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Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Oct 15, 2011

Golden Kings, Evessa class of the West again

Almost nothing remains the same in the Eastern Conference, as all 10 head coaches this season are in spots that they didn't occupy at this time a year ago.
Reader Mail / The Argument: radioactive water
Oct 2, 2011

Effects of disenfranchisement

In his Sept. 22 letter, "A prevalent form of propaganda," Greg Leviton addresses a number of points that are often brought up concerning issues in the Middle East. Although I appreciate his ardor in support of Israel, many of these topics are more nuanced than appear. For example, Israel is often cited...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 29, 2011

Chinese social media reshape image of Japan

While Chinese mass media tend to focus on negative images of Japan, social media have begun to provide more diversified perspectives since the 3/11 Great Tohoku Earthquake. Social media have allowed Chinese to get to know Japan in a more comprehensive manner.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Sep 24, 2011

Hosts remember victims of Christchurch quake

The powerful earthquake that struck the New Zealand city of Christchurch on Feb. 22 took the lives of many people, including a group of Japanese students from Toyama College of Foreign Languages who were on a monthlong program studying overseas.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Sep 17, 2011

Fuel cell generator for homes takes off

Nagoya-based Toho Gas recently announced that it sold its 1,000th fuel cell unit since the household power generators hit the market in May 2009.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Sep 10, 2011

Makers of roof tiles ride postquake boom

Makers of Sanshu Kawara roof tiles in Aichi Prefecture have been boosting production since the March 11 disasters to meet huge demand spurred by the reconstruction drive.
BUSINESS
Sep 8, 2011

BOJ to maintain 'zero' rate, sees second-half recovery

The Bank of Japan's Policy Board unanimously agreed Wednesday to maintain the current virtually zero-interest rate policy while shunning additional monetary easing to cope with impacts from the recent sharp rise in the yen.
EDITORIALS
Sep 5, 2011

World's biggest blog obsession

Internet users in Japan spend more time reading blogs than any other country in the world, according to a recent study from comScore, a research company measuring the digital world. The average Japanese user spent 62.6 minutes reading blogs during June of this year, when the survey was conducted.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 1, 2011

Sachiko Hara makes her mark in Germany

Tokyo-born Sachiko Hara, 46, was the apple of her ordinary, working-parents' eye. She was encouraged to get a degree in German studies from the prestigious Sophia University, and after that it seemed some sort of high-flying career was hers for the taking.
JAPAN
Aug 30, 2011

Noda pro-U.S. but past remarks may haunt Asia ties

While Japan-U.S. relations will remain the cornerstone of the nation's diplomacy under the leadership of Yoshihiko Noda, the Democratic Party of Japan's newly elected president and the nation's next prime minister, his past comments on war criminals could strain ties in Asia, analysts said Monday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Aug 27, 2011

Aichi training medical interpreters for foreigners

The Aichi Prefectural Government is running a project to train medical interpreters in English, Portuguese, Chinese and Spanish to help improve communication between foreign patients and doctors.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 25, 2011

Harvard talks pump up overseas study, work

Japanese high school students were glued to the screen as a Harvard University student, acting as teacher, clicked on the computer and fused photographs of people's faces, claiming she could create a face people would find attractive.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Aug 21, 2011

Veteran umpire Hirako remembered fondly after passing

Japanese sports papers and various Web sites on Aug. 17 reported the death of former Central League umpire Kiyoshi Hirako.
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Aug 20, 2011

War-era canvases of animals resurface

Wartime-era paintings depicting animals have been stored in obscurity for decades at Nagoya City Art Museum and until recently their existence was unknown to the general population.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Aug 13, 2011

Mie crop-eating deer: venisons of the forest

Wild "shika" deer have caused so much crop damage in Mie Prefecture that they have become fair game — venison, as it were.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Aug 6, 2011

Temp staffer wins maternity leave, via union

When female nonregular workers become pregnant, employers often refuse to renew their contracts. However, a Japanese-Brazilian woman in the Tokai region stood up and joined a local labor union to protest the practice.
JAPAN
Aug 4, 2011

Disaster prep key for companies, APEC affirms

A three-day meeting on disaster preparedness by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum economies wrapped up Wednesday with attendees reaffirming the necessity to formulate and promote business continuity plans to improve risk-management in the private sector.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jul 30, 2011

Nagoya's short-term office rentals brisk

In the wake of the March 11 twin disasters, businesses in Tokyo, including foreign companies, fled the metropolis out of fear of radiation escaping the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, boosting the high-end office rental business in Nagoya.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jul 24, 2011

What a difference a friend's tales of 'hair on the heart' can still make

"Shinzo ni Ke ga Haeteiru Wake" is the intriguing title of a book published in April by Kadokawa. The book was written by my good friend, Mari Yonehara, and its title in English would be "That's Why Hair Grows on the Heart."
CULTURE / Books
Jul 24, 2011

Unraveling the evolution of modern Japan

ROUTLEDGE HANDBOOK OF JAPANESE CULTURE AND SOCIETY. Edited by Victoria and Theodore Bestor with Akiko Yamagata. Routledge, 2011, 325 pp. (hardcover) This is a tremendous book and should jump the queue of all those books on contemporary Japan you have been intending to read. The editors deserve kudos...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jul 23, 2011

Zoos, aquariums weigh power cut, animal safety

While the Tokai region strives to cut electricity use this summer following the shutdown of the Hamaoka nuclear plant in May, local aquariums and zoos must continue to maintain a suitable environment for their fish and animals regardless of the circumstances.
LIFE / Digital / TECH_JAPAN
Jul 20, 2011

Will Japan invite Google+ into its growing circle of social networks?

Despite only being in closed beta testing at the moment, Google's new social-network service, Google+, is rapidly proving to be huge, with more than 10 million users joining since it was announced on June 28. And thanks to their international connections, Net-savvy Japanese too were soon getting invitations...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Jul 17, 2011

Green is good for you — and the Earth

My work often takes me away from my home in Hokkaido, and with every absence I am irked to be missing out on some part of the inexorable seasonal advance. So, each time I return I make a beeline for my local forest to reacquaint myself with the resident and migrant birds, to trace the tracks and signs...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jul 16, 2011

Suzuki not waiting for Tokai quake to make for high ground

At a shareholders' meeting June 29 of Suzuki Motor Corp., the major manufacturer of cars and motorcycles based in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, an investor asked what measures the company is taking against the Tokai earthquake, the long-predicted killer temblor that could hit the region in the near...
EDITORIALS
Jul 10, 2011

Snapshot of current thought

Shinsho (new writing or paperback originals) nonfiction books, written for a general audience by experts on topics of current interest, offer a window on what's on the minds of the Japanese. Judging from recent shinsho best-sellers, that's primarily the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster and the proper...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jul 2, 2011

Nagoya TV tower losing role, future iffy

Nagoya TV Tower in Hisaya Odori Park hopes to remain a tourist draw after its broadcast role ends with the July 24 full changeover to digital from analog broadcasting, but upkeep costs may doom it to the wrecking ball.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jun 25, 2011

Parts makers at mercy of recovery's pace

Kokune Ltd. President Yasushi Kogune is not sure his 55-worker die-casting company will be able to survive until the slump brought on by the March 11 earthquake ends.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past