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JAPAN
Feb 9, 2012

Plan for new marketplace on Tsukiji site gets mixed reviews

Moves by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to build a new marketplace on the site of the Tsukiji market have drawn mixed reactions, with some critics saying it is an attempt to bulldoze through the controversial relocation of the famed fish market to a new site.
COMMENTARY
Feb 8, 2012

World economy's uncharted territory

"The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there." — L.P. Hartley, English novelist
COMMENTARY
Feb 8, 2012

China faces rising risks as it looks overseas for resources

China's meteoric rise to become the world's second biggest economy and a global manufacturing center is sustained by ever-growing imports of raw materials and increasing investment abroad, often in under-developed countries shunned by the West for alleged human rights abuses or because they are considered...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 8, 2012

Nuke dangers nowhere near resolved: Kan's crisis adviser

In December, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda announced the "conclusion" of the meltdown crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, saying Tokyo Electric Power Co. was managing to keep the three crippled reactors cool, as well as the facility's spent fuel pools.
JAPAN
Feb 8, 2012

Crisis never came close to scenario meriting Tokyo evacuation: panel chief

The Fukushima No. 1 plant worst-case fallout scenario drawn up by Japan Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Shunsuke Kondo last March 25 assumed winds would carry the radioactive materials to Tokyo, forcing the government to help people "migrate" from the capital.
BASEBALL / HIT AND RUN
Feb 7, 2012

Giants may live to regret letting prolific slugger Ramirez leave

The Yomiuri Giants hit fewer singles, doubles, triples and home runs in 2011 than they did in 2010. The Kyojin also drove in fewer runs and struck out more.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Feb 7, 2012

Bubble era's aviation legacy: Too many airports, all ailing

Japan has 98 airports, and most of them are operating in the red as a result of exaggerated demand forecasts and rampant, costly and arguably pork-barrel construction projects.
BUSINESS
Feb 7, 2012

Rising bond auction demand defies growing debt-burden concerns

Demand has risen at every note and bond auction in Japan this year, helping the nation maintain the world's second-lowest borrowing costs on a debt burden poised to exceed ¥1 quadrillion.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 6, 2012

Americans seem driven to work more for less

Recently a friend confided over dinner that her job was "killing" her. I was surprised. She is a director of a midsize nonprofit that is doing citizen diplomacy work in the Middle East, and she has often remarked on how gratifying it is to be involved in a program that brings historical enemies face...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 6, 2012

Hard to give yourself up when you're a wanted man

'Hirata Makoto desu. Shuttō shite kimashita." (「平田信です。出頭してきました」"I am Makoto Hirata. I've come to give myself up").
Reader Mail
Feb 5, 2012

Problem with some universities

In my opinion the reason why the not-so-prestigious private universities in Japan are said to be having a hard time attracting Japanese students is that many of the lecturers have poor academic knowledge and inferior research ability. As they lack the passion for teaching the importance of exploring...
Reader Mail
Feb 5, 2012

Yours-is-mine model doomed

Observing the furor on the Web and in newspapers last month over the attempt by members of the U.S. Congress to pass legislation aimed at cracking down on Internet piracy makes it clear that large numbers of people support the irresponsible positions of the Internet heavyweights such as YouTube, Google...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Feb 5, 2012

Takada says being GM, manager equally challenging

Playing as a teammate with Shigeo Nagashima and Sadaharu Oh was awesome. Yu Darvish should win more than 15 games this season with the Texas Rangers.
Reader Mail
Feb 5, 2012

Test intended to cull foreigners

When Japan Airlines introduced foreign cabin attendants, the counter-argument at the time was that, in an emergency, Japanese passengers might not be saved because the foreign cabin attendants would not be able to communicate with them.
Reader Mail
Feb 5, 2012

Higher level of political discourse

Kevin Rafferty's Feb. 1 article, "President Obama's dreams are suffering nightmares," reads like a love letter to Barack Obama, calling him the "young, intelligent, telegenic president."
Reader Mail
Feb 5, 2012

Only Japanese-speaking nurses

Regarding the Jan. 31 article "Foreigners' poor test grades force rethink on nurse tests": Our society is aging fast and we need to improve nursing care, especially for more and more elderly people. So, hiring professional nurses from abroad is a very good way to increase the supply and release pressure...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Feb 5, 2012

The artist: Shimane's Davis is master of the blocked shot

"The idea is not to block every shot. The idea is to make your opponent believe that you might block every shot."
BASKETBALL
Feb 5, 2012

Blackledge continues to make big impact for Phoenix

Ed OdevenSTAFF WRITER
Reader Mail
Feb 5, 2012

Trying to prove superiority

Those responsible for the nurse certification exam are, and always will remain, an arrogant lot. They hold these exams just to let people fail and, in their mind, once again prove the superiority of the Japanese over other nationals. Of course, the tests should be in English. And it's clear that if the...
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2012

Scientists say contamination of ocean fish minimal so far

The massive radioactive fallout from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant has sparked fear in seafood lovers and commercial fishermen both at home and abroad, and some worry the contamination could pass through and even become more concentrated in the ocean food chain.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Feb 3, 2012

Geary has Yokohama in gear halfway through season

Among the league's four expansion teams, the Yokohama B-Corsairs have the best record (14-14) entering February.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 3, 2012

'The Hunter' / 'Poetry'

One of cinema's most constant motifs is the flawed, morally corrupt character who in the last reel listens to his conscience and decides to do the right thing. There's a good reason for this: Audiences know all too well how easy it is to be a "good German," and desperately wish it weren't so. You often...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 3, 2012

'Shinobido (Shinobido — Way of the Ninja)'

Ninja movies come with certain expectations, especially in the West. One is for action of the fantastic sort, with the ninja performing feats impossible to real human beings without assists from wires or CGI. Another is that, dramatically, they will be laughably bad.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 3, 2012

Botan: Put a little sukiyaki fire in your belly

On one side of the battered shōji screen with its panels of flimsy washi paper, the sleet and biting wind. On the other, a small old-fashioned hibachi brazier, its coals glowing softly. There's no contest: At Botan, the charcoal wins every time.
Reader Mail
Feb 2, 2012

Lower voting age doesn't help

Regarding Masami Ito's front-page article on Jan. 27, "Talks to start on lowering voting age": Representative democracy is an extortion racket. Lowering the voting age, like extending enfranchisement to women and poor males in the West, has resulted only in a lower quality of extortion, such as brutality...

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’