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COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Mar 6, 2012

A few of readers' favorite things; heated discussion on the burning issue of warmth

A selection of readers' responses to Debito Arudou's Feb. 7 Just Be Cause column, "These are a few of my favorite things about Japan":
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 3, 2012

'Alternative labor' helps Ishinomaki rebuild

Jamie El-Banna, 27, is a self-professed "cynical Londoner" who says he's "not a nice guy" and admits he is known to many as something of a party animal interested mostly in getting drunk. But a look at his recent track record reveals he's now spent over nine months volunteering in tsunami-ravaged Ishinomaki,...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Feb 25, 2012

The sounds of not much silence

Patience . . . People say the Japanese are born with it.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jan 23, 2012

It's Murphy's Law if you don't get the joke in Japanese

If you miss the punch line to a Japanese joke, don't feel bad. It's simply unrealistic to use something as elusive as humor to measure your ability to understand a foreign language.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 20, 2012

'Always San-Chome no Yuhi '64 (Always: Sunset on Third Street 3)'

The "Always" films, unabashedly sentimental, meticulously realized reminiscences on the Tokyo of the Showa 30s (1955-1965), are intended for the domestic audience only. But the first two received high audience poll numbers when they screened at the Udine Far East Film Festival in Italy, which I help...
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Dec 26, 2011

Postal execs crack the whip

Japan faces disarray in its mail delivery service as post offices, especially those in major cities and the Tokyo metropolitan area, struggle with mounting workloads following the dismissal of a large number of nonregular employees by Japan Post Service Co. (JPS) since September. And the situation could...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Dec 25, 2011

Behold! Christ's grave in Shingo, Aomori Prefecture

One line of text from Wikipedia was all it took to lure me to the town of Shingo, in south-central Aomori Prefecture. It read: "The village promotes itself as the home of the Grave of Christ after a local legend."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 23, 2011

'Restless'

Gus Van Sant's "Restless" is a film about love, an ode to doomed but pure teenage infatuation. But it's also about love of a film, in this case Hal Ashby's cult classic "Harold and Maude." It's one of those cases where the lift (or "homage") is so overt and massive that it's hard to consider "Restless"...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Dec 18, 2011

Hip-hop star gives designer a leg-up to fame

As a child growing up in mountainous Yamanashi Prefecture in the 1970s, artist Shojono Tomo had an irrational fear of using the brakes on her bicycle — though none whatsoever about riding just as fast as she could.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 2, 2011

Tintin gets a little closer to Japan in 3-D movie

"Everyone knows Tintin!" says a street hawker in the film "The Adventures of Tintin" — but 30 years ago director Steven Spielberg had no idea who or what he was.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Dec 2, 2011

Holiday cocktails with a tower view

The Bay View Sky Lounge on the 28th floor of the Yokohama Bay Sheraton Hotel & Towers is running a Christmas Cocktail Fair through Dec. 25.
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA
Nov 24, 2011

Dressed to impress Tokyo's art crowd

A life-size bucking brown horse, pieced together from old leather jackets. A loom operated by a Noah's Ark collection of polar bears, birds and other beasts. A fashion boutique till that scans barcodes to create a cacophony of musical sounds.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 11, 2011

Flamenco dancer Kagita tells a kabuki tale

The idea that flamenco and kabuki share the same sense of expression was the motivation for a pair of prominent Japanese dancers to base a flamenco performance on the kabuki play "Onna Goroshi Abura no Jigoku"("The Lady-Killer and an Oil Hell"). That play was written by Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1725)....
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Nov 6, 2011

Kiyoshi Nakabayashi: Ex-Tokyo cop speaks out on a life fighting gangs — and what you can do

Kiyoshi Nakabayashi well remembers how, when he was a high school student in the late 1950s and early '60s, newspapers were full of stories of violent gang wars being fought out openly on the streets of Tokyo.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 3, 2011

Record stores fuel Nagoya's scene

Despite having had its musical reputation sullied by Yasushi Akimoto's decision to make it the home of SKE48, the first offshoot of pop-idol army AKB48, Nagoya is home to one of Japan's most vibrant independent music scenes.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 1, 2011

Designs that come out of the blue

Reflecting on Okinawa's natural pigmentations, one thinks instinctively of the red of its hibiscus, the pinks and mauves of bougainvillea, the green of ripening shikuwasa limes and fukugi trees. The strongest association, though, is blue.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 29, 2011

Longtime Kyoto resident relishes Irish music scene

Jay Gregg, a resident of Kyoto since 1980, starts each day with a "bowl of matcha and a few tunes." The music drifts through his living space, across his Kano School art collection, and brings back memories of his banjo-strumming university days at Colorado State.
CULTURE / Japan Pulse
Oct 28, 2011

Entrepreneurs make Korean ikemen the dish du jour

Cute, young Korean man-flesh is on the menu now, as Tokyo establishments cash in on the continuing hanryu boom.
Japan Times
LIFE
Oct 23, 2011

One woman's Hyakumeizan

As I thumb through the tattered pages of my decade-old hiking guidebook, a sense of satisfaction coupled with disbelief takes over.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 15, 2011

Rivals Softbank, KDDI roll out latest iPhone model

Apple Inc.'s latest iPhone model debuted Friday in the domestic market, and for the first time it is being sold by two rival carriers, a move expected to heat up the cellphone competition.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 9, 2011

Retailers around Japan with plenty of bottle

Aching for an antique aperitif, but Kyoto's not your neighborhood? Here are some other outlets around Japan specializing in vintage wines and spirits.
BUSINESS / Japan Pulse
Aug 27, 2011

Movies, popcorn and Geiger counters

In addition to DVDs and CDs, Tsutaya starts lending out Geiger counters at its shops in Fukushima.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Aug 26, 2011

Hokkaido fair at Keio's Tokyo hotels

Through Sept. 30, the Keio Plaza Hotel Tokyo is holding a Hokkaido food fair at its restaurants.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / STYLE WISE
Aug 9, 2011

The evolution of menswear, Matobu, denim, Harajuku style and TGC

Going from red to blue If "Harajuku style" means gaggles of gothic-lolitas and 1970s-style punks to you, then it's time to catch up.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 5, 2011

Ivan Ramen Plus: Maverick chef Orkin opens new noodle joint

There are those who love ramen, and those who are obsessive. Count us firmly in the first category. We won't cross town, wait in line for hours or pore over websites just to slurp at some particularly popular noodle shop. But if we hear word of anything especially good and unusual, then we want to know...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Aug 2, 2011

The loneliness of the long-distance foreigner

A few months ago I had beers with several old Japan-hand guys (combined we have more than a century of Japan experiences), and one of them asked an interesting question:

Longform

Visitors to Kyoto walk along a street near Kiyomizu Temple in April. A popular tourist spot, Kyoto has seen what locals feel to be an overwhelming amount of tourists in 2024.
Is Japan ready for 60 million tourists?