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BUSINESS
Jul 3, 2012

Business sentiment improves at nation's top manufacturers

Business sentiment among large manufacturers improved for the first time in three quarters in the three months through June, reaching minus 1, according to the Bank of Japan's quarterly "tankan" index released Monday.
EDITORIALS
Jul 3, 2012

Show restraint over Senkaku Islands

As the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties on between Japan and China on Sept. 29, 1972, draws near, friction between the two neighboring countries is increasing over the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. Both sides must refrain from taking provocative actions and handle the...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jul 3, 2012

The curious case of the eroding eikaiwa salary

Now fraught with job insecurity and low pay, there was a time when the work was steady and salaries were high for those who taught English in Japan.
COMMENTARY
Jul 2, 2012

Two Peace Prize laureates fail to communicate

"The lead interrogator at the Division Interrogation Facility had given me specific instructions: I was to deprive the detainee of sleep during my 12-hour shift by opening his cell every hour, forcing him to stand in a corner and stripping him of his clothes. Three years later the tables have turned....
Reader Mail
Jul 1, 2012

Accuracy not always 'acceptable'

In his June 21 letter, "Accurate radiation information needed," Scott Hards argues that if accurate information had been made freely available after the Fukushima nuclear plant accidents, a significant amount of stress and disruption of people's lives could have been avoided. Unfortunately, it isn't...
Reader Mail
Jul 1, 2012

Safest bet is to skip having kids

Regarding the June 28 Kyodo article "Tax hike vote pleases big business": Of course, big business leaders are pleased, as the higher consumption tax will generate more money for them — at the expense of the people, who incidentally will not only pay more in taxes, but also pay more for pension premiums....
Reader Mail
Jul 1, 2012

Lots of reports, too little action

Regarding the June 26 AP article "Oi restart rush blasted as new crisis": I am sick of all the talk about Japanese nuclear energy policy measures, but I cannot help opposing the government's and the utility companies' attitudes. It may be true that, without nuclear power stations, electricity outages...
OLYMPICS
Jul 1, 2012

Japan's medal count in London hard to forecast

In its past 11 Summer Olympic appearances, dating back to the 1964 Tokyo Games, Japan has collected 275 medals.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jul 1, 2012

Kato showed strong leadership in introducing new ball, Mizuno says

Kim Yu Na played a huge role in securing the 2018 Winter Olympics for Pyeongchang, South Korea, last year. Prior to that, David Beckham helped do the same for London, which will host this year's Summer Games.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jul 1, 2012

Poor record not stopping BayStars from aggressive marketing

A professional sports team has essentially two goals: Trying to win a championship and promoting the team to attract fans.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Jul 1, 2012

Author Lesley Downer's romance with Japan is no fleeting affair

British writer, historian and journalist Lesley Downer has been visiting Japan and writing about it for nearly 35 years — beginning in 1978, when she was part of the first-ever intake of the English Teaching Recruitment Program, which evolved into the famous JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching Program)...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jul 1, 2012

Sugiuchi wins ninth as Giants close in on first

The Yomiuri Giants are so close to first place, they can smell it.
Reader Mail
Jul 1, 2012

Rosy 'leftwing' view of unions

Regarding Washington Post writer Harold Meyerson's July 23 Op-Ed, "U.S. middle-class fortunes fade as unions decline": The figures are interesting, but this is a very leftwing article, and in my view, the leftist view causes complete misinterpretation.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jul 1, 2012

Ryuichi Sakamoto reminds Japanese what's the score on nuclear blame

"Keeping silent after Fukushima is barbaric," is how composer and musician Ryuichi Sakamoto recently made clear his proactive stance toward Japan's ongoing nuclear disaster.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Jul 1, 2012

A lesson in respecting river life

I recently had the pleasure of my eldest daughter, Miwako, coming to stay at my Kurohime home in the Nagano Prefecture hills together with her partner, Don McCubbing, and their 4-year old twin daughters Aila and Zanti.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 29, 2012

