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JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Apr 10, 2011

'Kan the Destroyer' needs his fire back

In spring 1997, the American news magazine Time published a special issue titled "The New Japan." The subtitle was "A rising generation of risk-takers and rule-breakers is stirring the country from its slumber."
Reader Mail
Apr 10, 2011

Politicians no match for the voters

The patience and stoicism demonstrated by ordinary Japanese people has been an enduring characteristic of recent times. These are qualities that have marked the extraordinary advances of this country in the second half of the last century and will feature largely in the recovery that will surely follow....
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 10, 2011

Market investors loath to weigh real challenges to U.S. economy

HONG KONG — Sometimes I find it hard to understand "Mr. Market" — if I may presume to call and poke fun at the combined wisdom of investors in stock and other markets. Immediately after announcement of a modest rise in U.S. employment numbers, the Dow Jones Industrial average rose, triggering a general...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK
Apr 10, 2011

Bannister in no man's land after move by Giants

Brian Bannister may not pitch a single regular-season inning for the Yomiuri Giants this year.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Apr 9, 2011

You walked into this

We could all use a good laugh. The only question is what defines "good."
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 9, 2011

With the world looking in, Japan needs to speak out

Japan is known as having some the world's most developed earthquake- and tsunami-detection systems. However, the destruction caused on March 11 amply illustrated what can happen even when it is well prepared for crises.
JAPAN
Apr 8, 2011

Tepco pumps nitrogen into reactor 1

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said it started injecting nitrogen early Thursday into reactor 1 at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant to purge the hydrogen inside and prevent an explosion, and the process went smoothly in the afternoon.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 8, 2011

'The Killer Inside Me'

If you like your film noir darker than a Texas outhouse on a new moon in June, and if you don't mind being shocked — and I mean really shocked — then here's your film: "The Killer Inside Me," director Michael Winterbottom's adaptation of the cult noir novel from 1952 by that most hard-boiled of authors,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 8, 2011

'Blue Valentine'

What happens in a marriage that goes awry seems — dare I say it — similar to what goes down at a stricken nuclear power plant. A thousand experts may be called in, engineers may work around the clock, but in the end, the damage will prove to be beyond repair. And in both cases, dissection and analysis...
Japan Times
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Apr 8, 2011

The U.S. role in advancing amateur sumo

In the second of two interviews with globally respected officials involved in the international sumo game, Sumo Scribblings recently threw a few questions over the Pacific to Andrew Freund, the face of the United States Sumo Federation. In many ways far bigger in the sport than his slim physique would...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 8, 2011

Tohoku brewers: 'Drink without restraint!'

Last weekend, fifth-generation sake brewery owner Kosuke Kuji of Nanbu Bijin delivered an earnest plea to the public on behalf of sake producers in the Tohoku region: "We'd be sincerely grateful if people would continue to have hanami parties (this year)."
Reader Mail
Apr 7, 2011

Credit for Japan's modern success

Regarding Michael Hoffman's Timeout April 3 article, "Renewed national pride will shape Japan's future": The Japanese never lost their "Japanese spirit" after World War II. Nor did they become "Americanized" and lose their unique culture. We might have whipped them, but all America did was point Japan...
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2011

Long-term power loss not foreseen in nuclear guidelines

Design guidelines for nuclear plants do not require that utilities take steps against long-term power loss, according to rules published in 1990 and obtained by The Japan Times. The apparent lapse was based on the assumption that in case of an emergency, electricity would be quickly restored or backup...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 7, 2011

Fallout of nuclear and financial meltdowns

BRUSSELS — The metaphors used during the financial crisis of 2008-2009 — earthquake, tsunami, meltdown, black swan and fallout — are back with a vengeance, but now they are being recycled literally. In fact, the financial crisis and the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima nuclear-power plant in Japan...
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Apr 6, 2011

Despite adding Williams, Nets have big issues

NEW YORK — Some impure thoughts before they become outdated or suppressed:
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 6, 2011

A cure for fiscal failure

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Should more countries create independent fiscal advisory councils to infuse greater objectivity into national budget debates?
EDITORIALS
Apr 5, 2011

Shinkansen lines 'shrink' nation

The entire super-express Kyushu Shinkansen Line, linking the cities of Fukuoka and Kagoshima, was quietly opened March 12, a day after the massive earthquake and tsunami hit northeastern Japan. This follows the December opening of the completed Tohoku Shinkansen Line linking Tokyo and Shin Aomori. Now...
JAPAN
Apr 5, 2011

Tepco dumps toxic water into sea

Tokyo Electric Power Co. on Monday began releasing 10,000 tons of low-level radioactive water from the Fukushima No. 1 power plant into the Pacific Ocean on Monday evening to help accelerate the process of bringing the crippled complex under control.
JAPAN
Apr 4, 2011

Tohoku disaster sparks innovative social media responses

As Japan grapples with an unprecedented triple disaster — earthquake, tsunami, nuclear crisis — the Web has spawned creativity and innovation online amid a collective desire to ease suffering.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 4, 2011

Russian alienation and the cost of freedom

MOSCOW — The Russian government, with its solid hold on power, has invariably gotten away with poor performance, inefficiency, corruption and widespread violation of political rights and civil liberties.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 4, 2011

Paint Thailand yellow and red, with a caveat to compromise

BANGKOK — After three consecutive years of deadly street protests, Thailand has arrived at the point where it will need to hold new elections, as the current term of its national assembly expires next December.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Apr 4, 2011

Effects of the Tohoku disaster and options for Japan's response

More than three weeks after Tohoku and the eastern parts of the Kanto region were hit by a massive earthquake that triggered a tsunami and a nuclear power plant crisis — there are few indications of when Japan might get the situation under control.
BASKETBALL
Apr 4, 2011

Rizing edge Magic on day of bj-league blowouts

Nobody said these are ordinary times in Japan. That sentiment also describes Sunday's bj-league action.
JAPAN
Apr 4, 2011

Two missing Tepco workers found dead

Two workers reported missing after the Tohoku quake and tsunami crippled the Fukushima No. 1 power plant were found dead Wednesday in the basement of the No. 4 reactor's turbine building, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Sunday.
Reader Mail
Apr 3, 2011

Kids should know what's going on

Regarding Jun Hongo's March 25 Q&A article, "Should kids be shielded from coverage of disaster?": In my opinion, and as a result of personal experience with tragedy, children should play a big part in knowing what's happening with issues. In my neighborhood, I see elementary school-age kids playing around...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 3, 2011

Yen for a new global currency

HONG KONG — A growing feeling that the dollar has had its day is still being spoiled by the lack of a ready alternative and by inertia and lack of global political vision or leadership. China's unwillingness to assume international responsibilities is another important factor.

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb