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Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 9, 2010

Kreva keeps Japan's hip-hop heart beating

The last thing anyone expects one of the country's leading hip-hop artists to say about the scene he's part of is that it's uninspired. But for Japanese hip-hop veteran Kreva, that's the unfortunate truth. "There's not really anyone I'm excited to listen to right now," explained the artist offhandedly...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jul 6, 2010

Down — but not out — in Kotobukicho

Yokohama's Ishikawacho Station straddles the border between two worlds. Take a right turn from its south exit and you find yourself among the designer boutiques and Belgian chocolate shops of tourist Motomachi. Head left from the same station, however, walk three minutes and you discover a neighborhood...
CULTURE / Japan Pulse
Jul 5, 2010

Japan by the numbers (07.05.10)

Surveys say ... mabo-dofu and Softbank are in; unshaven legs are out.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 4, 2010

Playing spot the political difference

The central dynamic in politics is the tug-of-war between conservatism and liberalism, and while it's always been that way, the conflict is particularly contentious these days owing to a global media culture that sees nothing wrong with taking sides. Differences are starker and less rational. In America,...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jul 3, 2010

Meet the party gods on our small island

I've always gotten along well with my neighbors on the island. This is especially important because my neighbors are all gods: the Mountain God, Kompira-san, Juichimen Kannon, Senju Kannon and Myoken-sama. I have to put up with a few loud parties every now and then, but overall, we get along extremely...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 1, 2010

Why is it OK to cheat in professional soccer?

MELBOURNE — Shortly before half-time in the World Cup elimination match between England and Germany on Sunday, English midfielder Frank Lampard had a shot at goal that struck the crossbar and bounced down onto the ground, clearly over the goal line. German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer grabbed the ball and...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 1, 2010

The G20's expensive party

HONG KONG — Leaders of the world's most powerful nations and a few less powerful hangers-on, like Canada and Italy, have just spent a few more billions of their taxpayers' money as they failed to devise a rescue plan for a world economy that is still perilously close to the cliff edge of disaster....
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 30, 2010

Canberra's bloodless coup

SYDNEY — Women rule. Or so it seems in Australia where the first female prime minister has ousted a male colleague, where a woman is the governor general, still another runs the main state, New South Wales, and another presides over that state's capital city, Sydney. Topping all, an Australian woman...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 30, 2010

Korean peace still elusive, six decades on

HONOLULU, EAST-WEST WIRE — The tragic Korean War, which began 60 years ago, resulted from the post-World War II division of Korea by the United States and the Soviet Union — intended to be temporary — and from the political struggle that developed between Seoul and Pyongyang. After the division,...
EDITORIALS
Jun 30, 2010

Mr. Kan meets Mr. Obama

At their Sunday meeting on the fringe of the G20 summit in Toronto, Canada, Prime Minister Naoto Kan and U.S. President Barack Obama agreed that the Japan-U.S. alliance is a cornerstone of peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region. Their first meeting took place after bilateral ties had become...
CULTURE / Books
Jun 27, 2010

Indomitable Karen of Burma

This is an impassioned book, the story of an insurgency in Burma drawn from interviews with those who experienced it. The narrative tells how the writer, Mac McClelland, traveled to Thailand to work as a volunteer with a group called Burma Action, and stayed for several weeks, teaching English.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jun 27, 2010

Ongaeshi Project aims to give back to nature

Asahiyama Zoo's Jack, Lianne and 3-year-old Morito have whispy red fur, long graceful hands and eyes that are as searchingly intelligent as many a pair on the other side of their cage. These Borneo orangutans are likely the most frequently viewed members of their species in Japan — yet until last year,...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 26, 2010

Appreciating the renminbi

HONG KONG — Global stock and foreign exchange markets were fast out of the blocks to lead the applause for China's decision to free the exchange rate of the renminbi. Clearly licking their lips at the prospect of greater foreign access to China's fabled market of 1.3 billion consumers, stock markets...
JAPAN / DECISION 2010
Jun 25, 2010

Kan wades deep into tax hike fray

Despite misgivings in his own party, Prime Minister Naoto Kan has pledged to raise the 5 percent consumption tax in a few years to fund snowballing social security costs and avoid a fiscal crisis like the one that engulfed Greece.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 25, 2010

It is safe to bank on this hard-boiled man

Eiji Okuda doesn't fit into any of the usual boxes for actors in Japan — or anywhere else for that matter. He's had his share of leading roles over a three-decade career, often as a world-weary cop or gangster, but he's not what the local industry considers a star.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 25, 2010

Keeping an eye on new ceramics

Places of worship take many forms, but they all share a common atmosphere. There's a certain quietude that puts visitors at ease and a sense of other-worldliness achieved, in part, through the careful placement of precious objects on raised platforms. Kim Riyoo's ceramic installation, "Ceramics as New...
JAPAN / DECISION 2010
Jun 24, 2010

Parties focus on economy, taxes

With the campaign officially kicking off for the July 11 Upper House election, political parties are weighing in on rebuilding the economy and government finances, hoping their platforms will translate into votes.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Jun 24, 2010

Home helper Takanori Kato

Takanori Kato, at age 68, is in his first year as a home helper in Tokyo's Chuo Ward. Last December, he graduated from a 4-month nursing course and immediately got a job at a nursing home. Since then, he's been learning the ropes of lifting the spirits of bedridden patients while taking care of their...
BUSINESS
Jun 23, 2010

Fiscal rehab plan issued, draws fire

The government served up a fiscal reconstruction plan Tuesday that calls for achieving a surplus in the primary budget by the end of fiscal 2020 and keeping new bond issuance below this fiscal year's ¥44 trillion, but experts say the outline lacks specifics on how to curb the massive national debt or...
JAPAN
Jun 22, 2010

Sales tax hike to take a few years: Kan

Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Monday it would take at least two to three years to increase the consumption tax.
Japan Times
Events / WHERE IT'S AT
Jun 22, 2010

'Hafu' draws viewers into world of Japanese identity

"Hafu," the Japanese term for people who are half-Japanese, takes on a more intricate meaning through the unfolding of mixed-race Japanese lives in the documentary "Hafu." Those starring in the film and those behind the project identify themselves as a newly emerging community.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 22, 2010

Can't vote? No problem, you're empowered!

What are you planning to do with yourself this summer? If you're Japanese, have you given any thought to the country's upcoming Upper House elections?

Longform

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