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Reader Mail
Oct 20, 2011

Resourceful China sets example

In regard to Brahma Chellaney's Oct. 19 article, "China's unparalleled rise as a hydro-hegemon," China has set a template for holistic development of natural resources that its peers would do well to emulate.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 20, 2011

Kido dials up the romance

I'm told Ryuto Miyake, the artist who sketched the portrait in front of me over hamburgers near his university in Tokyo, shares the same ideas about the music industry as the "real" Yoji Kido now sitting opposite me; mainly a desire to strip away labels and to cross genre-boundaries. A cliche maybe,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 20, 2011

"Good Design Exhibition 2011"

Design Hub, Tokyo Midtown Closes Nov. 13
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 20, 2011

Japanese arts course opens door to English speakers

There is a small slither of land in Tokyo's Kita-Aoyama district that is wedged between the rolling grounds of the grand, neo-Baroque-style Akasaka Palace state guesthouse and the equally expansive, tree-lined grounds of the granite-constructed Meiji Memorial Picture Gallery. Given the nature of the...
CULTURE / Music
Oct 20, 2011

BBQ Chickens "Crossover and Over"

Ken Yokoyama must be feeling rather nostalgic these days. One of Japan's more prominent punk figures, in September the guitarist reunited with his 1990s band, Hi-Standard, and this month he's put out new music with his early noughties project BBQ Chickens. Formed shortly after Hi-Standard's demise, BBQ...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 19, 2011

Luxury mart ending four-year slump

Japan's luxury market is set to grow for the first time in four years as status-conscious consumers help rebuild the economy, encouraging expansion by Gianni Versace SpA and Mulberry Group PLC.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Oct 19, 2011

NBA owners won't give in

Wherever NBA games are played, there are thousands of people who depend on related opportunities to pay the bills, including those employed at the arena, nearby restaurants and hotels and game-day staff.
COMMENTARY
Oct 18, 2011

Time is running out to avoid civil war in Syria

Back in 1989, when the communist regimes of Europe were tottering, almost every day somebody would say "There's going to be a civil war." And our job, as foreign journalists who allegedly had their finger on the pulse of events, was to say: "No, there won't." So most of us did say that, as if we actually...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Oct 18, 2011

Fuji Five Lakes: What are your thoughts on hiking prices on everything from food to utility bills in the wake of the 3/11 disasters?

Robin Lawrentz, 34Yamanashi local government (American)It will be a greater burden in rural Japan where the economy is already struggling. There it will just take more out of money out of people's hands. But people will get used to it unless the change becomes drastic.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Oct 18, 2011

Sexless marriages, ineffective police

Some readers' responses to Debito Arudou's Sept. 6 Just Be Cause column, " 'Sexlessness' wrecks marriages, threatens nation's future":
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 18, 2011

Insulation maker working to meet growing demand

Mag-Isover K.K., the Japanese unit of French building-material conglomerate Saint-Gobain, is ready to meet growing demand for insulation in the disaster-hit Tohoku region and elsewhere and expects the nation's energy-saving efforts to continue for years to come.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 18, 2011

Auditor hired by fired Olympus chief smells rotten acquisition

Olympus Corp. should investigate payments made to advisers in connection with an acquisition, according to an external auditor's report.
COMMENTARY
Oct 17, 2011

Worrisome link between diabetes, Alzheimer's

In 1999, the Rotterdam Study uncovered the strong association between diabetes and Alzheimer's disease. In this landmark study carried out in the Netherlands, 6,370 elderly men and women were followed for an average of two years. In what was perhaps one of the first reports on this issue, they found...
Reader Mail
Oct 16, 2011

Why U.S. won't apologize

Given President Barack Obama's past remarks, it's clear he feels strong guilt for Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Oct. 8 article "Hiroshima mayor not pressing for Obama apology"). Unfortunately, it might be a little bit different from the opinion of ordinary American people.
Reader Mail
Oct 16, 2011

Reality of scarcity problem

What do the article by Rowan Hooper ("Like Astro Boy, humans may be able to live with radiation") and the letter by Rohan Donald ("Thorium reactors for the future") in the Oct. 9 issue have in common? The answer is that they both look to a purely technical solution to Japan's current predicament of how...
Reader Mail
Oct 16, 2011

Free flights a travel turnoff?

