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Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 15, 2012

New House's YouTube marathons help deliver a debut

Yuta Mitsuhashi says he spends a lot of time falling into "YouTube holes": Watch a clip, click on a related link, repeat until the majority of your night has been spent staring at a computer screen. He isn't scrolling through LOLcat videos though, he dives into things like Thai pop music, Middle Eastern...
EDITORIALS
Mar 15, 2012

Disposing of disaster debris

One year since the 3/11 disasters, the devastated areas face many difficult problems. One big problem is how to dispose of the large amounts of debris that the massive earthquake and tsunami left.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 14, 2012

Morocco's El Otmani vows solar power tieup

Moroccan Foreign Minister Saad Dine El Otmani said he was not only filled with sadness and deep pain after meeting survivors of the March 11, 2011, disasters in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, last week, but was also moved by their courage to move forward and rebuild their devastated region.
BASKETBALL
Mar 14, 2012

Evessa's Washington arrested in drug case

Osaka Evessa power forward Lynn Washington, the most famous player in bj-league history, was arrested at 10:20 a.m on Tuesday for alleged involvement in the importation of between 1 kg and 1.5 kg of marijuana, media reports stated the same day.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 13, 2012

Public acceptance of high salaries for athletes contrasts with low regard for finance superstars

The biggest news around Cambridge in recent weeks has been Jeremy Lin, the Harvard economics graduate who has shocked the National Basketball Association by rising overnight from "nowhere" to become a genuine star, leading a losing New York Knicks team to an unlikely string of victories.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Mar 13, 2012

Celebrating friendship with Japan and 100 years of U.S. hanami

Once an activity for the nobility of the Imperial court in Japan, hanami (cherry-blossom viewing) became a popular tradition among the elite ruling class during the Heian Period (794-1185), and then later, with the encouragement of Tokugawa Yoshimune (1684-1751), among commoners.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Mar 13, 2012

Methane hydrate energy solution?

The launch of preparatory drilling for methane hydrate off Aichi Prefecture last month drew public attention amid hopes it will become an alternative to nuclear power at a time when Japan's self-sufficiency rate in energy is a meager 4 percent.
JAPAN
Mar 12, 2012

Emperor, Noda attend Tokyo memorial service

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and Emperor Akihito attended a national memorial service Sunday in Tokyo to mark the first anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake, remembering the people who perished and consoling the survivors of Japan's worst calamity since World War II.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 12, 2012

Thousands rally at Hibiya Park

Thousands converged on Tokyo's Hibiya Park over the weekend to hold candlelight services, play music and offer prayers to commemorate the first anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake, one of the largest of many such rallies and gatherings across the capital.
COMMENTARY
Mar 12, 2012

Foreign aid: sop to conscience and bad policy

When India selected 126 French Rafale fighter aircraft (£13 billion) over the U.K.-manufactured Typhoon involving a consortium of European countries, some British politicians and commentators demanded that aid to "ungrateful" India, a fast-rising economic power, be stopped.
COMMENTARY
Mar 12, 2012

Delusional pretexts to attack Iran

The last time U.S. President Barack Obama met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, it was obvious that the two men distrusted and despised each other. This time (March 5), their mutual dislike was better hidden, but the gulf between them was still as big, especially on the issue of Iran's alleged...
Reader Mail
Mar 11, 2012

If you really need a seat, say so

Regarding the March 4 Kyodo article "Elderly force subway to rethink 'all priority seats' policy": The policy of setting aside priority seats on trains is often criticized for reinforcing discriminatory attitudes toward the elderly and pregnant women, as the system literally demarcates and even isolates...
Reader Mail
Mar 11, 2012

A strong and big-hearted people

Despite the Great East Japan Earthquake of one year ago, I am happy to be living here. There are advantages and disadvantages of every place, and I am not always a happy foreigner here. But the 3/11 disasters revealed Japan to the world as the land of the calm, the steadfast, the united; the land the...
Reader Mail
Mar 11, 2012

Energizing the new 'wasteland'

Regarding the March 6 article "Tsuruga nuke plant sits atop major fault": Japan has a chance to really shine again. Give up nuclear power and show the world that it is possible to generate power to run a country from alternative sources such as solar and wind.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2012

Filipinos find career switch pays off

Like many Kesennuma residents who worked in the fisheries industry on Miyagi Prefecture's coast, Charito Ito lost her job when the processing firm she had worked at for 14 years was wiped out by tsunami last March.
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2012

869 Tohoku tsunami parallels stun

When the Great East Japan Earthquake hit Tohoku on March 11 last year, quake researcher Masanobu Shishikura grabbed a tablet computer and called up the website of the U.S. Geological Survey in Virginia to search for information.
JAPAN / QUEST FOR RECOVERY
Mar 11, 2012

A year on, Tohoku stuck in limbo

Located roughly 23 km from Fukushima's crippled nuclear plant, Hirono Station today is the northernmost stop on the JR Joban Line for passengers traveling up Tohoku's coast from Tokyo.
Japan Times
LIFE
Mar 11, 2012

Catastrophe revisited 12 months on

The Ground Self-Defense Force troops have gone. So too the old blackboard with sheets of paper taped to it. I still remember a few of the names written in long lists there — the names of those whose muddied bodies could be identified after they were brought on military trucks to the makeshift morgue...
Reader Mail
Mar 11, 2012

Kimigayo rule leaves bad taste

Regarding the March 1 Jiji Press article "Osaka passes 'Kimigayo' ordinance": It is quite right to expect public schoolteachers to stand at attention when the national anthem is played. Showing proper respect for a nation's flag and other symbols of state should be expected. But should it be a crime...
BASKETBALL
Mar 11, 2012

Strong finish propels Rizing past 89ers

Despite a strong defensive effort, the Sendai 89ers fell 67-59 to the host Rizing Fukuoka on Saturday.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Mar 11, 2012

The power of bad news

Weekly Playboy magazine discerns among young people a rising interest in Buddhism. This is surprising, given Japan's well-known "religion allergy" — or not, given that troubled times often inspire spiritual quests.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Mar 11, 2012

Disaster had major impact on NPB

Here we are, exactly one year after the Great East Japan Earthquake struck at 2:46 p.m. on March 11, 2011. Japanese baseball has been greatly affected by the quake, the tsunami triggered by it and the subsequent radiation threats from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant.
Reader Mail
Mar 11, 2012

Equal access to specialized care

Regarding the March 3 article, "Cancer, heart disease, stroke deaths plunge to 50-year low": People's accessibility to specialized medical resources is essential. We have to pay more attention to regional disparities, which are partly caused by uneven distribution of clinical specialists. A variety of...
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Mar 11, 2012

Obesity on the rise as Japanese eat more Western-style food

When Japanese people are ordering food, how many times do you hear them asking for "oomori" (large size)? It's the equivalent of asking for "supersize" in a U.S. fast-food joint.
EDITORIALS
Mar 11, 2012

Moving forward with reconstruction

A year has passed since the massive earthquake and tsunami wreaked havoc on the Pacific coastal areas of the Tohoku region on March 11, 2011, and many survivors continue to suffer from their devastating effects. The impact of the natural disasters was compounded by the subsequent nuclear crisis that...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Mar 10, 2012

The eel deal: Sky's the limit for unagi prices

The shortage of baby eels is suddenly being felt at the restaurant level.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’