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Reader Mail
Mar 8, 2012

Not the way to improve business

Andrew Sheldon's response to the Berlitz General Union's recent victory in court strikes me as incoherent at best and more than a little disingenuous. He is happy to celebrate unions "if their values are healthy" and then goes on to condemn the demand for minimum wages as extortion.
COMMENTARY
Mar 8, 2012

Rethinking the welfare state

A Japanese father, mother and grownup son were recently reported in the British press to have starved to death rather than face the shame of applying for public relief. Self-reliance and the work ethic are important for economic prosperity and social cohesion, but it should not be shameful to seek outside...
BUSINESS
Mar 8, 2012

Former Mitsubishi UFJ credit trader to start Japan-focused hedge fund

Yoshihito Asakawa, a former Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. trader, will start a Japan-focused hedge fund in May that will invest in credit derivatives and currencies.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / Japan Pulse
Mar 7, 2012

15th Japan Media Arts Festival

Creators of interactive technology and cutting-edge eye candy get their week in the spotlight.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Mar 7, 2012

Odom's presence crucial for Mavs

Time to check your Odom-eter:
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 7, 2012

Popovic thinking big in his first season with FC Tokyo

Kashiwa Reysol pulled off the unprecedented feat of winning the J. League only a year after claiming the second-division title last season, but FC Tokyo manager Ranko Popovic is hoping history will repeat itself with his newly promoted team.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Mar 6, 2012

Immigration 'informers' call on foreigners in Suginami Ward

C.W., who lives in Tokyo's Suginami Ward, recently received a notice about the upcoming resident law changes and was informed that an "officer" would visit him and other foreign residents in the area. He is concerned about the intent of these changes and wondering why "officers" are only visiting the...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 6, 2012

Island fortresses floated for Tohoku

The idea of building raised stadium-size "islands" to accommodate tsunami-ravaged communities might sound like a bad joke, but that's exactly what one architect is urging devastated towns in Tohoku to consider.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 6, 2012

Berlitz court ruling unequivocal on basic right to strike

After hearing more than three years of testimony, the judge took only a minute to read the court's verdict rejecting Berlitz Japan's ¥110 million lawsuit against striking teachers and their union and reaffirming organized labor's right to take industrial action.
COMMENTARY
Mar 5, 2012

Will American values outlast the social storm?

In 1924, the sociologist couple Robert and Helen Lynd arrived in a small Midwestern city they called Middletown (it was Muncie, Ind.) to study and survey the place.
BUSINESS / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
Mar 5, 2012

Todai plan to shift school year could be catalyst for wider Japanese reforms

The University of Tokyo, locally known as Todai, has announced a draft plan to shift the start of its academic year from spring to autumn and called on 11 other major universities to join it. Public discussion of the proposal has been immense since the announcement in mid-January, and for good reason....
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Mar 5, 2012

Brave Warriors take advantage of Jets' struggles to claim win

Statisticians develop fancy formulas to calculate lots of numbers and to identify patterns in those numbers. Basketball coaches, on the other hand, will often point to one team's domination in certain phases of the game to explain the way things work.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 5, 2012

Hashimoto: a young politician to keep an eye on

He's young, photogenic, energetic, brash, bold, intelligent — and, almost oxymoronically, a politician, one of very few in Japan within living memory who come close to fitting such a description. He has many ideas, all of which boil down to this: "Nihon no kuni wo ichi kara risetto shite, mōichido...
Reader Mail
Mar 4, 2012

Blind presumption of atrocities

Regarding Shai Greenberg's Feb. 23 letter, "Unbearable cost of Iranian oil": How does Japan's purchase of Iranian oil lead to the government in Tehran continuing "its atrocities against the Iranian people"? Is it not a case of blind ignorance to write this — as if atrocities do indeed take place in...
Reader Mail
Mar 4, 2012

Poor analogies to 'gay marriage'

Hats off to Thomas Clark for his defense of traditional marriage in his Feb. 26 letter, "Twisting the meaning of marriage." Clark was spot-on when he described the tired old comparison of "gay marriage" to interracial marriage as a "flawed analogy." My husband and I are in an interracial marriage. Every...
Reader Mail
Mar 4, 2012

Meet the atomic bomb survivors

As a Japanese national, I would like to ask U.S. President Barack Obama a big favor. Mr. President, please visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki to meet atomic bomb survivors while they are still alive. As you may fear that this could adversely affect the presidential campaign, please make the visit after the...
Reader Mail
Mar 4, 2012

Don't impose gold medal targets

Regarding the Feb. 29 Kyodo article "Draft program targets buckets of Olympic gold medals": If I am not mistaken, the only countries that had or have such government-set numerical targets for Olympic gold medals are dictatorships.
Reader Mail
Mar 4, 2012

End the demonization of Iran

Will the demonization ever end before another catastrophic war takes place in another Middle Eastern country? In Shai Greenberg's Feb. 23 letter urging Japan to boycott sales of Iranian oil, "Unbearable cost of Iranian oil," we are treated to the usual blather about Iran developing an "offensive nuclear...
Reader Mail
Mar 4, 2012

Farmer shines a light on Japan

Regarding the Feb. 29 Kyodo article "Fukushima farmer presses Tepco to look after abandoned animals": This person (Naoto Matsumura, 52) is amazing. We lived many years in Japan but have been back in Europe since August.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Mar 4, 2012

Too much snow for a snowman

The winter of 1946-47 saw record snowfalls in Britain. As a 7-year-old boy in hilly Wales, it was sheer joy — and never mind the transport shutdown and electricity crisis as power stations ran out of coal.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 2, 2012

Colombian foreign minister voices optimism over inking bilateral EPA

Following a meeting last September with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda referred to the South American country as "a neighbor" of Japan only separated by the Pacific.
JAPAN
Mar 2, 2012

Evacuated town prepares for residents' return

The town of Hirono resumed services Thursday at City Hall, the first of nine evacuated municipal offices in Fukushima Prefecture to reopen since the March 11 disaster struck and nuclear crisis started.
EDITORIALS
Mar 2, 2012

Better stalking measures needed

Two murders in Nagasaki Prefecture in December 2011 show that the police are ineffective in preventing stalking-related crime. Police nationwide need to improve their methods for deterring stalkers, including how and when to share information with different police units. They should not forget that a...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 2, 2012

After 3/11, short-film director has one message: Don't forget

Isamu Hirabayashi is an incredibly versatile man. The 39-year-old Shizuoka native's day job is to direct TV commercials, and he normally works on five or six projects at the same time. Since 2002, he has also been active as a filmmaker, with his short films being shown at numerous festivals overseas,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 2, 2012

'Henge'

Movie trailers and TV commercials both exist to sell, but unlike ads for toothpaste or instant ramen, trailers offer a direct experience, however manipulated, with the actual product. So websites that post links to trailers are not just shilling for distributors, but also offering their visitors, always...

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