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JAPAN
Dec 5, 2009

Coalition freezes Japan Post share sale

The first extraordinary Diet session held under the Cabinet of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama adjourned Friday after the ruling bloc used its majority to ram through the Upper House a law to freeze the state's planned sale of shares in Japan Post Holdings Co. and its banking and insurance units.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 4, 2009

Countdown Japan

The main difference between this year's four-day, end-of-year, all-Japanese-artist rock festival, Countdown Japan, and last year's is that this year it will only be held in Chiba. For the last three years it was also held simultaneously in Osaka, just like Summer Sonic is in August, but according to...
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Dec 4, 2009

Edo Period puppet troupe opens 'behind-the-strings' exhibition

The Edo Marionette Theater Youkiza, a traditional Japanese marionette theater, sprung to life this week.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Dec 4, 2009

Whole family can go for a spin at Cycle Mode International

C ycle Mode International 2009 is coming to Tokyo from Dec. 11-13. Whether you are a cycling fanatic or still on training wheels, the anual event is worth checking out as it teaches you pretty much everything you need to know about the carbon-free, fat-burning vehicle.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 4, 2009

Nature's way of perceiving things

Born in Denmark to Icelandic parents, Olafur Eliasson is best known for large-scale works that, in recreating natural phenomena, ask viewers to reconsider how they perceive their daily environments. In the "Weather Project" (2003), Eliasson installed a blinding sun — made of hundreds of mono-frequency...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 4, 2009

Beyond the cliches you will find Lautrec

The most noticeable thing about the paintings of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec is not their often lurid colors or the ukiyo-e-influenced compositions. Nor is it their renowned subject matter: the lively, sordid, effervescent world of fin-de-siecle Paris.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 4, 2009

Under the guise of medical history, the Mori gets radical

Don't be distracted by the big names showing at "Medicine and Art: Imagining a Future for Life and Love" — Da Vinci, Okyo, Damien Hirst — the jewels of the show lie in the obscure — timeworn or contemporary.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Dec 4, 2009

Market adds holiday cheer

Marche de Noel, a Christmas market with over 400 years of tradition, is coming to Tokyo from Dec. 11-25.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Japan Pulse
Dec 3, 2009

'Prototype' documents the birth of designers' ideas

The creative process is on display at the Prototype exhibition, which showcases the works of Japanese architects and designers.
Reader Mail
Dec 3, 2009

Papal declaration on euthanasia

In his Nov. 18 article, "Slippery slope of doctor-assisted euthanasia," professor Peter Singer criticizes the Catholic Church's opposition to euthanasia, stressing that neither Pius XII — address to the Congress of the Italian Anesthesiological Society, 1957 — nor the Vatican's Declaration on Euthanasia,...
COMMENTARY
Dec 2, 2009

AIDS takes increasing toll on women's lives

AIDS is posing an increasing threat to women, especially in developing countries. According to the World Health Organization, AIDS is the leading cause of death and disease among women of reproductive age in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in Africa.
BUSINESS
Dec 2, 2009

BOJ antes up ¥10 trillion for bank system

Amid mounting pressure from the government to rein in deflation and the surging yen, the Bank of Japan said Tuesday it would pump some ¥10 trillion into the banking system to keep the economy on a recovery track.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Nov 29, 2009

Deer problem growing fast

This winter, naturalist and woodland conservationist C.W. Nicol will be busy cooking up delicious meals using wild deer meat — slow-cooked keema curry, hearty shepherd's pie and soy-simmered nikudango meatballs, to name a few.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Nov 29, 2009

Mystery lure of woodland lords

When Hideyuki Yoshizawa goes into the woods, he doesn't wear the usual silver bells meant to scare off bears. He's given up smoking, too, to eliminate that tell-tale human smell. That's because he wants more than anything else to meet a bear in the forest.
Reader Mail
Nov 29, 2009

Don't pin the fall on globalization

Regarding Ramzy Baroud's Nov. 21 article, "Globalization: a culture killer": I completely disagree with the premise. In my opinion, globalization is the best thing that has happened in global politics and economics for a long time. The development of communications, transportation and information technology...
ENVIRONMENT
Nov 29, 2009

Deer problem growing fast

This winter, naturalist and woodland conservationist C.W. Nicol will be busy cooking up delicious meals using wild deer meat — slow-cooked keema curry, hearty shepherd's pie and soy-simmered nikudango meatballs, to name a few.
JAPAN
Nov 28, 2009

'Politically binding' budget screening over

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's waste-cutting panel finished its nine-day review of allocations Friday for 447 public works projects in the government's record-high ¥95 trillion budget for fiscal 2010.
EDITORIALS
Nov 27, 2009

9/11 trials a victory for justice

The administration of U.S. President Barack Obama has announced that it will prosecute the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on the United States, and four accused conspirators, in a New York City courtroom. That decision has triggered a firestorm in the United States, with critics...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 27, 2009

Kodo brings the beat back to home turf

Kodo, Japan's most famous taiko (drumming) troupe, will cap the year with a series of special concerts, showcasing the members' progress after an extensive worldwide tour.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 27, 2009

The Italian art of making wine and painting

Imagine the colors of a vast Tuscan vineyard drenched in a September sun — emerald green leaves, gnarled brown vines, deep purple grapes, shale earth, azure sky — an artist's inspiration for both palette and palate. For renowned Italian artist Sandro Chia, 63, these Tuscan colors, soaked into the...
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 27, 2009

Robots rule the world at iREX

Some of the world's most cutting-edge robotic technology is being displayed at the International Robot Exhibition 2009, running until Nov. 28 at Tokyo Big Sight.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 27, 2009

Bringing Japan to Britain

When she looked at the floor plans for Oxford's redesigned Ashmolean Museum and saw that her two Japanese galleries formed an L-shape in one corner of the building, curator Clare Pollard didn't see an awkward space. "I saw a tea-house," she explains. And there it sits, in the crook of two beautiful and...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Nov 27, 2009

How 'new' kabuki has captivated theater audiences for decades

In 1893, at age 78, the great playwright Kawatake Mokuami died. Since he left no protege, his death also ended the tradition of classical Kabuki writing. Mokuami, who, during the 19th century wrote more than 360 plays over his long career, became the last of the professional writers to work exclusively...
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 27, 2009

New National Theatre Tokyo presents Puccini's 'Tosca' opera

This December, the New National Theatre Tokyo (NNTT) will present Giacomo Puccini's opera "Tosca."
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 26, 2009

The long journey from Kafka to Gorbachev

NEW YORK — On Aug. 2, 1914, Franz Kafka wrote in his diary: "Germany has declared war against Russia. In the afternoon, swimming." Kafka, the reclusive and visionary Central European writer, gave his name to the 20th century. Seventy-five years had to pass before Kafka's swim before Central and Eastern...
JAPAN
Nov 25, 2009

Hatoyama silent on funds probe

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama remained mum Tuesday on his ever-widening fundraising scandal, saying he trusts prosecutors to judge whether he is liable for any misconduct.

Longform

Atsuyoshi Koike, the president and CEO of Rapidus, says there is a “sense of urgency” when it comes to Japan’s efforts in manufacturing semiconductors. “We have to make sure we are successful,” he says.
Atsuyoshi Koike’s big game: Fourth down and 2 nanometers to go