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Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 19, 2010

Tokyo Jihen "Sports"

Given that she writes the majority of the songs in both projects and works with many of the same musicians, it's bizarre that Shiina Ringo's finest moments come not in her solo work but with her band Tokyo Jihen. Last year's long-anticipated solo release "Sanmon Goshippu" ("Superficial Gossip") was a...
BUSINESS
Feb 18, 2010

Toyota boss: Throttle unit is not faulty

Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda said Wednesday the automaker has confirmed its electronic throttle-control system is not defective, in a bid to ease mounting concerns in the United States that the system may have caused sudden acceleration incidents.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Feb 16, 2010

Instinct key for singer-entrepreneur

For a musician and entrepreneur with many professional faces, Australian Donna Burke is surprisingly wary of constantly taking work-related calls.
Japan Times
LIFE
Feb 14, 2010

Tiger of the snows

White flakes slip delicately down. Dusting the glow of graceful moss-clad forest relics rotting back into the ground, they illuminate the few giants still standing — majestic Japanese yew and lofty Korean pine. The ancient trees are silent; the only sound is from the hustle of our camouflaged legs...
CULTURE / Books
Feb 14, 2010

Strange bird Sanshiro

From Oct. 28, 1900, until Dec. 5, 1902, Natsume Soseki lived in Clapham, a district of South London. Ordered to England by the Meiji government, Soseki, without sufficient funds to study formally and with little else to do apart from the occasional cycle ride or part-time tutoring, spent most of this...
JAPAN
Feb 13, 2010

Girl works to empower poor kids

At age 16, Carmina Mancenon is a social entrepreneur. She is excitedly preparing to launch a project this summer in the hope of raising awareness of the poverty in Southeast Asia.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 13, 2010

Treason of the magistrates

PARIS — In democracies, justice is supposed to be independent. Some prosecutors and investigating magistrates, however, conveniently forget this. Indeed many among them are deeply enmeshed in politics, pursuing agendas — and vendettas — of their own.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 13, 2010

Computer whiz turns 'strangeness' into asset

From his early days in Japan as a destitute student sleeping in train station stairwells to living in a 3-mat room that cost him ¥10,000 a month, Richard Northcott went on to head a mobile software company that now enjoys sales of $2 million a year.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BY THE GLASS
Feb 12, 2010

Fine wines from a complex region

According to the philosopher Isaiah Berlin, great thinkers can be separated into two broad categories: hedgehogs and foxes. While hedgehogs view the world through one single defining idea, foxes embrace the multitude of contradictory experiences that life throws up.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 12, 2010

Yazawa mixes classic piano with modern electronics

When Tomoko Yazawa calls, composers listen.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 12, 2010

Impressionist originality challenged by Italian 'patch' painters

Artistic reputations are very important to some countries. In the case of France and Italy, a large proportion of their GNP is dependent on their perceived image as centers of aesthetic excellence — something that pays dividends in terms of income from tourism and demand for designer goods. This is...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 12, 2010

The magical mystery tour of 'media artist' Yuri Suzuki

The youngest artist showing at "Cyber Arts Japan," 29-year-old Yuri Suzuki, is among the generation that grew up immersed in the culture that informs so much of new media art today. He has received honorable mentions in Ars Electronica's interactive art division for two pieces — "Prepared Turntable"...
JAPAN
Feb 11, 2010

Edano tasked with polishing Cabinet's image

Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Yukio Edano was appointed the new administrative reform minister Wednesday, as the Hatoyama administration works to clean up the Cabinet's scandal-tainted image.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 11, 2010

Critical role for bureaucrats

HONG KONG — Some political commentators are suggesting that Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama is preparing to make Britain his model for reforming Japan's government system so that ministers — and not bureaucrats — make the important policy decisions.
BUSINESS
Feb 11, 2010

Toyota tries to cover all bases

WASHINGTON — In public, Toyota is running apologetic TV ads and vowing to win back customers' trust. Behind the scenes, the besieged carmaker is trying to learn all it can about congressional investigations, maybe even steer them if it can.
COMMENTARY
Feb 10, 2010

In search of a big, new idea

Governments everywhere are nowadays being overpowered by the problems and tasks they face.
COMMENTARY
Feb 9, 2010

Japan's economy will grow on eco-consumption, immigration

Between fiscal 1991 — when the economic bubble burst — and fiscal 2008, Japan's gross domestic product all but stopped growing, rising a mere 1 percent per year on average. Negative growth was avoided simply because of deflation, as the nominal growth rate averaged only 0.4 percent.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Feb 8, 2010

Consumer finance regroups: Promise to be good?

Dinged with lawsuits and government scrutiny, the consumer loan business is having to play it a bit cautious.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 7, 2010

Film series reveals more than just foreign take on Japan

Many people still think Japan is inscrutable. It's a cliche reinforced on the Japanese side by another cliche that says Japan is "unique," and which is further reinforced by the tendency to explain cultural aspects as if they were museum exhibits. Much of NHK's English language content falls into this...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Feb 5, 2010

Design graduates catch a big break at Tokyo's Ozone showroom

The next generation of artists will get their chance in the spotlight when Living Design Center Ozone puts their work on display.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / ART BRIEF
Feb 5, 2010

'Water, fire, earth'

RBR Gallery
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Feb 3, 2010

Kids are all right at Softbank

If Japan wants to reverse the declining birthrate then maybe more companies should start following the Softbank model of family benefits.
COMMENTARY
Feb 1, 2010

Nuclear plant construction up; South Korea challenging market

SINGAPORE — Recent startups hardly provide much evidence of the vaunted "renaissance" in civilian nuclear power that promises reliable supplies of electricity without the pollution and greenhouse gas emissions associated with fossil fuels, especially coal.

Longform

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Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat