Search - columns

 
Menu
Search
 
July 23, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access
952 results
Sort by: Relevance Newest Oldest
After adjusting your search parameters, press Enter on your keyboard or click on the red magnifying glass to run your query again.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Aug 12, 2012

Excuse this proud new father — it's time to indulge in some baby talk

I'll preface this column by admitting that it is fairly common, among journalists on the science and health beats, that after they personally reproduce they experience a burning desire to write about the science of childbirth. Seasoned editors know to expect that postnatal reporters will start pitching...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jul 31, 2012

How would changing jobs affect my visa?

S.E. has been working at the same English school for 16 years but is thinking of leaving her job and moving to another part of Japan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Jul 24, 2012

Noriko Hama, Japanese economist and Dean of Doshisha Business School

Noriko Hama, is a Japanese economist, the Dean of Doshisha Business School in Kyoto and a contributor to The Japan Times. Well known for her candid television commentaries, popular columns, she is completely absorbed in the world of economics, and utterly unfazed by its ups and downs. Hama has never...
OLYMPICS
Jul 23, 2012

Costas' criticism sparks discussion over tributes

Should the International Olympic Committee permit individuals or groups to make political statements during the Olympics?
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 23, 2012

This summer, signs of setsuden will again be all around us

Now that all but one of Japan's usable nuclear reactors have been halted as a result of the Fukushima No. 1 power plant disaster — which followed the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami — the nation's households, small businesses and factories will once again plow forward through the hot summer...
Reader Mail
Jul 19, 2012

Experiences of those who stay

I love Amy Chavez's recent Japan Lite columns, and her July 14 article, "Why we came to Japan — a different realm," really tickled me. Chavez beautifully expresses thoughts I have always had (going on 40 years of still feeling the moonstones beneath my feet and often feeling surprised). Chavez's comments...
COMMENTARY
Jul 17, 2012

Where is the political savvy hiding in China?

China allegedly has at least 1.3 billion people residing within its current ample borders. (Has anyone ever counted?!)
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jul 10, 2012

Complex rules in place for safety's sake, but Red Cross still wants your blood

Some readers may have misunderstood the intent of our May 22 column, "Foreigners disqualified as blood donors for wide range of reasons," which was meant to illustrate, through readers' responses, that if a foreigner is turned away from giving blood in Japan, it happens more often because of standard...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jul 8, 2012

How astrology and superstition drove an increase in abortions in Japan

I like to think of myself as a rational human being most of the time, but I have to suppress a shudder if someone opens an umbrella indoors, and I'd probably comment if a black cat crossed my path.
CULTURE / Music
Jun 21, 2012

Kiwa Kiwa Festival

Emerging in March of this year promising to "challenge the limits of 'independent,' " Kiwa Kiwa — a music website and promoter (and cafe, curiously) — launched in a flurry of activity including disc and live reviews as well as columns from a quartet of local Tokyo indie musicians. It was a bold move...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jun 10, 2012

Is sci-fi becoming sci-fact in Japan, too?

Where is Japan's equivalent of Elon Musk? Where's the young entrepreneur with a huge bank balance and dreams to match? Where is that someone raised in these isles on sci-fi manga and space movies who wants to make human travel in space a reality?
LIFE / Language / KANJI CLINIC
May 28, 2012

Get your motor running for the JLPT

During its nearly 30-year history, the number of examinees tackling the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) (日本語能力試験) has exploded worldwide from 7,000 in 1984 to 750,000 in 2009. Japan Educational Exchanges and Services (JEES, www.jlpt.jp) now administers the test in 39 prefectures...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Apr 10, 2012

Can I sue a former employer for not paying toward my pension?

John has a question about the Japanese pension system. He writes: "I am a permanent, legal Japan resident, and worked full time for a foreign company in Tokyo for six years. I am now retired and the Japan pension office advised that this company did not enroll me in any government pension plan during...
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Apr 8, 2012

Procreation begets problems for pandas

Just how cute are giant pandas? The public can't get enough of them. The star attractions at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo are Ri Ri and Shin Shin, a male and female pair who helped attract some 4.4 million visitors last fiscal year — the highest number for 19 years.
LIFE / Language / KANJI CLINIC
Mar 26, 2012

Some kanji characters are enough to make you feel sick

Overworked and stressed to the limit in this relentless recession, many Japanese are seeking ways to soothe their bodies and spirits, even if for just one blissful moment. The buzzword iyashi (癒し, soothing) is currently being used to promote an endless stream of relaxation products and services,...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 18, 2012

Quake insurance is but a token offering

As the government continues to push for an increase in the consumption tax, a question related to last year's disaster is still being debated: How much of the burden for rebuilding should be shouldered by taxpayers? We live in a resolutely capitalist country that stresses personal responsibility, and...
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Mar 11, 2012

Obesity on the rise as Japanese eat more Western-style food

When Japanese people are ordering food, how many times do you hear them asking for "oomori" (large size)? It's the equivalent of asking for "supersize" in a U.S. fast-food joint.
COMMENTARY
Feb 23, 2012

