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Reader Mail
Jan 18, 2014

Japanese seek Asian friendship

Regarding the Jan. 12 Kyodo article "Abe Yasukuni trip aim not lost on U.S. leaders": It is extremely regrettable that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a surprise visit to the war-related Yasukuni (Dec. 26). He said it was not his intention to hurt the feelings of Chinese and Koreans, but the visit did...
Reader Mail
Jan 18, 2014

Peace-restoring role for Emperor?

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to Yasukuni Shrine was an act of mischief by a peacock of patriotism. Two Japan experts who live on the East Coast of the United States seem less alarmed than distantly concerned.
SOCCER
Jan 18, 2014

Kimura eyes World Cup place

Kosuke Kimura may be Japanese soccer's best-kept secret, but the New York Red Bulls right back is hoping to announce himself on the biggest stage at this summer's World Cup.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 17, 2014

Incumbent leading in Nago race

As voters in Nago, Okinawa, prepare for Sunday's mayoral election, polls show the incumbent, who strongly opposes relocating the Futenma military base to the city's Henoko district, is leading his pro-base rival.
BASKETBALL
Jan 17, 2014

Hamamatsu beats Tokyo for fifth straight win

The Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix are hitting their stride as the second half of the season begins.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS / NFL NOTEBOOK
Jan 17, 2014

Broncos, Patriots bring contrasting styles to AFC title clash

Preparation is something significant in football. Both the Denver Broncos and the New England Patriots know that well and have done it for weeks before the two AFC powerhouses meet each other in the conference final on Sunday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Jan 17, 2014

Coach serves up support for Japan's budding tennis stars

Arriving in Japan in 1986, Colombia-born coach and player Rodrigo Hernandez brought with him a wealth of experience and expertise gained from working with and competing against some of the greats of world tennis. Expecting to stay only a year, he's been coaching here ever since.
Japan Times
Figure Skating / ICE TIME
Jan 17, 2014

Outrage follows decision to leave Nagasu off U.S. team

"To sin by silence when we should protest makes cowards out of men."
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 16, 2014

Hit Hokkaido's slopes for tasty seasonal fare

Kutchan, near Niseko, is probably the only town in Japan where convenience stores stock pinto beans and Vegemite. In fact, Hokkaido's ski paradise, internationally known for its powder snow, is steadily forging a new reputation, one bite at a time.
CULTURE / Film
Jan 16, 2014

'Ender's Game'

The sense of wide-eyed wonder and hopefulness that characterized Orson Scott Card's 1985 sci-fi novel "Ender's Game" is mostly absent in this adaptation, replaced by a knowing, slick competence. Very little rings true, despite Harrison Ford, Ben Kingsley and Viola Davis delivering super-serious performances...
Japan Times
Events / Events In Tokyo
Jan 16, 2014

Tokyo's public transport bureau celebrates 90 years of bus services

Public transport buffs — get ready for Tokyo Metropolitan Government's transport bureau 90th anniversary of city buses.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 15, 2014

'Kaz' Kumagai brings tip-top tap to town

"Anyone can enjoy being be a tap dancer in their daily life; all you have to do is casually make a rhythm with your feet when you're walking down the street," Japan's leading exponent of the art, Kazunori Kumagai, insists — seemingly oblivious to the gulf between him and most of the rest of clod-hopping...
COMMUNITY / Issues
Jan 15, 2014

Three cases, three paths to legitimacy for Supreme Court

When I began studying Japanese, one of my goals was to be able to read the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Japan's version of The Wall Street Journal. Achieving that goal, however, meant realizing that it is possibly The Most Boring Newspaper on Earth.
Reader Mail
Jan 15, 2014

For starters, an encouraging word

Any foreigner who has lived in Japan for any length of time and struggled to learn Japanese knows that the language barrier looms large here. Those of us chipping away at it as English teachers know that our students often feel the same way, but one thing I've noticed is the power of a positive message....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 15, 2014

This special Horse Year kabuki's a real winner

Most kabuki plays have at their core a dramatic historical episode. Around this, there's generally a colorful, oft-times melodramatic and action-packed confection of intrigues, loyalties, romances, self-sacrifice and villainy founded on varying degrees of fact — or simply fashioned as pure fiction....
Reader Mail
Jan 15, 2014

Dodgy contracts cost ALTs

In the Jan. 3 article "Schools fret about assistant teachers ahead of proposed 2020 reforms," the principal of an elementary school praises an assistant language teacher for eating lunch with the children, and seems to imply that those who decline the "offer" to eat together are not the type of ALTs...
Reader Mail
Jan 15, 2014

Recreational reading will score

Regarding the Dec. 31/Jan. 1 article "English to get 2020 push but teachers not on the same page": Experts have criticized Japan's reform plan for English for not including enough hours of English instruction to accomplish its goals. They've also noted the lack of resources and staffing.
Reader Mail
Jan 15, 2014

Hints for winning over tourists

We've just finished hosting some Australian family members for two weeks in Tokyo and Minakami, Gunma Prefecture, including two elementary school-aged children.
Reader Mail
Jan 15, 2014

If only neighbors were customers

On a light note — without any reference to Yasukuni Shrine, the Senkaku islands, "Abenomics," school textbooks, history, etc. — I'd like to say that after living and working here for more than 17 years, I am always interested to discover a facet of the Japanese character that had been unknown to...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 15, 2014

'Missing' U.K. man turns up safe in Britain

Running in fear for his life or just to escape it? A British businessman who mysteriously disappeared from Tokyo last year, sparking speculation of misadventure, has turned up back in England, safe and sound, according to a British media report.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 15, 2014

Suntory 'planning $12 billion bridge loan' to buy Beam

Suntory Holdings Ltd. plans to borrow as much as $12 billion to finance the purchase of Beam Inc., two sources said.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 14, 2014

Blue Hawaii surfs Net to an Asia tour

Though they hail from the same Montreal music scene that spawned crossover electronica star Grimes, the members of Blue Hawaii don't have any illusions about where they rank in the popularity stakes.
EDITORIALS
Jan 14, 2014

Leave those kids alone

The education ministry should rethink its attempt to introduce 'morals' as an official subject of instruction in elementary and junior high schools.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / JAPANESE KITCHEN
Jan 14, 2014

Juiced for a citrus winter

One of my favorite winter pastimes growing up was to snuggle under the futon covering a kotatsu (heated table), doing my homework or watching TV, as I methodically worked my way through a big bowl of Satsuma mikan, the little oval-shaped oranges that are known as clementines or tangerines in the West....

Longform

Koichi Tagawa’s diary entry from Aug. 9, 1945, describes the day of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
The horrors of Nagasaki, in first person