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BUSINESS
Mar 23, 2011

Rebound hinges on blackouts

The economy will probably see a rebound in the second half of this year after a blow that will be determined by the magnitude of electricity disruptions caused by the March 11 disaster, according to a survey of economists.
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 23, 2011

J. League to resume season on April 23

The J. League will resume action on April 23 with as many afternoon kickoffs as possible for the rest of the season, the league announced Tuesday.
JAPAN
Mar 22, 2011

Smoke slows nuclear plant repairs

Bursts of smoke Monday from the buildings housing the No. 2 and No. 3 reactors forced repair crews to evacuate the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, but no rise in radiation levels was detected at the compound, the government and Tokyo Electric Power Co. said.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 22, 2011

A dispatch from the disaster zone

I cannot recall ever attempting to take gasoline from a car by sucking through a rubber hose. But on Monday last week there I was, standing in a dirt parking lot while contemplating proper tube diameter to access the tank of our Toyota Belta sedan in the town of Kawasaki, a small suburb just west of...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Mar 20, 2011

This awful tragedy will show Japan's true character to the world

Some people look for moral lessons in disasters, concentrating on a baby pulled out of the rubble of an earthquake days after it struck and calling it a "miracle." But a tsunami of the scale that crashed against the manmade seawalls along the Pacific Coast of the Tohoku region in northeast Japan left...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Mar 20, 2011

Sumo seeks to recover from disaster of its own making

If March 13, 2011, had been a normal Sunday in Japan, at around 4:30 p.m. this writer would have popped open a beer, grabbed a packet of shelled peanuts, switched on his TV and watched the first day of the Osaka Grand Sumo Tournament on NHK.
Japan Times
LIFE
Mar 20, 2011

Solace for some in the nuclear science

The few, seemingly miraculous, stories of survival are passed on from person to person, and some are given as much media coverage as the horrific devastation. The rescue of a 60-year-old man from the roof of his house, washed 15 km out to sea; the survival of a 4-month-old girl who was swept away from...
JAPAN
Mar 19, 2011

Japan abiding by IAEA: Amano

Director General Yukiya Amano of the International Atomic Energy Association tried to give his home country a break Friday by acknowledging the Fukushima power plant crisis is serious and Japan is acting in accordance with IAEA standards.
BUSINESS
Mar 19, 2011

Yen declines as G7 starts intervention

The yen fell from historic highs Friday after the Group of Seven major industrialized nations promised coordinated intervention in currency markets to support catastrophe-stunned Japan's recovery.
JAPAN
Mar 19, 2011

Lapses, coverups color public view of nuclear plants

Behind the escalating nuclear crisis sits a scandal-ridden energy industry in a cozy relationship with government regulators, who are often willing to overlook safety lapses.
JAPAN
Mar 19, 2011

Fukushima fallout the stark backdrop to Seoul-Beijing-Tokyo summit

OSAKA — When the foreign ministers of Japan, China, and South Korea gather in Kyoto this weekend for their long-delayed summit, they will do so amid rising public concern in all three countries about radiation leaking from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant and the future of nuclear energy in...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Mar 19, 2011

When the big one hit

When the big one hit — at 2:46 p.m. on March 11 — I was trying to be funny.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Mar 18, 2011

Regular-season play begins again for bj-league

Nearly a week after the devastating destruction in Tohoku due to the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that killed several thousand people, followed by the Fukushima nuclear plant's ongoing radiation crisis, the bj-league has decided to resume competition this weekend to lift people's spirits.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 2011

Copters, trucks try to cool fuel rod pool

Ground Self-Defense Force choppers dumped water bags, a Tokyo police water cannon unsuccessfully tried to spray water and five enclosed GSDF firetrucks later took on the desperate attempt to cool spent nuclear fuel rods in a storage pool suspected of drying up at the Fukushima No. 1 atomic plant's No....
CULTURE / Film
Mar 18, 2011

Stars certain movie business will bounce back

Each new day since the March 11 earthquake seems to bring something worse, but the Japanese entertainment industry is no stranger to disaster and mayhem. There's a been-there-seen-it-all mindset, nurtured by a long history of alternating repression and liberation, plus natural disasters in between.
Reader Mail
Mar 17, 2011

U.S. official walked into ambush

Regarding the March 11 front-page article "U.S. sacks Maher, apologizes for remarks ": Some facts are clearly being left out of the news reports on this topic. What Kevin Maher, director of Japan Affairs for the U.S. State Department, didn't know when he met with American University students in Washington...
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2011

Capital has no iodine prep plans

Other than monitoring radiation levels in the capital amid the failures at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government said Wednesday it had no plans to prepare any radiological countermeasures, such as reserving iodine pills to deal with internal exposure to radioactive substances....
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 17, 2011

Nikkei turmoil threatens economy

The failure to contain radiation risk from the crippled nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture, and the resulting turmoil in stocks, threaten to worsen damage to the economy from last week's earthquake and tsunami.
JAPAN
Mar 16, 2011

Radiation levels spike in Tokyo; capital still safe, Ishihara says

Radiation reached around 20 times normal levels in the capital Tuesday morning, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government said, while offering the assurance this reading posed no immediate risk to human health and that the public should remain calm.
JAPAN / Q&A
Mar 16, 2011

Take proper steps to avoid exposure to fallout

More residents near the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture were ordered to evacuate Tuesday, raising concerns about radiation exposure.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Mar 15, 2011

Are Japanese people hard-wired to hoard?

In the wake of the Tohoku-Kango earthquake, consumers can't help but help themselves to everything in sight.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 15, 2011

Kicking up a stink over ink in Kobe

You might want to avoid Suma Beach this summer if you are inked or have even a temporary sticker tattoo. The powers that be in Kobe City are considering ways to ban the display of tattoos on the beach.

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