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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Mar 28, 2014

TV personality Haruka Christine wants youth to get politically savvy

Regular viewers of Japanese TV may remember young Haruka Christine's first appearances on the variety-show circuit in early 2010, when she had her fellow entertainers and audiences in stitches.
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2014

Old LDP nemesis rides comeback trail to Tokyo

Morihiro Hosokawa, the former prime minister who rocked and transformed Japanese politics in the early 1990s, is back, this time as a leading candidate for Tokyo governor, running as an anti-nuclear crusader seeking the abolishment of all atomic power plants.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 20, 2013

Nation set for rare political continuity

After cycling through seven prime ministers in seven years, the Upper House election is about to see the nation break free from its most vexing political pattern: instability.
JAPAN
Jun 28, 2013

Tokyo panel mulls ways to enhance high school English education

A panel of experts kicked off discussions Thursday on measures to enhance English education at Tokyo's public high schools, aiming to enable students to acquire practical communications skills and become more global-oriented.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 4, 2013

A term for Abe's ilk? Well, nonliberal

Foreign media and overseas Japan experts largely use 19th- and 20th-century labels to describe Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and current Japanese politics led by his Liberal Democratic Party — "right-wing," "hawkish," "conservative" and "nationalist."
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 29, 2013

Abenomics vs. bad economics

The good news is that the Japanese economy and stocks are recovering. The bad news is that austerity hawks still view 'Abenomics' as a mere flash in the pan.
CULTURE / Books
May 12, 2013

The boys who built a bridge between Japan and Europe

One of the most sensational events of Japan's "Christian century" was the European trip of "the four boys," described some years ago by Michael Cooper in "The Japanese Mission to Europe" (2005). The sight of these gracious princelings in the Catholic courts of Italy, Spain and Portugal moved and astonished...
CULTURE / Books
Apr 7, 2013

Processing the bitter to a durable, beautiful form

KICKING THE BLACK MAMBA: Life, Alcohol and Death, by Robert Anthony Welch. Darton, Longman and Todd, 2012, 240 pp., £12.99 (paperback)
EDITORIALS
Mar 17, 2013

New pope faces challenging times

It is hoped that Pope Francis will be successful in restoring and strengthening trust in the Catholic Church by squarely addressing problems plaguing it.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 14, 2013

Vote-value disparity issue puts cloud over Abe's ambitions

With Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Cabinet enjoying astronomically high approval ratings compared with recent leaders, the prospects of his Liberal Democratic Party winning a critical Upper House election this summer look bright.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 15, 2013

'My film remixes "The Tempest" '

A Welshman who moved to Nagoya in 1988 and has been based in Japan ever since, John Williams is the rare foreigner who has worked in the Japanese film industry in not only the usual facilitator roles, as line producer and translator, but has also directed his own well-regarded films here. His first...
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2013

Naming slain captives raises privacy issues

The victims' right to privacy was pitted against the public's right to know as the media pressed for the names of the Algerian hostage crisis victims to be disclosed while the government and JGC Corp. remained tight-lipped, but Tokyo finally caved Friday, revealing the identities of the firm's 10 slain...
CULTURE / Books
Jan 13, 2013

Americanized Buddhism

ZEN QUESTIONS: Zazen, Dogen, and the Spirit of Creative Inquiry, by Taigen Dan Leighton. Wisdom Publications, 2011, 312 pp., $17.95 (paperback) These essays and Dharma talks are meant to guide practitioners of Soto Zen meditation. The author is in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, author of "Zen Mind,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jan 1, 2013

Berlitz union wins raise, bonus in suit settlement

The four-year legal battle between management and teachers at Berlitz Japan was declared over Thursday as both sides signed an agreement to end the company's lawsuit against union officials.
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2012

Foes forced Noda to call dissolution

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda moved to dissolve the Lower House on Friday amid constant pressure from the opposition and also from Democratic Party of Japan members who wanted him to step down, but his gamble is unlikely to work in the ruling party's favor.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / MIXED MATCHES
Sep 25, 2012

Cheers! Wine shop serves as a bridge for couple

Jamie Paquin and Nozomi Mihara, who jointly own an all-Canadian wine shop that opened in Tokyo last year, met by chance at a cafe six years ago.
JAPAN
Aug 11, 2012

Upper House passes bill to hike sales levy

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda achieved a major goal Friday when the Upper House passed his administration's social security and tax reform bills that will double the sales tax to 10 percent by 2015.
JAPAN
May 9, 2012

DPJ reinstates Noda tax foe Ozawa

The ruling Democratic Party of Japan reinstated the party membership of Ichiro Ozawa on Tuesday, a move that intensifies the power struggle over a proposed tax hike the DPJ heavyweight opposes and opens the door for him to run in the party presidential election in September, when Prime Minister Yoshihiko...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 20, 2012

Author sees parallels between prewar, nuclear indoctrination

The March 10, 1945, Great Tokyo Air Raid was the most destructive air attack in history. Nearly 100,000 people lost their lives after approximately 300 B29 bombers attacked Tokyo's present-day Sumida, Koto and Taito wards. Some 1,700 tons of napalm and incendiary bombs created a firestorm that raged...
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Dec 10, 2011

Shiga studies impact on Lake Biwa from possible Fukui nuke accident

The Shiga Prefectural Government plans to develop a computer system able to simulate the amount and dispersal of radioactive materials that would contaminate Lake Biwa in the event of an accident at one of the nuclear power plants in neighboring Fukui Prefecture.
Reader Mail
Dec 4, 2011

A MacArthur view revisited

This month marks the 70th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack by the Japanese Imperial Navy. Last year I learned from a speech by Dr. Shoichi Watanabe, professor emeritus at Sophia University, what American Gen. Douglas MacArthur, who oversaw the allied occupation of Japan after World War II, told...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 11, 2011

Crystal Kay aims for spring break vibe in Zushi

Crystal Kay has been an exciting singer to watch mature in the music industry. Since her debut at 13 years old, this Yokohama native has wowed fans with her powerful vocals and a compelling personal story of being a mixed-race singer (Korean-American) in Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 15, 2011

Kan short on budget, leadership options

Prime Minister Naoto Kan is expected to face mounting calls to resign or call a snap election in order to get the fiscal 2011 budget bills passed on time, experts say.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Oct 13, 2010

No easy way out of 'twisted' Diet

The Democratic Party of Japan has faced a divided Diet since its ruling coalition lost its Upper House majority in July's election. While the DPJ-led coalition retains a majority of seats in the more powerful Lower House, the opposition now controls the other chamber, giving it the power to veto the...
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2010

Foreigners can vote for DPJ leader

As the Democratic Party of Japan's presidential election nears, an interesting fact has surfaced regarding internal regulations on who gets to vote for the ruling party's leader — and effectively the prime minister.

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell