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COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 7, 2014

Lessons for fixing Fukushima

In March 2011 all of Japan was united by the terrible experience of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident. Three years later this unity is increasingly fracturing as a more uneven reality emerges.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 7, 2014

Russia's Potemkin Olympic village

Even if the Sochi Games pass off successfully and, despite the security restrictions and official bigotry, athletes and visitors enjoy their stay, will Russia's brief display of national pride really be worth the financial and political cost?
EDITORIALS
Feb 7, 2014

NHK's credibility at stake

Two of the more recent appointees to the NHK Board of Governors show their stripes so to speak by denying that the 1937 Nanjing Massacre happened, on one hand, and writing an essay in praise of the Emperor as a 'living god' on the other. Might employees for Japan's national broadcaster start to feel pressure to develop programs from a particular perspective?
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Feb 7, 2014

Female scientists push for breakthrough in equality

Recent news that Haruko Obokata of Riken's Center for Developmental Biology found a new way to generate pluripotent cells cast a spotlight on women in the male-dominant field of science.
BUSINESS / Japan Pulse
Feb 7, 2014

Bandai's projection-mapping candy toy: Hako Vision

A toy, its cardboard box and your smartphone are all you need to projection-map at home.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Feb 6, 2014

Hanyu chosen for team competition

Grand Prix Final champion Yuzuru Hanyu will represent Japan in the men's singles portion of the inaugural Olympic Games figure skating team competition, it was revealed on Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 6, 2014

'Mogura no Uta: Sennyu Sosakan Reiji (The Mole Song: Undercover Agent Reiji)'

Directors in a profitable rut often feel the urge to try something new, even though the box office tells them to keep making the same old. Sometimes a change of genre can work wonders. After grinding out 48 episodes of the "Tora-san" dramedy series, Yoji Yamada ventured into the feudal past for the first...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 6, 2014

SMBC angles for housing units for seniors before health care REIT IPO

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. is seeking to buy about ¥10 billion in senior housing properties before taking its health-care real estate investment trust public.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 5, 2014

Yokohama's annual feast of TPAM

As befits its designation as a "Cultural City of East Asia 2014," Yokohama is about to host Japan's foremost annual platform for contemporary performing arts.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 5, 2014

'Hina Dolls of the Mitsui Family'

In Japan, girls are traditionally given hina doll sets, which are put on display throughout the Hinamatsuri (Girls' Festival) season in March each year. Usually, each girl of the family will receive her own set, which she keeps throughout her life.
Reader Mail
Feb 5, 2014

Atrocities in the name of tradition

There are hundreds of distressing images of Taiji that are being circulated worldwide in a growing wave of anti Japanese feeling.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Feb 5, 2014

Herb Brown to receive NABC Lifetime Achievement Award

Herb Brown, a longtime fixture in the NBA and global basketball, has been tabbed for special recognition by the National Association of Basketball Coaches.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 4, 2014

Butcher Brothers: Quality meat dishes that won't break the bank

Rib steak, bangers and mash, lamb chops, simmered tripe: At Butcher Brothers, meat is much more than just an option; it's the main event, the reason you're there. And with a name like that, what else would you expect?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 4, 2014

First female conductor at NNTT performs 'Madama Butterfly'

Japanese audiences, especially women, may have mixed feelings about Giacomo Puccini's opera "Madama Butterfly."
EDITORIALS
Feb 3, 2014

New horizon in stem-cell research

A team of scientists led by 30-year-old Dr. Haruko Obokata has challenged the established theory in biology that it is impossible to reprogram specialized cells to become stem cells without tampering with cell nuclei.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Feb 3, 2014

The housing conundrum: To own or not to own

The population is not increasing and there's a shrinking pool of potential buyers for the home you bought 20 years ago, or 10 years ago, or even yesterday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 3, 2014

Workers stumble while 'Abenomics' soars

Japanese stocks and profits are soaring under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's push to revive the economy. Even shop prices are up, a key step after years of deflation kept pocketbooks shut tight. None of that matters to Shuzo Matsui.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 2, 2014

It's never too early to start juken

It's that time of year again, when hundreds of thousands of soon-to-be high school graduates are busy taking university entrance exams for the coming academic year. This activity is commonly known as juken (受験), and usually translated into English as "taking an examination." The translation is somewhat...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Feb 2, 2014

Post-school life can bring visa complications

After The Japan Times published a Lifelines column on Dec. 15 that focused on visa issues, we received a lot of mail from readers asking about their particular individual situations. We would like to stress that it is always best to have a professional look at personal cases.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Feb 1, 2014

Tsuruga: truly a 'port of humanity'

The man in the black-and-white photograph wore a dark jacket with wide lapels. His hair was cut short and parted to one side. His eyes were directed toward the camera as if he were looking directly at me. I recognized him immediately: Chiune Sugihara, the Japanese vice-consul in Lithuania who helped...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Feb 1, 2014

War against stalkers broadens its aims

If you would, dear reader, please take a moment of your time today and let Prime Minister Shinzo Abe know that you'd like him to treat Japan's stalking problem seriously. Let him know that you'd like the Diet to make real laws that would protect the women who are subject to harassment, humiliation, injury...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Feb 1, 2014

For Japan's foreign residents, the little things make such a big difference

American political ideals may be grander, European philosophy may be deeper, Islamic faith may be firmer than anything native to Japan — but Japan, perhaps uniquely, knows the value of small things.
CULTURE / Books
Feb 1, 2014

Heart of a Samurai

Heart of a Samurai, Margi Preus, AMULET BOOKS
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS / NFL NOTEBOOK
Feb 1, 2014

Game plans key for both Seahawks, Broncos

Now New Jersey is ready for Super Bowl Sunday.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 1, 2014

Hurdles stall peace efforts in Phillipines

The Philippine government faces challenges implementing an accord aimed at ending decades of conflict in resource-rich Mindanao, with the risk of violence from Muslim rebel groups not included in the deal and private armies in the area.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Jan 31, 2014

X League's Deers begin new life as club team

In 2014, the Deers will play in new colors — orange and white.

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo