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Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 19, 2010

Ueno Park blooms with song

Spring is coming. The first thing that comes to people's minds in this season is probably going to hanami — eating traditional Japanese food and enjoying some traditional music under the blooming cherry trees. In Ueno Park, however, classical music will be accompanying the hanami experience. Also called...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 19, 2010

Flower designer Daniel Ost breathes life into Baccarat crystal

Belgian flower artist Daniel Ost is filling Ikebukuro's Seibu Gallery with a taste of spring. His flower decorations and collaborative works with French crystal makers Baccarat will be on display till March 23. "The most important thing in this exhibition is the exchange of my work with Baccarat," Ost...
LIFE / Digital / JAPAN TIMES BLOGROLL
Mar 15, 2010

1000 Things About Japan/Japanese Snack Reviews

When Shari Custer arrived in Japan with her American husband, the original plan was to stay for "five years." That was 20 years ago. During her extended time in Japan, Custer wanted to chronicle some of the little things that many overlook, and her ongoing list comprises one of her blogs: 1000 Things...
CULTURE / Books
Mar 14, 2010

Dazzling, difficult debut is anything but a throwaway

If you live in Japan for many years, you see a lot of people come and go. The expat crowd is notoriously transitory, and no subset is more ubiquitously "temporary" than English teachers. Wave after wave of JET teachers come for a year or two, have their bite-sized exotic experience, and then return home...
JAPAN
Mar 13, 2010

Sea Shepherd activist arrested

The Japan Coast Guard on Friday arrested a member of U.S.-based antiwhaling group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society for trespassing in connection with his boarding of a whaling fleet vessel in the Antarctic Ocean last month.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 12, 2010

'Bruno'

After the success of "Borat," people wondered what comedian Sacha Baron Cohen could do next. His comedy derived from launching his over-the-top Kazakh character into situations where people weren't in on the joke, yet a blockbuster hit obviously makes it harder to find willing dupes.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Mar 12, 2010

Walking tours of old, scenic Tokyo

Hotel New Otani will hold walking tours of historic and scenic areas of Tokyo, formerly known as Edo, with a lunch at the hotel after the tour.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 12, 2010

Luck of the Irish to parade across country

Celebrations for Ireland's most famous holiday are gaining in popularity worldwide, and Japan is no exception.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / ART BRIEF
Mar 12, 2010

'Story-Telling: Silesia'

Shyadai GalleryCloses March 31
JAPAN
Mar 10, 2010

'Cove' Oscar won't end Taiji dolphin kill

TAIJI, Wakayama Pref. — The gala crowd in Los Angeles cheered as "The Cove" won the best documentary Oscar with its grisly portrayal of dolphin slaughter. But residents of this small port shown in the film abhorred the attention and said it will not end their centuries-old tradition.
JAPAN
Mar 10, 2010

Kids at pro-North high schools fret tuition waiver snub

For Om Kwan Ja, excluding "chosen gakko" pro-Pyongyang schools from the government's tuition-waiver program would mean more than just having to shell out extra cash for her kids' education. It's a problem that touches on her family's identity, especially for her son, who is studying at Tokyo Korean Junior...
JAPAN
Mar 9, 2010

'Cove' Oscar is Taiji's chagrin

"The Cove," a film showing the yearly slaughter of dolphins in Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, took the Oscar for best feature documentary in the annual Academy Awards ceremony Sunday in Los Angeles.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Mar 8, 2010

Japan Inc. testing the Twitter waters

As Twitter booms in Japan, big and small businesses are exploring the potential for PR, fostering customer loyalty and targeting new demographics.
EDITORIALS
Mar 7, 2010

Too few humanitarian permits

The Justice Ministry announced two weeks ago that a record 501 foreigners were granted residence permits on humanitarian grounds in Japan in 2009. This is a step in the right direction from the 1990s, when the number of permits could often be counted on one hand. However, the number granted official...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Mar 7, 2010

For humanity's sake, let's tie whaling in with animal welfare as a whole

Back in the early '90s, my wife, children and I lived in the picturesque and historical Sydney suburb of Mosman . . . well, historical by white-settler Australian standards.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 6, 2010

Authenticity is all for mountaineer

Within the majestic silence of a snow-covered mountain lies the hush of possibility. The dormant assurance of life; a mountain in winter signifies hope. Especially for Dan Junker, 47, who lives in a tiny village in the shadow of Mount Norikura.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 5, 2010

Bigelow sticks to her guns

HOLLYWOOD — Kathryn Bigelow is only the fourth woman ever to be nominated for the Best Director Academy Award — and only the second American female. The first two nominees were Italian Lina Wertmuller and Australian Jane Campion; the third was Sofia Coppola.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Mar 5, 2010

Springtime special hotel offers

Spring is a time of rebirth and renewal. In Japan, spring means the coming of a new year — in schools, at companies, fiscally. During this season, hotels offer a wide variety of events for you to refresh and relax in style. Like the cherry blossoms that dominate the imagery of spring, these offers...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Mar 2, 2010

All movies subject to rating, even cuts

Moviegoers in Japan may have noticed that either during the opening or ending credits of a feature film, a mark appears on the screen bearing two kanji enclosed in a circle.
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Mar 2, 2010

Sumo body deserves mawashi wedgie for racist wrestler ruling

I've noticed how highly Japan regards sports. We love investing taxes in games and facilities, hosting international events and Olympics. Sports are even part of a government ministry, the one in charge of Japan's science, education and culture.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 2, 2010

Attorney glut may hit foreign firms

COLIN P. A. JONES One of the interesting things about being part of Japan's new law school system and its role in greatly increasing the number of Japanese attorneys is this: Nobody seems to have bothered asking the Japanese people if they actually need more attorneys. The original target of increasing...
BUSINESS
Mar 1, 2010

Toyoda to give next damage-control speech in China

Toyota President Akio Toyoda will speak Monday in Beijing about the company's quality woes, the carmaker said Sunday in an effort to reassure the world's biggest auto market.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 28, 2010

Feeling revulsion may signal you're finally home away from home

There is a curious and very telling phrase in Japanese to describe the feeling of hatred that people can have for family. It is kinshin-zoo, or "close-relative abhorrence."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 26, 2010

Suntory Hall closes opera series with racy tale from Mozart

"Cosi fan tutte" ("Women are like that"), composed in 1790, was regarded as an immoral tale of fiancee swapping during the 19th century. While it offended sensibilities then, today the work is considered one of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's most sophisticated operas, and it will be staged at Suntory Hall...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Feb 26, 2010

Merpeoples bewitch; The Party's . . . party

Four cute young women clad in ghostly white robes prance around in a forest holding twigs: No, it's not an outtake from the classic 1973 pagan spookfest "The Wicker Man." Yes, it is the excellent video for the Merpeoples' spankingly sublime song "Sherman."

Longform

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