Search - 2012

 
 
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 23, 2011

Civic revamp to help lift sales 24%, Honda says

Honda Motor Co. is sprucing up its Civic sedan, which received poor reviews, after less than a year on the market as part of a plan to boost the automaker's U.S. sales by 24 percent in 2012.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 22, 2011

Five freshman acts to watch out for in 2012

Formed in April 2011, Hysteric Picnic could be set to make a splash in the Tokyo indie scene with a sound influenced by 1970s/'80s British new wave, echoing Joy Division and Young Marble Giants in their simple but memorable melodies and arrangements.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 22, 2011

Best of 2011: Soil & "Pimp" Sessions "Magnetic Soil"

My favorite Japanese album of 2011 sounds even better live. "Magnetic Soil," the eighth album from self-described death-jazz act Soil & "Pimp" Sessions, further proved that this Tokyo-based sextet belongs in a class all its own.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 22, 2011

Best of 2011: Miila and the Geeks "New Age"

Miila and the Geek's debut album, "New Age," would be my favorite Japanese album of 2011 even without the postquake context into which it was released.
Japan Times
JAPAN / READERS' FUND
Dec 22, 2011

NPOs give needy hope for future

Many women and children in developing countries still have very few opportunities to receive an education and training, but Japanese nonprofit groups are working in nations such as Afghanistan and Cambodia to give them hope for the future.
MORE SPORTS
Dec 21, 2011

Nadeshiko Japan takes top sports award

As perhaps much expected, Nadeshiko Japan was the face of the 2011 sports scene in Japan.
JAPAN
Dec 21, 2011

Immigration changes to come as new law takes effect in July

The revised immigration law will take effect next July 9 and the government will start accepting applications for new residence registration cards on Jan. 13, the Cabinet decided Tuesday, paving the way for increased government scrutiny through a centralized immigration control of foreign nationals....
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Dec 18, 2011

The times may change, but the hits keep coming

The 46th year of Showa, 1971, is remembered as the year of the "Nixon Shock," when the U.S. president took unilateral action to raise the Japanese yen's value against the dollar — from ¥360 to $1, to around ¥308 to $1. Nixon sought to reduce the swelling trade deficit by action aimed at forcing up...
EDITORIALS
Dec 18, 2011

Declining business sentiment

The Japanese economic outlook is opaque. A Bank of Japan survey reports deteriorating business sentiment among major manufacturers in December. Clearly Europe's sovereign debt crisis, the historic rise of the yen's value and flood damage in Thailand are a cause of concern.
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Dec 18, 2011

Don't expect Japanese basketball to embrace a real, workable plan

Every few months a false sense of hope surfaces on the blogosphere and in the mainstream media, where optimists peddle the message that Japan's basketball "leaders" finally have their act together, that a new men's pro league will, ahem, finally replace the outdated, increasingly irrelevant JBL and the...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Dec 17, 2011

Redknapp wants two refs per match

It has been another bad week for referees. Chris Foy (Stoke vs. Tottenham) and Mark Clattenburg (Chelsea vs. Manchester City) became the latest to be blamed for the defeats of Spurs and City by, unsurprisingly, the losing managers.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Dec 16, 2011

Christmas in Osaka for couples

The Hotel Granvia Osaka is offering a special Christmas season accommodation plan for couples called Memorial Stay, through Dec. 25.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 16, 2011

"Communication: Visualizing the Human Connection in the Age of Vermeer"

During the 17th-century, Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer became renowned for his outstanding compositional and lighting skills. Under the theme of "letters," this exhibition features the work of Vermeer alongside that of other contemporaneous painters.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 16, 2011

Tokyo Ballet's top principal readies a final dance

On his second-ever professional tour in Europe, dancer Naoki Takagishi fought through injuries as he worked with modern-dance choreographer Maurice Bejart for the first time.
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA
Dec 15, 2011

Having a laugh at the witch doctors of art

It's one of the most enigmatic questions of all time: What is art? Any gallery that holds an exhibition using that as its theme is either taking things very seriously indeed, or it's having a laugh.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Dec 14, 2011

Stern right to stop original CP3 deal

Only once during four decades of covering pro basketball do I recall a team that became almost whole in a forced trade by its franchise player . . . and that took two seasons after Milwaukee agreed to relocate Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (and Walt Wesley) for Junior Bridgeman, Brian Winters, David Meyers and...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 14, 2011

Five myths about presidential contender Ron Paul

Ron Paul is the Rodney Dangerfield of Republican presidential candidates. The 12-term Texas congressman ran for president on the Libertarian Party ticket in 1988 and was widely seen as a sideshow in 2008, despite finishing third in the GOP field behind John McCain and Mike Huckabee. Why, despite a small...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / STYLE WISE
Dec 13, 2011

Stepping in the right fashion-forward directions

Opening ceremony for Kenzo Kenzo is one of Japan's most long-standing fashion houses, so it is understandable that it has undergone quite a few changes in its 41-year history — especially since Kenzo Takada himself retired in 1999.

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