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COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 7, 2008

Past events' bloodstained light casts a long and lasting shadow

On Dec. 7, the day of the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941 in Hawaii, the thoughts of many turn to wars, how they begin and the course they take.
JAPAN
Dec 6, 2008

'Educational' package tour of U.S. jury system falls flat

A travel package featuring an educational tour of the jury system in the United States has so far failed to attract enough applicants to actually take off, a Japan Airlines Corp. spokesman said Friday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 5, 2008

'Kill'

Mamoru Oshii is a world-class animation director, but his films, from the 1995 dystopian SF "Ghost In the Shell" to this year's air-war epic "The Sky Crawlers," are not for the masses. Instead they often explore heavyweight themes that appeal to anime otaku (ultrafans), from the dissolving boundaries...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 4, 2008

Alternate visions of island paradise

In our global information age, when all of us are exposed to more data than we can perhaps adequately manage, the appeal of cliches has never been stronger. By a process of reduction and crude characterization, that which is complex, ambiguous, and difficult-to- know becomes simple, and is summed up...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 4, 2008

One wicked tale from the other Japanese puppets

Founded in 1635 by Youki Magosaburo I, Youkiza is the oldest marionette theater in Tokyo and the only remaining troupe among the five theaters from the Edo Period (1603-1867) — three kabuki and two marionette — that were officially recognized and financially supported by the Tokugawa Shogunate. Designated...
JAPAN
Nov 29, 2008

Prewar detective classic looks back at the mean streets of feudal Japan

The following is an excerpt from the introduction to "The Curious Casebook of Inspector Hanshichi."
JAPAN
Nov 29, 2008

'The Curious Casebook of Inspector Hanshichi'

Beginning Tuesday, The Japan Times will serialize the classic Japanese detective story "The Curious Casebook of Inspector Hanshichi: Detective Stories of Old Edo," or "Hanshichi Torimonocho" in Japanese. Written by journalist-turned-novelist Kido Okamoto, sections of the novel, which is told through...
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Nov 25, 2008

U.S.-China ties weaken alliances

As the United States works harder than ever to strengthen relations with China, there are signs its alliances with Japan and Taiwan are weakening. A conspicuous sign of change in Japan-U.S. ties came early Oct. 12 when President George W. Bush telephoned Prime Minister Taro Aso to inform the latter of...
EDITORIALS
Nov 24, 2008

Opposition to dam plan

The governors of Osaka, Kyoto, Shiga and Mie prefectures have called on the government to cancel its plan to build a dam on the Daido River, part of the Yodo River system, in Shiga Prefecture. They said its priority is low and that the dam should not be included in a development program to construct...
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Nov 23, 2008

J. League title chase enters home stretch

The J. League title race going down to the wire is nothing new, but this year's championship is shaping up to be the tightest yet.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 23, 2008

Judging Japanese architecture as the epitome of environmental art

"We sense the natural in things that form a happy link with their surroundings. . . . A natural architecture is architecture that creates this propitious connection."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 21, 2008

Juana Molina: 'Music overwhelms me'

On the cover of her latest album, "Un Dia," Juana Molina's face is distorted beyond all recognition; the effect is both intriguing and disturbing.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 20, 2008

Lost in the heartland

How would Gauguin be remembered if he hadn't chanced upon the lurid earthiness of Tahiti and its women? Would Van Gogh have made the same impact without sunflowers and cornfields to unleash his frenzy for yellow? After mastering the basics of their craft, the next important thing for painters is to find...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 20, 2008

Japanning for southern barbarians

During the 16th-century age of exploration, Portuguese traders landed in Japan looking for exotic goods to sell in markets back in Europe and their newly founded colonies. Lacquerware was high on their list, not only for its decorative beauty but also for its more prosaic quality of being the only waterproof...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 20, 2008

"Yodogawa Technique: Diamond Dust"

Yukari Art Contemporary
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 19, 2008

Muscle cars giving 'otaku' new platforms to flex their fetishes

Masaya Taniguchi has a "heartache" plastered across the hood of his flaming red Audi TT Roadster.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Nov 19, 2008

Be a walking drive-in with mini projector

Marketing 101: Make use of a brand, even if it is not your own. Electronics pioneer Texas Instruments does so with its DLP Pico projector, the PK-101. Sold under the Optoma brand, the PK-101 is said to be the world's smallest and lightest projector. It goes on sale from Dec. 1 at the Apple Store in Japan...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 16, 2008

Seven-year journey to a safer life

KABUL — We began a journey in Afghanistan seven years ago with the war that ousted the Taliban from power. Much has been accomplished along the way, for Afghanistan and for the world.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 15, 2008

Flame of love thrives, even with in-law in tow

Victoria Kobayakawa, a 29-year-old Filipino, was kept busy by her children during a recent interview with The Japan Times in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 15, 2008

Taking a structural stance on culture

It was at the groundbreaking ceremony of Osaka's Breeze Tower in the spring of 2006 that architect Yuichiro Edagawa met a German woman by the name of Sybille Fanelsa and happened to tell her about his cherished plan to publish a photo book that would introduce the splendor of Japanese culture and tradition...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / SHORT TAKES
Nov 14, 2008

The X-Files: I Want to Believe

Director: Chris Carter
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 14, 2008

Tora-san in English

This year marks the 40th birthday of arguably the most popular character in Japanese cinema — Tora-san. To celebrate the occasion, Shochiku is releasing the complete set of its Tora-san films, remastered and subtitled in English.
JAPAN
Nov 14, 2008

LDP panel mulls easing law on dual citizenship

Liberal Democratic Party member Taro Kono said Thursday he has submitted a proposal to an LDP panel he heads calling for the Nationality Law to be revised to allow offspring of mixed couples, one of whom being Japanese, to have more than one nationality.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 13, 2008

Tokyo's Rokku laughs it up again at film festival

The objectives of the First Old Town Taito International Comedy Film Festival, which runs Nov. 21 to 24 in the Tokyo districts of Asakusa and Ueno, sound ambitious. Noting on the festival's English-language Web site that "there are innumerable film festivals held throughout the world," the executive...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Nov 12, 2008

iPhone accessory gives you TV on the go

iPhone TV: Apple's amazing iPhone does just about everything, right? Nope. It's come up short in Japan for various reasons, including its lack of the TV function available on the newest generation of mobile phones.

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