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Reader Mail
Sep 27, 2012

More hazards for Okinawans

In his Sept. 23 letter, "Osprey will reduce the impact," Robert D. Eldridge emphasizes that Okinawa's burden of hosting the bulk of U.S. bases in Japan will be eased because of the medium-lift, tilt-rotor MV-22 "Osprey" aircraft's functional supremacy compared with the conventional CH-46 helicopter....
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / ONE-ON-ONE WITH ...
Sep 26, 2012

Kreckovic facing huge rebuilding task in Osaka

The Japan Times periodically features interviews with personalities in the bj-league. Coach Zoran Kreckovic of the Osaka Evessa is the subject of this week's profile.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / TECH_JAPAN
Sep 26, 2012

Get ready to broadcast video live online

Japan-based Cerevo has carved out an interesting business niche for itself as a provider of live-video-streaming hardware, most notably its Live Shell device released last year. That device enabled aspiring Internet broadcasters to stream live video directly from a camera to the Web without the need...
EDITORIALS
Sep 26, 2012

Ten years on, little progress made

Ten years have passed since then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and the late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il signed the Pyongyang Declaration (Sept. 17, 2002) with the eventual aim of normalizing a bilateral relationship. Despite the historic significance of the declaration, little progress has been...
BUSINESS
Sep 25, 2012

Toyota plans slew of new hybrid models

Toyota Motor Corp. said Monday that it will introduce 21 new gasoline-electric hybrid models by the end of 2015 to meet the growing demand for fuel-efficient cars.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / LIGHT GIST
Sep 25, 2012

Grab your bentō, mat and a prime spot: It's undōkai

For the next few weekends all over Japan, mothers will be up at dawn preparing elaborate bentō, while fathers toting plastic mats will set off to school to claim a prime spot (or perhaps vice versa in some households). It's undōkai season!
EDITORIALS
Sep 25, 2012

Setting the DPJ on the right track

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda was reelected as head of the Democratic Party of Japan on Sept. 21 with an overwhelming win over three other candidates. On Monday, he reogranized the party's leadership His most important task now should be to consolidate his party, which has suffered the departure of many...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Sep 25, 2012

Backsliding Japan Post broadens its horizons on all fronts

Is Japan Post proceeding with privatization or backtracking to its old model?
EDITORIALS
Sep 25, 2012

JAL needs to stand on its own

Japan Airlines was relisted on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Sep. 19 as it has succeeded in strongly improving its business performance during the past two years and seven months of rehabilitation. This is only the first step to full recovery for the airline. JAL achieved its comeback...
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 25, 2012

Cesium contamination in food appears to be on wane

It's been 18 months since the Fukushima nuclear disaster contaminated much of the prefecture and beyond, and reports are still coming in about radiation in food exceeding the government limit.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Sep 24, 2012

An ominously familiar Japanese contemporary

Things do sometimes go backward.
BASKETBALL
Sep 24, 2012

Cinq Reves struggle in exhibition play

The expansion Tokyo Cinq Reves fell to 0-4 in exhibition play on Sunday, losing 86-69 to the Sendai 89ers in the second day of the Tohoku Cup in Akita.
Reader Mail
Sep 23, 2012

Panetta should worry about U.S.

Regarding the Sept. 18 article "Panetta tells Japan, China to resolve Senkaku row peacefully": U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has a lot of nerve telling Japan and China what to do.
Reader Mail
Sep 23, 2012

China's rage was orchestrated

Regarding the Sept. 20 editorial "Cooler heads needed over islet row": In my opinion, Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara's dream of destabilizing Japan to promote his son's political ambitions — at the risk of provoking war with China — is coming true. The bitter old man is a symbol of Japan's past, which...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Sep 23, 2012

No trusting those who descend from heaven

Just for fun, try this whimsical little experiment: search the Japan Times website for "regain trust." It's an expression that recurs so often, and has such a long history, you'd almost think it meant something.
Reader Mail
Sep 23, 2012

Benefits of joint development

When a conflict of opinion over ownership of something makes it impossible for either side to give up its claim, why not propose that both sides share the thing equally? The whole issue with the Senkakus is the value of the gas reserves, so it's about money.
Reader Mail
Sep 23, 2012

Dancing to the governor's tune

It was with little surprise that I heard of the Noda government's decision to nationalize three of the five Senkaku islets. Rightwing nationalists like Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara may be a minority, yet they seem to punch above their weight in terms of influence.
Japan Times
LIFE
Sep 23, 2012

Antidancing law out of step with Japan's youth culture

Many in Japan's large and lively dance community centered on hip-hop, house and other styles are becoming increasingly upset at what appears to be a police crackdown on an essential part of their lives.
BASKETBALL
Sep 23, 2012

Veteran star Arnold joins Lakestars

Sharpshooter Wayne Arnold, one of the top all-around performers for the Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix during the past three seasons, has joined the Shiga Lakestars. The move became official late Saturday night.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Sep 23, 2012

Japan's nuclear phaseout: Is it all smoke and mirrors?

On Sept. 14, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's administration announced that Japan would end nuclear-power generation by 2040. Five days later his Cabinet failed to endorse the new policy; but on the same day, Sept. 19, Trade Minister Yukio Edano insisted that the government would still act "based on"...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 22, 2012

Freedom of speech, blasphemy and violence

Violent attacks on U.S. diplomatic outposts across North Africa and the Middle East have once again raised the question of how to respond when Americans and other Westerners engage in provocative expression that others consider blasphemous. Though the attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi,...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Sep 22, 2012

Japanese as a second body language

Continuing a lifetime study of how the Japanese can be so darn polite, today we look at body language.
BASKETBALL
Sep 22, 2012

Japan tops Qatar, advances to FIBA Asia Cup final

Entering the FIBA Asia Cup, Team Japan set a goal of advancing to the semifinals. Well, the last four is good, but at the same time it sounds like a compromising goal.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Sep 22, 2012

Filipino filmmaker-writer captures the stories of Asians on the fringe

Rey Ventura's prose startles with the subtle force of cinematic images: From the "rustling leaves" that signal the return of the rebel forces to the Aeta hill tribes in the Philippines to the "standing men" or day laborers populating the alleyways of the Kotobukicho district of Yokohama. As both filmmaker...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 21, 2012

Yorozuya Okagesan: Michelin-starred food tastes better by the bottle

The entrance to Yorozuya Okagesan is, to put it mildly, discreet. The modest sign is set back so far from the sidewalk you'd never spot the steps unless you knew to look. And you'd never go down them anyway unless you had a reservation since, politely but inevitably, you would be turned away.
Reader Mail
Sep 20, 2012

China's famous revisionist efforts

Jeff Kingston's Sept. 16 article, "The long tradition of sanitizing history" (which is a book review of "Ways of Forgetting, Ways of Remembering" by John W. Dower), is a timely reminder of the self-defeating nature of historical revisionism.
Reader Mail
Sep 20, 2012

India a natural partner for Japan

Regarding the Sept. 17 Kyodo article "Anti-Japan protests a double-edged sword": India and its people would welcome the Japanese moving their factories from China to India.
Reader Mail
Sep 20, 2012

Government arrogance to blame

Regarding the Sept. 18 front-page article "China warns anti-Japanese demonstrators against further violence": We have the arrogant Japanese government to thank for the current situation between Japan and China. You can't tell me that Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda didn't know that demonstrations would...

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’