Proposed monument misses why we like Ike

Two coming developments, one dismal and one excellent, pertain to America's memory of a great man. One of several oversight panels soon will consider a proposed memorial to Dwight Eisenhower. The proposal is an exhibitionistic triumph of theory over function — more a monument to its creator Frank Gehry,...
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Feb 21, 2012

Miso's moya moya

Dear Alice,
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Feb 12, 2012

A future free from nuclear energy? Yakushima may be ready

I once took a ferry from Kagoshima on the southernmost tip of Kyushu to Amami Oshima, halfway to Okinawa. Just 60 km out from the massive Sakurajima volcano that dominates Kagoshima City, our ship passed a huge granite hunk of rock some 50,000 hectares, covered in forest.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 12, 2012

'Dinosaur Bridge' leads Tokyo push to ease traffic and boost economy

Tokyo's "Dinosaur Bridge" opens to vehicles Sunday after 10 years of construction, with the world's largest metropolis hoping it will cut traffic jams that slow vehicles to half of the nation's average highway speed and boost its economy.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Feb 7, 2012

Questions raised about account of Tokyo cop assault

Some readers' responses to the Jan. 24 Zeit Gist column by Simon Scott, headlined "American claims Tokyo cop assaulted son, 8":
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Jan 31, 2012

International vs. Japanese school: Which is top of class for mixed kids?

Some readers' thoughts on the dueling Jan. 10 Zeit Gist columns by Charles Lewis ("Local Japanese school is the obvious choice if you want your child to fit in") and Lisa Jardine ("International education a triple-A investment in your child's — and Japan's — future"):
COMMENTARY
Jan 27, 2012

Conciliating the Armenians

I go to France quite often, but after this article is published, I may be liable to arrest if I set foot in the country. The French parliament has just passed a bill, proposed by President Nicolas Sarkozy's party, that will make it a crime to question whether the Armenian massacres in eastern Turkey...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jan 8, 2012

Japan's Super-K to resume seeking why anything exists

To start the year, here's an appreciation of a site in Japan that would have left even the Zen-imbued architects of Kyoto's sublime Kinkaku-ji (Temple of the Golden Pavilion) open-mouthed with awe.
JAPAN / Media
Dec 11, 2011

Tohoku ¥ for whales?

It was a comparatively minor entry in the annual, ritualized battle between pro- and anti-whalers. Japan's whaling fleet pulled out of Shimonoseki port near Nagasaki earlier this week on its way to another controversial four-month Antarctic cull. In the fine print of the 2011 departure, however, was...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Dec 11, 2011

It takes a supersize brain to drive a London taxi

Visitors to Japan often comment on the way taxi doors open as you approach — at the touch of a button by the driver; and that those drivers generally wear smart white gloves. I apologize for the competitive tone, but there is something far more remarkable about London taxis: their drivers.
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE MONTH
Dec 10, 2011

Hamamatsu's Dixon recognized for leadership as team climbs in standings

With floor leader Jermaine Dixon providing inspired, smart leadership, the Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix rediscovered their mojo in November, winning seven of their eight bj-league games.
Japan and U.S. reach tariff deal with ‘reciprocal’ rate at 15%
U.S. President Donald Trump announced a trade deal with Japan on Tuesday, saying the agreement would create "hundreds of thousands of jobs."
Foreign residents closely follow Japan's election and party pledges
A police officer walks past posters of Liberal Democratic Party candidates, as well as one showing Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, outside the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Sunday. As Japan’s foreign population continues to rise, one of the talking points during Sunday’s election was how the country should deal with the increase of international residents.
‘Japanese First’ Sanseito emerges as powerful force after Upper House poll
Sanseito leader Sohei Kamiya in Tokyo on Sunday night
Ishiba denies reports he will resign next month, as PM's fate remains unclear
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends a news conference at Liberal Democratic Party headquarters in Tokyo on Monday.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan
In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
Induction of Ichiro has Cooperstown fretfully preparing
Ichiro Suzuki will soon become the first Japanese player to be enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
Ishiba clings to leadership after election setback
“As the first party in parliament, we have to fulfill our responsibility with the public so as to prevent politics from stagnating or drifting away,” Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said at a news conference at the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters in Tokyo on Monday.
Japan’s top brands get tied up in the great sunscreen debate
A coral reef in Okinawa in July 2022. Some jurisdictions around the world have moved to ban certain sunscreens in a bid to protect coral reefs, but some say the impact on reefs is far from clear.
Pentagon looks to unleash ‘military drone dominance’
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth hosts a drone demonstration at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, on July 10.
‘Noto Democracy’ and the slow work of civic change
Yukio Iokibe’s “Noto Democracy" centers on Motoyuki Takii, a former junior high school teacher who publishes a handwritten newspaper every month to encourage the residents of Anamizu, Ishikawa Prefecture, to engage in local politics.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Muji has been sustainable from the beginning
Muji has been sustainable from the beginning

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER