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BUSINESS
May 19, 2011

Asahi kicks off news pay service

The Asahi Shimbun Co. launched a digital newspaper Wednesday, aiming to find a profitable balance between old and new media.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
May 17, 2011

Designers still show collections after Japan Fashion Week cancels

Four days after the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake on March 11, Japan Fashion Week, scheduled to take place March 18-25, was unceremoniously canceled with an announcement on its official website. It sent a small wave of panic through the industry as it became increasingly unclear how the fashion season...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
May 17, 2011

Print is suffering, but English readers have never had it so good

Returning to Osaka after several years, James wonders what became of Kansai Time Out, the magazine that served the English-speaking community in that region and beyond:
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 17, 2011

Tepco CDSs leap on loan writeoff remark

Credit-default swaps on Tokyo Electric Power Co. are trading at a three-week high after the government's chief spokesman said public pressure may force lenders to write off loans to the troubled utility.
CULTURE / Books
May 15, 2011

Natsume Soseki: mining a literary treasure

THEORY OF LITERATURE AND OTHER CRITICAL WRITINGS, by Natsume Soseki. Columbia University Press, 2009, 287 pp., $50 (hardcover) Natsume Soseki (1867-1916) is said to rank among the world's great 20th-century writers. Many consider him Japan's greatest modern novelist. His books, from the comic "I Am a...
JAPAN / WEEK 3
May 15, 2011

Author's fiction turns horribly real

The Pacific Ocean a few kilometers off the coast of a city in the Tokai region of central Honshu turns white. Hundreds of curious holidaymakers caught in a traffic jam on the seaside road get out of their cars and jump up onto the sea wall for a better view of the strange sight — only to realize that...
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 14, 2011

Renewable's time is now, expert says

Prime Minister Naoto Kan's request that Chubu Electric Power Co. shut down the Hamaoka nuclear power plant was valuable, though he should have reached this decision much sooner after the Fukushima crisis, according to an expert on nuclear and renewable energy.
EDITORIALS
May 14, 2011

Modest U.S.-China progress

This week the U.S. and China held their third Strategic and Economic Dialogue, an annual forum that brings together hundreds of officials for talks on issues of concern for the two nations. While conspiracy-minded observers are wont to see the get-together as the germ of a Group of Two that will one...
COMMENTARY / World
May 14, 2011

The Muslim-American: reclaiming my identity

Osama bin Laden's many victims include, first and foremost, those who died on Sept. 11, 2001, and their grieving families, the soldiers sent to war and the loved ones they left behind, and a new generation forced to grow up in a more polarized and paranoid world. For all of them, bin Laden's death must...
BUSINESS
May 14, 2011

Shimizu projects profit gains on rebuilding plans

Shimizu Corp. is forecasting a profit jump of about 24 percent this year on the outlook for a recovery in orders for infrastructure projects including roads and bridges.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 14, 2011

Finding fulfillment the hard way through NGOs, activism

The tiny Amnesty International Japan headquarters is hidden on the fourth floor of a nondescript building in a dull business district not far from Ochanomizu, in central Tokyo.
COMMENTARY
May 13, 2011

Whirlwind shakes out Singapore minister

It may be quintessentially American to believe that elections are good things and their absence inherently bad — in theory. In reality, everyone knows that elections sometimes seem more trouble than they are worth and can produce unwanted results. This is what happened in the tiny city-state of Singapore...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
May 13, 2011

Rookie coach Blackwell admires veteran peers

Leading their teams to three consecutive Final Fours, Ryukyu's Dai Oketani and Hamamatsu Higashimikawa's Kazuo Nakamura have earned respect from their coaching peers and helped set the standard of excellence for which all future bj-league coaches will be judged.
COMMENTARY / World
May 13, 2011

Ditch the school recruiters

International student mobility is big business. Approximately 2.8 million students study abroad, distributing at least $50 billion around the globe annually.
JAPAN
May 12, 2011

Crisis a chance to forge new energy policy

On March 15, 1970, the long-anticipated Osaka Expo opened, allowing more than 64 million people to indulge their curiosity and learn about future technologies over a six-month period. It would remain the most attended world's fair until the 2010 Shanghai Expo and continues to be regarded, along with...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 12, 2011

A tale of two cities: Art Fair Kyoto challenges Tokyo

After the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake and tsunami, the art scene in Tokyo was struck by cancellations, postponements and confusion as it attempted to make sense of the disaster and worked on ways to contribute to the reconstruction of the Tohoku region of Japan.
COMMENTARY / World
May 11, 2011

The Thai-Cambodian battle of the temples

The military skirmishes between Thailand and Cambodia that have claimed more than two dozen lives, caused scores of injuries, and displaced tens of thousands of people since February are primarily attributable to domestic politics in both countries. Rooted in ancient enmities and the legacy of the colonial...
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
May 11, 2011

Road ahead won't be easy for Lakers

Oh, but it's weird and it's wonderful; here we are, forsythia is on sale for 50 percent off, and we're on the threshold of talking about "next season" regarding the Lakers instead of "next series."
COMMENTARY
May 10, 2011

Our choice: profits or safety

As a scholar whose specialty includes energy economics and the environment, I am somewhat puzzled by the relatively small number of social scientists who look into problems concerning energy. Is it because they are afraid of clarifying whether they should be for or against nuclear power generation?
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / STYLE WISE
May 10, 2011

The girls, the heart, the virility and the ingenuity of fashion

Let's hear it for the girls: Fashion, music and celebrities The Girls Award, a twice-yearly event not unlike the already massively popular Tokyo Girls Collection (TGC), proves that the trend of daylong fashion festivals is picking up speed.
BUSINESS
May 10, 2011

Mitsubishi Estate sees lower profit

Mitsubishi Estate Co., Japan's second-biggest developer, said Monday it expects profit to drop 14 percent this business year as apartment sales slow following a record earthquake.
BUSINESS
May 10, 2011

Sanrio to license Hello Kitty theme park in China

Sanrio Co., the Japanese maker of Hello Kitty character goods, has agreed to work with a Chinese company to build a theme park in eastern Zhejiang province, the company said Monday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 10, 2011

After the deluge, universities face foreign exodus

Like thousands of foreigners, Tony Black recently made the agonizing decision to leave Japan, wife and baby child in tow. Unlike many, he has no concrete plans to return.
BUSINESS / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
May 9, 2011

Meaningful future needed to preserve Tokyo Motor Show

Japanese automakers were hit hard by the March earthquake and the massive supply chain interruptions continue. It's so bad in fact that normalization of production at most domestic and overseas plants is expected to take until the end of the year.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past