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SOCCER / J. League / J. LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Jun 18, 2011

Reysol, Vegalta continue to impress in season of unpredictability

An impressive start from the less-fancied teams while the big guns struggled gave the early J. League table something of an upside-down appearance. Few expected it to last, but with almost a third of the season played, the underdogs continue to bark the loudest.
BUSINESS / Japan Pulse
Jun 17, 2011

A new flying eye in the sky

The Japanese Self-Defense Force unveils the prototype of flying sphere and the fanboy crowd goes wild.
JAPAN
Jun 17, 2011

Kepco under fire for power threat

Kansai Electric Power Co. is still drawing fire for asking local governments and businesses to cut power use 15 percent this summer to help it cope with the shutdown of four nuclear reactors for inspections.
EDITORIALS
Jun 17, 2011

Managing two airports in Kansai

The Diet on May 17 enacted a law to integrate the management of Kansai airport and Itami (Osaka) airport. The transport ministry will establish a new firm by April 2012 with all the capital coming from the government. It will start operating in the summer of that year.
BUSINESS
Jun 17, 2011

Takeda's diabetes drug Actos tied to bladder cancer risk: U.S. FDA

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.'s diabetes drug Actos may raise bladder cancer risks in patients who take the medicine for more than a year, U.S. regulators said.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 17, 2011

Superfly takes a heavy trip

Hang on a minute, how did this happen? Somehow hippie-loving 1960s-throwback pop songstress Superfly has got, like, totally heavy, man. While her previous studio album, 2009's "Box Emotions," featured a couple of belters, new release "Mind Travel" does away with soppy ballads almost completely, favoring...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 17, 2011

Quake-proof building makers prepare for bigger shock

As Japan's record earthquake struck at 2:46 p.m on March 11, Hidenori Tsukatani crawled under his desk and thought to himself: Now we will find out.
Reader Mail
Jun 16, 2011

The complainers extraordinaire

Regarding the June 11 Kyodo article "Kan to visit disaster zone, solicit opinions": Naoto Kan is a harder worker than any of the Diet members who oppose his leadership and want him to resign as prime minister. They constantly complain about Kan's actions, but what have they done to improve the lives...
Reader Mail
Jun 16, 2011

Traditional underwear is cool

Regarding the June 12 editorial "Super Cool Biz": This year is the summer for saving electricity power. We must do it. And we have clothing items that are useful for this. One such item is called suteteko (men's summer underpants). It is easily permeated by air, so it helps keep people cool.
Reader Mail
Jun 16, 2011

Act of kindness worth living for

"Mi casa es su casa." "What are friends for?" "My pleasure" — these are all sayings we use to express our gratitude to those we know. But what about the people we don't know?
Reader Mail
Jun 16, 2011

Bin Laden was no rogue deer

Regarding the June 12 Kyodo article that states that 54 percent of the Japanese public "preferred arrest for bin Laden" to U.S. commandos' killing him during a surprise raid on his compound in Pakistan on May 2: You got to be kidding me.
Reader Mail
Jun 16, 2011

Proving one's nuclear confidence

Regarding the June 11 Kyodo article "Kaieda calls for restarting nuke reactors": I would like to ask industry minister Banri Kaieda — and anyone else who so strongly recommends the continued operation of nuclear plants in Japan after seeing what has happened these past few months — to prove to us...
Reader Mail
Jun 16, 2011

Inexcusable advice to producers

Regarding the June 11 Kyodo article "Shizuoka tells tea retailer to conceal radiation info": If confirmed as reported, this revelation has implications of almost incomprehensible magnitude.
COMMENTARY
Jun 16, 2011

Gaza border opening little more than rhetoric

CAIRO — For most Palestinians, leaving Gaza through Egypt is as exasperating a process as entering it. Governed by political and cultural sensitivities, most Palestinian officials and public figures refrain from criticizing the way Palestinians are treated at the Rafah border.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2011

Time to reset ties between the EU and Turkey

Just five months ago, Osama bin Laden was alive, Hosni Mubarak was firmly in control in Egypt, and Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali ruled Tunisia with an iron hand. Today, popular rebellion and political change have spread throughout the region.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 16, 2011

Red Bacteria Vacuum

With a rough, raw and raucous hardcore-punk edge and a balls-out live show, Red Bacteria Vacuum have become one of Japan's most revered underground bands. Formed in Osaka in 1998, the trio — Ikumi (guitar/vocals), Kassan (bass/vocals) and Jasmine (drums), none of whom use a last name — routinely...
CULTURE / Art
Jun 16, 2011

'Takashi Hinoda — Alternative Muscles'

imura art gallery, kyoto Closes July 23
Reader Mail
Jun 16, 2011

Unlikely return to Fukushima

Regarding the front-page June 11 article "Housing still scarce three months after disaster": This is another good article, but it should be noted that it may be a while before people in the Fukushima region realize that many of them will not be able to return to their neighborhoods in their lifetimes....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / IN THE RECORD
Jun 16, 2011

Satoshi Otsuki

Tokyo-based DJ Satoshi Otsuki has been making waves in Japan's house and techno scene. He spun at the recent Big Beach Festival, and has played the main floor of almost every big club in the country. The Japan Times takes a look in his record bag.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 16, 2011

Waraku Ensemble serve up some summer classics

Despite a day of torrential downpour to kick off Japan's rainy season, Junnosuke Uehara is grinning from ear to ear. He's got his shamisen with him and he says he's excited to introduce a new person to the instrument. In fact, his love for the shamisen is so strong, he clings to it as if it were his...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 16, 2011

'Remembrance of the Future to Come'

Basel, Switzerland Closes June 29
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 16, 2011

AKB48 "Koko ni Ita Koto"

Beneath the media frenzy over the "election" of this year's front line members, behind the coy faced but otherwise absurdly blatant evocation of teen sex imagery, and far from the bizarre stories of the otaku (obsessive) fan who bought thousands of copies of the same CD — as if trying in some perversely...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 16, 2011

Son takes on atomic future with solar plans

Billionaire Masayoshi Son has a track record in taking on monopolies after building a business that opened up the nation's telecommunications industry. Now he aims to shake up Japan's power utilities amid the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 15, 2011

A dentist need not be a masked demon

Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Jun 15, 2011

Reopened Miraikan back to the future

Miraikan is back — and in the context of post-March 11 Japan, public expectations for the museum, whose mission is to bring cutting-edge science and technology closer to the public, are greater than ever.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 14, 2011

Tokai Big One still tops in speculation

Seismologists have warned of the likelihood of a Tokai region earthquake for years.

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan