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COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
May 27, 2013

South Korea's 'export' crisis

South Korea ranks at the bottom of OECD member nations in 'technology trade balance,' which doesn't say much for the design capabilities of manufacturers.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 27, 2013

Bond vigilantes wake investors from voodoo 'Abenomics' trance

The bond vigilantes are getting antsy about Shinzo Abe's shock-therapy program, dubbed "Abenomics."
COMMENTARY / World
May 27, 2013

Hold the false prophets of doom accountable

Apocalyptic prophecies and the raucous festivities accompanying them are indisputably alluring. But imaginary cataclysms have real-world consequences.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
May 26, 2013

Corporal punishment has long history in Japanese sports

Getting slapped by a a coach has always been, as far as I could see, simply another aspect of sports training in Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
May 26, 2013

Kan Yasuda's tactile art brings new life to Bibai

Kan Yasuda's art somehow draws in the landscape, and entices in people, so that it is natural to explore the view through his structures and keyholes, to sit awhile atop a sculpture or to pose within their frames.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
May 26, 2013

Wisteria wanderings in Kameido

Each year, I tell myself I have to make time to enjoy the famed trellises of wisteria blossoms at Kameido Tenjin in Tokyo's eastern Koto Ward. Then, I blow it. This year, I enlist my mother-in-law, who's savvy about such things, to get the timing just right. "It'll be really crowded," she warns.
MORE SPORTS
May 26, 2013

Sato aiming to return Japan spikers to glory

The Japan Volleyball Association appointed 58-year-old Gary Sato as the men's national team head coach in February. Sato is a fourth-generation Japanese-American and is the first foreign volleyball coach for Japan, men or women.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
May 26, 2013

Xenophobia stretches from the street to the dinner table

The territorial disputes between Japan and its nearest neighbors over the islands of Takeshima (Dokdo in Korean) and the Senkakus (Diaoyu in Chinese) have gradually faded from the front pages; but this does not necessarily mean there have been no repercussions.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
May 26, 2013

Mr. Abe: Bag the nukes and heed the Keeling Curve

Dear Prime Minister Abe,
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
May 26, 2013

History shows one man's rape is another's wooing

"The evolution of political thought in this relatively isolated island nation during the period in question is unique to the point of being somewhat freakish."
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
May 26, 2013

A big 'F-ck yeah' from 26-year-old Tumblr CEO on $1.1 billion Yahoo deal

Tumblr Inc. Chief Executive Officer David Karp, a 26-year-old who started the company in 2007, signed a note announcing Yahoo! Inc.'s $1.1 billion acquisition with the closing, "F-ck yeah."
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 26, 2013

Is it safe? Ruling party pushes nuclear village agenda

In July 2011, then Prime Minister Naoto Kan ordered stress tests on all Japan's 50 nuclear reactors to assess their safety. By May 2012, they were all idled and for the first time in 40 years the nation was not generating a single kWh from nuclear energy.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
May 26, 2013

Women's writings provide window on Tokugawa life

The Edo Period in Japan seems pretty much a feminist's nightmare. Samurai rule and strict societal boundaries confined women within the neo-Confucianistic bonds of a deeply patriarchal society.
Reader Mail
May 26, 2013

A pet is a lifelong commitment

Regarding the May 21 Kyodo article, "Destroying pets at Kochi animal center pains staff": Not to mention how much it pains the animals being put down. Sasano Nomura (the Small Animal Management Center staffer quoted in the article) is lucky that she feels depression. It's a good sign that she still has...
Reader Mail
May 26, 2013

Weighing the costs and benefits

Judging from Chris Flynn's May 16 response, "Secondhand smoke is the enemy," it appears that the debate on the socialization of health care costs is off the table. Flynn states: "The main thrust behind banning smoking in most places is to reduce the harmful effects of secondhand smoke on nonsmokers."...
Reader Mail
May 26, 2013

Pattern of denial in leadership

Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto insulted people worldwide with his repeated denials and justifications of the Imperial Japanese Army's sexual slavery system during World War II. These and many other idiotic statements from Japanese politicians give us real insight into the thinking of much of Japan's leadership....
Reader Mail
May 26, 2013

Break-time habits tell the score

Around 25 years ago, when Japan was enjoying the "bubble economy," ordinary company workers would eat out for lunch quite often and then have a cup of coffee in a "traditional" coffee shop. Company workers, who were called "corporate warriors" at the time, rarely ate instant noodles from a cup in their...
Reader Mail
May 26, 2013

Expect Hague spirit to be abused

After reading the March 12 editorial, "Preparing for the Hague Convention," and realizing that "domestic violence" is covered as a grave danger to a child, I felt I must comment.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
May 25, 2013

Uganda boxing trainer gives expert advice to aspiring pugilists

If you don't get into the ring once or twice, then you're a coward, Geoffrey Ima says as he describes people's attitudes toward boxing in his hometown in Uganda. Ima has been in the ring hundreds of times and came to love boxing so much, he wanted to earn a living from it — a career choice that led...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
May 25, 2013

'Abenomics' still has long way to go

The recent volatility of the Nikkei 225 stock average should not be a cause for alarm, government officials assured Friday, but pundits pointed out that "Abenomics" seems to have a long way to go until the economy begins to show a robust and steady recovery.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
May 25, 2013

Moriwaki enjoying challenge playing for Urawa brings

The 27-year-old defender says he was ready for a change of scenery after helping Sanfrecce Hiroshima win theJ. League title last season.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
May 25, 2013

Geary's vision, drive keyed Yokohama's title run

There was something refreshing, interesting and fun about the Yokohama B-Corsairs from the beginning. It wasn't always the easiest thing to explain in a few short words.
COMMENTARY / World
May 25, 2013

Why U.K. exit from EU may now be a real possibility

The realization hits a recent visitor to the U.K. that Britain might actually leave the EU. Attitudes are hardening well ahead of a promised referendum on membership.
JAPAN
May 24, 2013

600 students lose loans for poor performance

About 600 university students are deemed no longer eligible for student loans because of their poor academic performance last year.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / JAPANESE KITCHEN
May 24, 2013

Springtime beans aim for the sky

Throughout most of Japan, June is the rainy season. While all that rainfall is great for rice paddies so that we can have delicious new harvest rice in the fall, it makes it a rather dull month for seasonal produce: The summer's bounty of cucumbers, eggplants and so on comes a bit later. What are in...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 24, 2013

Son of Cronenberg debuts with sickly body horror

Imagine you are David Cronenberg, a filmmaker but also a parent. You tell your kids that your job is making movies; naturally, they want to see one. So which do you show them? "Scanners," with its exploding heads? "Rabid," where porn-star Marilyn Chambers drinks human blood? Or maybe "The Fly," where...
Japan Times
Events / Events In Tokyo
May 24, 2013

Asian Queer Film Festival to feature works from South Korea, Cambodia

The LGBT community in Tokyo is hard at work. Not even a month after the Rainbow Pride parade, the biennial Asian Queer Film Festival is set to grace the Cinemart Roppongi this weekend.
JAPAN / Politics
May 23, 2013

As Hashimoto self-destructs, party also reels

Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto's remarks justifying the wartime 'comfort women' brothel system have caused major parties to distance themselves from his Nippon Ishin no Kai.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’