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Reader Mail
Jun 16, 2011

Act of kindness worth living for

"Mi casa es su casa." "What are friends for?" "My pleasure" — these are all sayings we use to express our gratitude to those we know. But what about the people we don't know?
Reader Mail
Jun 16, 2011

Bin Laden was no rogue deer

Regarding the June 12 Kyodo article that states that 54 percent of the Japanese public "preferred arrest for bin Laden" to U.S. commandos' killing him during a surprise raid on his compound in Pakistan on May 2: You got to be kidding me.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 2011

DPJ to seek 'substantial' Diet extension

The Democratic Party of Japan will seek to "substantially extend" the Diet session and pass key legislation dealing with the aftermath of the March 11 calamity, DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada said Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 16, 2011

Rap artist Rumi stokes nuke fires

If you were in the Tokyo neighborhoods of Koenji on April 10, Shibuya on May 7, or Shinjuku on June 11, you might have seen (or more likely, heard) thousands of demonstrators weaving through the streets, waving signs and chanting slogans in opposition to Japan's atomic energy policies. In the past few...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 16, 2011

JR puts on a show of faces for public causes

When French photographer-turned-street artist JR visited Tokyo in May, he commented, "I love the vibe here but I don't see enough art in the street." His latest project, "Inside Out," may lead the way to help change this.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 16, 2011

'Green curtains' surge in face of power shortage

Sales of "Green curtain" gardening kits are surging, shoppers are buying clothes designed to help them stay cool and a pizzeria owner is losing weight as Tokyo residents brace for a summer with less air conditioning.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Jun 15, 2011

NSK gets a glimpse of a (potentially) bright future

In May the English soccer team Manchester United won their 19th English league championship to date — and the world watched on TV, the Internet and via a wealth of other media sources.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Jun 15, 2011

Kawachi meets group seeking to buy Apache

Toshimitsu Kawachi, the bj-league commissioner, met with the Tokyo Apache's potential new owners on Monday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2011

JET coordinator finds Iwate spirit contagious

Iwate Prefecture's coast suffered some of the most severe damage in the March 11 quake and towering tsunami, where more than 4,500 people have been confirmed killed and 2,700 are still missing.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 15, 2011

Economy hits political faults

Naoto Kan's departure as Japan's prime minister looks to be as messy and wretched as his uncomfortable time in the job.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Jun 15, 2011

Nintendo et al roll out the big guns at E3

The annual Electronic Entertainment Expo is gaming's main event. It's when the industry's heavyweights face off with new games and new hardware. Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo (which doesn't traditionally participate in the Tokyo Game Show) all go head to head. This year's E3, in Los Angeles, provided...
EDITORIALS
Jun 14, 2011

Welfare reform and cost issue

The government's conference on reform of social welfare spending and taxes, chaired by Prime Minister Naoto Kan, proposed on June 2 raising the consumption tax rate from the current 5 percent to 10 percent in phases by fiscal 2015 to secure stable funds for maintaining and strengthening social welfare....
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / STYLE WISE
Jun 14, 2011

A season for accolades, milestones and new frontiers

Florence and Kyoto unite to celebrate Gucci's 90 years Revered luxury brand Gucci is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year with a special traveling exhibition in Japan that highlights its prowess in craftsmanship. Starting at the famed Kinkaku-ji Golden Temple in Kyoto, "Gucci: 90 years" showcases...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Jun 14, 2011

Tokyo: How can we beat the heat this summer without switching on the air con?

Sachiko SaitoUniversity official, 30 (Japanese)We should think about what we can do instead of what we can't: learning from our elders, cooperating with neighbors, etc. It could be a good chance to reestablish community life.
EDITORIALS
Jun 12, 2011

Super Cool Biz

June 1 marked the start of the Environment Ministry's Super Cool Biz campaign, with full-page newspaper ads and photos of ministry workers smiling rather self-consciously at their desks wearing polo shirts and colorful Okinawa kariyushi shirts.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jun 12, 2011

Heights of survival

When the March 11 tsunami hit the village of Yoshihama in Iwate Prefecture, the water overran a seawall, smashed through a coastal pine forest, poured over a large embankment and then surged up a long, low-lying valley. It was a scenario almost identical to that being played out at dozens of settlements...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jun 12, 2011

Enjoy art with alpine views

Back in the 1960s, a New York postal worker named Herbert Vogel and his librarian wife, Dorothy, began buying paintings. Using Herb's modest salary, and living off Dorothy's, they picked out affordable pieces that took their fancy — most of them by artists unknown at the time. By the early '90s, their...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jun 11, 2011

How I saved ¥40,000 doing it myself

The day I leave Japan, the country will be worse off for it. The Japanese will have lost a cartoon character in their comic strip of life. Once I am gone, who will they laugh at?
BUSINESS
Jun 11, 2011

Reactor makers look to green energy amid nuclear allergy

In the three months since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami damaged the Fukushima No. 1 atomic plant, the nation's three reactor makers have started to focus more on renewable energy sources, particularly solar, wind and geothermal power.
COMMENTARY
Jun 10, 2011

Round two for a U.N. workaholic

What's surprising about the probable confirmation of incumbent United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon for a second five-year term is not its near-certainty. It is the virtual lack of controversy surrounding it.
LIFE / Digital / Japan Pulse
Jun 10, 2011

Smartphone support just got smarter

The smartphone population growing by the day, as are the stores and services following the smart money.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 10, 2011

'The Disappearance of Alice Creed' / 'The Tempest'

It couldn't have been more than five minutes into "The Disappearance of Alice Creed" when my girlfriend leaned over and asked: "What kind of a movie did you say this is?" It was just at the point where Gemma Arterton was tied spread-eagled to a bed with a ball-gag in her mouth, and her burly kidnappers...
Reader Mail
Jun 9, 2011

Embarrassing delay of relief aid

Regarding the June 6 Kyodo article "Relief donations languishing": I can't believe a country of so many highly educated people has such a problem distributing emergency aid money donated by people around the world. I understand that determining how much local offices should get from the total donation...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 9, 2011

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy: ahead of his time

The profound influence of the Bauhaus School, which included training in crafts and fine arts, is inestimable. Over a 14-year period, its innovative methods, utilitarian philosophy and utopian social vision transformed art, architecture and design for the modern age.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Jun 8, 2011

Walsh says time right to move on

Donnie Walsh's most sacrilegious compadre predicts his semester break in Indianapolis will not agree with him.
EDITORIALS
Jun 7, 2011

Constraint on teachers' thought

The Second Petit Bench of the Supreme Court on May 30 ruled in a 4-0 decision that a school principal's order telling teachers to stand and sing the "Kimigayo" national anthem in front of the "Hinomaru" national flag at a graduation ceremony is constitutional.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jun 5, 2011

Hurler Houlton helping Hawks fly high this season

The Fukuoka Softbank Hawks have the best record in Japanese baseball through Friday, and one big contributor to the team's overwhelming success this season is American pitcher D.J. Houlton.
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Jun 5, 2011

Parmer headlines Top 20 players in 2010-11

With four new teams joining the bj-league over the past two seasons, it has become a greater challenger to select Hoop Scoop's Top 20 players. But it's a worthwhile — and necessary — challenge. One that will become greater next June, following the first season with 20 teams, including four more...

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’