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JAPAN
Oct 9, 2009

Gruff maybe, but Nakagawa recalled as hard worker

Although he appeared unfriendly to some, he was in fact a serious, responsible man with delicate sensibilities who studied policies day and night. That is the picture emerging of the late former Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa from interviews with relatives and officials.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Oct 9, 2009

Butoh master Maro finds 'G'

Just seven months after the box-office and critical success of his magnificent and divine dance program "Symphony M," Akaji Maro is set to stage a new production.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BY THE GLASS
Oct 9, 2009

Introducing the Californian dream

Swilling an elegant Pinot around your glass, the landscape before you, verdant with vines, undulates in the soft evening light. The little wine you've imbibed sets your senses aglow as you contemplate the cinematic beauty of California's wine country.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 9, 2009

All aboard for Drive to 2010

It's Aug. 28, 1979, and the audience dutifully files into the old Shinjuku Loft livehouse to take their places, seated on the floor in preparation for another night of quiet musical appreciation. This time, however, something strange starts to happen. People keep coming in, the audience have to shuffle...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 9, 2009

Kengo Kuma's Nezu Museum: an urban haven

"This is the maximum number of people that should ever come in here," says Kengo Kuma, glancing toward a small group of people murmuring quietly in front of a nearby Buddha statue. "It's much nicer when it's empty."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 9, 2009

Tokyo's new space for Chinese photography

In the 1950s American photographer Robert Frank traveled the United States with help from a Guggenheim grant, taking a series of sublime images of people from all walks of life documenting the mediocrity of diners and cocky cowboys to funerals and soulless bus depots.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 9, 2009

It is in the East and Juliet is a ballet dancer named Shoko

Shoko Nakamura, the 29-year-old principal dancer of the Staatsballett Berlin, is back in Japan for a well-earned vacation and to make her debut in a classic role.
JAPAN
Oct 8, 2009

LDP off the policy autopilot: Ishiba

Now that they find themselves in the opposition camp, Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers will have to undertake policymaking with far greater vigor than in the days when the party was in power, the newly appointed LDP Policy Research Council chairman said.
MORE SPORTS
Oct 6, 2009

Pennington may return next year

MIAMI (AP) Chad Pennington's shoulder surgery was less extensive than feared, and the Miami Dolphins quarterback should be able to play next season if he so chooses, a person familiar with the results of the operation said Sunday.
COMMENTARY
Oct 6, 2009

Challenges for China concern political future, not economics

NEW DELHI — Six decades after it was founded, the People's Republic of China has made some remarkable achievements. A backward, impoverished state in 1949, it has risen dramatically to now command respect and awe — but such success has come at great cost to its own people.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Oct 6, 2009

Scuba, from Sado to Shikoku

Tim writes: "My girlfriend and I have snorkeled around the coast of Japan — Izu, Shikoku, Sado Island — and now plan to scuba-dive in Okinawa this autumn.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 5, 2009

Why joint initiatives on climate will likely fail

GUATEMALA CITY — A U.N. summit on climate change at the recent U.N. General Assembly meeting was supposed to give momentum for a post-Kyoto Protocol accord to be penned in December in Copenhagen. Indeed, an announcement was made that most leaders agreed that there is an "urgent and significant need"...
Reader Mail
Oct 4, 2009

Abduction of another kind

Regarding the Sept. 30 article "Okada, Yu want to keep pressure on N. Korea": Japan hopes to resolve the fate of Japanese nationals abducted in the past by North Korean agents and looks for other nations' support. Yet, recent news reports indicate that Japan is hiding many kidnapped children from international...
Reader Mail
Oct 4, 2009

Model for priest statue identified

I read Alice Gordenker's Sept. 17 "So, what the heck is that?" column regarding the statue of the Franciscan priest on the premises of the Shinjuku Sumitomo Building in Tokyo. I have often wondered about that statue (titled "Dialogue" by the late sculptor Naoki Tominaga), but never pursued the matter....
EDITORIALS
Oct 3, 2009

Justice review too low-key

Overshadowed by the Aug. 30 Lower House election was the national electoral review of Supreme Court justices held the same day. The review deserves a higher profile. The top court should give information about the justices and their opinions in court rulings more frequently and in a manner easily accessible...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 2, 2009

Bike-share project kicks off

Japan's first community bicycle program kicked off on an experimental basis in Tokyo's Marunouchi business district Thursday with 50 bikes at five locations.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 2, 2009

Metric

Sure it is always an honor to be nominated, but at this point Metric have got to be jonesing for a win. One of Canada's top alt-rock acts, the quartet's fourth full-length, "Fantasies," was shortlisted for this year's Polaris Music Prize (Canada's version of the U.K.'s Mercury Prize), but the band left...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Oct 2, 2009

45th anniversary food fairs

The Hotel New Otani Tokyo is celebrating its 45th anniversary with a variety of culinary fairs, including the 45th Anniversary Premium Kaiseki dinner at Kato's Dining & Bar through Nov. 2.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Oct 2, 2009

Fleisher to hold workshops

Suntory Hall welcomes U.S. pianist Leon Fleisher at a music workshop this month.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 2, 2009

'Akumu no Elevator'

Movies are confidence tricks played on willing victims. The bullets are blanks and the sex is faked, but we usually want to believe, as long as the lights are down, that it's all real. Creating that belief — or rather, that suspension of disbelief — has long been Hollywood's goal.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 2, 2009

Little Boots serves pop a remedy

"I don't know what it is about my music that appeals to the Japanese," says Victoria Hesketh, the British pop sensation better known as Little Boots. "A lot of people in England miss the point, and they're like, 'Oh, it's just pop music.' And the whole point is that I was trying to do something simple...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 2, 2009

Shin hanga bringing ukiyo-e back to life

The great print works of ukiyo-e, by the likes of Hokusai, Hiroshige, and Utamaro, became fine art almost by accident. Originally mass produced for the popular market, their status was roughly equivalent to that of illustrated calendars and posters of pop stars today. But, ironically, the fact that they...
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Oct 2, 2009

45th anniversary food fairs

The Hotel New Otani Tokyo is celebrating its 45th anniversary with a variety of culinary fairs, including the 45th Anniversary Premium Kaiseki dinner at Kato's Dining & Bar through Nov. 2.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Oct 1, 2009

Motherhouse: beyond Fair Trade

By cutting out the middlemen, Tokyo-based Motherhouse has found a way to make the Fair Trade system work like it's supposed to.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 29, 2009

Brace for a possible spring shock

When spring approaches next year, many foreigners in Japan could be in for a rude awakening: From April 1, all those who apply to extend their visa in Japan will be asked to show proof of enrollment in one or other of Japan's main national health systems, the shakai hoken (social health insurance and...

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