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Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Sep 18, 2011

Get your kicks in Japan

Walk the streets of Tokyo's trendy Harajuku and Shibuya shopping districts and the sheer variety of fashion worn by people passing by can be, to the uninitiated, simply mind boggling. But, look at their feet and more often than not they are wearing shoes that are more familiar — sneakers. Even if at...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 17, 2011

Hong Kongers share postdisaster insights

Most Hong Kongers are enthusiastic about Japan — its fashion and pop culture have been popular for years, hundreds of thousands vacation in the country each year, and more of its food is imported there than anywhere else, with fresh sashimi flown in daily from Narita airport.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CABINET INTERVIEW
Sep 16, 2011

Despite pyramid sales donations, new consumer chief vows to run tight ship

Newly appointed consumer affairs chief Kenji Yamaoka says he will keep an eye on shady businesses that target consumers, while claiming that donations he received from businesses and a group involved in a pyramid scheme were legal.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Sep 16, 2011

Fun is brewing in Yokohama

More than 9,000 people slurped and swilled at last year's 200-beer extravaganza in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, but this time there's added incentive to sip up. The Japan Craft Beer Association invites you to raise a glass toward those in their industry suffering in the aftermath of the Great East...
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Sep 16, 2011

Exhibition games give teams chance to build

Preseason action begins in earnest this holiday weekend with four games on Saturday and two more on tap for Monday.
JAPAN
Sep 15, 2011

EU delegation unveils new Tokyo HQ

The European Union on Wednesday unveiled its new office in Minato Ward, Tokyo — the first fully owned overseas facility ever built by an EU delegation.
EDITORIALS
Sep 10, 2011

Switzerland wages war

In a move that jolted currency markets, the Swiss National Bank, the European nation's central bank, pledged this week to drive down the value of its currency, the Swiss franc. The move was prompted by the rising value of the franc against the euro, a trend that has pummeled Swiss exporters.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 9, 2011

"Art Scope 2009-2011: Invisible Memories"

Sponsored by the Daimler Foundation Japan, Art Scope is an initiative to help support and promote young artists in Japan through cultural exchange programs in Europe.
BUSINESS
Sep 8, 2011

Nippon Yusen to issue low-rate bonds

Nippon Yusen K.K. is taking advantage of falling government note yields and a void in corporate debt sales to borrow at the lowest rate in eight years even as global trade growth slows.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 6, 2011

Will the IMF stand up to eurozone officials?

As the eurozone crisis continues to deepen, the International Monetary Fund may finally be acknowledging the need to reassess its approach. New Managing Director Christine Lagarde's recent call for forced recapitalization of Europe's bankrupt banking system is a good start. European officials' incensed...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 6, 2011

Law flawed but Noda should return donations: Fujimura

Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said Monday that Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda should return any political contributions confirmed to have come from foreigners, who are barred by law from giving donations.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Sep 4, 2011

Alfons Deeken: Priest-philosopher makes death his life's work

On Friday, July 22, as the stifling heat and humidity of summer relented for just a fleeting few days, hundreds of people filled a hall at Enkakuji Temple in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, to listen to a lecture by philosophy scholar Alfons Deeken.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 3, 2011

American trumpeter makes his horn sing in Kansai clubs

On a Sunday in early August, American trumpeter James Barrett led his band through a set featuring rhythmic jazz and world music beats as part of the Saiin Music Festival in western Kyoto.
BASKETBALL
Sep 1, 2011

Phoenix players finalize contracts

After winning back-to-back bj-league championships, the Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix are retooling their roster for the upcoming season. The team announced Tuesday it has resigned sharpshooter Wayne Arnold and reigning regular-season and playoff MVP Jeffrey Parmer.
BASKETBALL
Aug 30, 2011

Guard Takushi sets anchor in Oita

Well-traveled point guard Naoto Takushi has agreed to play for the Oita HeatDevils this season, the bj-league team announced on Monday.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Aug 29, 2011

'Gratuitous' bombing of a defeated enemy

The International Center of Photography recently had an exhibition, "Hiroshima: Ground Zero 1945," and I attended the panel discussion. This month 66 years ago the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2011

Contenders' backgrounds

Seiji Maehara Seiji Maehara represents Kyoto's No. 2 electoral district, a cultural cornucopia where in some ways he could be considered an outsider.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 24, 2011

Okinawa vet blames cancer on defoliant

When Caethe Goetz was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a rare form of bone marrow cancer, at age 49 in 2003, both she and her doctor were perplexed.
LIFE / Digital / TECH_JAPAN
Aug 17, 2011

Why do Japanese advertisers suggest Internet-search keywords?

It seems that everywhere you look in Japan these days, printed advertising has Internet-style "search buttons" somewhere in the design, with Japanese text inside a box indicating the term to be searched. And many TV commercials end with a short phrase "such and such de kensaku" ("search on the Internet...
EDITORIALS
Aug 16, 2011

The crisis that wasn't in Turkey

Turkey's military has long intervened in the country's politics, but a recent power play by leading military figures is remarkable — but for what did not happen. Turkey's top military resigned in a power struggle with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan late last month, yet that show of force did not...
Reader Mail
Aug 14, 2011

Innate keys to a bright future

One of the many interesting and unique aspects of Japanese culture that I experienced as a foreigner in Japan from 2003 to 2010 was jishuku. Jishuku refers to voluntary moderation in one's actions, typically after a terrible event or occurrence involving loss of life or human suffering. Jishuku is a...
BUSINESS
Aug 11, 2011

Honda may cut full-year profit forecast

Honda Motor Co., Japan's third-largest carmaker, said it may revise its full-year profit forecast when it announces first-half earnings in October, depending on how long the current market turmoil lasts.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / MIXED MATCHES
Aug 9, 2011

Top blogger illustrates Chinese wife's struggles

W ith his winning of the prestigious Alpha Blogger Awards 2010, Tokyo-based cartoonist Junichi Inoue is now recognized as one of the most influential Japanese bloggers.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / STYLE WISE
Aug 9, 2011

The evolution of menswear, Matobu, denim, Harajuku style and TGC

Going from red to blue If "Harajuku style" means gaggles of gothic-lolitas and 1970s-style punks to you, then it's time to catch up.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 5, 2011

Do we rate state-run companies as heirlooms or dear luxuries?

Conventional wisdom, except in China with its plethora of state-owned enterprises, has become that governments should get out of business. Business knows best how to run things efficiently and to make money, whereas governments tend to tie up enterprise in bureaucratic red tape, or so the thinking goes....

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’