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Eric Talmadge
For Eric Talmadge's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
JAPAN
Apr 12, 2011
Rescuers finally save aged man trapped in no-go area
MINAMISOMA, Fukushima Pref. — The farmhouse sits at the end of a mud-caked, one-lane road strewn with toppled trees, the decaying carcasses of dead pigs and large debris deposited by the March 11 tsunami.
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2011
Rural sports complex turns into base camp for nuclear workers
FUKUSHIMA — At the edge of a no-man's land around the Fukushima No. 1 reactor complex lies a grassy athletic village that now serves as base camp for an army of workers battling the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 24, 2011
Preparation for nuke crisis woeful
FUKUSHIMA — When the massive earthquake and tsunami rocked the northeast March 11, residents who had been prepared by years of drills knew exactly what to do: They scrambled for cover until the shaking stopped, then ran for higher ground to avoid the giant waves.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 25, 2011
Battling U.S. for huge deal, Eurofighter woos Japan
In a deal that could be worth billions of dollars and determine one of the primary fighter jets in Asia for decades to come, European aircraft makers are trying to get Japan to do something it has never done before — snub America.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 19, 2011
Tabloids feast on Imperial family foibles
Emperor Akihito is a quiet, studious type. The paragon of respectability. But, oh, what a family!
JAPAN
Feb 18, 2011
Space station may get chatty, tweeting JAXA humanoid robot
Lonely astronauts on the International Space Station may soon be getting an android friend from Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 17, 2011
U.S. submariners learn to live without smokes
YOKOSUKA, Kanagawa Pref. — When the USS Charlotte arrived for a recent port call, some of its crew were surely relieved to find themselves in Japan, traditionally a smoker's haven.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 15, 2010
Kan takes in Iwojima graves hunt
Making only the second trip ever by a serving prime minister to the site of the Battle of Iwojima, Naoto Kan paid his respects Tuesday to the more than 21,000 Japanese soldiers killed in one of World War II's bloodiest battlegrounds — and one that after 65 years is still giving up its dead.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2010
Iwojima mementos bring closure
For decades, the faded photograph of a baby Japanese girl and a child's colorful drawing hung on a wall in the home of Franklin Hobbs III in America.
JAPAN
Aug 25, 2010
When scores of centenarians fall off radar
Japan prides itself on the world's longest life expectancy but is struggling with a disturbing footnote to that statistic — revelations that hundreds of people listed as its oldest citizens are either long dead or haven't been heard from for decades.
JAPAN
Jul 17, 2010
Sumo's seamy underbelly
NAGOYA — Sumo is more than a sport to Japan. It's like a religion, a bastion of traditional culture and a matter of national pride. Wrestlers aren't just athletes — they are icons, role models and, often, larger-than-life heroes.
JAPAN
Apr 9, 2010
Japan gets U.S. pitch to buy spy drones
The U.S.-made RQ-4 Global Hawk spy plane looks like an upside-down double-decker bus with wings, flies slowly, offers zero leg room — and is one of the most coveted pieces of military technology in the world.
JAPAN
Feb 25, 2010
Japan starting to balk at footing bill for U.S. forces
GINOWAN, Okinawa Pref. — In Japan, where land is a precious commodity, many U.S. bases boast golf courses, football fields and giant shopping malls whose food courts offer everything from Taco Bell to Subway to Starbucks.
JAPAN
Jan 7, 2010
Okinawans frustrated by Futenma standoff
GINOWAN, Okinawa Pref. — When the U.S. took over the airfield here in the closing days of World War II, it was surrounded by sugar cane fields and the smoldering battlegrounds of Okinawa. It is now the focus of a deepening dispute that is testing Japan's security alliance with the United States and dividing the Hatoyama government.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 22, 2009
JCP basks in discontent as faith in capitalism crumbles
Under a big red flag, the Japanese Communist Party's headquarters stand as the center of a vibrant grassroots movement.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 12, 2009
Nation grapples with pot-smoking sumo wrestlers
Sumo wrestlers with pot bellies, yes. Sumo wrestlers with pot? Now that's harder to grapple with.
JAPAN
Nov 8, 2008
Ashes of USS Indianapolis survivor buried at sea
YOKOSUKA, Kanagawa Pref. — When the submarine USS Ohio surfaced at sea and Machinist Mate 1st Class Jason Witty emerged from the hatch to look around, he saw calm, blue water under a peaceful sky — perfect for the solemn task he was about to perform.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2008
Critics dispute Michelin regard for Tokyo
Paris might still be good if you've got a big wad of cash and want the best of the best. But Tokyo is really where it's at foodwise, at least according to the French people who keep track of these things.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 7, 2008
Tokyo's Lolita scene all about escapism
The look is weird, and very Tokyo.
JAPAN
Jun 17, 2008
Akihabara attack threat lost in message deluge
To most of Japan, the deadly stabbings in Tokyo on June 8 were an incomprehensible act of sudden and indiscriminate violence.

Longform

A statue of "Dragon Ball" character Goku stands outside the offices of Bandai Namco in Tokyo. The figure is now as recognizable as such characters as Mickey Mouse and Spider-Man.
Akira Toriyama's gift to the world