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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...
CULTURE / Music
Apr 12, 2012

mfp "Mindful Beats Vol. 2"

"Mindful Beats Vol. 2" has one of the most simultaneously accurate and misleading album names of the past year. On a literal level, the title tells no lies — it is a second volume of beats made by Osaka producer Masaki Konagai, who records under the moniker of mfp. Yet it also makes it sound like an...
Reader Mail
Apr 12, 2012

Classifying nonsubstantive facts

Regarding the April 6 front-page article "First glaciers in Japan recognized": This is the silliest research I have ever seen. Of course, there is ice movement; it's happening on a micro-scale in every place with ice and, by implication, with permanent ice.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 12, 2012

Fluterscooter brings a new shine to the flute

Without knowing it, you may have already seen a concert featuring Andrea Fisher. The Juilliard School of Music graduate has performed with John Legend and Herbie Hancock, and has spent time in the studio with hip-hop mainstays such as 50 Cent and Wiz Khalifa.
Reader Mail
Apr 12, 2012

Ideas that could stand debate

Regarding Grant Piper's April 8 letter, "Expressions to avoid discomfort": The question is not whether an expression is the result of "erroneous cosmology." Some of us really do not believe in such unscientific notions as God, heaven and hell, however such notions may be expressed cosmologically or poetically....
CULTURE / Art
Apr 12, 2012

Voina points to the art of dissent

The photo shows an unshaven Russian glaring into the distance from behind prison bars. It's a striking shot, so it is hardly surprising that when it was printed on a 4×6-meter banner and unfurled at an entrance to the 20-km exclusion zone around the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the police officers...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 12, 2012

Voina points to the art of dissent

The photo shows an unshaven Russian glaring into the distance from behind prison bars. It's a striking shot, so it is hardly surprising that when it was printed on a 4×6-meter banner and unfurled at an entrance to the 20-km exclusion zone around the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the police officers...
EDITORIALS
Apr 11, 2012

Disasters impact land prices

For the fourth consecutive year, Japan's land prices have fallen. Prices decreased an average 2.6 percent in 2011, but the decline was smaller than the 3.0 percent in 2010 as the economy bounced back from the 3/11 disasters. Commercial land prices slipped 3.1 percent in 2011, less than the 3.8 percent...
JAPAN
Apr 10, 2012

Vaunted missile shield more for show than protection

With Aegis destroyers and Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missiles deployed and standing by, Japan's military appears ready to shoot down any debris from North Korea's rocket — or even the rocket itself — should it threaten the country this week.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 10, 2012

Rape victim marks 10 years on lonely crusade for justice

It surely isn't very often that elite Japanese bureaucrats hear the words to the national anthem quoted at them — by a foreigner. Earlier this year, Australian national Catherine Fisher says she pulled the words of "Kimigayo" from her head during a frustrating meeting with officials from the ministries...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 10, 2012

Toyota, Nissan primed for comeback

Automakers were among the companies most heavily damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami last year, but the road to recovery was fast and their plants are getting ready to make up for lost time.
Reader Mail
Apr 8, 2012

Gender equality starts at the top

Regarding the April 4 Kyodo article "Limits eyed for female Imperial branches": The Japanese Imperial system should allow not only female branches but also a future female emperor. As the U.N. charter for human rights postulates the same rights for men and women, I think the Emperor, as the head of society,...
Reader Mail
Apr 8, 2012

Expressions to avoid discomfort

I don't think Jennifer Kim ("Expressions of religious belief," April 5) correctly criticizes Paul Gaysford ("Sentiment that does not console," April 1) when she writes in her letter that he was trying to silence the public expression of religious belief by Megumi Watanabe ("Hope for 3/11 survivors,"...
Reader Mail
Apr 8, 2012

Sunny pipe dream in the storm

Regarding the April 5 front-page Kyodo article "Softbank plans huge Hokkaido solar plant": This project sounds wonderful in theory. In reality, the promised minimum output won't be under Softbank's control; it will depend 100 percent on weather conditions. And Hokkaido really isn't suitable for the project....
Reader Mail
Apr 8, 2012

Undoing the damage in Myanmar

Regarding the April 4 editorial, "Myanmar marching forward": The recent dramatic developments for reforms in Myanmar are indeed good so far. The outcomes of the by-elections last weekend were, in a sense, the reaffirmation of the love and trust that the overwhelming majority of the Burmese people have...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Apr 8, 2012

Lack of strong ties spurs business of dying alone

New businesses arising to meet new needs tell us much about the times we live in. A cleaning company named Green Heart, for example, thrives on a peculiar expertise. Its website explains: "Sadly, it often happens that unclaimed bodies go long unnoticed. In summer after two days, in winter after four...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Apr 8, 2012

New York fashion gurus applaud 'second-tier' Tokyo

As part of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tokyo, Dr. Joyce F. Brown, president of the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York City, and Dr. Valerie Steele, director and chief curator of The Museum at FIT — and curator of the groundbreaking "Japan Fashion Now" exhibition there in 2010/11 — visited...
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS / ICE TIME
Apr 8, 2012

Japan's strong showing at worlds bodes well for future

Though much attention was placed on Mao Asada's disappointing sixth-place finish at the world championships in Nice, France, it was still a fine showing for Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 6, 2012

Director flirts with film history in 'The Artist'

With hindsight, successful ideas always look brilliant, but that doesn't mean everyone involved viewed them as such from the outset. That's especially true in the world of film finance, where producers are loathe to gamble with people's money, and the best approach is usually the one that worked last...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Apr 6, 2012

Brazell hands spotlight to Ando as Tigers down Swallows

Craig Brazell certainly earned the right to share the stage with teammate Yuya Ando, he just didn't feel up to it.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Apr 6, 2012

Kita-Kamakura En: Kaiseki course as delicate as blossom

It's been a long countdown, but finally spring has liftoff. The buds and leaves are out, and so are those all-important cherry blossoms. And there is no finer way of appreciating them than from a table with a good menu and a choice vantage point.
Reader Mail
Apr 5, 2012

Inaccurate review of 'Dispatches'

Regarding the April 1 review of my book "Life and Nihonjin: Dispatches from Japan": This book is not a novel. How can a book reviewer make such a blunder? If I were a reviewer and I referred to Darwin's "The Origin of Species" as a novel about small creatures, what would anyone think of what else I had...
COMMENTARY
Apr 5, 2012

U.S. and allies move to counter Chinese power

The pieces of a new strategic kaleidoscope in the Asia-Pacific region are starting to fall into place as allies and security partners of the United States seek to deter China from using or threatening force to achieve its expansive aims, particularly in the South China Sea, which forms the maritime heart...
Reader Mail
Apr 5, 2012

Ill effects on bilateral relations

Klaus Herrle, in his March 29 letter, "Painful to see payoffs to U.S.," gets straight to the point of criticizing Washington's demand that Japan pay an additional $1 billion for transferring U.S. Marines from Okinawa to Guam and elsewhere.

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