.
EDITORIALS
Dec 16, 2007

Stars in their guides

Last month, Tokyo's restaurants received their stars. For the first time, the famed Michelin Guide, the most respected and feared guidebook in Europe, published a volume outside the Western world. Noted for its make-or-break effects on European hotels and restaurants, the publication was greeted in Tokyo...
COMMENTARY
Dec 13, 2007

Something's not quite right about Hillary

LOS ANGELES — Hillary Rodham Clinton may well prove to be a great president of the United States, who knows? But as a presidential candidate she has a lot to be desired, and it's getting worse.
Reader Mail
Dec 6, 2007

Tired of the same old commentary

There are too many "multi-commentators" on Japanese TV programs. I'm talking about people who comment on various subjects. Are they experts on all of these subjects?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 4, 2007

Taking liberties? Readers respond

The Community Page received an unprecedented number of responses to the "Taking Liberties" series that ran in this section last month. Following are some examples.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / JAPAN TIMES BLOGROLL
Nov 28, 2007

Observing Japan

Writing under the "nom de blog" Japan Observer, Chicago-born Tobias Harris dissects Japan's ever-eventful political scene on his Web site www.observingjapan.com. The 25-year-old Harris recently completed an internship year as a foreign-policy adviser to Democratic Party of Japan Diet member Keiichiro...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Nov 23, 2007

Guided through Japan's deep north by the holy spirit of Basho

Tohoku is Japan's "deep north," through which the famous Zen monk and haiku poet Matsuo Basho walked in 1689, writing one of the most famous travelogues in world literature, "Oku no Hosomichi (The Narrow Road to the Deep North)."
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 10, 2007

Lucky little countries, or not?

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, New York — Western Europe's small democracies have, on the whole, been exceptionally fortunate. Freer and richer than almost anywhere else in the world, countries such as Holland, Belgium, and Switzerland would seem to have little to worry about. This is why the world normally...
JR East announces 10-year plan to drastically overhaul Suica
The East Japan Railway Shinjuku Station in Tokyo. Within the next 10 years, JR East will develop automated walk-through gate technology so that passengers can enter the train platform without having to tap their Suica card or phone on the ticket gates.
Prince Hisahito to enroll at University of Tsukuba
Prince Hisahito, who is second in line to the Chrysanthemum Throne, is currently a third-year student at the University of Tsukuba’s affiliated high school.
Tokyo remains third in global city index for ninth consecutive year
The silhouettes of Mount Fuji, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building and Shinjuku skyscrapers are seen during sunset in Tokyo in November.
South Korean police blocked from raid on president's office
Protesters attend a rally calling for the impeachment of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in front of the headquarters of the ruling People Power Party in Seoul on Tuesday.
Union blasts Nippon Steel’s $5,000 per worker bonus in U.S. Steel deal
The United Steelworkers union claims that Nippon Steel's latest offer is tantamount to bribery.
London calling: Sumo's U.K. trip brings back memories of 1991
Japan’s national sport made its second foray into Western Europe, and first to the U.K., with a five-day tournament at London’s historic Royal Albert Hall in October 1991.
‘Hayao Miyazaki and the Heron’ documentary meditates on auteur's creativity and legacy
“Hayao Miyazaki and the Heron" provides an in-depth look into the octogenarian auteur’s creative process and personal reflections.
Yurie Collins: ‘Everyone seems sedated, fed-up … that’s why they turn to comedy’
Yurie Collins is a bilingual comedian based in Tokyo. In addition to being a prize-winning roast comic, her dating-themed "Tokyo Hoe Tales" shows have proven to be a hit with women of all nationalities.
Winter chill, hot baths and the risk of heat shock: How to stay safe
A health ministry survey showed that 5,824 people age 65 and older died in a bathtub in their home or other residential facilities in 2022, more than double the number of people who died in a traffic accident.
It’s Japan versus China for 2024’s game of the year
While FromSoftware's Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is a strong contender for game of the year, Black Myth: Wukong, the first AAA game made by a Chinese developer, offers some stiff competition.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

People in cities across Japan will pop into their local convenience store for any number of products they believe will help them with a night of drinking.
Hangover cures are everywhere in Japan — but do they work?
By Thu-Huong Ha

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’
Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’

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