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Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 11, 2009

Nissan to promote electric cars in China

Nissan Motor Co., Japan's third-largest automaker, and Renault SA plan to help the Chinese government develop a battery-charging network to promote electric vehicles in the country.
BUSINESS
Apr 10, 2009

Nintendo aims to turn DS device into learning tool, guide

Nintendo Co. said Thursday it will soon introduce a service that teachers can use to send quizzes and other school assignments from their personal computers to students who have the game giant's DS hand-held console.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 10, 2009

Japan Web site a life-time labor of love

When Stefan Schauwecker first launched japan-guide.com in 1996 while still a student in Canada, the Web site only featured an A to Z section on Japanese culture — "just a basic intro to Japan, a guide to look up cultural stuff and a little bit of history," the Swiss native recalled.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 10, 2009

Bach leads Tokyo classical festival

"I told myself to combine the study of commerce and my passion for music," says French producer Rene Martin, who has built on those foundations to pursue his vision of democratizing classical music through the annual spectacular he's named La Folle Journee (Days of Enthusiasm).
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Apr 7, 2009

'Golden parachutes' mark failure of race-based policy

Japan's employment situation has gotten pretty dire, especially for non-Japanese workers. The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry reports that between last November and January, more than 9,000 foreigners asked the Hello Work unemployment agency for assistance — 11 times the figure for the same period...
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Apr 7, 2009

Lotte fans step up to plate to keep Valentine

CHIBA — Bobby 2010.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2009

North Korea fires rocket over Tohoku

North Korea fired a long-range rocket over the Tohoku region Sunday, but Japan did not try to shoot it down because its debris posed no threat to Japanese territory.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Apr 5, 2009

Gender-bender drama, 'Three Kingdoms' spinoff anime, little-known big biz

In Japan, the term "new half" usually refers to a man who becomes a woman through some sort of medical procedure, but on the new daytime drama series, "Mama wa New Half" ("Mom is a New Half") (TV Tokyo, Mon.-Fri., 1 p.m.) it simply describes a man who performs in drag at a special "new-half pub" in Tokyo....
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Apr 5, 2009

Swapping snow for a rain forest

Although there was very little snow this winter here where I live in the Nagano Prefecture hills, it was still good to have an excuse to get away from the cold, and the excuse this time was to present a prize for the writer and illustrator of a book for little children.
JAPAN
Apr 5, 2009

MSDF shoos away suspected pirates

A Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer scared off apparent pirate vessels approaching a Singapore-registered tanker Friday off Somalia, the Defense Ministry said.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 3, 2009

Flogging Molly and Civet

On March 17 every year, millions toast Ireland and its patron saint at St. Patrick's Day festivities around the globe — but few do it with the same ardor as Celtic punk band Flogging Molly.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 3, 2009

'The Bank'

"The Bank" is not only sleek and terrific to look at, it's an action film with a heart. It cares about things like the global economy, rages over the evil-doings of corrupt conglomerates and sheds tears over the collapse of Third World governments. No wonder the lead character, Interpol agent Louis Salinger...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 3, 2009

Pachinko bucks recession trend

In the smoky Maruhan gambling parlor near Shinjuku Station in Tokyo, Shunichiro Nagasawa feeds a ¥1,000 bill into a pachinko machine, helping Japan's biggest gaming industry beat the recession and Las Vegas.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 1, 2009

Mind over matter: Brain waves control Asimo

Imagine controlling a robot with a mere thought. Honda Motor Co. is well on the way to achieving that goal.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Apr 1, 2009

TomoToday can broaden your social-media circles

The Web has been praised for taking publishing to new heights, but it's also pioneered new ways for people to connect and reconnect. In Facebook, Mixi, MySpace and hundreds of other large and small online communities, we're learning new modes of socialization.
BUSINESS
Apr 1, 2009

Takeda to move R&D HQ to U.S.

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. said Tuesday it will move its research and development base from Osaka to the Chicago area as it seeks to release new products before the patent on its best-selling Actos diabetes drug expires.
Japan Times
Events / WHERE IT'S AT
Mar 31, 2009

Scots, fans pay tribute to national hero, poet at Burns birthday bash

The Scots language used in the poems and songs of Robert Burns may make them inaccessible to some, but their message of friendship and celebration remains universal nonetheless.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Mar 29, 2009

A prime-time news contender, Japanese aesthetics and tales of a reformed assassin

The new television season kicks into high gear this week with TBS's bold experiment "Soryoku Hodo The News" ("Combined Power Information The News") (Mon.-Fri., 5:50 p.m.). Though live news shows are as old as television itself, "The News" marks the first attempt by a Japanese commercial broadcaster to...
Reader Mail
Mar 29, 2009

Churlish treatment of a visitor

Letter writers to The Japan Times are such a curmudgeonly lot. In his March 19 letter, Amit Chaturvedi writes "Welcome to the real world" in response to Mikako Hayashi's March 17 complaint about the United Kingdom's marriage visa procedures ("I am not a Pakistani child bride"). His attitude is that others...
JAPAN
Mar 28, 2009

SDF gets intercept order

Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada ordered the Self-Defense Forces on Friday to shoot down any part of a North Korean rocket that might fall toward Japanese territory.
JAPAN
Mar 28, 2009

Tohoku on alert for North Korean rocket debris

Akita Prefecture resident Ritsuko Sasaki is resigned to the possibility that a part of the rocket North Korea is expected to launch early next month could come crashing down in her area.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 27, 2009

Film exposes struggles of Japan's 'hidden' workers

"They said: 'If you get injured, you will be fired immediately.' 'What kind of law is this?' I asked. They said: 'The Company's law.' "

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’