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COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 30, 2010

Studies highlight a 'heartwarming' resu of the real thing in Japan

Nothing gets the circulation going like sex.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Japan Pulse
May 28, 2010

Takashi Murakami sets up shop in otaku heaven

Pop artist Takashi Murakami opens a gallery ... not in Aoyama or Daikanyama .. but in an otaku mecca: Nakano Broadway.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
May 28, 2010

Summer dining by a Kyoto river

The Hyatt Regency Kyoto has released a special summer accommodation plan that gives visitors the opportunity to experience the traditional culture of the ancient capital.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
May 28, 2010

'Gas' event asks big questions

Playwright Jason Maghanoy burst to prominence in the Canadian theater world in 2007 with his maiden offering, "Gas," about the Iraq War, which questioned the meaning of democracy and freedom in the instant-reaction, life-and-death conditions of live-fire conflict.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 28, 2010

The goddesses are protecting Araki

"Is my shirt OK?" asks Nobuyoshi Araki as he straightens it to give me a good view. "I looked through my things, but this was the most newspaper-appropriate one I could find."
Japan Times
LIFE
May 23, 2010

Ugly seafood just doesn't get better

A mong the highlights of any visit to Ibaraki Prefecture could well be Kita-Ibaraki in its far northeast — specifically the towns of Otsu-ko and Hirakata-ko, which offer perhaps the best opportunity in the nation to sample the great winter seafood delicacy of anko (anglerfish)
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
May 23, 2010

Experts fear Taiji mercury tests are fatally flawed

On May 10, in a front-page lead story headlined "Taiji locals test high for mercury," The Japan Times reported the results of tests by the National Institute of Minamata Disease (NIMD) that found "extremely high methyl-mercury (MeHg) concentrations in the hair of some residents of Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
May 21, 2010

In-season tomatoes hit Grand Hyatt

The Italian restaurant Fiorentina at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo is showcasing tomatoes, which are in season in Italy and Japan.
JAPAN
May 20, 2010

Women get rare chance for promotion

It shouldn't be surprising that Panasonic's star manager for developing appliances for women is a woman herself — except that this is Japan, a nation notorious for holding back females in the workplace.
COMMENTARY / World
May 20, 2010

Immigrants can buoy Japan

It is not possible to spend more than a few minutes with a Japanese diplomat or scholar without hearing the "C," namely China. Most of them are convinced that the People's Republic is expanding its global influence while Japan's is shrinking. The entire world, and most worryingly Asia, which used to...
JAPAN
May 19, 2010

NPOs' social roles still in stage of infancy

When he set up a nonprofit organization 35 years ago to sell organic vegetables, Kazuyoshi Fujita never expected his pursuit would grow into a big business.
COMMENTARY / World
May 18, 2010

Middle East needs truly secular governance

BEPPU, Oita Pref. — The march for secularism held on April 26 in Lebanon focused attention on the country and the region's conflicts and battle of values. Thousands of Lebanese from various social backgrounds — Shiite, Sunni, Maronite and more — took to the streets and marched to the national parliament...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 18, 2010

Sakurai: a very dapper demagogue

Makoto Sakurai brings to mind that old joke about the man in a pub who says "I'm not racist, but . . . "
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
May 16, 2010

Nara still boasts its ancient lure

In a geographical battle for the hearts and minds of Japanese people, Kyoto would win hands down as the wellspring of so much of their culture for which they feel such reverence.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
May 14, 2010

Yokohama shows off regional fare

Buffet restaurant Cafe Tosca at the Pan Pacific Yokohama Bay Hotel Tokyu will put on dinners featuring ingredients from Yokohama and other parts of Kanagawa Prefecture from May 17 to June 30.
COMMENTARY / World
May 13, 2010

A turning point in Thailand

BANGKOK — Massive occupations of two areas of central Bangkok the past two months show that the rise of Thailand's "red shirt" protesters is one of the most significant developments in Asia in 25 years, as it signals a new type of conflict involving entrenched elites and millions of workers who have...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
May 13, 2010

Antique dealer Kunihiro Iida

Antique dealer Kunihiro Iida, 66, specializes in tea ceremony utensils. His tiny corner shop, Iidakojitsudo, is just 500 meters from Tokyo Station's Yaesu side, in the historical district of Kyobashi. Built in 1971 by the famed carpenter Kisaburo Fujii — who studied under Ogi Rodo, the grandmaster...
JAPAN
May 10, 2010

Most Taiji residents rest easy, refuse to change diet

TAIJI, Wakayama Pref. — Residents of Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, appeared relieved Sunday after health specialists found no symptoms of mercury poisoning in their bodies, even though the hair samples of some residents contained high levels of methyl mercury.
Japan Times
LIFE
May 9, 2010

Children of Japan

Childhood. We all know it, we've all been through it, we've all lost it. Memory retains traces of it. We recall facts, incidents, fragments — but not what it felt like to be a child. Childish feelings are nameable to the adult, but not recoverable. They are on the other side of an impassable boundary...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 9, 2010

TV Tokyo's soft approach toughens consumer savvy

Each of Japan's key commercial TV stations has distinctive traits, though in terms of programming these distinctions are probably insignificant to the average viewer, especially when you often have the boy band Arashi appearing on two or three different stations in the same evening.
EDITORIALS
May 7, 2010

Long live the next Kabukiza

Kabukiza Theater in Tokyo's Ginza, the center of the traditional performing art that is on UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritages, was closed on April 30. It will revive in the spring of 2013 with new buildings. Toward the end of the 16-month long Kabukiza Farewell Performances, which started...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / Japan Pulse
May 5, 2010

Big (only) in Japan? Tape as proof of purchase

While Japan loves packaging, it makes an exception with proof-of-purchase tape.
JAPAN
May 4, 2010

Constitution Day marked with rallies and protests

On the occasion of the 63rd Constitution Day, and with the national referendum law to take effect May 18, a group of conservative intellectuals on Monday stressed the need to kick-start debate on the Constitution, which they argued has been on the back burner for too long.

Longform

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