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Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
May 2, 2010

The Zen nothingness of Zamami

Thinking that Japan is too expensive for them, many budget travelers eschew this archipelago for Southeast Asia. But with a mountain bike and a tent, it's quite possible to travel in Okinawa on ¥1,000 a day — and enjoy it — especially on Zamami Island.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 2, 2010

He's unusual, so why not just kill him

In a review of the book "Shikei de Ii desu" ("The Death Sentence Is OK With Me") that appears in the Feb. 26 issue of Kinyobi, critic Tatsunori Yagashiwa asks if a society that "disregards illness" can properly judge criminal suspects.
COMMENTARY
May 1, 2010

How news skews views

BEIJING — I am not good at flying kites. But during a recent visit to the Olympic Village of Beijing, I felt compelled to do so. Despite the cold and late hour, there were many kite runners around me. A salesman insisted that I try my hand before committing to any purchase, and I did. After purchasing...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 1, 2010

An artist's love affair with ceramics

Ceramic artist Swanica Ligtenberg returned from her native Holland in early January with a new sense of purpose. She no longer felt an outsider in a family of goldsmiths and silversmiths, because in speaking with her uncle — still creatively active at age 91 — she realized that the roots of his and...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 30, 2010

'The Box'/'9'

You'd be hard-pressed to find more than a handful of certifiably cult movies from the past decade, but Richard Kelly's "Donnie Darko" (2001) is definitely one of them. This strange hybrid about a troubled teen and his invisible friend (a giant evil-looking rabbit named Frank) could best be described...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 30, 2010

Only got 4Minutes to take the world

T he five young members of 4Minute sit dressed in tight, black leather outfits at a luxury hotel in Ebisu, Tokyo. It's one day before their Japanese debut, but they show no signs of nerves.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 28, 2010

Ethics of citizenship tests

PRINCETON, N.J. — Can citizenship really be tested? An increasing number of countries — especially, but not only, in Europe — seem to think so.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Apr 27, 2010

Craftsman gets creative with Yakushima wood

Derrel Grisham is an American, but it was a sense of nostalgia that drew him to the island of Yakushima off the southern coast of Kagoshima Prefecture.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 27, 2010

Battered Briton survives aikido ordeal

At the end of February, a group of international students graduated from the Tokyo-based Yoshinkan Honbu Dojo, one of the most intensive martial arts training centers in the world.
EDITORIALS
Apr 26, 2010

Tax breaks for donations to NPOs

Since the nonprofit organization law went into effect 1998, certified nonprofit organizations (NPOs) have been active in various areas, including welfare, art, culture and education, which the government sector does not and cannot cover. But many of them are financially weak.
CULTURE / Books
Apr 25, 2010

Whaling whoppers debunked

Ever wonder why landlocked nations such as Mali, Mongolia and Laos with no tradition of whaling are members of the International Whaling Commission (IWC)? According to Jun Morikawa, the Japanese government sponsors the membership of third-world countries in the IWC to boost support for Japan's pro-whaling...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Apr 23, 2010

Nihonbashi event offers antiques 101

The district of Nihonbashi, in the east of central Tokyo, is home to around 150 dealers in antiques, classical art, crafts, Japanese-style paintings, sculptures and prints. Most, however, have managed to sustain themselves on the dedicated patronage of a few wealthy collectors and well-connected dealers,...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 21, 2010

Unlike China, wariness marks India's ascent

PARIS — Some countries are naturally at ease with the concept and the reality of strategic power. Such was clearly the case of France under Louis XIV, the Sun King in the 17th century, and such is the case today of China, whose leadership is comfortable with the balance-of-power games of classical...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 20, 2010

Not showing at a family court near you

I have seen the secret Japanese video. No, not the one where you die within a week of watching it, the other one — the one about how traumatic divorce and parental separation are for children.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Apr 19, 2010

The knock-on effect of Murakami’s “1Q84” series

The third installation of Haruki Murakami's '1Q84' is bound produce another ripple effect in the book/music biz.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Apr 18, 2010

Let's Carnaval!

Dressed in green and pink costumes and topped off with Afro wigs, eight Japanese people, including this writer, gathered in the lobby of a hotel in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil's samba capital, at midnight on Feb. 15.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Apr 18, 2010

Hisashi Inoue: A great friend, writer, and people's champion is gone

O n Friday, April 9, Hisashi Inoue died at the age of 75, and with his passing Japan lost its most brilliant playwright.
JAPAN
Apr 17, 2010

Media get glimpse of Nara's 1,300th anniversary celebrations

NARA — A press preview of the celebrations for the 1,300th anniversary of the founding of Heijyo-kyo as Japan's ancient capital, which officially begin on April 24, was held Friday, as Nara officials scramble to put the final touches on an event they hope will boost the area's appeal as a tourist destination....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 17, 2010

Fuji veteran brings kids English Adventure

If you hike in the Chichibu mountains this summer in Saitama Prefecture, you may stumble across an American-style summer camp with huge tents and 50 to 60 school kids exploring nature with walks and tree-climbing adventures and enjoying campfires and roasting marshmallows.
COMMENTARY
Apr 16, 2010

U.K. searching for the center

When national elections are called, the major political parties — while of course emphasizing their differences through their propaganda — in practice all veer toward the center ground and claim it as their own. We are the ones, each leader proclaims, who can unite the nation.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 16, 2010

Jazz singer Meyer raps up second album, 'Passport'

"There's a whole bigger world out there than what we are doing," says jazz pianist and vocalist Emi Meyer. "Studying roots music and ethnomusicology always kept me open-minded."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 16, 2010

'Moon'/'An Education'

If hell is other people, as existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre famously put it, then Sam Bell has the best job in the world: He leads a solitary existence on a lunar base, where he's the only human employee in charge of a mostly robotic-controlled installation that mines fusion energy from beneath...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 16, 2010

Finding beauty in the simplest of things

The Japan Folk Crafts Museum in Tokyo's Komaba area was founded by Muneyoshi Yanagi (1889-1961) in 1936 and built in the style of a traditional Japanese house. With natural light filtering through shoji screens, its unusual setting enhances the wonderful displays from its collection of folk-craft items...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Apr 15, 2010

Why do English teachers have to be native speakers?

In Japan, non-native English-language instructors from South Asian countries are challenging cultural stereotypes and putting a new face on the industry. And it hasn't been any easy task.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Apr 11, 2010

NPB commissioner Kato has big plans for game

Nippon Professional Baseball commissioner Ryozo Kato has a vision for Japanese baseball that stretches far beyond the nation's borders.
JAPAN
Apr 9, 2010

Importance of diversity explored at trans-Pacific forum

LOS ANGELES — About 200 people representing a wide range of fields in the United States and Japan got together recently in Los Angeles to discuss the importance of diversity and inclusion programs in today's difficult economic times.
JAPAN
Apr 9, 2010

Thai artist Apichatpong Weerasethakul wins inaugural Asia Art Award

SEOUL — A new chapter in Asian contemporary art commenced in Seoul on Thursday when Thai artist Apichatpong Weerasethakul won the inaugural Asia Art Award.

Longform

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