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Mari Yamaguchi
For Mari Yamaguchi's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 11, 2011
End to crisis is years, fortune away
Once Japan's leaky nuclear complex stops spewing radiation and its reactors cool down, making the site safe and removing the ruined equipment is going to be a messy ordeal that could take decades and cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 9, 2010
Prisons trying to cope with swelling elderly population
ONOMICHI, Hiroshima Pref. — Handrails run down the middle of the hallway to help prisoners make their way from one end to the other. Adult diapers are neatly stacked in a corner. When an inmate chokes on his rice and coughs, a supervisor rushes over to rub his back.
JAPAN
Jul 15, 2010
Progressive agenda stuck in the mud
Happily for Yoko Sakamoto, she didn't have to argue with her husband — also a Sakamoto — about whose last name they'd use when they married.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 9, 2010
Is Japan-bashing behind Toyota's U.S. woes?
Despite the criticism leveled against Toyota over car safety, Japanese still largely view the world's largest automaker with pride — so much so that some wonder whether pressure on Toyota in the U.S. is a ploy to boost American automakers and undermine Japan Inc.
JAPAN
Oct 10, 2009
Divorced fathers fight for right to see children
On Christmas Eve two years ago, Masahiro Yoshida returned to his home to find it empty. His wife had fled with their 2-year-old daughter and was seeking a divorce.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 4, 2009
First lady grabs spotlight with spiritual quirks
The next prime minister is known for being bland in his speeches. His wife, however, is anything but.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 4, 2009
Futenma shift puts Hatoyama, U.S. ties to test
The next prime minister faces a possible showdown with Washington over a plan to relocate a U.S. air base in Okinawa and in the process move thousands of U.S. Marines from the prefecture to Guam, as he tries to remake his country's relationship with the U.S. while maintaining their strong alliance.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 7, 2009
Aso's kanji conundrums spur self-reflection, textbook sales
Reading Japanese isn't easy — even for Japanese.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 18, 2009
Company housing custom swells homeless ranks
In corporate Japan, losing your job can mean losing your home as well.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2009
Discrimination claims die hard in Japan
As the United States welcomes its first African-American president, Japan is still struggling with prejudices that are preventing it from breaking ancient taboos and installing a minority as its leader, some say.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 14, 2009
Japan scores first commercial satellite order
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has won its first commercial order to launch a satellite on an H-IIA rocket, a deal that officials hope will grow into a business that could support Japan's cash-strapped space program.
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.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 7, 2008
Crown Princess panned for living high life
First, Crown Princess Masako feasted on classy Mexican fare from a 13-dish special menu in her honor. Then it was roast duck and shark's fin soup at a top Chinese eatery. A month later, she enjoyed a sumptuous repast at a French restaurant where the course featured exquisite black truffles.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 31, 2008
High mercury level warnings fail to put Japanese off tuna
Kazuhiro Ukiuchi loves his tuna sushi, and he tries to have it once a week — despite the common knowledge in Japan the popular fish can contain toxic mercury.
JAPAN
Sep 6, 2007
Anger brews over dubious social security system
confers with Social Insurance Agency consultant Kiyoshi Kawaguchi at an agency branch office last month. AP PHOTO
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2007
Comics defying taboos, ditching slapstick for political satire
listens to ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Yasuhide Nakayama during a taping of Ota's weekly "news" show at NTV in Tokyo in May. AP PHOTO
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 1, 2007
Despite economic recovery, suicide rate remains high
The hanging death of the farm minister this week grimly underscored the country's stubbornly high suicide rate — and the government's struggle to discourage large numbers of Japanese from killing themselves.
JAPAN
Feb 18, 2007
Author of book on Masako slams Kodansha for backing out
The author of a book on Crown Princess Masako criticized a Japanese publishing house Saturday for its decision to cancel a translation of his biography following protests by the government, calling the step a "blatant attack on freedom of speech."
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 17, 2007
Ultra-rightist tilt posing clear, present danger to free speech
When ruling party lawmaker Koichi Kato criticized Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's annual visits to Yasukuni Shrine, retribution from the rightwing was swift: An extremist set his house on fire and tried to commit ritual suicide.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 20, 2006
Quiet Tokyo neighborhood may be sitting on gruesome secret
The Toyama No. 5 apartment block is quiet at midday -- laundry flapping from balconies, old people taking an after-lunch stroll. But the building and its nearby park may be sitting on a gruesome World War II secret.

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