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Japan Times
JAPAN
May 25, 2009

Proposed foreigner card protested

More than 200 people rallied in Tokyo's Shinbashi district Sunday to protest government-sponsored immigration bills they claim would violate the privacy of foreign residents and strengthen government control over them.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
May 25, 2009

Traditional merchant values resurgent in recessionary Japan

There is an old Japanese saying that keeps cropping up in my conversations with people lately. It is the phrase "sampoh-yoshi."
Reader Mail
May 24, 2009

Promiscuity irrespective of gender

Regarding Jennifer Kim's May 14 letter, "Promiscuous lifestyle led nowhere": Why did The Japan Times publish such a homophobic letter? So what if the assassinated San Francisco supervisor Harvey Milk (played by Sean Penn in the film) was "promiscuous"? Sexual promiscuity is not a trait seen only among...
EDITORIALS
May 24, 2009

Rescinded job offers

A record number of graduates had their job offers canceled this spring, a recent survey by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare reported. More than 2,000 offers in total were withdrawn, double the number of the second worst year — 1998 — when several brokerage firms collapsed.
JAPAN
May 24, 2009

MOX use opposed by Genkai's leery residents

GENKAI, Saga Pref. — Before a two-lane access road was built to connect it with other parts of the prefecture, the village of Genkai, nestled in high hills with deep ravines beside the Sea of Japan, was so remote that even locals called it the "Tibet of Saga Prefecture."
Reader Mail
May 24, 2009

Separate memorials suspicious

Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't there a memorial to the Japanese victims of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima within the peace park, and isn't there a separate memorial to the non-Japanese victims outside the peace park?
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
May 24, 2009

Students share hopes for nation's future environment

Each year on May 5, Japan celebrates Children's Day with waves of young families flooding local parks, playgrounds and amusement centers.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 24, 2009

Was Japan's first Western screen star shameful to his homeland?

The Japanese have a term for certain types of movies made outside the country featuring Japanese actors who play Japanese characters. It is kokujoku eiga. Eiga means "movies," and kokujoku, derived from the words for "country" and "insult," means "disgrace" or "denigration." In other words, kokujoku...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
May 24, 2009

From Meiji gentleman to 'Japanese Yankee'

This curiosity (a first-person account of the writer's gradual transformation from Meiji gentleman to self-proclaimed "Japanese Yankee") was first published in 1898 (by the Congregational Church) and never again seen until now.
BUSINESS
May 23, 2009

Flu virus starts to take toll on businesses

The spreading H1N1 swine flu virus is having an ill effect on a wide range of businesses from tourism to retailing, particularly in the western regions where the outbreak was first detected, industry sources said Friday.
JAPAN
May 22, 2009

Principal apologizes for letting students go to New York

Takayoshi Maeda, principal of Senzoku Gakuen's junior and senior high schools, apologized Thursday for letting a group of students go to New York, where two of them contracted swine flu, but said he thought he lacked the authority to cancel the special trip.
COMMENTARY / World
May 22, 2009

California crisis imperils Obama's agenda

BERKELEY, Calif. — While the new Obama administration is commanding global attention, America's future may be written — as so many times before — in and by its largest state. Once the lodestar for American optimism and achievement, California now illustrates the difficulties confronting the United...
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 22, 2009

Grand jury system comes to Japan

Eight years ago, Seiji Shimomura could only watch as his 2-year-old son Tomohito was crushed to death by crowds at a fireworks show in Hyogo Prefecture. Ever since, he has campaigned for high-ranking police officials to be indicted over their role in the matter.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 22, 2009

Swamped by laughter

I'd met Satoshi Miki several times before interviewing him for "Instant Numa." Our senses of humor mesh well enough that the recording of the interview often sounds like a sitcom laugh track.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / LIQUID CULTURE
May 22, 2009

A purist at work behind the bar

"A bar is no place for a woman. The important characters are always men."
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
May 22, 2009

Phoenix's Nakamura looks back on team's first season in bj-league

Despite a 36-win regular season, the best record in the Eastern Conference, and a trip to the Final Four, Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix coach Kazuo Nakamura didn't describe his team's first season in the bj-league as a resounding success.
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
May 21, 2009

Wild orchids

Dear Alice, Can you please find out what the heck I saw on Mount Takao on the outskirts of Tokyo? Last spring, about this time of year, I was on a trail with a lot of other hikers lugging cameras and tripods. All of a sudden everyone got very excited. Not knowing Japanese, I had no idea what they were...
JAPAN
May 21, 2009

Peru ambassador talks up trade

Peruvian Ambassador to Japan Juan Carlos Capunay expressed hope Tuesday that Japan and Peru will conclude their bilateral economic partnership agreement, an expanded version of a free-trade agreement, by yearend or early next year.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
May 21, 2009

Building title team a 'wonderful experience,' says Ryukyu GM

Two days after the Ryukyu Golden Kings captured the bj-league title in the team's second season, general manager Tatsuro Kimura reflected on the significance of this achievement.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 21, 2009

Younger farmers blogging their way to success

Hard work, low pay and a gloomy future. That's the image many young people have had about farming.
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
May 20, 2009

News and notes from the bj-league's Final Four

Nobody likes to lose back-to-back championship games.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 19, 2009

U.S. makers take cue from Toyota in cutting dealers

General Motors and Chrysler, borrowing from Toyota's playbook, are betting they can sell more cars with fewer dealerships.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
May 18, 2009

Ryukyu wins league crown

The Ryukyu Golden Kings have established a new standard of excellence in the bj-league this season.
Reader Mail
May 17, 2009

Dehumanizing influence on all

Regarding Satsuo Matsumoto's May 10 letter, "Torture necessary in some cases": Any reader inclined to endorse the opinion of Matsumoto concerning the morality and practical benefits of torture need look no further than the excellent article by Tzvetan Todorov, "Petty torture rules played on sense of...
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
May 17, 2009

Don'ts for ladies, hunting pickpockets and Tokyo named Olympic host

100 YEARS AGO
COMMENTARY / World
May 17, 2009

A story line to push the economy

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Since hitting bottom in early March, the world's major stock markets have all risen dramatically. Some, notably in China and Brazil, reached lows last fall and again in March, before rebounding sharply, with Brazil's Bovespa up 75 percent in May compared to late October 2008, and...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 17, 2009

Oh! To have a married life

Last week, during an NHK discussion about the future prospects of people who are presently 35 years old, an announcer casually dropped a statistic that said 82 percent of all 35-year-olds in Japan make ¥2 million or less a year. These are the people who are now supposed to be the core purchasers of...
LIFE / Style & Design / WEEK 3
May 17, 2009

Capital's new rail map is on the right lines

We all depend on them, especially when we are new to a place, but how many subway users realize that their trusty transit maps are the subject of a tug-of-war between the forces of geographical accuracy and graphical distortion in the interests of ease of use?

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