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CULTURE / Books
Jul 15, 2012

Madame Butterfly's love child

Butterfly's Child, by Angela Davis-Gardner. Dial Press, 2011, 352 pp., $26.00 (hardcover) Western opera's opulent pageantry contradicts traditional Japanese understated aesthetics. In the novel "Butterfly's Child," Angela Davis-Gardner resolves this difference by crafting a subdued, multilayered marvel...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Jul 13, 2012

Sake production, literally from the ground up

COMMENTARY / World
Jul 12, 2012

Libya's unwilling revolutionaries

Egypt is not the only place where the bright hopes of the Arab Spring are fading. From attacks against Western governments to ethnic clashes in remote desert oases, Libya's revolution is faltering.
EDITORIALS
Jul 12, 2012

Discovery of long-sought particle

The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN)announced on July 4 that scientists at the international organization have found a new subatomic particle that could be the Higgs boson, a theoretical particle that could explain the origin of mass.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 12, 2012

Public theater takes on a leading role

Once upon a time, Japanese contemporary theater shared the limelight with youth-cultural movements that were rocking the nation. Back then, in the late 1960s and '70s, the avant-garde works of the angura (underground) theater scene had such an affinity with the radical student movement that they often...
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Jul 11, 2012

Mizuno confident Tokyo has what it takes to host 2020 Olympic Games

Persuasion is a powerful tool, especially when the stakes are high.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Jul 10, 2012

Tokyo: Aside from stripping down to Super Cool Biz attire, what tips do you have for keeping cool at work this summer?

Kiriko Iwa
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jul 10, 2012

Japan's battered men suffer abuse in silence

As in many surveys, numbers and percentages are abundant. But for me, it was that little 3.4 at the bottom of page 21 that stood out more than any other: 3.4 percent of married men in Japan say that their spouses have forced them to engage in sexual relations against their will. And that is down from...
CULTURE / Books
Jul 8, 2012

Japanese geek cool

OTAKU SPACES, by Patrick W. Galbraith. Chin Music Press, 2012, 240 pp., $20.00 (paperback)
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jul 8, 2012

Naoshima: art colony risen beautifully from ruination

Packing his trademark black Walther PPK 7.65 mm automatic, a small pistol with a mighty punch, agent 007 set foot on the island of Naoshima just one day after escaping the clutches of a powerful sociopath and his henchman.
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Jul 7, 2012

Handling of Chiba's departure latest bogey by league incompetents

The Chiba Jets' recent defection announcement from the bj-league to play in the re-branded JBL in 2013-14 triggered two reactions. And the first one is shared by most people in Japan's basketball community.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jul 7, 2012

The price you pay for electronic bells and whistles of businesses

The setsuden (power-saving) campaign is now in full force, as residents all over Japan are being encouraged to conserve electricity so there is enough to get through the high-use summer months. Even on my small island of 609 people, each household received a list of suggestions on how we can help Japan...
Reader Mail
Jul 5, 2012

Advice that defies a solution

Regarding Ray Andrews' July 1 letter, "Safest bet is to skip having kids": This view, while perhaps purposely exaggerated for rhetorical effect, doesn't help solve problems. Not having kids, encouraging defeatism and hopelessness, and generally being a complete downer are not something that will improve...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Jul 3, 2012

Fujisawa: Do you think the government should raise the tax on tobacco?

Neil Shapiro
COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
Jul 3, 2012

Change necessary if Noda really wants to put 'children first'

Dear Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda,
EDITORIALS
Jul 3, 2012

Show restraint over Senkaku Islands

As the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties on between Japan and China on Sept. 29, 1972, draws near, friction between the two neighboring countries is increasing over the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. Both sides must refrain from taking provocative actions and handle the...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jun 30, 2012

British artist/chef finds happiness by keeping all of his options open

Cooking can be art and art nourishes, but what really connects the two for chef and artist Johnny Miller is the act of creation itself: "It's the physicality of it — both are directly related to your body and how your body moves. In cooking, you've got to touch things, touch hot and cold things. You've...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 28, 2012

Annan eyes Putin for Syrian settlement

Kofi Annan must strike a deal with the devil to end the sickening atrocities being committed by the Syrian Army. But the devil Annan has in mind is Russian President Vladimir Putin, not his Syrian counterpart Bashar Assad.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jun 26, 2012

Local orphanages may be best bet for volunteers

L.P. would like to volunteer at a Catholic orphanage in the Tohoku region, near the March 11 disaster areas, but isn't sure how to get started.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 26, 2012

Japanese business isn't working: What would Shima do?

A Ponzi scheme. Alleged yakuza ties. Accounting scandals. Executive misuse of company funds for gambling. A record-breaking bankruptcy. Callous disregard of public health and safety.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Jun 26, 2012

Cut gaijin-gawking children some slack — it's how they learn

Re: "Parents, please keep your kids away from me at feeding time" by Christy Bridgeman (Hotline to Nagatacho, May 22):
COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
Jun 26, 2012

Neglected art of midwifery is national asset

Dear Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Yoko Komiyama,
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Jun 26, 2012

Tokyo: Which three albums would you need to have with you if you were stuck on a desert island?

Pierre Ono, 34
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Jun 24, 2012

Mutombo using stature to make a difference in world

Dikembe Mutombo commands attention, and it's not because he towers over people at 218 cm, or the fascinating fact that he speaks nine languages (including five African dialects) or blocked 3,289 shots during his 18-season NBA career. Simply put, the big fellow has lived a remarkable life.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jun 24, 2012

Katmandu beckons all who visit Nepal

Everest may be its most famous site, and Lumbini one of its holiest, but Nepal has plenty more to offer. Annapurna is the country's other great trekking location, while Chitwan National Park is home to some of the region's rarest wildlife, offering the chance to spot the endangered Bengal tiger, as well...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jun 23, 2012

The most exciting season

Welcome to the rainy season. Welcome to the invasion of insects! Contrary to what most people will tell you, I think the rainy season is the most exciting part of the year in Japan. Believe me, you're gonna see plenty of strange things. Every June, I'm filled with unbridled curiosity of what new, never-seen-before...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 21, 2012

Discerning purpose beyond power

The rerun of the Greek parliamentary election on June 17 was only the latest symptom of the most serious crisis to plague Western democracies and open societies since the 1960s. Liberal democracies in the West today are struggling to avoid — and in doing so are exacerbating — a crisis of identity,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Jun 19, 2012

Tokyo: What are your memories of the sarin attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995?

Mitsuyoshi Nakamura
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Jun 19, 2012

In 'right-to-work' Japan, employees should also have the right to rest

According to the tagline for the 1991 film "City Slickers," "All you need in life is love, courage and paid holidays." Indeed, some of us may find meaning to our lives through single-minded devotion to our jobs, but without leisure time our bodies and minds would inevitably putter out. Taken to extremes,...

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