In regard to the Oct. 11 article "Tourism blitz: 10,000 to get free flights to Japan," what an incredible offer. And yet I think that it is the wrong approach. If anything, world travelers might assume that things are so bad in Japan that the government is giving away free airline tickets. This isn't...
Reader Mail
Oct 16, 2011

Time to rebuild from Tepco failure

"If somebody tells us to stop using the cost-plus pricing formula, we would say, 'We are not in a philanthropic business,'" said a power-industry person in the Oct. 10 article "Tepco guarding its ground."
Reader Mail
Oct 16, 2011

Local fix first for Tohoku fisheries

Miyagi Gov. Yoshihiro Murai's plans for growth in the Tohoku region of Japan, in the Oct. 13 article "A chance to do more than rebuild Tohoku," seem all very positive in theory but it would be regrettable if locally-based fishing cooperatives lost their powers to large international corporations.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Oct 16, 2011

The hills of Kotsubo hide the tombs of fallen samurai

No matter how warm and sunny the day, there's always a chill in Mandarado Yagura, a samurai graveyard in Kotsubo, right at the boundary between Kamakura and Zushi in Kanagawa Prefecture just south of Yokohama.
Reader Mail
Oct 16, 2011

Eulogies for Jobs misplaced

I was a big fan of Steve Jobs. He inspired many people, including me, and all the effusive praise is well justified. But aren't we going a bit too far in describing him, as an Oct. 8 article does, as "The man who dented the universe"?
Reader Mail
Oct 16, 2011

Setting Futenma's record straight

Yoshio Shimoji makes a patently false claim in his Oct. 6 letter "Close the air station ... tomorrow" that "Futenma was constructed while area residents were herded into concentration camps during and after the Battle of Okinawa."
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Oct 16, 2011

Murton, Chono going down to wire for CL batting title

Fukuoka Softbank Hawks outfielder Seiichi Uchikawa has pretty much wrapped up the 2011 Pacific League batting title. With just a few games remaining, Uchikawa was batting .341 as of Thursday and had a 22 percentage point lead over his nearest competitor, Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters outfielder Yoshio...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Oct 16, 2011

In the pink down on the Rio Negro

Agreat splash, sounding as if a sumo wrestler had just belly-flopped into a swimming pool, echoed up through the wooden floor of my cabin. Yes, the floor.
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
Oct 16, 2011

Men marrying later, the new Diet building opens, grenade causes plane scare

100 YEARS AGOThursday, Oct. 26, 1911
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Oct 15, 2011

Golden Kings, Evessa class of the West again

Almost nothing remains the same in the Eastern Conference, as all 10 head coaches this season are in spots that they didn't occupy at this time a year ago.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 15, 2011

Whiting explores Irabu's legacy

Best-selling author Robert Whiting, who penned the classic "You Gotta Have Wa," examines pitcher Hideki Irabu's life and his impact on baseball on both sides of the Pacific Ocean in an exclusive three-part series beginning on Sunday in The Japan Times.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Oct 15, 2011

Liverpool-Man United always a big one

It is the bitterest rivalry in the Premier League on and off the pitch. Liverpool vs. Manchester United is not just about football, it is a battle between two cities 50 km apart who, historically, have competed for the bragging rights in northwest England.
COMMENTARY
Oct 14, 2011

Why the sudden backlash against the wealthy?

The context for Occupy Wall Street and proposals to tax the rich — "rich" being constantly redefined — is the broader issue of economic inequality. For years, liberal politicians, academics and pundits have complained about growing inequality, but their protests barely resonated with the public....
Reader Mail
Oct 13, 2011

Inconvenient untruths<

Joseph Jaworski's letter conveniently leaves out important effects of a tobacco tax increase.

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