Search - information

 
 
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 1, 2008

'Half-alien' group foresees disaster, Japan UFO landing

In December, Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura caused quite a stir with his bold statement that "UFOs definitely exist." In subsequent clarifications, the government claimed that there have been no confirmed sightings, but if a UFO was to appear, "fighter jets would be scrambled to attempt...
BUSINESS
Mar 31, 2008

Group plans to bury Tokyo's elevated 'shuto'

A group of business executives is floating the idea of burying all of Tokyo's elevated highways 60 meters underground. The megaproject also includes a sweeping greening of the space they will leave behind and large-scale redevelopment at key highway ramps.
JAPAN
Mar 29, 2008

Panel calls for direct producer contracts for Defense Ministry

A Defense Ministry internal panel considering procurement system reforms issued a report Friday urging that middlemen be bypassed and encouraging direct contracts with equipment manufacturers.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 28, 2008

Club 8

Johan Angergard should be a major player in the Swedish pop game. He runs the respected indie label Labrador and is a member of three working bands, two of which he leads. Still, he doesn't claim to be much of a scenester.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Mar 28, 2008

Finding the real Okinawa in Yanbaru

The three baby goats frolicking in their enclosure, hewn out of northern Okinawa's itajii (evergreen oak) forest, were having a great time.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 28, 2008

Kings of eccentric theater spoof late-'70s 'Gorenja'

Saru Kingu (Monkey King), a theater group comprising members of Japanese comedy group Super Eccentric Theater along with various special guests, offers up its latest production this week in Tokyo.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 27, 2008

VOCA: A look at the state of 2-D

Given the profusion of events lined up for next week, it's easy to believe that Tokyo is going through a contemporary art renaissance. Since the opening of the Mori Art Museum in 2003, contemporary art has arguably enjoyed a higher profile than it has in the past 30 years in Japan.
Reader Mail
Mar 27, 2008

Unilateral bias hurts Japan

Professor Teruhiko Mano begins his March 24 article, "Chinese frozen food and frigid bilateral relations," by stating that he sees problems with the responses from both the Chinese and the Japanese sides in the poisoned-gyoza case. However, it turns out that Mano one-sidedly slams the Chinese side for...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 27, 2008

Detached or mundane?

The fame that Yosa Buson (1716-1783) enjoyed as a painter and haiku poet in his own lifetime quickly eroded in the years following his death. And while his poetic reputation was restored as early as the 19th century, it was only in the years following World War II that his paintings once again became...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 26, 2008

Scary signs in BOJ debacle

HONG KONG — Even Google couldn't believe it. Asked to supply its best information about Koji Tanami, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's second "best available" candidate to be governor of the Bank of Japan (BOJ), the search engine instantly responded, "Do you mean Bank of Japan tsunami?"
EDITORIALS
Mar 26, 2008

Japan's new ocean policy

The Cabinet has adopted a basic ocean policy program based on the Basic Law of the Sea, which went into effect in July 2007. Lawmakers from the Liberal Democratic Party, Komeito and the Democratic Party of Japan jointly wrote the law, which was enacted in April 2007, to properly develop marine resources...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Mar 26, 2008

Phone imitates MP3 imitates phone

Lighter than Air: Anorexic models might no longer be PC on the catwalks, but laptop computer makers believe that consumers just can't keep their hands off them. As usual, Apple is seen as the trendsetter, thanks to its ultrathin MacBook Air model, which is trumpeted as the thinnest laptop of them all...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 25, 2008

Hawker's kin in Japan to prod manhunt

Visiting Japan a year after her slaying, the parents and sisters of Briton Lindsay Ann Hawker voiced disappointment Monday that the fugitive sought in her killing remains at large.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 2008

Ministry to hold special courses for handling foreign press

The Foreign Ministry will start giving senior officials special training so they can better handle foreign journalists during interviews and news conferences, the ministry said Monday.
BUSINESS
Mar 25, 2008

Big business confidence at all-time low

Business confidence among large Japanese companies fell to a record low in the January-March quarter, reflecting surges in crude oil and other raw materials prices as well as heightened uncertainty surrounding the global economy, a government poll showed Monday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 25, 2008

Pioneering women's center in Osaka slated for closure

Last month, the new governor of Osaka, Toru Hashimoto, announced his plan to shut down and sell or privatize 25 public facilities in a bid to tackle the prefecture's financial crisis. Except for two libraries, no prefectural facilities merit further public funding, argues Hashimoto. Included among the...
COMMENTARY
Mar 24, 2008

Japan peers into the abyss

HONOLULU — It is an item of faith for many Japanese — and many Japan watchers — that their country will never build or acquire nuclear weapons. Japan's nonnuclear status, a product of both the searing experience of August 1945 and a calculation of the strategic value of nuclear weapons, has been...
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Mar 24, 2008

Chinese frozen foodand frigid bilateral relations

Bilateral relations can be complicated by conflicting interests, which makes occasional problems inevitable. What's important, however, is whether the two countries can communicate frankly about the problems, find their causes and resolve them. This is one reason wh countries set up hot lines between...
Reader Mail
Mar 23, 2008

Video of murder suspect too late

I was completely underwhelmed by the March 19 article " 'Wanted' video to go up on Web site," which stated that the Japanese police have just posted a video on their Web site relating to the suspect in the murder of 22-year-old Briton Lindsay Ann Hawker -- a whole year after the murder.

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