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Japan Times
LIFE
Oct 11, 2009

The long road to identity

A striking fact regarding modern Japanese surnames is their sheer number. There's no precise count, but the consensus is that there are more than 100,000.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 10, 2009

Widow asks Toyota to move now on floor mat accelerator hazard

Two years before the fatal accident that prompted Toyota Motor Corp. to warn 3.8 million U.S. car owners to take out floor mats, Troy Johnson died in a crash also suspected of being caused by a floor mat jamming an accelerator.
SPORTS / BOOS AND BRAVOS
Oct 9, 2009

Kameda clan stoops to a new low

BOO — Good sportsmanship isn't something the Kameda family comprehends. Review the facts from October 2007 to see the stunts the Kameda brothers pulled in the ring.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / CABINET INTERVIEW
Oct 9, 2009

State's Japan Post share selloff must be shelved, Haraguchi says

Freezing the government selloff of its shares in the Japan Post group units is priority-one in revamping the privatization process, Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Kazuhiro Haraguchi said Thursday.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Oct 6, 2009

Scuba, from Sado to Shikoku

Tim writes: "My girlfriend and I have snorkeled around the coast of Japan — Izu, Shikoku, Sado Island — and now plan to scuba-dive in Okinawa this autumn.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Oct 4, 2009

Tracy working miracles for playoff-bound Rockies

"Mile High Miracle, Mile High Magic, Rocky Mountain High, whatever you want to call it, but baseball in Colorado is spectacular again this year." So says Ken Shimada, a Japanese fan living in Denver who dumped the team but is now back at Coors Field as an avid supporter.
Reader Mail
Oct 4, 2009

National health plan preferred

Regarding the Sept. 29 article "Brace for a possible spring shock": I'd just like to say that private health insurance companies can give policyholders a hard time about honoring claims. I had private insurance during my first year in Japan and ended up having to go to a hospital in Iwate Prefecture...
Japan Times
JAPAN / MIXED MATCHES
Oct 3, 2009

Ain't no mountain in the Andes high enough

Hirohito Ota, 39, a freelance writer, is an adventurer by nature.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Oct 2, 2009

45th anniversary food fairs

The Hotel New Otani Tokyo is celebrating its 45th anniversary with a variety of culinary fairs, including the 45th Anniversary Premium Kaiseki dinner at Kato's Dining & Bar through Nov. 2.
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Oct 2, 2009

45th anniversary food fairs

The Hotel New Otani Tokyo is celebrating its 45th anniversary with a variety of culinary fairs, including the 45th Anniversary Premium Kaiseki dinner at Kato's Dining & Bar through Nov. 2.
BUSINESS
Oct 2, 2009

Toyota told to preserve crash data

Toyota Motor Corp., its units, lawyers and any other employees have been ordered by a U.S. judge to preserve all documents about the "crashworthiness" of its vehicles after the carmaker was accused of destroying lawsuit evidence.
BASKETBALL
Oct 1, 2009

West skips Cavaliers' first practice

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio (AP) Less than 24 hours after saying he was focused on basketball, Delonte West skipped Cleveland's first day of practice.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 30, 2009

Learn the coded language all Japanese know

Encoding and decoding may be almost as old as writing itself.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Sep 30, 2009

Perks enhance Sony headphones; Epson pushes postcards

Sound investment: Sony may have long ago surrendered the portable music-player war to Apple, but it still wins in the battle over headphones.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 29, 2009

Why not try a trade system that optimizes each nation's interest?

Many of us thought that the World Trade Organization (WTO) was dead when the world financial and economic crisis demolished the myth of the benefits of free trade regimes, and that the poor of the world could rejoice. But suddenly, by some kind of voodoo trickery, it is back.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 29, 2009

Gaijin health coverage: an appeal for choice

Unless you've just made it to this corner of the world in the last couple of weeks, you're probably well aware of the new visa guideline that's scheduled to go into effect in April 2010. Because of this guideline, foreigners who wish to renew their visa and who are required to be enrolled in social health...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Sep 25, 2009

Bandai and KitKat let patrons get personal

Bandai and KitKat let their patrons get personal with bendy dolls and custom chocolate boxes.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Sep 23, 2009

Murray rips Rawl for reneging on offer to coach Oita

The Oita HeatDevils were in shambles last season, including in the team's front office. Not only did the club manage to lose a league-worst 44 games (it played 52), it also created unnecessary headaches for the bj-league.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Sep 22, 2009

Lifelines lead back to World War II

Seeking an old friend Kevin Roop, writing to us from the U.S., is trying to find an old friend of his 85-year-old father, Vernon Roop, a veteran of World War II who after the war was based with his unit, the 5th AAF, at Tachikawa Air Base in Tokyo.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / WEEK 3
Sep 20, 2009

Mystery on the 'Dark Dinner' menu

One evening in mid-August, a dozen people gathered at Ryokusenji temple in Tokyo's Asakusa district for a meal. But this was to be no regular feast, as the diners sitting shoulder to shoulder with strangers would all be blindfolded and served a series of dishes the organizers would not disclose beforehand....
JAPAN / CABINET INTERVIEW
Sep 20, 2009

Loan moratorium in works: Kamei

Newly appointed financial and postal services minister Shizuka Kamei says lenders have an obligation to help borrowers survive tough times — one reason why he's pushing to pass a bill that would put a moratorium of about three years on loan payments for small and midsize companies.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Sep 20, 2009

Car-sharing catches on as a cheap and cheerful way to go

Thinking of traveling from Tokyo to Osaka? Take a shinkansen bullet train or fly and it will set you back around ¥14,000. But if you share the costs of making the trip by car, you'll likely pay half that or less.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 19, 2009

Tokyo rabbi gives unconditionally

"Whatever we have, we give 100 percent," says Binyomin Edery, the 33-year-old chief rabbi at Chabad House in Tokyo. "Our bank account is at zero! If we have one, we give two; if we have two, we give four. That's what we do."
JAPAN
Sep 17, 2009

Festival to screen Taiji dolphin-slaughter film

Bowing to international pressure, the Tokyo International Film Festival announced Wednesday it will screen the controversial award-winning American documentary about the annual dolphin hunt in Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, at the nine-day event in October.
JAPAN
Sep 17, 2009

Politicians to lead but knowhow of mandarins vital: Hatoyama

New Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama vowed Wednesday to create an administration that will break the strong grip of bureaucrats on policymaking and budgets.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 15, 2009

Did technology kill the KTO star?

In 1977, nine years after Tony Elliott started the then-alternative media London Time Out magazine, Kansai Time Out printed its first issue, an eight-pager with local listings and a smattering of Japan-related articles. Dominic Al-Badri, chief editor from 1997 to 2004, recalls that the info-packed pages...
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS / ICE TIME
Sep 13, 2009

Unhappy alliance: Reeds' mom blasts JSF over funding

The Japan Skating Federation, which has been found wanting in its support of skaters in the past, is once again being called out for its lack of commitment.
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2009

Shattered LDP must pick up the pieces

The collapse of the Liberal Democratic Party empire has cast a dark shadow over party headquarters in Tokyo's Nagata-cho, the political heartland. Stunned by its devastating defeat in the Aug. 30 Lower House election, the LDP lies in pieces.

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