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JAPAN
Jun 5, 2009

Did media go too far on swine flu?

The swine flu scare seems to be over, at least in Japan and at least for now.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 5, 2009

Discovering an unexpected gem

Skeptic that I am, upon hearing there was an historical exhibition on the lives and art of Japan's Buddhist nuns, I assumed that this would be a drab show of temple artifacts and feminine articles veneered in the dust of incense smoke. As the show is largely curated by Western female academics, I also...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jun 5, 2009

Toilet humor set for Tokyo theater

The title may be cheesy, but there's plenty that's memorable about the content of this politically astute musical, too.
BUSINESS
Jun 2, 2009

Fallout to hit Japan, parts makers acutely

General Motors Corp.'s filing for bankruptcy protection Monday will have a wide impact on Japan's economy, ranging from further reduced U.S. consumption and car sales to fallout hitting the nation's parts makers, experts said.
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2009

Students held in gang rape

KYOTO (Kyodo) Police said Monday they have arrested six male students of the Kyoto University of Education on suspicion of gang-raping a 19-year-old woman at a Kyoto pub.
Reader Mail
May 31, 2009

Obama riding up the wrong track

The May 16 Kyodo article "U.S. wants to study Shinkansen technology" was another perfect example of the bread-and- circus pledges being fed to the American public by the new administration in Washington. This time officials are waving the image of bright new, high-speed rail lines spanning the continent....
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
May 31, 2009

Open mind key to Hillman's success

First excerpt in a two-part series of updated "You Gotta Have Wa"
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
May 31, 2009

Agriculture maverick, a near-death experience and international-marriage drama

As the worldwide recession continues, Japan is seriously reconsidering its agricultural policies in terms of both exports and self-sufficiency. Moreover, ways must be found to encourage young people to make careers out of farming.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
May 31, 2009

Agriculture maverick, a near-death experience and international-marriage drama

As the worldwide recession continues, Japan is seriously reconsidering its agricultural policies in terms of both exports and self-sufficiency. Moreover, ways must be found to encourage young people to make careers out of farming.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 29, 2009

Brahman

You might expect a band named after the Sanskrit term for "absolute reality" to be a bit, well, pretentious. But if their moniker is evocative of patchouli, long beards and even longer guitar solos, Brahman's music remains firmly grounded.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 29, 2009

Dissecting the cave on canvas

One of the greatest mysteries of art is what exactly the flat two-dimensional surface of the canvas is, and what it is for. The mundane answer, of course, is that it's a convenient rectangular surface on which to place and display aesthetically pleasing colors and lines. But this does not really explain...
EDITORIALS
May 28, 2009

Deciphering Iran

Tragedy often results when individual lives are caught up in great power politics. When state interests are placed on the scale, individuals are invariably overwhelmed — at best they are pawns in bigger games. It is not yet clear how journalist Roxana Saberi fits into the larger mosaic of U.S.-Iran...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 27, 2009

Appreciating kanji can unleash your inner art critic

As exotic as kanji (Sino-Japanese logographs) may appear to the uninitiated, most of those we encounter in everyday situations are intended to convey notices and other mundane or essential information, such as 禁煙 kin'en (no smoking) or 駅長室 (ekichō-shitsu, stationmaster's office).
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
May 26, 2009

Peru's Fujimori gets his: readers reply

Readers' responses to Debito Arudou's May 5 Just Be Cause column headlined "Fujimori gets his; Japan left shamed":
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 25, 2009

Proposed foreigner card protested

More than 200 people rallied in Tokyo's Shinbashi district Sunday to protest government-sponsored immigration bills they claim would violate the privacy of foreign residents and strengthen government control over them.
BUSINESS
May 25, 2009

Subprime crisis was unleashed by bank-shielding policymakers: expert

The global financial crisis is not the result of the failure of markets but of a series of government policy mistakes — prescriptions for which have been circulating for a long time but were largely ignored, a U.S. expert told a recent seminar in Tokyo.
JAPAN
May 24, 2009

MOX use opposed by Genkai's leery residents

GENKAI, Saga Pref. — Before a two-lane access road was built to connect it with other parts of the prefecture, the village of Genkai, nestled in high hills with deep ravines beside the Sea of Japan, was so remote that even locals called it the "Tibet of Saga Prefecture."
CULTURE / Books
May 24, 2009

The enduring tradition of tanka

WHITE PETALS by Harue Aoki. Shichigatsudo, 2008, 126 pp., ¥1,500 (paper)
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
May 24, 2009

Students share hopes for nation's future environment

Each year on May 5, Japan celebrates Children's Day with waves of young families flooding local parks, playgrounds and amusement centers.
JAPAN
May 24, 2009

Second batch of MOX delivered to Saga reactor

GENKAI, Saga Pref. — The second of three deliveries of mixed uranium-plutonium oxide (MOX) fuel manufactured in France arrived at Kyushu Electric Power Co.'s Genkai No. 3 reactor in northern Saga Prefecture early Saturday morning.
JAPAN
May 23, 2009

Flu policy given more flexibility

The government adopted a new policy Friday that designates infected regions under one of two categories so local governments, hospitals and schools can react with greater flexibility.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’