'Rinjo: Gekijoban (The Last Answer)'

Japanese murder mysteries, whether on the big or small screen, are typically puzzles, with the characters serving as pieces whose deaths mean little more than Col. Mustard's in the board game Clue. The detective may be eccentric, hard-boiled or a combination of both, but he does not usually show emotion...
LIFE / Food & Drink / EVERYMAN EATS
Jun 29, 2012

Digging in: the rise of B-kyū gurume

Everyman Eats is a new column about the phenomenon of B-kyū gurume (B-grade gourmet) — inexpensive, down-home cooking that reflects local culinary traditions. This first installment considers 10 moments that helped shape the recent B-kyū boom.
COMMENTARY
Jun 29, 2012

A pat on the back for bucking a LOST cause

There they go again. Like those who say climate change is an emergency too obvious and urgent to allow for debate, some proponents of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, aka the Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST), say arguments against it are nonexistent. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 29, 2012

'The Amazing Spider-Man'

One telling scene in "The Amazing Spider-Man" is also the movie's defining moment. A high school English lit teacher explains to her class the premise of fiction and she gives it in three short words: "Who am I?" That's the question Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man, struggles with in this reboot to the famed...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 28, 2012

Tattoos are forever, which is why they cost so much to remove

It costs 10 times more to remove a tattoo than it cost to apply it.
Reader Mail
Jun 28, 2012

Article 9 needs to be amended

Regarding Naoshi Koriyama's June 14 letter, "Article 9 has stood by Japan": Article 9 of Japan's Constitution has neither protected Japan nor prevented any type of enemy from causing harm to it. Article 9 was written by the American government after World War II to suppress Japan's military and prevent...
Reader Mail
Jun 28, 2012

'Violent nonsense' over whaling

In Peter Wynn Kirby's splendid op-ed June 20, "Japan's tale of two stockpiles," he mentions that besides the problematic stockpile of plutonium, there is the similarly problematic mountainous stockpile of frozen whale meat for which there is now so little demand.
Reader Mail
Jun 28, 2012

Contrasts with Japanese culture

It was interesting to read Grant Piper's June 24 letter, "Beware the national mythology," and I agree entirely. Samuel Johnson was right when he described patriotism as "the last refuge of a scoundrel."
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 28, 2012

Annan eyes Putin for Syrian settlement

Kofi Annan must strike a deal with the devil to end the sickening atrocities being committed by the Syrian Army. But the devil Annan has in mind is Russian President Vladimir Putin, not his Syrian counterpart Bashar Assad.
Reader Mail
Jun 28, 2012

Could be the time to take a walk

Regarding Michael Hoffman's June 24 column, "The doomsday cult of 9-to-5 depression": This 9-to-5 depression affects not only Japanese people. I'd gotten to the stage where I wanted to actually vomit in the morning if I had to face another day at my job.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 28, 2012

DJ Kentaro set to scratch a new itch

Only a handful of artists can say they've reached the top of their trade, but Kentaro Okamoto is one of them. As DJ Kentaro, his record-scratching skills got him noticed by beat heads worldwide back in 2002, when he won the DMC World DJ Final in London. But, now this DJ wants an image change.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Jun 27, 2012

Florida media get it wrong on LeBron

So, as I'm waiting to flotilla out of Florida, I felt compelled to support the newspaper industry by purchasing some of the local periodicals to get their take on what I had just seen.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 27, 2012

Mazda ends rotary output, takes the fuel-efficient route

Many people of a certain age remember Mazda Motor Corp.'s catchy ads from the 1970s. "Piston engines go boing-boing," they said. "Mazda goes hummmm." The voice-over sang: "There's nothing like it on the road today; the rotary engine is here to stay."
COMMENTARY
Jun 26, 2012

The challenge of family life for Russia's working mothers

As with other prevalent trends in most European countries, in Russia an ever- increasing share of mothers prefer to combine household activities with work outside their household.

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear