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Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 23, 2012

Unlocking the secrets of the Inca civilization

The pre-Columbian civilizations of the Americas are very much in the public's mind this year due to the so-called Mayan Prophecy that suggests the world will end on Dec. 21. Perhaps any fear-mongering will have the positive effect of sparking increased interest in the region. Luckily, media company TBS...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Mar 23, 2012

NPB, players embrace normalcy ahead of upcoming season

Fans in the stands supporting their favorite teams and players this spring signalled more than just the return of baseball. It was the beacon of a slight return to normalcy.
Reader Mail
Mar 22, 2012

Martial arts among safer sports

In the March 15 editorial "Reason to skip judo class" — which expresses concern over the introduction of judo and other martial arts as mandatory sports in Japanese junior high schools — there is some confusing information.
Reader Mail
Mar 22, 2012

Making renewable energy feasible

Renewable energy has a Siamese twin: energy-use reduction. The two are inseparable, at least with the technologies available in the foreseeable future. The good news is that last summer's (July and August) electricity consumption was down 14 percent (see http://kaden.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/20110928_480111.html),...
Reader Mail
Mar 22, 2012

Big risks without nuclear power

Since March 11, 2011, there has been a backlash against nuclear power among the public. Many people now equate nuclear power with danger. I, however, feel that the Fukushima nuclear accident was more of a human/managerial problem than a nuclear one.
CULTURE / Music
Mar 22, 2012

Showcase tour can be a first step into America — but only if you get it right

A showcase at South by Southwest or a slot on the Japan Nite tour can be a great way to launch a band Stateside — or a great waste of time and money.
CULTURE / Art
Mar 22, 2012

Photographing history: pioneers of technique

A good retrospective presents an artist's full career, challenges our preconceptions and encourages us to rethink his or her work and contributions. Two new exhibitions at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography do just that, shedding new light on two very different photographers: Felice Beato...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 22, 2012

Photographing history: pioneers of technique

A good retrospective presents an artist's full career, challenges our preconceptions and encourages us to rethink his or her work and contributions. Two new exhibitions at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography do just that, shedding new light on two very different photographers: Felice Beato...
COMMENTARY
Mar 22, 2012

Pinpointing the causes of the U.S. economic crisis

Four years after the onset of the financial crisis — in March 2008 Bear Stearns was rescued from failure — we still lack a clear understanding of the underlying causes. Hundreds of studies and books have given us an increasingly detailed picture of what happened without conclusively answering why....
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 22, 2012

Join TPP but also expand in Asia: economist

Japan should adopt a two-pronged trade strategy — participate in the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade agreement and further deepen economic ties with the rest of Asia — to achieve economic growth, according to the top economist at the Asian Development Bank Institute.
COMMENTARY
Mar 22, 2012

China's military buildup breeds distrust

Since China announced another big rise in its military spending earlier this month, Chinese officials in Beijing and diplomats posted in Asia-Pacific countries have been trying to spread an orchestrated message to the region: Don't be alarmed.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 21, 2012

Can the world's poor nations save the rest of us?

Events in 2012 so far have confirmed a new global dissymmetry. Caught between unprecedented financial insecurity and a somber economic outlook, the rich OECD countries and their middle classes fear geopolitical weakening and downward social mobility. In much of Asia, Africa and Latin America, however,...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 21, 2012

Goldman Sachs has a long history of duping its clients

Greg Smith doesn't know the half of it.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 20, 2012

Author sees parallels between prewar, nuclear indoctrination

The March 10, 1945, Great Tokyo Air Raid was the most destructive air attack in history. Nearly 100,000 people lost their lives after approximately 300 B29 bombers attacked Tokyo's present-day Sumida, Koto and Taito wards. Some 1,700 tons of napalm and incendiary bombs created a firestorm that raged...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Mar 20, 2012

Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya: What have you learned about Japan and the Japanese people from 3/11 and its aftermath?

Mina Jeon, 36 (Tokyo)
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 20, 2012

Testing times for U.S.-South Korean alliance

The United States is now wrestling with the nuclear fears of two close allies — Israel and South Korea. Israel's alarm at the prospect of Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon is existential in nature. The same is true of South Korea, whose capital sits only 40 km from the border with the North.
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Mar 20, 2012

Randoseru

Dear Alice,
COMMENTARY
Mar 19, 2012

Chief executive falls on Hong Kong's reputation

Chief Executive Donald Tsang, chastened by the disclosure that he had accepted favors from Hong Kong and mainland tycoons, was on the verge of tears when he appeared March 1 before the Legislative Council and pleaded: "No matter whether you still trust me or not, don't lose faith in Hong Kong's institutions."...
COMMENTARY
Mar 19, 2012

Color GDP growth green

It is often said that the 21st century is the "century of the environment." This means two things: One is that the environmental problems of this planet, especially climate change and global warming, have become so serious that they are attracting more people's attention; and the other is that environmental...
EDITORIALS
Mar 19, 2012

Preparing for the next big one

A year after the 3/11 earthquake and tsunami devastated the Pacific coastal areas of the Tohoku region, the government and people need to realize that 3/11 will not be the last large-scale natural disaster to hit Japan. The nation needs to prepare for powerful quakes and tsunami that have been forecast...
Reader Mail
Mar 18, 2012

The fear of what others think

In his March 8 article, "Rethinking the welfare state," Hugh Cortazzi implies that a Japanese father, mother and son starved to death because they had too much pride. This is an utter misrepresentation of the case (as reported recently in the British press), and conveys a lack of understanding of human...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Mar 18, 2012

Ryunosuke Akutagawa in focus

Though he died by his own hand at the age of 35, novelist Ryunosuke Akutagawa's accomplishments were such that, even after so brief a writing career, Japan's most prestigious literary accolade — the Akutagawa Prize — now bears his name.
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
Mar 18, 2012

Frog battles carp, indignant seamen strike, Roppongi the new night-life hub, passive-smoking case stubbed out

100 YEARS AGOTuesday, March 15, 1912
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Mar 18, 2012

Evessa nab emotional victory without star Washington

The Osaka Evessa have endured a week unlike any other in franchise history.
BASKETBALL
Mar 18, 2012

Brex, Palmer part ways

Link Tochigi Brex head coach Bruce Palmer has been fired, a prominent hoop source told The Japan Times on Saturday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Mar 18, 2012

Yu Darvish under the magnifying glass

Barring a major natural catastrophe, war or government upheaval, the vernacular news headlines for the next several months are almost certain to be dominated by baseball. Specifically, former Nippon Ham Fighters hurler, Yu Darvish, who on April 8 is scheduled take the mound in his first start for the...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 18, 2012

Quake insurance is but a token offering

As the government continues to push for an increase in the consumption tax, a question related to last year's disaster is still being debated: How much of the burden for rebuilding should be shouldered by taxpayers? We live in a resolutely capitalist country that stresses personal responsibility, and...

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?