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Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 13, 2011

Kan not a quitter, wife assures

Prime Minister Naoto Kan will not step down despite his low public support rate, his wife and "adviser," Nobuko, said Wednesday.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Jan 11, 2011

Dual citizens, tokenism, Futenma, the case against rants: responses

A right to dual citizenship Re: "Japan loses, rest of the world gains from 'one citizenship fits all' policy" by Glenn Newman (Hotline to Nagatacho, Dec. 9):
Reader Mail
Jan 9, 2011

Relative ranking of 'generosity'

Setsuko Kamiya writes in the Jan. 5 article "(JICA president Sadako) Ogata to Japan: Remember, pay it forward" that, in the 1990s, Japan was the world's most generous donor but that, by 2008, Japan was down to No. 5, after the United States, Germany, Britain and France among the 22 member countries of...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 9, 2011

Let's hope China doesn't fall into the same traps that Japan once did

The overriding question that should be on everyone's mind in this new, second decade of the 21st century is: What is going to happen in China?
COMMENTARY
Jan 9, 2011

The vanishing two-state solution

LONDON — What does it mean when the United States, Britain, France and Spain upgrade the diplomatic status of the Palestinian delegations in their capitals, as they all did in the past year? When the number of countries recognizing Palestinian statehood now exceeds 100?
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Jan 8, 2011

Hakuho the benchmark for Hatsu Basho

2011 is now upon us. The first tournament of the year — the Hatsu Basho — begins on Jan. 9 running for 15 days before the Emperor's Cup winner is decided on the 23rd.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 7, 2011

Hurts

When Hurts took the stage at the Chiba leg of 2010's Summer Sonic for their first ever Japan show, they surely could not have predicted the reception that awaited them. With their debut album still under wraps and nary a note yet released in Japan, this fast-rising British duo somehow wrangled a large...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 7, 2011

Dommune live-streams DJ sets to a growing fan base

The crowd bristles with excitement as the first DJ of the night winds down his set. An air of anticipation sets in around the room. As the next DJ enters the booth with his CD booklet in hand, the throng begins to swarm the tiny floor, no larger than your grandmother's basement. Four Tet is about to...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 7, 2011

Buzz overseas spells success at home

For Japanese music acts, success abroad has traditionally been the reserve of noise-rock bands such as Boredoms and Melt-Banana, for whom potential barriers like language or cultural disparities do little to hinder their pursuit of abstraction. More conventional Japanese indie bands have traditionally...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 7, 2011

'Taking Woodstock'

History has a sly way of happening when you least expect it. For example: A one-time dealer and savvy concert promoter teams up with a hip record-company exec to hold a music and arts festival in a rural setting, showcasing a few of the year's better bands. The promoters expect attendance of around 200,000,...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 6, 2011

Penalties pay off for New Year's resolutions

MELBOURNE — Sometimes we know the best thing to do, but fail to do it. New Year's resolutions are often like that. We make resolutions because we know that it would be better for us to lose weight, or get fit, or spend more time with our children. The problem is that a resolution is generally easier...
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Jan 5, 2011

Will fortune shine on a campaign for new year's udon?

Can udon replace soba as the new year noodle of choice?
COMMENTARY
Jan 5, 2011

Lost religious liberty worldwide

WASHINGTON — Many of us take religious liberty for granted. Unfortunately, this most fundamental freedom is not protected in many countries around the world.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 3, 2011

Portents of Sudanese respect for diversity

JOHANNESBURG — It has been said, correctly, that Sudan is a microcosm of Africa. For this reason, the entire continent will follow events in Sudan over the next few months with the greatest interest.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 1, 2011

Setting a new democratic agenda for Russia

MOSCOW — When Russian President Dmitry Medvedev delivered his annual address to the Federal Assembly, I was struck by the fact that his speech seemed intended for an advanced, prosperous country, not the real Russia of today.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Dec 31, 2010

The simple but profound flavors of Buddhist temple cooking

Hidden away in the quiet backstreets of Azabu-Juban, Itosho is a self-effacing little restaurant that has been serving shojin ryori (Buddhist temple cuisine) for 40 years, remaining — until recently at any rate — one of the city's better kept secrets.
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 31, 2010

A great year for theater innovation

Japan's drama scene has seen some change in 2010. It was as if the theater crowd grew tired of waiting for the country's ailing economy and faltering politics to offer them anything new to work with and decided to go and find their own inspiration.
CULTURE / Music
Dec 31, 2010

Best Japanese/overseas albums of 2010: Tokyo Indie

The Brixton Academy — "Vivid"
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 31, 2010

2010 top movies: best moments in a mixed 12 months for Japanese cinema

This was the best of years and the worst of years for Japanese films. On one hand, dire TV-network-produced blockbusters continued to fill multiplexes. On the other, makers of indie films, both big names and small, struggled for funding and distribution, as the mini-theater (art-house) sector continued...
Reader Mail
Dec 30, 2010

Conceptions of rape, sexism differ

In his Dec. 26 letter, "Statistically Japan does value life," Greg Hutchinson makes the mistake of comparing statistics from the United States and Japan as though their history, culture and tendency toward liberalism were irrelevant. After nearly 20 years here, I have come to believe that problems in...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 2010

Piyasvasti battles Thai Airways' beasts

COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 2010

Endgames in Iraq and Afghanistan

NEW YORK — For nearly a decade, American foreign policy has been dominated by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. As 2011 begins, with 50,000 U.S. soldiers still in Iraq and another 100,000 in Afghanistan, it may not look like that era is coming to an end. But it is.
EDITORIALS
Dec 29, 2010

Japan's 'hot' year

The kanji "sho" for "hot" has been chosen by the Japanese people as best representing 2010 in a poll organized by the Kyoto-based Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation. No doubt the memory of last summer's record-breaking heat is still fresh in people's minds, but ironically the summer also brought...
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Dec 29, 2010

Time for Jordan to man up on Bobcats' plight

NEW YORK — A failure to approach, much less reach expectations, however impractical they may be, is bound to get authority figures fired sooner than later, which is precisely why Larry Brown again is on relocation and Kurt Rambis has a job for life.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years