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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Dec 1, 2009

A level playing field for immigrants

For the first time in Japan's postwar history, we have a viable opposition party in power — one that might stick around long enough to make some new policies stick. In my last column for 2009, let me suggest how the Democratic Party of Japan could make life easier for Japan's residents, regardless...
Japan Times
JAPAN / ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE
Dec 1, 2009

Electric vehicle market charges up

FOURTH IN A SERIES Keio University engineering professor Hiroshi Shimizu believes the era of the electric vehicle is near.
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2009

Domestic flights limit carry-on size to keep schedules flowing

Japanese airlines on Tuesday will start enforcing size restrictions on domestic flight carry-on luggage in an effort to minimize delays caused by trying to stow items that are too big.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Nov 30, 2009

When real is nominal and nominal real: the world of falling prices

A newspaper headline tells me 'Pace of growth picks up in Japan." The actual figures bear out the statement. Japan's real GDP registered a quarter-on-quarter increase of 1.2 percent in the July-September quarter. The Japanese economy is expanding.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Nov 29, 2009

Kichijoji captivations

Kichijoji has shopping covered, literally and figuratively. The roofed malls at this popular stop on the Chuo Line 15 minutes west of Shinjuku sport prices markedly lower than those of central Tokyo, and the lure of its bargains is easily as strong as its famed live jazz and blues scene.
BUSINESS
Nov 28, 2009

October saw CPI nose-dive

Consumer prices fell at a near record pace in October, reinforcing the government's concern that deflation will hamper the economy's recovery from its worst postwar recession.
BUSINESS
Nov 28, 2009

Exporters face 'breaking point' over strong yen

Toyota Motor Corp. and Sony Corp. are among Japanese exporters that may miss their forecasts as the yen strengthens more than they anticipated, eroding their earnings from televisions and cars sold overseas, investors said.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / LIQUID CULTURE
Nov 27, 2009

Society's whiskies hit the high notes

I've found a new whisky to love. It's a 26-year-old single malt from Hokkaido's Yoichi distillery. It's got oak and a gentle, sweet smokiness, a touch of leather, cherries, toasted almonds and I'm just making this up now, because after "oaky" and "a bit smoky," I ran out of vocabulary.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 27, 2009

Tokyo's urban design role

The Hatoyama government's ambitious carbon reduction goals position Japan for leadership in the postindustrial global economy. Less discussed is Tokyo's remarkable energy efficiency, urban ecology innovations, and its potential for playing a leading role in the next decade's biggest environmental challenge:...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Japan Pulse
Nov 27, 2009

School uniforms remain a cultural conundrum

If Japan-watchers want to get to the bottom of what defines 'kawaii,' maybe they should talk to the girls who define it in the first place.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Nov 26, 2009

Cable guy Yasushi Sano

Yasushi Sano, 30, is a "cable guy" living and working in Tokyo. By his estimates, over the past six years, he has installed cable TV into about fives homes a day, averaging 25 hook-ups a week, 100 a month and 1,200 a year, bringing quality entertainment into a total of 7,200 households. Sano's passion...
JAPAN / ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE
Nov 26, 2009

CO2 cuts will require nation's transformation

First in a series
MORE SPORTS / ICE TIME
Nov 25, 2009

Mao, JSF appear content to retain present course

As the sand continues through the hourglass and the days until the Vancouver Olympics dwindle, Mao Asada's chances at the gold medal seem to continue to dissipate.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Nov 25, 2009

Hallods puts definition on its screen; Maxell turns volume up

Screen saver: Putting genuine high definition in portable-media players is a bit like trying to craft the perfect diamond. If you pull off the act it looks brilliant, but the difference between it and the normal article is nearly impossible for laypeople to actually see. Despite doubts over whether the...
COMMENTARY
Nov 24, 2009

An able, nonpolitical civil service

LONDON — In Britain and Japan, civil servants are supposed to be nonpolitical and to give unbiased advice. But their independence is threatened by some politicians who want posts to be filled by what Margaret Thatcher used to call "one of us" — people who share the same aspirations as the governing...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / ASEAN JOURNALIST SYMPOSIUM
Nov 24, 2009

Southeast Asian economies look to return to growth in 2010

Southeast Asian economies hit hard by the global crisis expect to return to positive growth in 2010 as signs of recovery started to emerge in recent months following massive government stimulus measures, veteran journalists from the region told a recent symposium.
Reader Mail
Nov 22, 2009

Blog posts can be so much noise

Although I found the Nov. 18 article "Lets kensaku — searching the Web in Japanese" interesting, it didn't tell me anything I was not already aware of. I was hoping it would address the biggest problem I have when doing Japanese-language searches online: search results primarily comprising people's...
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Nov 22, 2009

Beyond Copenhagen there's more than just cutting CO2

Imagine for a minute that global warming is not changing our planet's biosphere and the ecosystems that sustain life on Earth.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 22, 2009

Obsessed with 'ugly' women

When I read the news item in early November about the three men in Tottori Prefecture whose mysterious deaths were linked to a woman already under arrest for fraud, I associated them with the similarly mysterious deaths of several other men linked to a Tokyo woman who was under arrest for swindling....
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2009

Couple's love story started in Africa

good faith. What language do you use to communicate with each other and your children?
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 21, 2009

Globalization: a culture killer

SEATTLE — A Muslim family sits across from me in a cafe, in a largely Muslim Asian country. An older woman shyly hunches over, desperately trying to avoid eye contact with the giant-screen TV blazing loud music on MTV. The scantily dressed presenter introduces her "top song" for the week. Beyonce,...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 20, 2009

'Runaway sites' latest Net-based exploitation of young girls

First there were the "enjo kosai" Internet sites where underage girls hook up with adult males in exchange for money. Now there's a new type of Web site that unites girls running away from home with men offering a place to stay in return for sexual favors.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past