Search - 2012

 
 
Japan Times
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Dec 30, 2011

Heian Period 'Godfather' brought to life on NHK

Marlon Brando's title character in the 1972 film "The Godfather" might not be the first thing that comes to mind at the mention of 12th century warlord Taira no Kiyomori, but the comparison has proven particularly effective for public broadcaster NHK, which will air a yearlong Sunday-evening drama about...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 30, 2011

Real estate unit projects 18% rise in condo sales in '12

Nomura Real Estate Holdings Inc. plans to boost its home sales by about 18 percent next year as a drop in housing inventories signaled a rebound after the March 11 earthquake.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 29, 2011

Kabuki returns to its Asakusa home for special New Year's performances

As kabuki fans will already know, for more than 30 years, the Kokaido (public hall) in Asakusa has celebrated the Tokyo district's history as a thriving entertainment area by reviving the Edo Period (1603-1867) tradition of New Year's special kabuki performances. These shows have also become a great...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 29, 2011

Best of 2011: Vampillia "Rule the World/Deathtiny Land"

Wanting to attract attention at Texas' South by Southwest music Festival in March, Osaka's Vampillia bound vocalist Psychic Yamanashi in a plastic-wrap straitjacket, tied a chain around his neck, and led him through downtown Austin. To add to the spectacle, he periodically had fake seizures. Meanwhile,...
BUSINESS
Dec 29, 2011

Carmakers banking on incentives

The Japanese auto industry hopes the government's new incentives for green cars will increase overall sales by about 900,000 vehicles in 2012 at a time when exports aren't likely to grow sharply amid the strong yen and overseas economic slowdown, the head of the industry's lobby group said.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2011

Few options for left-behind parents even if Hague OK'd

In July 2003, Paul Toland arrived to an empty home at the U.S. Navy's family housing facility in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture. Gone were his Japanese wife and baby daughter. What was left was a note: "Contact my lawyers."
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2011

JTA ticket giveaway scrapped

The Japan Tourism Agency's plan to offer 10,000 free round-trip tickets to prominent foreign Web users has been scuttled by the Finance Ministry, which rejected its ¥1.18 billion budget request for fiscal 2012.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 29, 2011

Shonen Knife celebrates 30 years

Today we celebrate 30 years under the Knife. Yes, it was on Dec. 29, 1981, that three teenage girls — Naoko Yamano, her sister Atsuko and their friend Mitchie Nakatani — entered an Osaka rehearsal studio for the first time. They emerged as Shonen Knife.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 29, 2011

Best of 2011: 0.8 Byo to Shogeki "1-bo 2-bo 3-bo 4-bo 5-bo 6-bo Toyo no Techno"

Alternative-rock subgenres have been sabotaged by J-rock bands whose lack of uniqueness has made a once-exciting genre stale. This year, though, 0.8 Byo to Shogeki recaptured that alternative spirit from the 1990s with "1-bo 2-bo 3-bo 4-bo 5-bo 6-bo Toyo no Techno."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 29, 2011

Best of 2011: Shinpei Ruike 4 Piece Band "Sector b"

As member of the ultra-hip Naruyoshi Kikuchi Dub Sextet, Shinpei Ruike has developed an instantly identifiable sound and is arguably the best trumpeter of his generation in Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 29, 2011

Best of 2011: Alva Noto & Ryuichi Sakamoto "Summvs"

Pioneers in their own respective musical fields, Carsten Nicolai (aka Alva Noto) and Ryuichi Sakamoto began their exploration of sound and visual arts, evocatively titled the Virus Series, in 2002. Nine years on and the fifth and final installment of the collection, "Summvs," reaches the apex of their...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 28, 2011

Prepare for the Colder War

Santa Claus may see you when you're sleeping, but NORAD makes sure it sees Santa pretty much round-the-clock. The North American Aerospace Defense Command not only follows Saint Nick's sleigh ride with its famous NORAD Tracks Santa site, but it is also involved in a struggle over resources, border control...
EDITORIALS
Dec 28, 2011

