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Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 4, 2011

Ziyoou-vachi bring the heat to summer festival gigs

Seeing a performance by Ziyoou-vachi (Queen Bee) is to see a performance in every sense of the word. The four-piece formed in Kobe in 2009 and played a high-energy theatrical set at last year's Fuji Rock Festival. Building on that success, the band released debut album "Majo Gari" ("Witch Hunt") on their...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 4, 2011

Japan's interpretation of all creatures great and small

We still don't know the true meaning or purpose behind the earliest examples of artworks depicting animals.
JAPAN
Aug 3, 2011

APEC workshop focuses on disaster preparedness

A gathering on disaster preparedness by Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation members officially kicked off Tuesday, featuring case studies on how businesses overcame the damage inflicted by the March 11 catastrophe that wiped out many of their footholds in the Tohoku region.
BASKETBALL
Aug 3, 2011

Abdul-Rauf becomes free agent

The Kyoto Hannaryz have relinquished their rights to veteran shooting guard Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, the bj-league team announced on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Aug 3, 2011

Tokyo looks to build natural gas power plant

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government said Tuesday it wants to build a power plant fueled by natural gas that can generate the electricity equivalent to one nuclear reactor.
Japan Times
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Aug 3, 2011

Kitajima has work to do in bid for triple Olympic glory

Sometimes the smartest thing an athlete, team or coach can do is call a timeout.
BUSINESS
Aug 3, 2011

Yen surge threatens to erase quake rebound

The yen's biggest monthly advance since 2008 is threatening profits of exporters from Toyota Motor Corp. to Nissan Motor Co., endangering the rebound from March's record earthquake.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 2, 2011

Holding oil firms liable for rights violations

Several nongovernment organizations have filed an amicus brief urging the United States Supreme Court to review the ruling of an appeals court that corporations, under international law, cannot be held liable for damages from serious human rights violations.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Aug 2, 2011

The loneliness of the long-distance foreigner

A few months ago I had beers with several old Japan-hand guys (combined we have more than a century of Japan experiences), and one of them asked an interesting question:
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 2, 2011

Drop a line, win a fix of '90s 'Alien Humor'

The newly released "Alien Humor" (Treasure Productions, 140 pages, soft cover, ¥1,400) is a collection of many of the pieces that Neil Garscadden wrote while editor of the humor section of The Alien magazine. Features that readers might remember include "Why It's Hard to Explain Life in Japan," "Inventions...
COMMENTARY
Aug 1, 2011

The rightwing terrorism threat

Three articles about Muslims ran in the same paper on the same day (The Independent, July 25):
Reader Mail
Jul 31, 2011

Kan's escape from nuclear reality

Regarding the July 25 Kyodo article "70% back Kan's nuclear tack, ditto seek his exit": At a time when pragmatic statesmanship and hard-nosed realism are needed, it is extremely disappointing to read that Prime Minister Naoto Kan has decided to promote the unattainable ideal — at least in the foreseeable...
Reader Mail
Jul 31, 2011

Suspicious life expectancy figures

According to the July 28 Kyodo article "Men's life expectancy rises, but women's falls," there has been a slight dip in female life expectancy, though not enough to relinquish top spot, while male life expectancy hit a new high for the fifth straight year.
Reader Mail
Jul 31, 2011

Where are the rewards for effort?

My father has been a woodworker for 35 years. He makes wooden bowls and such, and lacquers them Japanese-style. My mother helps my father and makes chopsticks, using various kinds of wood. They run a shop in a small town and struggle to earn a living. They seem to work eagerly and put their hearts into...
Reader Mail
Jul 31, 2011

Little mention of dairy products

There has been a lot of discussion about contaminated beef, but little mention of dairy products in news reports. Has there been much testing of dairy products? Haven't some dairy cows eaten the same straw contaminated with radioactive materials?
Reader Mail
Jul 31, 2011

Update of released radiation due

Regarding the July 28 article "Threat to food chain grows as contamination spreads": In this article, and in a number of others, I have seen the following statement: "On June 6, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said the plant released about 770,000 terabecquerels of radioactive material into...
Reader Mail
Jul 31, 2011

Uprisings focus on food and jobs

Regarding the July 28 article "Winning the transition to democracy": Author Sri Mulyani Indrawati (a former finance minister of Indonesia) is living under the illusion that all the uprisings in recent memory are about democracy.
Reader Mail
Jul 31, 2011

Intimidating message to China

Regarding Ralph Cossa's July 27 article, "U.S. nukes to South Korea?": Cossa reports that some South Koreans are calling for the reintroduction of American nuclear weapons because they want to "send a message to China." The message that China is likely to take from such an action is that the die is cast:...
CULTURE / Books
Jul 31, 2011

Literary sludge insults child abduction issue

IN APPROPRIATE: A Novel of Culture, Kidnapping, and Revenge in Modern Japan, by Debito Arudou. Lulu Enterprises, 2011, $10, 149 pp., (paper) That prickly gadfly of gaikokujins, Debito Arudou, has done it again, diminishing a worthy topic — in this case, international child abduction — into dross...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 31, 2011

Nadeshiko Japan show that a relaxed approach gets the best results

The national women's soccer team that just won the FIFA World Cup in Germany is called Nadeshiko Japan. "Nadeshiko" is the name of a flower, but it also represents a certain ideal of Japanese femininity that's demure, quiet and accommodating to men; or, at least, it used to be. Japan's victory over the...
Reader Mail
Jul 31, 2011

Reports on Viet Cong made sense

On the question of Australian journalist Wilfred Burchett, who was denied a passport in the 1960s by the Australian government, I agree with Roan Suda's July 28 letter, "Portrayal of a leftist journalist," that Burchett was both pro-communist biased and sometimes sloppy in the use of dates and names....
SOCCER / J. League
Jul 30, 2011

Rafael says Ardija must keep poise despite home struggles

Omiya Ardija are yet to win a single game at their own Nack5 Stadium this season, but Brazilian striker Rafael is determined to find some home comfort as soon as possible.
Reader Mail
Jul 28, 2011

China's 'high-speed' intentions

Regarding the high-speed train collision in Zhejiang Province over the weekend, I feel very sad about the deaths and injuries, but angry over how China's government handled this accident.
Reader Mail
Jul 28, 2011

Portrayal of a leftist journalist

Unlike those in the mob gleefully calling for Rupert Murdoch's blood, Gregory Clark, in his July 20 article, "Murdoch's moral rise and fall," is thoughtful, even compassionate. Murdoch is, it would seem, a tragic figure, lured by ambition and greed into becoming a tool of the usual suspects: rightwing...
Reader Mail
Jul 28, 2011

Disappointing answers on beef

I was shocked to see that the July 23 question-and-answer article, "Are worries over meat warranted?," made it past editorial screening. For starters, I refer to the last paragraph of the first answer: "The 82.65 microsieverts compares with the 100 microsieverts of radiation a person would be exposed...
Reader Mail
Jul 28, 2011

The true costs of nuclear power

I have two comments about the July 24 Timeout article "Powering Japan's future." First, author Winifred Bird writes that the accuracy of the respective kilowatt-hour costs of generating electricity from coal, nuclear reactors, solar panels and wind — as estimated in 2010 by the Agency for Natural Resources...
Reader Mail
Jul 28, 2011

How much radiation got out?

I agree with the July 24 letter from the Marumori-machi, Miyagi, man, "Open letter to nuclear experts," who evacuated his wife and children from their home near the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant. I would like to recommend a very interesting article on how Tokyo Electric Power Co. has betrayed...

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