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Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Jul 31, 2011

Shooting galleries in Nihonbashi

Summertime, and the living's less easy than queasy as Tokyo's temperatures and humidity soar. It's like that as I exit the Hibiya Line's Kodenmacho Station, in Chuo Ward, headed for Jisshi Koen, the area's sole park.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 22, 2011

Very different approaches to the struggling hero theme

James Gunn wrote the screenplay for 2000's "The Specials," a low-budget indie comedy that mocked superheroes, showing them kicking back, whining about their action figure deals or bloviating about their origin stories, but never once engaging in actual crime-fighting.
CULTURE / Books
Jul 10, 2011

Banana's fabulous fables

THE LAKE, by Banana Yoshimoto. Melville House, 2011, 192 pp., $23.95 (hardcover) It's hard to believe it's been six years since Banana Yoshimoto had a new novel published in English. Her early novel "Kitchen" was hugely popular with foreign audiences, but since the release of "Hardboiled and Hard Luck"...
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Jun 21, 2011

Is Facebook's 'Check-in Coupon' a good deal in Japan?

Facebook makes a foray into Japan's mobile coupon market with location-based discounts, but will social shopping catch on?
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Jun 21, 2011

Kinpū

Dear Alice,I am fascinated by the elaborately decorated envelopes offered for sale in Japan. I know they are used for giving money, because the first time I came to Japan to study martial arts a friend taught me to put my lesson fees into an envelope, rather than just hand bills to my teacher. I'd like...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 20, 2011

Let one character lead to enlightenment and civilization

Many of Japan's admired historic figures were adulated for being "warrior scholars," since they were equally adept at leading armies and composing poems. This ideal is referred to as 文武両道 (bunbu ryodō). Bun refers to writing and by extension the literary arts. Bu relates to martial or military...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / STYLE WISE
Jun 14, 2011

A season for accolades, milestones and new frontiers

Florence and Kyoto unite to celebrate Gucci's 90 years Revered luxury brand Gucci is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year with a special traveling exhibition in Japan that highlights its prowess in craftsmanship. Starting at the famed Kinkaku-ji Golden Temple in Kyoto, "Gucci: 90 years" showcases...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 13, 2011

More shopping refugees: Residents of planned community at the mercy of bureaucratic prerogatives

Elderly residents of a corner of Chiba New Town have been left without a supermarket to shop in.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 20, 2011

Daylesford Organics: Chow down in faith with organic eats

Another place where you can dine in total confidence that nothing untoward will be on your plate is Daylesford Organics. There was considerable buzz among Tokyo foodies when this chic natural foods emporium opened last November near Omotesando Station, close to the U.N. University on Aoyama-dori.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Apr 29, 2011

Let them rent mansions: Compensation for disaster victims will barely make a difference

Compensation in the form of donations and government grants are finally starting to reach disaster victims. Will it be enough?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 8, 2011

Tohoku brewers: 'Drink without restraint!'

Last weekend, fifth-generation sake brewery owner Kosuke Kuji of Nanbu Bijin delivered an earnest plea to the public on behalf of sake producers in the Tohoku region: "We'd be sincerely grateful if people would continue to have hanami parties (this year)."
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BY THE GLASS
Apr 8, 2011

Won't somebody think of the wine?

Many Tokyoites counted themselves lucky when the March 11 quake left their homes largely intact, except, perhaps, for the odd broken glass. But while the damage was of course far more grave in the northeast, this wine writer would like to spare a thought for those in the hospitality business, whose stock...
EDITORIALS
Apr 3, 2011

Not by bread alone

The axiom "Man does not live by bread alone" is again demonstrated by scenes of quake and tsunami victims in shelters finding solace in recovered photo albums or in broadcasts of the Koshien high school baseball tournament. Those outside the immediate disaster areas as well have found respite from the...
JAPAN
Mar 13, 2011

Rather than hoof it, stranded rush to buy bicycles

Bicycles sold like hotcakes at supermarkets and bike shops after Friday's megaquake shut down train services in the Tokyo metropolitan area, attracting local residents — and people from farther afield — who wanted to cycle home instead of facing the prospect of walking for several hours.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 6, 2011

Corruption tarnishes shiny India

HONG KONG — Corruption in India has become so public and pervasive that the government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been forced to take action on two blatant abuses. The problem is that corruption is only one highly visible part of a hydra-headed monster that is preventing India from fulfilling...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 25, 2011

Delicious dishes that are fit for a princess

Makiko Itoh SPECIAL TO THE JAPAN TIMES March 3 is Hina Matsuri, also known as Girls' Festival or Momo no Sekku (Peach Day). This day was a traditional seasonal and religious event on the lunar calendar, during the period when peach blossoms were in bloom — around early April on the Gregorian calendar....
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
Feb 13, 2011

Japan's first pop culture

Pop culture. Japan's today is thriving, vibrant, spreading, turning people the world over into manga/anime freaks and costume players.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Japan Pulse
Feb 8, 2011

Vegetable boom growing steadily

Japan eats its vegetables!
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 28, 2011

'Byakuyako (Into the White Night)'

Mysteries are hot in the Japanese movie business now, but they have long been hard sells abroad. This may seem strange, since the mystery genre in Japan, from novels to films, has been heavily influenced by foreign models — starting with the genre's father, Edgar Allen Poe.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 21, 2011

Fujiya Honten Grill Bar: cheap and tasty eats on your feet

Now that the holiday feasting is just a fast-fading memory, it's time to tighten the belt and rein in the spending. No more high-end splurges: These days we're staying strictly street level.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Jan 13, 2011

Ground control, we have a fashionable lift-off

Jean-Paul Gaultier's space
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jan 8, 2011

When you go shopping and nothing 'looks right'

Most people feel older on their birthday. Not me. I feel older on New Year's Day. Perhaps it's because I wake up a bit under the weather from the previous night's festivities. I look at myself in the bathroom mirror and think, Who's that?!
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jan 1, 2011

Perfect vacation and perfect aggravation

All good marriages hinge on compromise, no matter what the couples' cultural backgrounds. Remove compromise and the open door of married life soon swings awry.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 30, 2010

JR East's in-station stores a success story

Despite the feeble state of domestic consumption, retailers led by East Japan Railway Co. are continuing to infiltrate train stations to tap commuters' propensity to shop.
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Dec 30, 2010

For the office and home, work and play

Some warmth for the New Year
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Dec 12, 2010

Tomb tourism Saitama style

Crawling in and out of graves isn't everyone's idea of a good time. For those willing to give it a try, though, Yoshimi Hyakuana in Saitama Prefecture makes for an interesting day trip out of Tokyo.
Reader Mail
Dec 12, 2010

Italian baker could use leavening

I am gravely disappointed in the comments of Paolo Aggio, the subject of the Dec. 7 Who's Who article, "Italian baker gives new life to old Tochigi warehouse." Aggio yearns for the "good old Japan" — by that he means all of 22 years ago! — and he cannot say good things about the opportunities that...

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?