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Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Apr 17, 2012

Medicinal direction from both the East and West

Once shunned as outdated and unproven, kanpō (Chinese herbal therapy) is currently making a vibrant comeback in Japan.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Apr 17, 2012

Retail power slow to make inroads despite nuclear crisis

Regional utilities have long dominated the power market, but companies and local governments are starting to get interested in new retailers offering much cheaper rates.
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Apr 17, 2012

Pampered pets

Dear Alice,Don't you think it's time you did a column on the crazy pet products and services available in Japan? I can't believe the lengths some dog owners go to — dressing their pets in frilly clothes, pushing them around in baby carriages and taking them into cafes. My wife says I'm crazy but I...
COMMENTARY
Apr 16, 2012

Look at Social Security for what it is: welfare

Would Franklin Roosevelt (the 32nd U.S. president) approve of Social Security? The question seems absurd. After all, Social Security is considered the New Deal's signature achievement. It distributes nearly $800 billion a year to 56 million retirees, survivors and disabled beneficiaries.
Reader Mail
Apr 15, 2012

The hunt for Japan's civilization

The perennial debate on the death penalty again reared its head with Cesar Chelala's excellent April 11 article. But I fear that his exhortations will once again fall on the deaf ears of those who kill in the name of the state, both in Japan and in the United States.
Reader Mail
Apr 15, 2012

Cultural choice of punishment

Regarding Cesar Chelala's April 11 article, "Why Japan and U.S. should ban the death penalty": I applaud the Japanese government for literally executing the will of the people instead of bowing to nongovernmental organizations, such as Amnesty International, that lack any democratic legitimacy. It's...
Reader Mail
Apr 15, 2012

Pondering a flawed creation

It is very nice of Dipak Basu, in his April 12 letter "A respectable view of 'heaven," to tell us benighted Westerners "raised through Judaistic principles" what we believe, but he is so far out of touch that he might as well be on another planet.
Reader Mail
Apr 15, 2012

Death penalty still lives. Why?

It seems that the minister of justice can order executions as he likes, and he will say that this is the will of the people. Yet, 18 other ministers of justice never ordered a single execution. Why?
SOCCER / J. League
Apr 15, 2012

Leandro's brace not enough for Kashiwa in loss to Sendai

J. League leaders Vegalta Sendai preserved their unbeaten start to the season and took the defending champions' scalp in the process with a 3-2 win over Kashiwa Reysol on Saturday.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Apr 15, 2012

Aoki plays starring role in Evessa triumph over Grouses

The post-Lynn Washington era officially began on Saturday, and the Osaka Evessa defeated the Toyama Grouses 85-81 in the bj-leaue series opener.
Reader Mail
Apr 15, 2012

Too soon to the back burner

Regarding Takamitsu Sawa's April 10 article, "Energy conservation is key": I agree that more conservation is of utmost importance, but I don't see Japanese companies, the Japanese government and the Japanese people doing much.
Japan Times
Features / WEEK 3
Apr 15, 2012

U.S. forces keep the world in their sights

Complex issues often become much easier to understand when they are approached with the benefit of a broader perspective.
Reader Mail
Apr 15, 2012

Disturbingly inexact language

In response to the April 12 Kyodo brief "Noda to send Edano to Fukui," I wish to pose one question to industry minister Yukio Edano: What does he and Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda mean when they confirm that reactors 3 and 4 of Kansai Electric Power Co.'s Oi nuclear power plant "basically" meet the government's...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Apr 15, 2012

Are women really on the ascendancy as some media proclaim?

'Joshi bakari ga naze tsuyoi?" ("Why is it that only women are strong?") asks Aera (Mar. 26). The question may be a valid one, at least when limited to international sports events, where Japan's women over the past several years have been outshining their male counterparts as they excel in soccer, women's...
JAPAN
Apr 14, 2012

Rocket failure an embarrassment for North

North Korea on Friday defied warnings from the international community and launched a rocket — which then exploded about a minute after takeoff — scattering debris over the Yellow Sea off South Korea.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 14, 2012

Canadian black-belt takes pride in action not words

For Robert Hughes, the shortest answer is doing. From his early determination to procure a traditional Japanese sword to his more recent work with Japanese students in the poverty-stricken streets of the Philippines, Hughes, 54, has spent over 30 years in Japan allowing his actions to speak eloquently...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 13, 2012

Asano goes for an A-1 hit with 'Battleship' film

History often repeats itself in the most interesting ways. In 1945, principal members of the Japanese government signed an agreement for total surrender of the country's armed forces to the United States atop the famed USS Missouri battleship, also known as the "Mighty Mo." Sixty-seven years later, audiences...
JAPAN
Apr 13, 2012

Threat of monster tsunami poses ominous possibilities

The government's revised quake-tsunami estimates have sent shock waves across Japan and forced local municipalities to reassess their worst-case scenarios.
COMMENTARY
Apr 13, 2012

Russia's 'shadow market'

We should keep in mind that Russia is a country that has spent 70 years in an inhuman experiment aimed at arranging all sides of socioeconomic life within a giant centrally planned system. Even if this time is over, many features of today's life go on reminding us of this heavy and in many ways onerous...
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Apr 13, 2012

Postal privatization comes off back burner

The Lower House's passage Thursday of a bill to revise the Postal Privatization Law is a key development in an issue that was relegated to the back burner for years, experts said.
BUSINESS
Apr 13, 2012

Japan open to talks on bolstering IMF

Japan is ready to hold talks with other nations, including the U.S. and China, on how to answer the International Monetary Fund's call for more resources to handle Europe's sovereign debt crisis, Finance Minister Jun Azumi said Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 13, 2012

'Momo e no Tegami (A Letter to Momo)'

By the time I entered college, my family had moved house seven times. The process of adjusting to a new place grew harder as I became a teenager, though by the time of our last move I was more accepting — or indifferent, take your pick. The difference between 13 and 17, in other words, was huge.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 13, 2012

Big in Taiwan: Island singer Atari makes his own Taipei exchange

Ever since his major debut in 2006, singer Kousuke Atari — known for his masterful fusion of shima-uta (folk songs native to Amami Oshima island in Kagoshima Prefecture) with J-pop — has done remarkably well outside Japan, particularly in mainland China and Taiwan.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Apr 13, 2012

Ota exemplifies impact good role players can have

Role players rarely dominate the headlines. But smart coaches and successful player-personnel bosses build teams that get potent production from lesser-known players.
Reader Mail
Apr 12, 2012

Texting piece leaves bad taste

Even though the When East Marries West column for April 7, titled "Texting in the proper context," was short, I felt incredulous after reading it. I would have read it again, but the text-speak writing was atrocious and difficult to read. People don't actually text like that in English; it surely defeats...
Reader Mail
Apr 12, 2012

LDP cooperation is no surprise

Regarding the April 6 editorial "Consumption tax tizzy": The Liberal Democratic Party will indeed cooperate with Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's hapless march backward to the bad old days of pork barrels and amakudari (the practice of former government officials finding employment in the private sector)....
Reader Mail
Apr 12, 2012

A respectable view of 'heaven'

Regarding Grant Piper's April 8 letter, "Expressions to avoid discomfort": Piper, just like Jennifer Kim ("Expressions of religious belief," April 5 letter) and Paul Gaysford ("Sentiment that does not console," April 1 letter), misunderstood the sentiments expressed by Megumi Watanabe ("Hope for 3/11...

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?