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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.
Reader Mail
Apr 3, 2011

Leaders must anticipate disaster

Again, America is witnessing an international crisis, this time the earthquake-tsunami aftermath in Japan. As we have seen so many times in recent years — especially after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans (2005) — our nation's leaders appear to grow wiser by reaction rather than by a proactive approach....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 2, 2011

International school typifies Sendai's community spirit

Local merchants crowded in with proud parents and teachers, eyes glued to the screen and banners waving. It could have been anywhere in Japan during Koshien season: a community gathered around the television in the school cafeteria, neighbors coming together to cheer the home team at the annual spring...
JAPAN
Apr 2, 2011

Tohoku disaster causes 'natto' shortage

"Natto" fermented soybeans, considered by many as a healthy source of protein, is just one of many food items missing from supermarkets nationwide amid the disaster triggered by the March 11 quake and tsunami.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 2, 2011

Volunteer sensitivity to locals' needs called for

Tohoku communities hit by the earthquake and tsunami last month are gradually embarking on the road to recovery, with some finally able to call on volunteers outside the region for help thanks to restored infrastructure.
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Apr 2, 2011

Creative shelters bring privacy to Tohoku evacuees

Architects and designers are coming to the aid of homeless needing privacy and shelter in the wake of the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 1, 2011

Coming together for the survivors

One recent afternoon in a small community room in an apartment building in Chuo Ward, Tokyo, people streamed in carrying big boxes and bags full of food, beverages and clothing.
EDITORIALS
Apr 1, 2011

Now it's Yemen's turn

The Middle East continues to churn. While events in Libya and Syria command most of the world's attention, developments in Yemen are just as important. The situation there is unraveling and for once the prospect of al-Qaida profiting from the unrest seems real. That is not a reason to disown demonstrators...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / IN THE RECORD
Apr 1, 2011

Iori Asano

Fresh off his release on Peter Van Hoesen's Time To Express label, Okinawa-based DJ and producer Iori Asano is riding high. The Japan Times sneaks a peek into his record bag.
Reader Mail
Mar 31, 2011

Prod toward more transparency

Regarding Gregory Clark's March 24 article, "Nuclear meltdowns and Japanese culture": It is always a pleasure to read Clark's considered analysis, steeped as it usually is in high-level personal experience with some wing of the Japanese bureaucracy or industry from the past 30 years.
Reader Mail
Mar 31, 2011

Air bombing vet urges U.S. aid

What a horrible tragedy for so many thousands of Japan's citizens! We have been watching the incredible devastation caused by the (March 11) tsunami and quake. I wanted to help, so I made a donation to The Japan Times Readers' Fund.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 31, 2011

Quake relief effort highlights a vital U.S. military function

SENDAI — In September 2009, I resigned my tenured faculty position at a Japanese national university to begin working for the U.S. Marine Corps in Okinawa. While at Osaka University, I had the opportunity to teach many talented Japanese and international students over the years both at the undergraduate...
JAPAN
Mar 31, 2011

Kaieda orders nuke safety rethink

Industry minister Banri Kaieda instructed nuclear plant operators Wednesday to compile emergency safety measures to prevent radiation leaks in the event that their power and cooling systems fail, as happened in the Fukushima crisis.
BUSINESS
Mar 31, 2011

Osaka's allure increases

Japanese companies may rethink their century-long trend of concentrating resources in Tokyo after the nation's record earthquake crimped power supply to the capital and radiation concern spurred some residents to flee.
BUSINESS
Mar 31, 2011

Nuke crisis scares foreign buyers off seafood

Exports of Japanese seafood have been canceled by foreign buyers on concern that the products may have been contaminated by radiation leaking from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, a government official said.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 30, 2011

How the world can assist Japan

Japan is known not only for its experience with devastating disasters, but also for innovations in disaster risk reduction. Back in 1990, when the United Nations started its first International Decade of Natural Disaster Reduction (1990-1999), Japan was one of the strongest supporters.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 29, 2011

Unrequited hope for Kan

OSAKA/LONDON — More than two weeks after a 9.0-magnitude earthquake triggered a horrendous tsunami and crippling damage to a major nuclear plant in northeast Honshu, it is as if Japan is still sleeping through a raging nightmare. Initially, economists tried to play down the damage, saying that this...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 29, 2011

From raw emotion to relief: 'Quakebook'

What started as the "Quakebook," now titled "2:46" after the time the earthquake hit, originated in a shower in Abiko, Chiba Prefecture, a week after the earthquake and tsunami devastated the Pacific coast of northern Honshu. A longtime British resident of Japan, who blogs as Our Man in Abiko, trying...

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