Search - reference

 
 
COMMENTARY
Mar 9, 2012

Breakthrough is close, again

The recent "food for freeze" agreement between the United States and North Korea has been described accurately by the State Department as reflecting "important, if limited, progress" and inaccurately by the media as constituting a "breakthrough" in the seemingly endless march toward Korean Peninsula...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 3, 2012

'Alternative labor' helps Ishinomaki rebuild

Jamie El-Banna, 27, is a self-professed "cynical Londoner" who says he's "not a nice guy" and admits he is known to many as something of a party animal interested mostly in getting drunk. But a look at his recent track record reveals he's now spent over nine months volunteering in tsunami-ravaged Ishinomaki,...
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA
Dec 8, 2011

A look into Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

It is hard to think of fin de siecle Paris without recalling the dancing girls and dandies of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec's colorful prints. It is equally difficult to imagine work by the artist not centered on the city's hedonistic and decadent nightlife.
BUSINESS
Nov 23, 2011

Azumi invites individuals to buy 0.18% quake bonds

The government is going direct to households to finance March 11 disaster rebuilding, offering interest payments about a third lower than what it pays institutional investors.
COMMENTARY
Aug 24, 2011

America's databook is far too valuable to kill

If you want to know something about America, there are few better places to start than the "Statistical Abstract of the United States." Published annually by the Census Bureau, the Stat Abstract assembles about 1,400 tables describing our national condition. What share of children are immunized against...
COMMENTARY / World
May 16, 2011

Bin Laden bled U.S. of a cool trillion

Osama bin Laden must be laughing from his watery grave. In announcing a new policy of "bleeding America to the point of bankruptcy," he mockingly declared in a 2004 video that "It is easy for us to provoke and bait. ... All that we have to do is to send two mujaheddin ... to raise a raise a piece of...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 25, 2011

The high altitudes of airplane aesthetics

Aeronautical science has always been a hotbed of innovative technology. Changes in human society, such as improved global networking and an increase in travelers has meant that aircraft design has always been dynamic, improving to meet passengers' military and others' expectations and demands.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 20, 2011

Flights of fancy: making sense of airfares and ancillary charges

HONG KONG — The dogfight between American Airlines and the online travel agencies that used to be its business partners has important global implications for online ways of doing business. Unfortunately, the real loser will be the person that both sides say they are scrapping for, the airline passenger....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 5, 2011

Less is more for Japan travel buff

Harry Cheng, a globe-trotter who travels about 320,000 km a year, believes a simple list of names is enough to stir people's interest in scenes they haven't seen before. With this belief, he will soon launch a unique travel guide dedicated to recording travel experiences in Japan.
LIFE / Language / KANJI CLINIC
Jan 12, 2011

2010 was a sizzling-hot year for kanji

From June through August of last year, Japan experienced its highest average temperatures on record. So the overwhelming choice of 暑 (atsu-i, sho, hot weather) as Kanji of the Year for 2010 came as no surprise. Day after sweltering day, the nation collectively moaned, "Atsui, atsui!" (「暑い、暑い!」...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 15, 2010

Breaking old conventions to find the new

Ryota Aoki (b.1978) says that he wants to see things that never before existed in ceramics. Personally, too, he is the exemplification of that ethos. We do not usually expect a celebrated ceramicist to be wearing a turban, have both ears pierced and be listening to hip-hop in the background as he sits...
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Sep 12, 2010

Japan's mighty whale mountain

It's enough to make members of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society choke on their tofu burgers. Stocks of frozen whale meat in Japan have reached 4,000 tons — that's 4 million kg.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 1, 2010

Gunma city does battle with beards

I would like to draw readers' attention to the outstanding work of the municipal government of Isesaki, Gunma Prefecture. After receiving complaints that citizens find bearded men unpleasant, Isesaki — just as all levels of Japanese government often do — took decisive action to address an important...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 9, 2010

'Roppongi Crossing' may be better when crowded

At the opening press conference for "Roppongi Crossing 2010," the U.S-based French artist Jules de Balincourt said that he was impressed how the exhibition revealed to him that the contemporary art being produced in Japan could just as easily have been created anywhere in the world — that trends in...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 27, 2010

Toyoda's tears win over Japan

He hasn't bowed in apology. He hasn't resigned. But this week Toyota President Akio Toyoda did perform one of the typical rituals of a Japanese executive under attack: He wept publicly.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 26, 2010

Free yuan without the fuss

HONOLULU, EAST-WEST WIRE — Tensions in U.S.-China relations have been rising recently. Trade spats, alleged Chinese hacking attacks, differences over Internet freedom standards, U.S. arms sales to Taiwan and the meeting between President Barack Obama and the Dalai Lama are all souring the world's most...
EDITORIALS
Feb 24, 2010

GSDF officer out of line

In a Feb. 10 ceremony held at the start of a nine-day joint combat drill in Miyagi Prefecture between the Ground Self-Defense Force and the U.S. Army, Col. Takeshi Nakazawa, commander of the 44th Infantry Regiment of the GSDF's Sixth Division, said, "(The Japan-U.S.) alliance cannot be maintained by...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 3, 2010

Islamic case for religious liberty

ANKARA — Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of the Orthodox Church recently said on American TV that he feels "crucified" in Turkey, upsetting many Turks. Sadly, he is right. Yet his complaint is not with Islam but with the secular Turkish Republic.
JAPAN
Nov 15, 2009

Abductees' kin hail Obama's North stance

needs to change its approach to international society," said Shigeru Yokota, whose daughter, Megumi, was taken to the reclusive country in 1977 at age 13. Yokota, who turned 77 on Saturday, and his wife, Sakie, 73, were among invitees to Suntory Hall in Tokyo where Obama touched on the abduction issue...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 22, 2009

The world's best one-stop shop for Nihongo

"The number of people learning Japanese has increased and is currently estimated to be more than 3 million worldwide," says Nobuyuki Suzuki, deputy manager of a very special store in Tokyo.
JAPAN / CITIZEN JUSTICE
May 14, 2009

Determining sentences seen as lay judges' hardest task

Third in a series
CULTURE / Music
Feb 27, 2009

F-cked Up

To promote the release of their sophomore album, last October's blistering "The Chemistry of Common Life," Toronto punks F-cked Up played a free gig in a New York boutique store. So what's the big deal you're wondering? The sextet's performance lasted a punishing 12 hours and saw them collaborating with...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 27, 2009

F-cked Up

To promote the release of their sophomore album, last October's blistering "The Chemistry of Common Life," Toronto punks F-cked Up played a free gig in a New York boutique store. So what's the big deal you're wondering? The sextet's performance lasted a punishing 12 hours and saw them collaborating with...
Reader Mail
Dec 14, 2008

Soka Gakkai's position on article

Unfortunately, there were a number of errors in the Dec. 2 FYI article "Soka Gakkai keeps religious, political machine humming." As I was interviewed for this article on Nov. 21, I would like to make several points in response.
EDITORIALS
Nov 30, 2008

More horror in Mumbai

Terrorists launched a multipronged siege of the Indian city of Mumbai last week, which left at least 195 people dead and more than 300 wounded. The attacks are an offense against all civilized people and must be roundly condemned. But words alone are not enough. Those responsible for this outrage, and...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 11, 2008

Offering shelter from life's storms

"It's the single most stressful job I've ever had. It's also the best job," says Briar Simpson of Tokyo's Animal Refuge Kansai.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji