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COMMENTARY
Aug 6, 2011

Cracks in the Chinese wall

In the face of a spreading ethnic Uighur rebellion, authorities in Chinese-ruled Xinjiang have alleged that a prominent Uighur separatist they captured had received terrorist training in Pakistan, China's "all-weather ally."
BASKETBALL
Aug 6, 2011

All-Star Aoki to play for Evessa

Longtime Tokyo Apache point guard Cohey Aoki will suit up for the Osaka Evessa this season, a league insider told The Japan Times on Friday.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 6, 2011

Uncovering your hidden ninja

If you're wondering where all the ninja are these days, I can tell you. They're hiding within the bodies of people you'd never suspect, such as your next door neighbor.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 5, 2011

Italian reporter caught in media glare

Pio d'Emilia, an Italian journalist and long-term Tokyo resident who has been Prime Minister Naoto Kan's friend for about 20 years, has suddenly been put in the spotlight of the Japanese media for reportedly influencing Kan's position on nuclear power and his remote connection with an extreme leftist...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Aug 5, 2011

Aoki, Joho unsigned with training camp on horizon

Five-time All-Star Cohey Aoki hasn't played a bj-league game since March 10, the day before the Great East Japan Earthquake, when the Tokyo Apache and Akita Northern Happinets squared off at Yoyogi National Gymnasium No. 2.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Aug 5, 2011

Help children's summer assignments

The Royal Park Hotel in the Nihonbashi area of Tokyo is offering special activity-based summer accommodation plans through Sept. 30.
Reader Mail
Aug 4, 2011

Situation in the Horn of Africa

The Aug. 1 AP article "Hungry Eritreans suffer in silence" is a deliberate distorted tutorial prepared on the prevailing situation in the Horn of Africa. It is important to set the record straight.
Reader Mail
Aug 4, 2011

Parents don't need alarmists

In the July 31 article "Fukushima teacher muzzled over radiation," Chris Busby, a professor who visited Fukushima recently, is quoted as saying, "When you bring out the (Geiger) machines, you can see everything is sparkling and everyone is being bitten by invisible snakes that will eventually kill them."...
Reader Mail
Aug 4, 2011

Dumb statistic on foreign exodus

The July 31 Kyodo article "10% of foreign residents have left disaster-hit prefectures" is a rather poor example of journalism, as it fails to provide the full context. Yes, perhaps 10 percent of foreigners left the prefecture, but in the bigger picture, how many Japanese also left the prefecture?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 4, 2011

Lesser lights shine amid Fuji Rock rains

When U.S. act Washed Out hit the Red Marquee stage on Friday night, that's when the Fuji Rock Festival 2011 really began to get going.
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:...

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years