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JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 16, 2011

Average Joe could be collateral damage in war against yakuza

The war against the yakuza was raised a notch higher at the start of the month, but not everyone is happy about it.
COMMENTARY
Oct 6, 2011

Dams muddy China's image

China's frenzied dam building at home and abroad is emerging as a flash point in inter- and intrastate relations in Asia. Burma's decision to suspend work on a controversial Chinese-funded dam marks a tactical retreat on a project that has symbolized China's resource greed and is a trigger for renewed...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Oct 4, 2011

Buying a brand new home: cookie cutter or order made?

We went for the six-pack of beer, which the manufactured-housing company was giving away to the first 10 people who came to inspect its new model homes. Competition is fierce among Japan's many manufactured home builders, and the one we were visiting is No. 10 in terms of units sold per year, though...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Oct 4, 2011

Mascot menagerie: from the practical to the satirical

In the Aug. 30 Light Gist column, headlined "Mascots on a mission to explain the mundane," Colin P. A. Jones explored the marvellous menagerie of mascots deployed by Japanese authorities to educate adults and children alike about the law and the workings of government.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / ONE-ON-ONE WITH ...
Oct 3, 2011

Scoring standout, defensive ace Parker brings fresh energy to Shimane

The Japan Times features periodic interviews with players in the bj-league. Michael Parker of the Shimane Susanoo Magic is the subject of this week's profile.
EDITORIALS
Oct 3, 2011

Driving 'safe' through the Diet

The latest extraordinary Diet session, which started after the Cabinet led by Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda was inaugurated, ended on Friday. Mr. Noda put priority on "safe driving" in the Diet — that is, minimizing controversial or problematic statements by him and his Cabinet members when they answer...
Reader Mail
Oct 2, 2011

Downside of higher tobacco tax

One point of agreement on the Sept. 27 editorial "Health side of tobacco tax" — the Japanese government should sell its shares of Japan Tobacco as well as all shares of any other private company it owns. Governments have no business taking stakes in private companies because it will inevitably cause...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 30, 2011

Foreign volunteer group helps brewers to rebuild

Earlier this month, a group of 18 international volunteers participating in a cultural exchange program got a crash course in sake production at breweries in Miyagi and Iwate prefectures. The program, organized by Britain-based student organizations Action for Japan UK and the Japan Affairs Forum, ran...
BUSINESS
Sep 30, 2011

Sparx to start hotel fund for disaster-hit areas

Sparx Group Co., Asia's second-largest hedge fund, is starting a fund that will invest in building hotels in parts of Japan devasted by the March 11 catastrophe.
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA
Sep 29, 2011

Chim↑Pom and the art of social engagement

Most commercial art galleries in Tokyo — or anywhere in the world, for that matter — would be happy to get 100 visitors through the door in a day. Artist collective Chim↑Pom's most recent exhibition, "Real Times," which was held over six days in May at Mujin-to Production in Tokyo's Koto Ward,...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 28, 2011

Libyan effect on protection

The invocation of the responsibility to protect (R2P) in Libya has drawn surprisingly intense criticism.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 27, 2011

A compact guide to guidebooks on Japan

Despite the Internet revolution and resultant websites and blogs offering information about every conceivable aspect of any country you'd care to name, many people make sure a copy of their favorite guidebook is in their $500 suitcase or $5 backpack before boarding a plane.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / LIGHT GIST
Sep 27, 2011

No-nos for Noda: Japan's top 10 most useless PMs

On Sept. 2, Yoshihiko Noda was appointed the 95th prime minister of Japan, the sixth man (and they have all been men) to hold the job in five years. To mark this occasion and offer lessons to the new Democratic Party of Japan chief on how not to lead the country, the Community Page asked 10 writers to...
COMMENTARY
Sep 26, 2011

Divining the will of a Russian puppet master

"He took off the Kremlin dog collar," said a friend of Mikhail Prokhorov, Russia's third-richest man, as the political party Prokhorov had founded to run against Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in the December elections blew up in his face this month.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Sep 25, 2011

Humble pie notably absent from the food fancies of worthies and others

Food is a staple fare of the media, whether in the form of recipes, restaurant reviews or photographs of meals to die for. Food is health; food is economics; food is culture; but food is also politics.
Japan Times
LIFE
Sep 25, 2011

Students' skills help to forge a new Tohoku

In late July, when the students of Osaka Institute of Technology's Department of Architecture first arrived at the tiny port of Oharahama, an air of negativity hung over the conversation of the locals.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Sep 23, 2011

Tea ceremonies give a taste of old-style charm

While chaseki (tea ceremony) has been, since the Edo Period, a time to respect the manners and spirits behind all elements of the activity, it sometimes seems intimidating for beginners because of its formalities. Tokyo Culture Creation Project has tried to demystify the tea ceremony and invite people,...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 21, 2011

Where we all should mind our own business

One of the more regressive proposals in this still-young U.S. presidential election season comes not from a candidate but, rather, from a journalist, specifically Bill Keller, the departing executive editor of the New York Times. In a recent column, Keller asserted that candidates should be subjected...
EDITORIALS
Sep 21, 2011

Beefing up the middle class

As the graying of the population progresses and the birth rate hovers at a low level, cracks are appearing in Japan's social security system, including medical and nursing care services and pensions.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 20, 2011

Osama bin Laden made news, not history

Ten years after 9/11, the instant history is being written. In the French newspaper Le Monde, a highly intelligent commemorative supplement dubbed the period "The Decade of Bin Laden." But is that right?
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 19, 2011

Building a free, democratic Libya

For decades, the possibility of a Libya without Moammar Gadhafi'seemed just a dream. But today, Tripoli's central square is adorned with the three colors of the pro-democracy forces flag.
Reader Mail
Sep 18, 2011

LDP can't knock prime minister

Regarding the Sept. 15 front-page article "LDP slams Noda over ministers' miscues": While I agree that remarks by former trade minister Yoshio Hachiro were out of place at best, I don't believe that Liberal Democratic Party President Sadakazu Tanigaki or his opposition party are in a position to slam...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Sep 18, 2011

Is permanent connectedness really something we all need?

An Associated Press report of Apple Inc.'s CEO Steve Jobs' resignation last month stated, "Jobs helped change computers from a geeky hobbyist's obsession to a necessity of modern life at work and home." This testifies to Jobs' genius but fails to raise what seems an obvious question: Is it a change for...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Sep 15, 2011

Heal me: Spirituality businesses redefining "religion"

'Spirituality businesses' endeavoring to bring back that old-time religion, Japanese-style.
EDITORIALS
Sep 15, 2011

Tasks set for Mr. Noda

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda in his first policy speech before the Diet on Sept. 13 refrained from talking about eye-catching slogans. Instead he concentrated on listing issues his Cabinet will tackle in earnest — reconstruction from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, putting the Fukushima nuclear...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 15, 2011

Iwate survivors wonder, worry about future

The coastal town of Yamada, Iwate Prefecture, used to have a railway station, cafes, restaurants and medical clinics, but all that remains now are the foundations and twisted iron support bars of buildings.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 15, 2011

"Matthew Herbert"

Matthew Herbert can hardly be called a one-trick pony. Leaving his background in classical violin early on in his career, he has traversed many genres of dance music with his Doctor Rockit, Wishmountain and Herbert aliases. He has also conducted his own jazz big band and scored films and dance productions....

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight