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Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 12, 2008

Relationship coaching over the phone

It is easy to spot Jack Ito and his wife Toshie. They're walking hand in hand around the lobby of the Prince Hotel in Shinagawa, looking as much culture-shocked as in love.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 11, 2008

'Horton Hears A Who'

I'm sorry, but when it comes to Dr. Seuss, I'm definitely a purist. It couldn't be any other way having grown up with so many great childhood memories of reading his books — or having them read to me — over and over.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 10, 2008

Confucianism makes a comeback in China

BEIJING (Daniel A. Bell is professor of political theory at Tsinghua University (Beijing). His latest book is "China's New Confucianism: Politics and Everyday Life in a Changing Society."
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jul 8, 2008

How green are Japan's urbanites?

The Group of Eight summit began Monday at the Windsor Hotel Toya, an exquisite, maximum- security resort in Hokkaido. There, the world's top leaders are holed up in conference rooms, trying to strike last-minute deals on various global issues, the most disputed of all being climate change.
COMMENTARY
Jul 7, 2008

Work traditions worth keeping

When I had a chance to meet with a group of students, I asked them for what purpose each would do the job that he or she got in the near future. A majority replied "something that makes work worth doing and life worth living," although some did say "for money."
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jul 6, 2008

Was the Japanese language influenced by Tamil? The war goes on

For years I have been watching from the sidelines as the opponents battle it out. For the players this fight will go on and on, and the theater of war is right here.
JAPAN
Jul 6, 2008

Glimpses into Japan's frontier

Hokkaido is seen as a prefecture apart, where the vastnesses are vaster, the wilds wilder and the splendor more splendid than anywhere else in Japan. The Group of Eight summit attendees and other summer visitors will have a chance to see for themselves at the 11 national or quasi-national parks in Hokkaido,...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 6, 2008

Nineteen artists go cup to cup in Japan's first 'latte art' contest

Nineteen artists gathered at Blenz Coffee in Tokyo's Aoyama district Saturday to show off their skill at "latte art," a tasty endeavor that uses coffee as the canvas for creating paintings from foam milk.
JAPAN
Jul 6, 2008

Creation of low-carbon societies demands wholesale changes on national, global level

"In pursuit of Japan as a low-carbon society" was the theme of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's speech at the Japan Press Club on June 9. The following is an abridged excerpt from a translation of his remarks.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 3, 2008

'Speed Racer': drawing on an anime legend

Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jul 1, 2008

Society's role in Kato's crime

'The clicking sound of my cell phone echoes emptily in my room. . . . If only I had a girlfriend, I wouldn't have to live so miserably.'
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Jul 1, 2008

Do you think that it's easy to make close friends in Japan?

Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jun 29, 2008

Christine Flint Sato: Inking her own mark

For Christine Flint Sato, the key to understanding her adopted homeland has been through the world of sumi-e, a Chinese style of water-ink painting adopted in Japan in the 14th century.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 29, 2008

Akihabara killer followed plot mapped by the media

After serial killer Tsutomu Miyazaki was hanged on June 17, some death-penalty opponents wondered out loud if Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama had signed the execution order as a response to the indiscriminate murders of seven people on the streets of Akihabara nine days earlier. Of course, Hatoyama didn't...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jun 29, 2008

Getting high and then horizontal in Langkawi

Ask any question you want in Langkawi and you will get a friendly response. But you may not get an answer. Take the following exchange I had with a musician who was leaving the Beach Garden restaurant as I was strolling in there in search of a late supper on my first night in the hot spot of Pantai Cenang:...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jun 29, 2008

286 reasons to reflect on a Japan long gone, but worthy of reflection

I recently gave a talk on Japanese culture to a group of foreign students at Tokyo Institute of Technology. They hailed from a variety of places, including Scandinavia, the United States and Asian countries. I began by asking them to give me a keyword or two that they thought characterized Japanese life...
COMMENTARY
Jun 29, 2008

Japanese keeping score on a weighty matter

LOS ANGELES — The overweight citizen has been taking a pounding of late. But it may be that the issue is being blown out of all proportion. For starters, both Japan and the United States have been in the news on the issue of citizens who are pulling too much of their own weight around town.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jun 29, 2008

Sayuki: Aussie geisha speaks out

What a titillating sound bite it is: Japan's first gaijin (foreigner) geisha!
Japan Times
Rugby
Jun 28, 2008

Revamped Japan meets New Zealand Maori in Pacific Nations Cup

NAPIER, New Zealand — A freshened-up Japanese national rugby team will face the New Zealand Maori on Saturday at McLean Park in Napier, as the fourth round of the Pacific Nations Cup begins.
JAPAN
Jun 28, 2008

Third-grade English may get test run in fiscal 2009

The education ministry wants to start teaching English to third-graders on a trial basis at several hundred elementary schools nationwide in fiscal 2009, a ministry official said this week.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jun 27, 2008

A very green afternoon cuppa

Whenever I travel to Tokyo I make it a point to spend at least a good part of one day on a visit to Shibamata in Katsushika Ward. This lovely neighborhood tucked away in the remote northeastern corner of the city on the banks of the Edogawa River still retains some of the flavor of the Edo Period (1603-1867)....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 27, 2008

'One California Day'

All over California people move encased in metal and chrome, going from house to office in their cars. It's a contradiction of California living that, despite the beautiful weather and spacious streets, no one is outside.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Jun 25, 2008

Japanese Facebook takes Model T approach

Late last month, as part of a rare work-vacation trip to Asia, Mark Zuckerberg made a quick stop in Tokyo to announce the launch of Facebook Japan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 24, 2008

Not everyone is celebrating the Ogasawara Islands' anniversary

It is one of Asia's earliest and oddest ethnic melting pots, with citizens boasting names like Savory, Webb, Gonzales and Chaplin. The first piece of Far East territory to fall under U.S. control, local landmarks include the Yankeetown, the Charlie Brown and the Church of St. George, and old-timers speak...

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