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Reader Mail
Oct 4, 2012

Memories of changing trains

With regard to Grant Piper's Sept. 27 letter, "Indulgence that appears to work": Piper's description of pedestrian traffic in Japan as a "treacherous and hair-raising obstacle course" brought many old memories rushing back. In the 1980s, I was living in Nerima Ward (Tokyo) and using public transportation....
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Sep 23, 2012

No trusting those who descend from heaven

Just for fun, try this whimsical little experiment: search the Japan Times website for "regain trust." It's an expression that recurs so often, and has such a long history, you'd almost think it meant something.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Sep 23, 2012

Adrift from Kyoto's Amanohashidate on Heaven's Floating Bridge

The Japanese have long had a fondness for categorizing impressive features of the world around them into numbered lists. And in this enterprise, trios hold particular fascination. Thus, in addition to the Three Great Festivals and the Three Great Night Views, among well over 100 prestigious triads are...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Sep 16, 2012

Getting food on tables is increasingly difficult

The cover of Nikkei Business of Aug. 27 carried a photograph of a sirloin steak atop a sizzling platter. The meat was artfully trimmed to form the shape of the Japanese archipelago.
EDITORIALS
Sep 14, 2012

Osprey adds to the burden

On Sept. 9, rally organizers say over 100,000 people took part in a protest in Ginowan City, Okinawa Prefecture, to oppose the plan to deploy 24 MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft at U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, which is in Ginowan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 13, 2012

"Paul Delvaux: Odyssée d'un rêve"

A pioneer of Surrealism in Belgium, Paul Delvaux (1897-1994) is known for his insatiable interest in fantasy. His work often featured recurring motifs, such as trains and skeletons, all of which are believed to be related to his personal experiences. For example, as a child he dreamed of becoming a station...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 11, 2012

18 months on, 'stayjin' in Tokyo, Iwaki tell a tale of two cities

While the media both in Japan and overseas reported on a perceived exodus of foreigners in the immediate aftermath of the March 11, 2011, disasters in Tohoku, the reality is that very few actually left for good.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Sep 9, 2012

Sail through time with hobikisen on Lake Kasumigaura

It's difficult to imagine what Lake Kasumigaura in Ibaraki Prefecture would have looked like a century ago. Most of its surrounding areas have now become dormitory towns for Tokyo, just 50 km to the southwest. These days, too, where the traditional old lotus paddies do remain, they tend to be covered...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 7, 2012

'Safe House'

Watching "Safe House" reminded me of something a savvy girlfriend once said to me: "When a guy tells you that his top-secret real job is working for the CIA, get out of the relationship as fast as you can." Not because of the obvious risks such a job may involve, she said, but because "the guy is a big...
EDITORIALS
Sep 3, 2012

Preparing for Nankai megaquake

The Cabinet Office's Central Disaster Prevention Council said Wednesday that a megaquake of magnitude-9 in the Nankai Trough off the Pacific coasts and its ensuing tsunami could kill up to 323,000 people in 30 prefectures including Tokyo, with about 70 percent of the deaths tsunami-related. Malfunctioning...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 2, 2012

Unwanted pregnancies need to be discussed

Two weeks ago a 17-year-old girl collapsed in a shopping mall in Hiroshima and was rushed to the hospital. At the same time a dead fetus was found on the floor in the corner of the mall's food court. The girl eventually admitted that she had just given birth to the child. On Aug. 9, a cleaning person...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Sep 2, 2012

Man on a mountain

In the very center of Hokkaido lies a landscape so far removed from the urban sprawl of much of lowland Japan that you might be forgiven for asking: "Is this really Japan?" Far more reminiscent of the higher latitudes of Kamchatka and Chukotka (northeastern Russia) or of northern central Alaska (United...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / BACKSTREET STORIES
Aug 26, 2012

All the fun of the fair — and that's just the temples

Inspired by this summer's Olympic quest for gold medals, I opt to go for the gold myself. Toshimaen amusement park in Tokyo's northwestern Nerima Ward is home to Carousel El Dorado, one of the world's oldest hand-carved wooden merry-go-rounds. Named for an imaginary city of gold sought by 16th-century...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 14, 2012

Utilities lose $46 billion as nuclear era nears end

The nuclear power industry has lost a record $46 billion since the earthquake and tsunami disasters led to three meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant last year, wiping out seven years of profit.
JAPAN / Media
Aug 12, 2012

Fading shades of pink

At its peak of popularity roughly four decades ago, the form of soft-core pornography known as pinku eiga (pink films) utilized more than 1,000 theaters to screen short, low-budget, erotic films churned out mainly by independent studios.
OLYMPICS / LONDON POSTCARD
Aug 2, 2012

Volunteers, fans enrich experience, ambiance

People watching is one of the most enjoyable aspects of being in England during the 2012 Summer Olympics.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Jul 31, 2012

Gawking children are tolerable, but adults have no excuse

Belated readers' responses to "Parents, please keep your kids away from me at feeding time" by Christy Bridgeman (Hotline to Nagatacho, May 22) and J. Bradley Bulsterbaum's letter on the subject, "Cut gaijin-gawking children some slack — it's how they learn" (Have Your Say, June 26):
Japan Times
LIFE
Jul 29, 2012

The Taisho Era: When modernity ruled Japan's masses

"Democracy is so popular these days!" — "The Democracy Song," 1919
EDITORIALS
Jul 24, 2012

Osprey's arrival foments distrust

Twelve MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft were unloaded from a transport ship at the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Yamaguchi Prefecture on Monday amid protest from Iwakuni's conservative Mayor Yoshihiko Fukuda and local residents. After confirming its safety, Tokyo and Washington plan to start...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jul 22, 2012

Power spots and prehistory in beautiful Aomori Prefecture

The government of Aomori Prefecture which straddles the whole of the northern end of Japan's main island of Honshu — and is best known as the nation's apple capital — broke new ground in its tourism promotion campaign late last year, when it announced it would start selling the prefecture as the...
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Jul 17, 2012

Chindonya

Dear Alice,
EDITORIALS
Jul 16, 2012

Slow response to bullying

The Shiga prefectural police on July 11 searched a municipal junior high school in Otsu and the city's board of education office, suspecting bullying was behind the suicide of a student in October 2011. The rare move by the police underlines the seriousness of the case.
EDITORIALS
Jul 14, 2012

Japan's 'man-made' nuclear fiasco

A report released last week by the Diet's Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission backs what many members of the public have long believed: The fiasco at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant was "a profoundly man-made disaster — that could have and...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jul 13, 2012

Introducing a Kansai feel for the eel

Every summer, as the mercury rises the gourmands of Kansai head for their local eel-cuisine specialist. The custom of eating unagi to alleviate the effects of the summer heat is known as doyō-no-ushi no hi, (day of the ox of the seasonal change period) or doyō-iri (entering the period of seasonal change)....
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jul 6, 2012

Rokurinsha: A ramen line-up worth dipping into

Even in the middle of the afternoon on a gray, rainy-season Monday, the queue in front of us is the best part of an hour deep and moving at snail's pace. Only to be expected at Tokyo Skytree, you might say. Except we're not lining up for the observation deck: We're there for the new branch of the legendary...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jul 1, 2012

Poor record not stopping BayStars from aggressive marketing

A professional sports team has essentially two goals: Trying to win a championship and promoting the team to attract fans.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji