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Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2012

Fugitive hid in city, in plain sight

Police have been hunting Katsuya Takahashi since Aum Shinrikyo waged its nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system in 1995, mobilizing thousands of officers over the last 17 years.
BASKETBALL
Jun 9, 2012

Ryukyu confirms Oketani's departure

The Ryukyu Golden Kings on Friday officially announced head coach Dai Oketani will not receive a new contract for the 2012-13 season, and his tenure with the club has ended.
BUSINESS / CABINET INTERVIEW
Jun 9, 2012

New financial services minister eyes stiffer fines for insider trading

The Financial Services Agency may impose heavier fines on those who engage in insider trading in light of a spate of recent cases, according to its new chief.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Jun 9, 2012

Matsuda eyes rematch against Olympic legend Phelps

An athlete can tell you a tale with words that are as relevant as live action. Use your imagination to fill in the details.
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2012

Oi reactors' restart is vital, Noda stresses

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda stressed Friday that restarting the Oi nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture is crucial to meet the nation's energy needs this summer and to ensure sustainable economic growth in the longer term.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 8, 2012

'My House' takes Tsutsumi home

"Auteur" is not the first word that leaps to mind to describe Yukihiko Tsutsumi. In a directing career that began with a segment of the 1988 comedy anthology "Bakayaro! I'm Plenty Mad," the prolific Tsutsumi has made films in a variety of genres — mystery/thriller ("Spec: The Movie"), dystopian fantasy...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 8, 2012

Kosovo leader urges assistance

Japan's investment and skills are crucial to Kosovo's development, but the country also has much to offer Japanese businesses seeking opportunities in the region, visiting Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci told The Japan Times in an interview Thursday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 8, 2012

'Michi' actors Yoshizawa and Bae learn from their characters that experience is key to understanding

It's been a long while since the Korean Wave first washed through the Japanese entertainment industry and altered the landscape forever. Not a day goes by without a Korean star making an appearance in the Japanese media. DVD rental stores devote huge sections of floor space to hanryū productions.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 8, 2012

Refugee pines to go back to, help Myanmar

When Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi announced her trust in President Thein Sein last August, Tin Win Akbar decided it was time to return home after spending almost 16 years as an exile in Japan.
Reader Mail
Jun 7, 2012

What need for missionaries?

Regarding Catherine Wallace's May 31 letter, "Japan's access to Christianity": Does it matter whether Japan had access to Western Christianity in the 16th century or in 1945, when Japan is historically a Buddhist country?
Reader Mail
Jun 7, 2012

Don't let nativism trump health

In the April 24 Kyodo article, "Some municipalities set to deny services to illegal foreign residents: poll," I was appalled to read that "33 [municipalities] said they will not vaccinate illegal foreigners against tuberculosis and other diseases" (when the revised basic resident registration law takes...
Reader Mail
Jun 7, 2012

'Parents' should raise children

The June 4 editorial, "Married women want to work," takes up an important issue, but the discussion misses what I think is a key point: "Families" should raise children, not just "women." Consider the following sentences from the editorial:
Reader Mail
Jun 7, 2012

Constitutional worries misplaced

Regarding the allegation in the June 2 editorial "Naval exercise tweaks Constitution" that Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) participation in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise violated Japan's Constitution: This could only be stated by people completely unfamiliar with naval exercises....
COMMENTARY
Jun 7, 2012

Thirst for energy driving China's foreign policy

The United States and China, the world's top users of energy, are heading in opposite directions. It is a trend that has major geostrategic implications for the Asia-Pacific region.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 7, 2012

Tsunami-spoiled pics given new life

Of all the many and varied recovery and repair efforts now under way following the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011, few would be as fiddly as the Rikuzentakata Disaster Document Digitalization Project.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 7, 2012

Nagasawa quiets down for 'Seven'

Some musicians simply ooze self-confidence. They walk into the room like they own it, flashing a smile that instantly melts a thousand hearts. But Tomoyuki Nagasawa is not one of those musicians.
COMMENTARY
Jun 6, 2012

Europe faces a grim choice

Europe is at the abyss — again. Its turmoil is rattling global stock markets and stoking fear and bewilderment. The obvious question is, what's the solution? The answer is, there is no solution. Europe faces choices, some bad and others worse.
BASEBALL / HIT AND RUN
Jun 5, 2012

NPB may not have seen last no-no

Japanese baseball went five full seasons without a no-hitter until the Hiroshima Carp's Kenta Maeda threw one against the Yokohama BayStars April 6.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Jun 5, 2012

At times, there's no getting away from the neighbors

The house we were inspecting in Shiroi, Chiba Prefecture, looked better and larger in the photos that the realtor had posted on its website. Those pictures had been taken with a wide angle lens at the eastern side of the house, which bordered a leafy promenade. To the north and south of the house, however,...
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 5, 2012

Medical tourism — a boat to be on

So-called medical tourism is a growing market worldwide and high-tech Japan hopes to get a piece of the action.
COMMENTARY
Jun 5, 2012

Fighting peace for Taiwan

Four months after the presidential elections in Taiwan, there is a big difference when comparing the aftereffects of the elections in 2008 to those in 2012.
BUSINESS
Jun 5, 2012

Alliance between Sharp, Hon Hai tested by severe share-price drop

Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., the assembler of Apple Inc. iPads, may seek to renegotiate a planned ¥133 billion alliance with Sharp Corp. after the Japanese TV maker's shares fell to their lowest in 34 years.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jun 4, 2012

Ramirez still learning, producing on baseball diamond

History has seen lots of baseball players play for long periods of time — Chunichi's Masahiro Yamamoto, in his 29th season, and Jamie Moyer, still pitching in the U.S. at age 49, to name a pair — but no one has yet figured out how to play forever.
Reader Mail
Jun 3, 2012

Value the people who can build

Regarding Washington Post columnist Robert Samuelson's May 30 article, "It's time U.S. dropped the college-for-all crusade": It is indeed interesting to read that there are those in America now questioning the wisdom of "college for everyone."
Reader Mail
Jun 3, 2012

Eternal tweaking of Tokyo Station

Regarding the May 28, Page 2, photo titled "RETURN TO GLORY": Anticipating the upcoming unveiling of the completed renovations of Tokyo Station and its reopening slated for October is exciting. However, not for a minute do I expect the completion of this project to be the end of unsightly scaffolding...
Reader Mail
Jun 3, 2012

Myopic appreciation of history

I find Karen Forde's May 24 letter, "Monuments don't change history" — about the sex slave plaque in New Jersey — to be more than a little myopic. Forde says that since the United States had nothing to do with the "comfort women" of World War II, there shouldn't be any monuments on American soil...

Longform

Construction equipment sits idle in a park near Shiba Toshogu shrine in Tokyo's Minato Ward. While Japan has a history of treating its trees with reverence, green coverage is said to be lacking in most of the major cities.
Do Japan's trees no longer occupy the sacred space they used to?