Budget with record-high spending

The Noda Cabinet on Saturday endorsed the fiscal 2012 budget to be submitted to the Diet. The general account spending will drop 2.2 percent from the fiscal 2011 initial budget to ¥90.33 trillion — the first fall in six years.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / LIGHT GIST
Dec 27, 2011

2011: a year of disaster in quotes

This year produced more than its share of memorable quotes, many of which were inspired by the March 11 disaster and its aftermath. But figures from other fields, from sports to entertainment, also said things worth repeating. Here is a sampling, in chronological order:
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 27, 2011

Many angles to acquiring Japanese citizenship

Nationality has long been a controversial issue in Japan. For most, it is something they are born with; for others, it is something they had to fight for. For some, nationality may be a source of pride, while for others, it may be the cause of discrimination.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 27, 2011

China sales set to dip at Hitachi Construction

Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., the nation's second-largest heavy-equipment maker, said Chinese demand for excavators will decline in the first half of next year as monetary tightening slows construction projects.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 27, 2011

Noda under tax hike pressure

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda faces escalating pressure to secure support for higher taxes after the budget plan for fiscal 2012 revealed the government's record dependence on borrowing.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 26, 2011

The greater evil is to expect an Asia-Pacific war

Now that the war in Afghanistan appears to be reaching an end, President Barack Obama has indicated that the United States will shift focus toward the Asia-Pacific.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 26, 2011

'Pro-Israel' doesn't mean backing status quo

Advocates of strong U.S.-Israel relations have aimed for decades to keep Israel from being a divisive issue in American politics. Yet Israel is one of very few foreign policy issues already rating attention in the 2012 presidential election.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 26, 2011

What's next in power games from North Korea?

Since the death of Kim Il Sung in 1994, the U.S. and South Korean governments have gamed scenarios for the collapse of the North, with the triggering event usually posited as the death of Kim Jong Il.
CULTURE / Books
Dec 25, 2011

Fantasy alive in the real world

Fantasies are central to several of the best books published in the last year. These works are not, of course, tried and tired swords-and-lords style epics, but rather books that tackle the imaginings that have made and molded the world in which we live.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Dec 25, 2011

'Takeshi Art Beat' on tap dancing; New Year's Eve TV roundup; CM of the week: Dorea

Ever wonder where director/star "Beat" Takeshi Kitano got the idea of the big tap-dancing finale for his 2003 remake of the samurai classic "Zatoichi"? It came to him after he saw the American dancer Savion Glover, who the program information says influenced Michael Jackson's Moonwalk.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Dec 25, 2011

Time for Japan to realize it really is the canary in the mine

This Christmas Day column is a book review, but it is also a wish and a prayer.
CULTURE / Books
Dec 25, 2011

Bubble-wrap novel far from bubble gum

Winner of the Prix Goncourt, Michel Houellebecq, in his latest novel, "The Map and the Territory," takes us into the world of art and the life of Jed Martin, rival of Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons, and fan of a writer called ... Michel Houellebecq.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 25, 2011

It's time to turn over a new leaf in the sheaf of identities we carry with us

Far be it from me to put soot in Santa's chimney, but there is a pet peeve I've just got to get off my chest.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Dec 25, 2011

Hope, and inspired work, from despair of March 11

Ayear of natural disasters in Japan — and elsewhere — has sparked some of the best writing on the nation seen in decades, as everyone from policy experts to ordinary citizens offered their views on the best route to recovery.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Dec 25, 2011

Crime, war, and laughs unintended

Bill James, a well-known baseball authority, deviates from sport coverage to introduce some of America's most celebrated true crime cases in "Popular Crime: Reflections on the Celebration of Violence."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Japan Pulse
Dec 23, 2011

2011 trends: Korean boom spreads to a new generation

The love of all things Korean continued to grow in 2011, and along with it, a bit of a backlash.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Dec 23, 2011

Western Conference squads enjoying success on road

If this season's first 20 games have proven anything, there's no such thing as home sweet home for the Miyazaki Shining Suns. Nor is there a home-court advantage for coach Koto Toyama's team.

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