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Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Feb 10, 2014

Japan's leather industry, almost as tough as old boots

In his east Tokyo workshop, across the Sumida river from Asakusa Station, Katsuhiko Nakano is surrounded on all sides by bags and tools. He is one of the few leather craftsmen in the city who makes goods by hand.
EDITORIALS
Feb 10, 2014

Obstacles to green energy expansion

The review of the feed-in tariff system should not be perfunctory. The government should make serious efforts to remove obstacles to the expansion of renewable energy sources.
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Feb 9, 2014

Honto-ni yoku nite-iru

Today we will introduce various meanings and usages of adverb u3088u304f(well). u3088u304fis the adverbial form of adjective u3088u3044/u3044u3044 (good) and is used as an adverb in various meanings.
Japan Times
JAPAN / WEDGE
Feb 9, 2014

Eco-labels urged to save endangered marine life

2013 highlighted the decline in Japan's fishery resources, with baby eel trading at ¥3 million per kilogram — more expensive than silver — and the catch quota of bluefin tuna being slashed at the December meeting of the Commission for the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks...
EDITORIALS
Feb 8, 2014

Democrat rocks Obama's boat

Opposition by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the top-ranking Democrat in the upper house of Congress, to executive Trade Promotion Authority is a blow to President Barack Obama's plans for the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Feb 8, 2014

Kamikazes live on at their Chiran base

As a child growing up in California in the 1980s, I learned my share of Japanese words. Sushi, which my family would get for a treat on birthdays. Mochi (chewy rice cake), ramen and karaoke — all encountered at the Japanese shopping arcade downtown.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Feb 8, 2014

Railroading debt into Laos

The first time I decided to fly to Vientiane, I was faced with a tossup between a Lao Airlines twin-prop or Aeroflot Soviet Airlines.
BUSINESS / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
Feb 8, 2014

First cracks appear in Abe's PR campaign

Japan stormed back in 2013. Even the staunchest critics of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have had to admit that his administration managed to achieve roaring success in its first year. This success owes much to a shift of perception based on an excellently devised and executed public relations strategy....
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 7, 2014

John Kerry: a 'magnificent' U.S. secretary of state

The indefatigable U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has been astoundingly discreet as a Mideast peace broker. Not a hint of what has been said in private has leaked into the public domain, yet there is almost no hope of a real peace deal.
Japan Times
LIFE / Japan Showcase / GREAT TAMBA AREA
Feb 7, 2014

Walking in the steps of samurai

There is no embellished castle tower to keep watch over Sasayama, a city ringed by the mountains of central HyogoPrefecture. Only thick stone walls mark the site where an early 17th-century fortress stood. Even in those days, the castle keep was a relatively unimpressive construction when compared to...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 6, 2014

Tokyu launches Shibuya info page

Private railway Tokyu Corp. has opened a new Facebook page in five different languages to cash in on foreign interest in Shibuya, the soul of Japanese entertainment and youth fashion.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 6, 2014

Hollande's split may scar the female electorate

French President Francois Hollande's glacial dismissal of the 'official' First Lady — 18 words long, including three uses of the personal pronoun 'I' — will do him no good with the French electorate.
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
LIFE / Lifestyle / CHILD'S PLAY
Feb 6, 2014

Exploring a land designed with children in mind

There are pros and cons to raising a child in the heart of one of the most densely populated places on the planet.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 4, 2014

South Korea's Japanese mirror

Japan and South Korea have similar social and economic problems. The difference is that South Korea may still have time to ameliorate some trends and avoid a quagmire of permanent low growth and long-term decline.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO BAR ADVENTURE
Feb 4, 2014

Share a premium cocktail with man's best friend

Bar Black Sheep is a gem hidden in the middle of Shibuya for those who want to drink premium cocktails without having to empty their wallet. Customers are first greeted by the owner's dog, an adorable Shiba Inu that goes by the name Hana-chan and enjoys a pat on the head while you sip on the bar's original...
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Feb 3, 2014

Tokyo: What do you make of the Japan Sumo Association's decision to charge fans $120 to watch live tournaments online?

The Japan Sumo Association has just introduced a pay-per-view system for live streams of top tournaments. Costing $10 per day and $15 for the final day, or $120 for the entire tournament, the concept drew sharp criticism from overseas fans.

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