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Nobuko Mizutani
For Nobuko Mizutani's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Jan 12, 2014
Washoku added to UNESCO heritage list
Washoku, traditional Japanese cuisine, has been added to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list, raising the government's hopes of enhancing its global recognition, attracting more foreign tourists and boosting exports of the country's agricultural products.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Jan 5, 2014
Students getting less exercise
Nearly a quarter of second-year junior high school girls nationwide do no exercise at all except in physical education classes at school, according to a government survey released Dec. 14.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Dec 29, 2013
An automatic brake demonstration
At a car dealership in Fukaya City, Saitama Prefecture, an accident took place on the 10th, while the automatic brakes of a Mazda car were being demonstrated. Mazda announced on the 12th that it will voluntarily refrain from offering such test drives until the cause is made clear.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Dec 22, 2013
Duty-free goods for foreign travelers
The government has started to consider that the list of duty-free articles, which foreign tourists can buy without paying consumption tax, should be expanded.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Dec 15, 2013
Unordered merchandise scam
The joint investigation headquarters of four prefectures, including Saitama, arrested 11 people on the 30th, including former employees of Kenbi Food, a health supplement company, for their involvement in a false-order swindle.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Dec 1, 2013
A record number of typhoons
The fifth typhoon in O ctober is approaching Japan, the most in the history of observation. According to the Meteorological Agency, the number of typhoons coming to Japan in October is 1.5 times that of an ordinary year; the four in 1955 and 2012, respectively, were the most so far.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Nov 24, 2013
An extraordinary session of the diet
The 185th extraordinary session of the Diet was convened on the 15th. For 53 days to Dec. 6, arguments between the ruling and opposition parties will be carried out over various bills.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Nov 17, 2013
Pink Crown cars popular with women
Toyota Motor Corp. announced on the 2nd that its special-edition pink Crown, a high-class sedan put on sale only for September, had received 650 orders.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Nov 3, 2013
Increased women's power in the police
The Metropolitan Police Department has worked out guidelines in an effort to provide a good working environment for women so that women's abilities and viewpoints can be utilized, and has started to consider concrete measures to tackle this problem.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Oct 27, 2013
How young people view the future
Ima-no seikatsu-ni manzoku, demo Nihon-no mirai-wa keizaiteki-ni fuan... Wakamono-no ōku-ga sonna ishiki-wo motte-iru koto-ga Kōseirōdōshō-no chōsa-de wakari-mashita. 3-gatsu-ni 15-sai-kara 39-sai-wo taishō-ni ishiki-chōsa-o okonai, 3-zen-nin-amari-kara kaitō-wo emashita. Ima-no seikatsu-ni "manzoku"-to kotaeta-nowa, zentai-no yaku 63-pāsento-de, manzoku-no saidai-no riyū-wa "kazoku, koibito, yūjin-nado-ga iru," "shumi-ga aru," nado, seishintekina juujitsu-ga yaku 83-pāsento-wo shime, "keizaiteki-ni yutaka"-no yaku 6-pāsento-wo ōkiku uwamawarimashita. "Nihon-no mirai-wa akarui-ka"-no toi-niwa,"sō omō"-no yaku 19-pāsento-ni-taishi, "omowanai"-wa yaku 45-pāsento. "Omowanai" riyū-de ōkatta-nowa "zaisei-akka-de iryō, nenkin-no kyūfu-ga sagari, zeikin-ya shakai-hokenryō-no futan-ga fueru"-deshita.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Oct 20, 2013
Disaster prevention day
On Sept. 1, the Day of Disaster Prevention, training was carried out in many areas. This is the 90th year since the Great Kanto Earthquake. In some places, participants had to prepare to face many dead bodies in the worst situation, and in other places they sought for ways to deal with a coming crisis by setting up various situations.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Oct 13, 2013
Japan's decreasing population
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications made public on the 28th that the population of Japan based on the basic register of residents as of the end of March this year was 126,393,679.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Oct 6, 2013
Hearing on the tax rise
An intensive meeting began on the 26th at the prime ministeru2019s office to examine economic and financial future trends. It will hear from 60 people composed of delegates from various fields, including economic specialists and experts, as to the raising of the consumption tax by the Abe administraion.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Sep 29, 2013
Majority of students experience bullying
The National Institute for Educational Policy Research (NIER) announced on the fifth that according to a survey it had conducted, only 30 percent of students are free from being bullied in junior high school.

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