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EDITORIALS
Nov 26, 2011

Preventing recidivism

The Justice Ministry's 2011 white paper on crime reports that in 2010 the police recognized 2,271,309 criminal incidents (5.4 percent less than in 2009) and made arrests in 1,182,809 cases. The number of criminal incidents has declined for eight consecutive years since the peak year of 2002, in which...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Nov 24, 2011

Seigo Hatasawa is no ordinary school teacher

Japan's performing arts world is massively centered on Tokyo, yet one of its leading lights is based in Aomori City in the country's deeply unchic far north — and he's a school teacher.
JAPAN
Nov 22, 2011

Aum may be gone in name but guru still has following

Judicial proceedings for Aum Shinrikyo figures effectively came to an end Monday as Seiichi Endo became the 13th member of the doomsday cult to have his death sentence finalized by the Supreme Court.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Nov 20, 2011

Is Aum's guru finally headed for the gallows?

Tomorrow, Nov. 21, the Supreme Court is expected to hand down its ruling on the appeal filed by Seiichi Endo, a former member of the Aum Shinrikyo (Supreme Truth) cult. Endo, now 51, was sentenced to death in 2002 (upheld in 2007) for his role in the nerve gas attacks in Matsumoto City in June 1994 and...
COMMENTARY
Nov 18, 2011

Partnership in the Asia-Pacific

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting in Hawaii underscored once again the importance of wide-ranging cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. This concept of cooperation was first advocated by Japan and Australia several decades ago.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 18, 2011

"Yoshiyuki Chosa: The Beauty of Metalworking"

This exhibition celebrates the Nov. 10 presentation ceremony of the Kyoto Prize, which was established by the electronics company Kyocera's founder, Kazuo Inamori, and given in recognition of outstanding work in the fields of art, philosophy, science and technology.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 12, 2011

Searching for connections drives young documentarian

Megumi Nishikura, a young documentary filmmaker in Tokyo, consolidates her goals under one main theme: "I want to remind us of our common humanity, to remember that we are all humans with the same hopes and desires and we all deserve to be respected.
JAPAN
Nov 11, 2011

Risk-averse Noda shuns hallway interviews

Words are often the strongest weapon in a politician's armory, but the slightest slip of the tongue can turn into a huge liability, as evidenced by the number of occasions prime ministers and Cabinet members have been caught out in the last six years.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 11, 2011

'Contagion' / 'Moneyball'

Cinema imagines the apocalypse on a regular basis, touching on everything from Mayan calendar-related polar shifts to the ever-popular walking dead. Few films, however, dare to deal with scenarios that could actually happen; that's what makes Steven Soderbergh's "Contagion," which looks at a deadly global...
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Nov 10, 2011

The next big thing, and one that never quite made it

Leading up to the 2011 Kyushu tourney down in Fukuoka, the world of sumo is looking to round off another annus horribilis.
JAPAN
Nov 9, 2011

Meeting with Dalai Lama cools warming ties with China

A recent meeting between the Dalai Lama and Japanese lawmakers — including senior government officials — threatened Tuesday to stymie improving relations with China.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS / ICE TIME
Nov 9, 2011

Mao needs victory at NHK Trophy to regain confidence

Just over one year ago, Mao Asada entered the NHK Trophy coming off her second world title and a silver medal at the Vancouver Olympics. The stage was set for a triumphant return at the Grand Prix event in her hometown of Nagoya.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Nov 8, 2011

Birthdays, debuts and memorials, all in the name of fashion

Cavalli makes first trip to Japan
JAPAN
Nov 3, 2011

Radiation reports may rise: officials

After two recent reports of radioactive substances being detected in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward, the science ministry Wednesday acknowledged that it receives a number of similar reports of unapproved radioactive materials each year.
BASEBALL / HIT AND RUN
Nov 2, 2011

Unlikely trio in spotlight as Swallows reach CLCS second stage

Katsuki Akagawa, Ryoji Aikawa and Ryosuke Morioka stood on the podium near home plate as the cheers of Tokyo Yakult supporters rang out through the night air at Jingu Stadium on Monday night.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Nov 1, 2011

Japan's 'new towns' are finally getting too old

In September, real estate developer Tokyo Tatemono started to demolish the Suwa Ni-chome apartments in the western Tokyo region of Tama. The Suwa danchi (housing development) was an integral part of Tama New Town, which opened in 1971. Of the various "new towns" built in the late 1960s and '70s by the...
SOCCER / J. League
Oct 29, 2011

Yamada hoping Nabisco final can spark Reds' survival

Urawa Reds head into Saturday's Nabisco Cup final against Kashima Antlers looking for a rare moment of joy in an otherwise troubled season, but midfielder Naoki Yamada admits the specter of relegation is casting a large shadow over the occasion.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / LIGHT GIST
Oct 25, 2011

The ridiculously frightening world of Japanese spooks

Halloween is that time of the year when the occult, macabre and humorous come together to create a festival of fear and fun for all the family. A celebration of death and demons with its roots in pre-Christian Europe, the summer's-end spook-fest has morphed over the centuries into a highly commercialized...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 23, 2011

Attitude, lifestyle contributed to Irabu's demise

Hideki Irabu was given a king's welcome in New York.
Japan Times
LIFE
Oct 23, 2011

One woman's Hyakumeizan

As I thumb through the tattered pages of my decade-old hiking guidebook, a sense of satisfaction coupled with disbelief takes over.
COMMENTARY
Oct 21, 2011

Peace in the Basque Country?

Neither the Spanish government nor the ETA terrorists were there, but a conference in the northern Spanish city of San Sebastian last weekend will probably lead to the end of ETA's long and violent campaign for Basque independence. "We believe it is time to end, and it is possible to end, the last armed...
CULTURE / Music
Oct 20, 2011

BBQ Chickens "Crossover and Over"

Ken Yokoyama must be feeling rather nostalgic these days. One of Japan's more prominent punk figures, in September the guitarist reunited with his 1990s band, Hi-Standard, and this month he's put out new music with his early noughties project BBQ Chickens. Formed shortly after Hi-Standard's demise, BBQ...

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan