Search - 2012

 
 
CULTURE / Books
Nov 4, 2012

Windmills on the poetic mind

FAREWELL TO NUCLEAR, WELCOME TO RENEWABLE ENERGY: A Collection of Poems by 218 Poets. Coal Sack Publishing, 2012, 321 pp., ¥3,150 Japan in many ways is the land of myth, of cozy self-assurances, national delusions and unfounded assertions. Incredulous claims, such as racial homogeneity and the absence...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 4, 2012

Beware the parallels between boom-time Japan and present-day China

Futaro Gamagori was born into a destitute household. His father was a no-good womanizing lush; his mother, unable to afford medical care, died of illness. The young Futaro sets out on a life of serious crime — thieving, raping, murdering. He eventually becomes the rich president of a big company, but...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Nov 4, 2012

Breaking new ground with our Tohoku school in the woods

On Oct. 6, 2012, I took part in a Ji-chin-sai (Shinto ground-breaking ceremony) in the Nobiru area of Higashi Matsushima City in Miyagi Prefecture. Standing with me before an altar constructed in a wooded part of the Omokura Valley was Takahashi Yuugo, a volunteer who had been cutting trees and making...
CULTURE / Books
Nov 4, 2012

Finding the Way in art of war

THE DAO OF THE MILITARY: Liu An's Art of War, translated by Andrew Seth Meyer. Columbia University Press, 2012, 157 pp., $19.50 (paperback) There are two ancient Chinese texts titled "The Art of War." Liu An's, the one under review, newly translated by historian Andrew Meyer, is the less famous.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Nov 3, 2012

Free magazines zoom in on all things Japanese

While English-language magazines in Japan are fast becoming a species in danger of extinction, Europe is experiencing a renewed interest in this country thanks to a veteran French journalist who since 2010 has been publishing Zoom Japon (and its English version, Zoom Japan), a free monthly magazine about...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Nov 3, 2012

Agent rips Evessa after they pay off Cox over lawsuit threat

The once-mighty Osaka Evessa's spiraling-out-of-control reputation has taken another major hit. And FIBA, basketball's world governing body, entered the picture for this latest incident.
Events / KANSAI: WHO & WHAT
Nov 3, 2012

Fair in Itami featuring workshops, craft works

A crafts fair is being held through Nov. 11 at the Museum of Arts and Crafts Itami in Hyogo Prefecture, where products including pottery, handwoven and dyed textiles, and engraved metal items are on sale.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Nov 2, 2012

Want more daycare? Pay workers more

One reason for the lack of daycare centers in Japan is that no one wants the job.
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2012

Foes: Noda vow to call poll 'soon' not soon enough

Opposition parties pressed Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda again Thursday to immediately dissolve the Lower House for a snap election, but he snubbed their demands, saying he will do so based on his own judgement.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 2, 2012

'3/11 made Japanese treasure the simple and normal things in life'

The notion of a crowd-funded film — whose production is financed by money solicited from potential fans online — has begun to gain a bit of traction, but when it comes to crowd-sourced films, Ridley Scott and his production company Scott Free seem to be one step ahead of everyone else. Their 2011...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2012

Female diplomat has rare work-life balance

Hikariko Ono has always been a survivor in Japan's male-dominated society.
EDITORIALS
Nov 2, 2012

Justice for Mr. Mainali

In a Monday retrial of Mr. Govinda Prasad Mainali, a Nepalese man who had been convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the March 1997 robbery-murder of a 39-year-old Tokyo woman, the prosecution reversed its position and stated that he is innocent. The Tokyo High Court will acquit him on Nov. 7....
EDITORIALS
Nov 2, 2012

Urgent tasks for the Diet

Following Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's policy speech on Monday in the Lower House, a period of questions and answers started in the current extraordinary Diet session on Wednesday. Political parties should refrain from bickering and speedily act on two urgent issues — the passage of a bill to float...
JAPAN
Nov 1, 2012

Abe tries, fails to prod Noda on poll

Liberal Democratic Party President Shinzo Abe tried and failed once again Wednesday to corner Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda into promising to dissolve the Lower House by the end of the year, continuing a seemingly endless power struggle that only lawmakers appear to be interested in.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / Japan Pulse
Oct 31, 2012

Tokyo Designers Week 2012

Let's all say Hello to new design at Tokyo Designers Week.
EDITORIALS
Oct 31, 2012

Chipping away at Mr. Noda's rule

In a Lower House by-election on Sunday in the Kagoshima No. 3 constituency, a Liberal Democratic Party candidate, also supported by Komeito, defeated a candidate of the People's New Party — a coalition partner of the Democratic Party of Japan — who received full support from the DPJ. The DPJ's defeat...
EDITORIALS
Oct 31, 2012

Partisan politics hobble Diet

A 33-day extraordinary Diet session kicked off on Monday under unusual circumstances. The opposition in the Upper House refused to listen to a policy speech by Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on the grounds that the chamber in the previous session passed a censure motion against him. Thus Mr. Noda gave...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Oct 30, 2012

Tokyo Designers Week: Say hello to the best again

Something old, something new Halloween is here, which means Tokyo Designers Week is, too. The latter is, of course, what we're particularly interested in, and since you are reading this on the day it kicks off, we forego our regular product-recommendation format and instead offer some guidance on what...
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 30, 2012

Fighters' Takeda doesn't back down from pressure

On Sunday night, Masaru Takeda was the last man standing for the Fighters in their 1-0 loss to the Yomiuri Giants.
BUSINESS
Oct 30, 2012

Firm's new HR placement goals focus on internationally minded recruits

Major human resources placement company Robert Walters Japan is strengthening its support for Japanese companies that want to hire people suited to international business, its president said in a recent symposium in Tokyo.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / Japan Pulse
Oct 29, 2012

Today's J-blip: Coca-Cola Bottleware

Old Coke bottles find cool new life in Japan.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK
Oct 28, 2012

Murata enjoying first playoff appearance

Perhaps Shuichi Murata is the one who's psyched up the most on the 21-time NPB champion Yomiuri Giants in the Japan Series.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 28, 2012

Japan Series helps put Canada on baseball map

Baseball is hardly the first thing that springs to mind when Canadian sports are discussed. Hockey is king in Canada, and slap shots and glove saves stoke the nation's fire more than home runs or diving catches ever could.
CULTURE / Books
Oct 28, 2012

Shaken, stirred puzzle that fits

SUBDUCTION, by Todd Shimoda, illustrated by L.J.C. Shimoda. Chin Music Press, 2012, 279 pp., $25 (hardcover) How to adequately describe "Subduction," the new work by husband and wife team Todd and L.J.C. Shimoda? A psychological thriller framed by gorgeous artwork? A beautifully bound collection of abstract,...
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS / ICE TIME
Oct 27, 2012

Sweep at Skate America illustrates Japan's strength early in season

The senior Grand Prix season began with a bang for Japan as Takahiko Kozuka, Yuzuru Hanyu and Tatsuki Machida swept the medals at Skate America last Saturday.

Longform

A man offers prayers at Hebikubo Shrine in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. The shrine is one of several across the country dedicated to the snake.
Shed your skin and reinvent yourself in the Year of the Snake