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BASKETBALL
Jan 16, 2010

Phoenix overwhelm Five Arrows in fourth quarter

This is one of basketball's time-honored maxims: A team that allows 35 or more fourth-quarter points will probably lose that game more times than not.
EDITORIALS
Jan 15, 2010

Population decline worsening

The population dynamics estimate of the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry indicates that Japan's population decline is accelerating. The report, based on birth and death registers submitted from January 2009 to October 2009, estimates the number of births in Japan in that year at 1,069,000, or 22,000...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 15, 2010

Kan sets his sights on cutting government waste

Given the nation's snowballing deficit and sluggish growth, Deputy Prime Minister and now also Finance Minister Naoto Kan announced Thursday plans to review government spending to reduce waste and come up with policies to expand the economy.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BY THE GLASS
Jan 15, 2010

Reinventing the classics

"In Italy I already had a job and family. If I had come to Japan and everything finished, I could have easily gone back to Italy because I had a place there. Coming here was a bit like a game and it still is for me," says TV celebrity Girolamo Panzetta.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jan 15, 2010

Seasonal skating with a green mind

If you are searching for family fun during the winter, several skating spots have opened across Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 15, 2010

'Kondo wa Aisaika'

Japanese film marriages are as diverse as the real things, ranging from the uncommunicative couple of Kiyoshi Kurosawa's "Tokyo Sonata" (2008) to the doting pair of the "Tsuri Baka Nisshi" ("Dairy of a Fishing Fool") series (1988-2009), though the easy-going wife of the fishing-mad salaryman hero has...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 15, 2010

East, West split by the lens

When the Leica was introduced in 1925, a new era in photography began. The compact camera, by being much lighter and more versatile than previous models, gave photographers unprecedented freedom in choosing the subject, angle and moment for their snaps.
Reader Mail
Jan 14, 2010

Not in the mood for fiction spreads

The Jan. 10 edition of The Japan Times asks readers if they are "Feeling like fiction?" Personally, no. More than a full page of fiction subtracts from space that could have been devoted to news, features or photos of Japan — the reason I subscribe to the paper version of the paper. One assumes the...
EDITORIALS
Jan 14, 2010

Supporting medical services

The Hatoyama administration has decided to raise remuneration to medical institutions for fiscal 2010 and 2011. Although the raise amounts to only 0.19 percent on average, significantly it is the first raise in 10 years. The decision came against the Finance Ministry's demand that payments be lowered...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Jan 14, 2010

Ice cream man Tokuya Hirose

Tokuya Hirose, 82, is the second-generation owner of Ze-roku, a tiny ice-cream shop in Osaka city's Hommachi area. Established in 1913, Ze-roku served traditional Japanese sweets till 1952, when Tokuya's father and this three sons came up with a brilliant combination that melted everyone's hearts: the...
COMMENTARY
Jan 13, 2010

Asia's changing dynamics

With Asia in transition and the specter of a power imbalance looming large, it has become imperative to invest in institutionalized cooperation to reinforce the region's strategic stability. After all, not only is Asia becoming the pivot of global geopolitical change, but Asian challenges are also playing...
JAPAN
Jan 13, 2010

Club hostesses unionize to fight gray-area abuses

Their sexy outfits and glossy makeup make it easy for "kyabajo" cabaret hostesses to entice flush male patrons into splurging fortunes on drinks.
BUSINESS
Jan 13, 2010

Oneworld offers JAL $2 billion sweetener

American Airlines and other oneworld alliance partners said Tuesday that ailing Japan Airlines Corp. would make $2 billion in commercial benefits in the next three years if it stays in the fold.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jan 12, 2010

Japan life: Etiquette by the numbers

Have you ever tried to shake hands with a Japanese only to be bowed at instead?
COMMENTARY
Jan 12, 2010

Push begins to clear electric-car obstacles

SINGAPORE — Does 2010 mark the start of a new era in road transport as electricity increasingly takes over from petrol and diesel engines as the source of power for vehicles?
EDITORIALS
Jan 10, 2010

Squeezing the merchants

On Nov. 30, North Korea redenominated its currency, the won, without prior announcements, and reportedly banned the use and circulation of foreign currencies after Jan. 1.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jan 9, 2010

You know you've been in Japan way too long when . . .

We've all heard the "You know you've been in Japan too long when . . ." jokes followed by a list of tired expressions, such as "when you start bowing while you're on the phone." Ha-ha-ha. It was probably funny the first 100 times you heard it but can't someone come up with something new?!
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jan 8, 2010

Assisted living: You can't take it with you

There gold's in the silver sector and everyone wants a piece of the the kaigo hoken (nursing care insurance) system.
JAPAN
Jan 8, 2010

New finance chief Kan faces fiscal test

Deputy Prime Minister Naoto Kan officially replaced Hirohisa Fujii as finance minister Thursday after the veteran financial expert resigned for health reasons.
EDITORIALS
Jan 8, 2010

Support for rural regions

In 1970 the government introduced a law obliging the central and local governments to take necessary measures to tackle problems faced by depopulated areas. It has since been extended three times, or once every 10 years. Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama told a meeting of the national association of town...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 8, 2010

Yang Fudong on the beauty of living

Based in Shanghai, Chinese artist Yang Fudong has gained worldwide recognition for his multimedia installations incorporating material shot on richly textured, black-and-white 35 mm film. His five-part film cycle "Seven Intellectuals in a Bamboo Forest" (2003-07) was one of the defining works in the...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 8, 2010

Other soba houses to discover in Kamakura

Kamakura has no shortage of good soba restaurants. Like Matsubara-an, many occupy freestanding traditional buildings. Here are three more worth tracking down on a visit to the ancient capital.
JAPAN / LOOMING CHALLENGES
Jan 6, 2010

Japan urged to exploit its tech, pop culture

Last of five parts

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