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JAPAN
May 5, 2011

Workers set to enter reactor 1 building

Eight workers are scheduled to be the first to enter the reactor 1 building of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant since it was ripped apart by a hydrogen blast the day after the March 11 tsunami, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Wednesday.
Reader Mail
May 5, 2011

Facing up to Tokyo's inevitable

Philip Brasor's April 24 Media Mix column, "Decentralizing Tokyo may save the nation," reminded me of the common saying that is such a cliche that it is embarrassing to note: "Don't put all your eggs in one basket."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 5, 2011

Oorutaichi

Osaka artist Oorutaichi has long tried to test listeners' ears by blending together many disparate styles, so much so as to render the concept of "genre" irrelevant when discussing his music. For an upcoming concert in Tokyo he hopes to further challenge the sensory experience through the addition of...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 5, 2011

From within the 'outsider' came a wealth of imagination

"American Innocence, Welcome To The Realms of the Unreal" at the Laforet Museum brings together 64 paintings and some personal objects of the "outsider artist" Henry Darger, who was born in Chicago in 1892.
LIFE / Digital / TECH_JAPAN
May 4, 2011

The quake hits Nintendo while hackers shake Sony

For much of March, regular television advertising was all but replaced by public service announcements. Understandable really: Who wants to be the official sponsor of the biggest tragedy to hit Japan since the war? But what if you had just rolled out a new product and wanted to promote it?
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 3, 2011

Tight-lipped Tepco lays bare exclusivity of press clubs

It was a shocking revelation for a majority of the people in Japan, but maybe not so for major media organizations.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / MIXED MATCHES
May 3, 2011

Pair go together like pasta, dessert

"People around us tell us that we're like meoto-manzai (stand up comedians). We're always surrounded by laughter," says Atsuko Nonogaki Planeta, 43.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 2, 2011

Reading between the lines of disaster vocabulary

If you chanced to visit Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s website in mid-April, you probably saw a note regarding the utility's tsunami e no taisaku (津波への対策, tsunami policy). Clearly it had been written in more innocent times. Relax, it said in effect. The policy was iron-clad. It rested on painstaking...
Reader Mail
May 1, 2011

Complainants may lose nerve

I really dislike these electioneering types. Their behavior is typically very rude. For example, they will do such things as hiring out a room in City Hall and then proceed as if it is their natural right to make so much noise that users of adjacent rooms are unable to conduct their business; such is...
Reader Mail
May 1, 2011

Silent protests against noise

Regarding the April 26 article "Brit held in campaign noise protest": Assuming nobody was hurt by grabbing the microphone, I'd like to applaud Edward Jones' actions in disrupting campaign efforts (for the Tokorozawa Municipal Assembly, Saitama Prefecture) on April 23.
Reader Mail
May 1, 2011

No time for the DIY approach

The April 17 letter from Daniel Potocki, "Give the foreign experts a chance," struck a chord. If I had the chance to write Prime Minister Naoto Kan and the Japanese government, it would be a rather emotional appeal.
Reader Mail
May 1, 2011

No such thing as 'passive tense'

Regarding the April 27 Bilingual page article, "Stop worrying and embrace the passive tense": Sorry to nitpick, but I think someone writing a column on language is obliged to be careful about linguistic terminology.
Reader Mail
May 1, 2011

Price of unnecessary convenience

Regarding Stephen Hesse's April 24 article, "After March 11, Japan must reconsider its energy options": It is a shame that only now, because of the Fukushima nuclear power plant problems and the loss of its energy output, that many people are willing to reduce energy usage. We have known for years that...
COMMENTARY
May 1, 2011

The lowdown on sieverts and a healthy diet

Gastronomic habits are hard to change. That was conventional wisdom as regards Japanese food when I arrived here more than four decades ago. After all, back then, there were said to be only about a dozen Japanese restaurants in this city.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 1, 2011

It is time to target who calls the shots in Japan when disaster strikes

Why did it take so long for any Japanese Cabinet ministers to make their presence felt on the site of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant — and what does this tell us about the decision-making process in Japan?
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 1, 2011

Tohoku charity a minefield for Japanese celebrities

One of the worst-kept secrets on television is the location of Dash Village, a remote farm that was built by the boy band Tokio in the late 1990s. It has since been maintained by the quintet as part of a running feature on their Sunday night Nihon TV variety show "Tetsuwan Dash," and in order to discourage...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
May 1, 2011

Atsuko Muraki: Fighter for justice

Atsuko Muraki was thrown into the public spotlight in 2009, when she was head of the Equal Employment, Children and Families Bureau at the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2011

Maestro's Tokyo Sinfonia to serenade evacuation centers

Robert Ryker, the conductor and music director of Tokyo Sinfonia, has a dream to help heal the broken hearts of tsunami survivors with music.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Apr 30, 2011

The case of the ¥300,000 blanket

My husband is taking me to court.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Apr 30, 2011

Mourinho sinks to new depths with Barca paranoia

It was all so sadly predictable. Real Madrid vs. Barcelona, a Champions League semifinal "Clasico" with many of the world's finest players on view.
CULTURE / Art
Apr 29, 2011

ArtGig offers 'Dirty, dirty! Sex, sex!' — for free

When curator Shai Ohayon says he's organizing 12 hours of "dirty, dirty, sex, sex" in Shinjuku, he's not making a sordid offer.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 29, 2011

Bright set out to lighten spirits

All-female vocal quartet Bright are putting their efforts into Action for Nippon, a charity that works to help kids affected by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 29, 2011

Logic System sets the mood for Moog

"I think people come to my shows to hear a 'nostalgic' sound, something that they might have otherwise forgotten," says Hideki Matsutake, who has been at the forefront of Japan's electronic music scene since its beginnings.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 29, 2011

'Mr. Nobody'/'The Kids Are All Right'

Jaco Van Dormael, best known for his much-loved 1991 film "Toto the Hero," returns to the big screen in Japan after 14 years with his comeback film, "Mr. Nobody" — but all indications are he should have stayed in retirement. With "Mr. Nobody," director/screenwriter Van Dormael is indeed treading new...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Apr 29, 2011

Kitagawa guides Buffaloes to win over Marines

After two embarrassing days, the Orix Buffaloes finally got something to go their way against the Chiba Lotte Marines
Reader Mail
Apr 28, 2011

Late remedy against radiation

Regarding the front-page April 20 Kyodo article "Powder to remove radiation developed": This new powder, if it works as claimed, is a godsend. Ever since radioactive elements were found in Tokyo's water supply, I have used activated charcoal in bath water and refrained from giving my baby daughter tap...

Longform

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Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years