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Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 8, 2009

Hermes-touch copter to whisk rich to Narita

Mori Building Co. unveiled a ritzy helicopter Friday with interior appointments provided by French luxury brand Hermes that will be used to shuttle wealthy customers between central Tokyo and Narita International Airport in Chiba Prefecture in just 30 minutes, brief limo ride included.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 8, 2009

Working humbly to serve everyone

Ian De Stains has a place in a decades-old British order of chivalry created by King George V in 1917. Yet after knowing him, this may be hard to believe.
EDITORIALS
Jul 26, 2009

Better eating habits

In 2005, the Diet enacted the basic law on education on eating habits (shokuiku) to promote healthful eating habits. This move came against the backdrop of a deterioration in the country's dietary culture, which traditionally has been considered well-balanced and healthy.
CULTURE / Books
Jul 26, 2009

A peaceful challenge against globalization

London's famous Ritz Hotel boarded its windows, construction sites were cleared of rubble and bankers were warned to stay home. The event was the April 2009 meeting of the Group of 20, and no effort was spared to protect the visiting dignitaries — and financial district — from demonstrations by anti-...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 27, 2009

Hundreds show up to buy latest iPhone

About 200 people lined up Friday morning in Tokyo's Omotesando district for the chance to buy Apple Inc.'s new iPhone 3GS, the latest model in the iPhone series and Softbank Corp.'s mobile phone lineup.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jun 21, 2009

Tokyo spurned in the 'ultra miracle' of new film's linguistic embrace

On June 8, the evening edition of the Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported on a fascinating phenomenon — one that may be a harbinger of a broad cultural and social movement in Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 19, 2009

Both Japan, U.S. must improve their 'soft power': experts

The world's two largest economies should reinvigorate their collaborative use of "soft power" to influence other countries as they approach a milestone year in their security alliance, participants said at a recent symposium that included key U.S. commentators on diplomacy.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / JAPAN TIMES BLOGROLL
Jun 10, 2009

Just Hungry, Just Bento

The kitchen has long been used as a portal to distant places and times, and Just Hungry and Just Bento are two blogs by Makiko Itoh that put all the wonders of Japanese cuisine within a cutting-board's reach. For Makiko, cooking has been a way to re-create comfort foods from Japan while living abroad...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jun 7, 2009

What price heroism for indoctrinated fighters in unjust wars?

What makes a hero in war? If that war is unjust, do the soldiers involved deserve to be treated as heroes? And what is the civilian role in these heroics?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 29, 2009

Dynasties that knew good living

Off the beaten path in the Kita-ku district in northern Kyoto sits a veritable jewel, the charming Koryo Museum of Art, which houses a collection of Korean traditional arts. Koryo is unique in Japan for its more than 20-year mission of exhibiting traditional Korean artwork.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
May 28, 2009

Keiko Aoki

Keiko Aoki, is the founder of Altesse, a New York consultancy firm, and the owner of an eponymous U.S. catering company that specializes in Japanese home cooking. Bitten by the business bug from the minute she flew to the Big Apple in 1985, Aoki's itch to succeed kept her working during most of the '80s...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
May 26, 2009

'Manga': heart of pop culture

From "One Piece" and "Naruto" to "Doraemon" and "Sazae-san," comic books have been the heart of Japanese pop culture.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
May 26, 2009

Waseda academic confident country's charms are to be had by the open-minded

Paul Snowden came to Japan 40 years ago — thinking that his visit here would only last for two years, after which he would go back to his native England and settle down as a grammar school teacher.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 23, 2009

Reality check from the top of the world

"I suppose I just couldn't sit down and listen to it anymore. I couldn't go to the pub and just keep complaining about it and not actually go do something about it," says Gavin Dixon.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 22, 2009

'L'heure d'ete'

Moliere once wrote that the wonder of a French vacance lay in its "deep, profound dullness, those hours and hours of time, marked only by meals and interminable glasses of wine." A similar kind of wonder propels the intimate, endearingly smug "L'heure d'ete" (international title: "Summer Hours") —...
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 21, 2009

Younger farmers blogging their way to success

Hard work, low pay and a gloomy future. That's the image many young people have had about farming.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
May 19, 2009

Veteran Tokyo journalist convinced some things just never change

Having lived in Japan for 45 years, 70-year-old British journalist Henry Scott Stokes has seen Japan go through more changes than virtually any other foreign resident has.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
May 19, 2009

Weight of Imperial world on Princess Masako

Observers often liken Crown Princess Masako to Britain's Princess Diana. They both embody the fairy tale gone tragically wrong — women outside the royal circle wooed by the heir to the throne, only to end up clashing with the establishment and surrounded by controversy and speculation that has made...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 13, 2009

Being Nihontsū: Japanophiles in our own country

"Wakonyōsai (和魂洋才, the soul of a Japanese and the talents of a Westerner)" was a phrase once used to describe the ideal of the modern, enlightened Japanese. This perfect person supposedly combined the knowledge, logic and open-mindedness of the West with the principled restraint, sense of honor...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 3, 2009

It's tough times for type — but too soon to write off newspapers yet

Back in the early 1990s, my wife, children and I were visiting my in-laws when one of my daughters, then aged 6, pointed to something on the table and exclaimed, "Daddy, what's that?"
COMMENTARY
May 2, 2009

Mideast and cheaper oil

LONDON — Back in the golden bubble days when stock markets were riding high and a barrel of crude oil sold for more than $140, there was no doubt which countries were getting richest quickest.
ENVIRONMENT / WEEK 3
Apr 19, 2009

Picking up good vibrations

The vibrations of every passing vehicle are now being turned into electricity by a venture company whose technology is powering one of 108 LED (light-emitting diode) lights on the Goshiki Zakura Ohashi bridge over the Arakawa River in Tokyo's downtown Adachi Ward — and whose pioneering work may one...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Apr 14, 2009

Job firing launched labor activist on career

You may have seen him on TV, commenting on Nova teachers who lost their income and housing when the language school went bankrupt in November 2007. Or you may have seen him marching through Shibuya, leading a chant of "Tatakau zo! (We'll fight!)" and calling for solidarity and action among workers. Or...
Japan Times
LIFE / JAPAN FASHION WEEK
Apr 12, 2009

Shows of intrigue

It was bright vs. dark at this season's 2009/10 Japan Fashion Week and Tokyo Collections, with dizzying color and details contrasting with a plethora of shows that chose to go simple and monochromatic.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / STYLE WISE
Apr 9, 2009

Kalivas goes 'Goemon,' Marjoli shines bright and Sistere makes Kyoto urban

Fantasy after fashion Tina Kalivas will get to see her creations on the big screen this May, as the Australian fashion designer produced the costumes for the new Japanese film "Goemon." The movie is based on the legend of a Robin Hood-like hero and was directed by Kazuaki Kiriya, who was responsible...

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?