Search - things-to-do

 
 
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jun 4, 2012

Ramirez still learning, producing on baseball diamond

History has seen lots of baseball players play for long periods of time — Chunichi's Masahiro Yamamoto, in his 29th season, and Jamie Moyer, still pitching in the U.S. at age 49, to name a pair — but no one has yet figured out how to play forever.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Apr 20, 2012

For Iwate's Malloy, Hurricane Katrina provided valuable life lessons

Natural disasters can alter one's outlook on life in a positive way, and give an individual a greater sense of purpose or focus in everything he/she does.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 3, 2012

'Alternative labor' helps Ishinomaki rebuild

Jamie El-Banna, 27, is a self-professed "cynical Londoner" who says he's "not a nice guy" and admits he is known to many as something of a party animal interested mostly in getting drunk. But a look at his recent track record reveals he's now spent over nine months volunteering in tsunami-ravaged Ishinomaki,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Feb 21, 2012

Expectations low as Hague signing approaches

Several months ago I made a bet with a friend about how the Hague Convention on international child abduction will be applied after Japan finishes implementing it through domestic legislation. My bet was this: If a Japanese court ever does order the return of a child wrongfully brought or retained here,...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Dec 24, 2011

Politeness beyond words

We all know the Japanese are "very polite." But being polite goes beyond just saying excuse me or thank you or holding the door open for someone. Let's start with the word "teinei," or "polite," in Japanese. Teinei goes beyond the English word "polite" because it applies to far more than just people...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 26, 2011

Row, pedal or paddle, Briton bent on circling her way back to London

There are people for whom traveling means reading a guidebook on the couch in their home, or lounging by a swimming pool in a posh sea resort. Then there are those who, like Sarah Outen, can't wait to go out there and see the world, challenging themselves in the process.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 22, 2011

POWs, young expats struggle to reconcile Japan of then, now

"It cost three cigarettes if you wanted someone to break your arm for you. So you could have a few days off." The shaky voice of an American POW from a World War II Japanese internment camp.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Oct 18, 2011

Greenthumb plants 'kolonihave' seed

Jens Jensen makes almost anything he needs for his weekend life from scratch, from a doorknob to a window frame to a small wooden hut.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / ONE-ON-ONE WITH ...
Oct 3, 2011

Scoring standout, defensive ace Parker brings fresh energy to Shimane

The Japan Times features periodic interviews with players in the bj-league. Michael Parker of the Shimane Susanoo Magic is the subject of this week's profile.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 25, 2011

Facing death with the spice of life

Motoi Yamamoto was a third-year student at the Kanazawa College of Art in 1996 when his younger sister died at the age of 24 — two years after being diagnosed with brain cancer. To ease his grief, and to make sense of various personal issues he faced on the periphery of his sister's death — such...
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 4, 2011

Survival on top of agenda for J. League's lower half

The following is the first of a two-part J. League preview for the upcoming season. Team-by-team previews of the nine lowest-ranked teams competing in the first division are listed.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Feb 27, 2011

The actor, the Prince and the fan mail

British actor Ben Barnes shot to fame in 2008 with his portrayal of the then-Prince Caspian in "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian," the second installment of the film adaption of author C.S. Lewis' classic seven-book series, "The Chronicles of Narnia."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Jan 18, 2011

Mind the gap, get over it: readers' views

Following are are a selection of readers' responses to "Mind the gap, get over it" by Charles Lewis (Zeit Gist, Dec. 28):
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Nov 7, 2010

Noriko Hama: Scholar brings economics to life

Clouds of gloom have been shrouding Japan and its economy for quite some time. The bursting of the asset- inflated economic bubble in the early 1990s, and the failures of banks, insurers and other big corporations later in that decade, has put a huge dent in Japan's collective self-confidence. That is...
Japan Times
LIFE
Sep 26, 2010

The return of Lafcadio Hearn

I came to Japan in '90 — 1890, that was — died 14 years later, and here I am again after more than a century, exploring my old haunting ground just like in the good old days.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 18, 2010

Back in Japan, Hotel Mexico rides the wave

Much is often made of the differences between popular music in the East and in the West, either praising the former for its inventive takes on Western styles, or deriding it for making cheap imitations. The truth, however, is that music travels so easily between nations and continents these days, and...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 28, 2010

Sober approach pays dividends for these puritans

Jack Barnett, the scrawny, intense singer/songwriter with English post-art rockers These New Puritans, is stood on a rest area off a German autobahn on his way to Freiburg. This can be an unedifying business at the best of times, but the banality of the situation seems a world away from the sonic sorcery...
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
May 21, 2010

Time for league to adopt real playoff system

Nobody wants their business referred to as a "Mickey Mouse operation," unless, of course, they happen to work for the Walt Disney Company.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 15, 2010

Fatalist follows music to find his niche in life

Life can veer abruptly, in mere seconds, from the way it was to the way it is. Occasionally, change occurs so gradually that metamorphosis is under way before you can even detect the unfamiliar wind.
COMMUNITY
Feb 27, 2010

Something to be said for Japan's gray zone

It was an a-ha moment, an epiphany light-bolting across her face. It flickered with incredulous certainty and ended with awareness in her eyes.
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Feb 20, 2010

Proposed new league will have major obstacles to overcome

To accurately describe what's been going on for several years now in this nation's pro hoop scene, I submit the following analogy:
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Nov 29, 2009

Rowsom says Lottich signing key addition for Oita

The Oita HeatDevils' reclamation project is far from finished.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 26, 2009

Matsumoto toils for Giant reward

Tetsuya Matsumoto keeps finding ways to do all the little things right.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Oct 8, 2009

Nissan Chuzousho President Shunichiro Tsuji

Shunichiro Tsuji, 62, is president of Nissan Chuzousho Ltd., Japan's last surviving beigoma maker, located in Kawaguchi City, Saitama Prefecture. Beigoma are small cast-iron spinning tops that are spun in a game that has been a favorite with kids and grown-ups in Japan for many generations. Tsuji has...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Sep 20, 2009

Chances for Sojourner to play this season look dim

After a decade in Japan, much of it devoted to spreading his love of basketball to the masses, Isaac Sojourner is without a team for the upcoming season.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Aug 6, 2009

Sorimachi rebuilding reputation after Beijing bust

HIRATSUKA, Kanagawa Pref. — A year has passed since Japan's Beijing Olympic soccer debacle, but for manager Yasuharu Sorimachi, the wounds healed a long time ago.
LIFE
May 24, 2009

Traders' plans pay off in Motomachi

What was supposed to be a day spent savoring the delights of Motomachi Shopping Street for our Timeout Yokohama feature soon took on the nature of a quest.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 23, 2009

Reality check from the top of the world

"I suppose I just couldn't sit down and listen to it anymore. I couldn't go to the pub and just keep complaining about it and not actually go do something about it," says Gavin Dixon.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 22, 2009

Swamped by laughter

I'd met Satoshi Miki several times before interviewing him for "Instant Numa." Our senses of humor mesh well enough that the recording of the interview often sounds like a sitcom laugh track.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 1, 2009

Hubris paved way to crisis

PRINCETON, New Jersey — To understand how we got ourselves into our current economic mess, complicated explanations about derivatives, regulatory failure, and so on are beside the point. The best answer is both ancient and simple: hubris.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat