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COMMENTARY / World
Feb 23, 2012

Is the World Wide Web about to be 'closed'?

Within the tech community, there is much angst about whether the Web is about to be "closed." Will it be controlled by companies like Apple, Facebook, and Google, or will it remain "open" to all?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 23, 2012

akai ko-en try to avoid getting caught in the Web

With a layered sound that blends postrock dynamics and sprawling song structures with pure J-pop sensibility, akai ko-en is quickly becoming one of Tokyo's most talked-about new bands. But just try searching for the group on YouTube and see how far you get.
BUSINESS
Feb 21, 2012

Panasonic forecasts mobile rise

Panasonic Corp. aims to quadruple sales of components used in energy-saving systems and mobile devices to ¥450 billion in the five years ending in March 2016, the head of the business said Monday.
Reader Mail
Feb 19, 2012

We can't choose not to breathe

I agree with everything Joseph Jaworski says in his Feb. 16 letter, "Let consumers rule on smoking," but I think he misses one very important point — the right of employees to work in a healthy environment. This was, at least ostensibly, why New York banned smoking in all workplaces in 2003.
Reader Mail
Feb 19, 2012

Enough government lip service

I agree with Patricia Yarrow's Feb. 12 letter, "Shaky will to reduce smoking" — about lowering cigarette consumption in Japan, which has an obscenely high smoking rate, especially among men.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Feb 18, 2012

Learning a foreign language: blood, sweat and beers

A recent education ministry survey evaluated Japanese "third-year middle school students" on their attitudes toward learning English. One editorial indicated that the results of the survey showed that students nationwide had an "ambivalent and contradictory attitude toward English." Wow, imagine 14-year-olds...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 18, 2012

Tireless volunteer Fukuda makes a difference in the lives she touches

Julie Fukuda, 75, is a giver — not financially, but physically — who has tirelessly volunteered for various organizations in her community for nearly 50 years in Japan.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Feb 14, 2012

Firms have few grounds to refuse staff paid leave

Reader KA writes: "In a recent Lifelines column ("All employees in Japan are entitled to paid leave, period," Dec. 13) it was stated that all employees have the legal right to take paid vacation providing they meet certain basic criteria. Whilst that is legally correct, employers can often prevent paid...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 11, 2012

Enjoying the quiet life in Kanazawa, in black and white

Coincidence can shape people's lives in many ways. Ask Mark Hammond, and he will certainly agree.
EDITORIALS
Feb 11, 2012

Futenma problem festers

Japan and the United States on Feb. 8 announced a joint statement to revise a 2006 agreement on realignment of the U.S. armed forces in Japan. The agreement linked (1) the transfer of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from the densely populated Ginowan in Okinawa Island to less populated Henoko on...
JAPAN
Feb 11, 2012

Red tape impeding reform of nuclear-reliant energy policy

The hulking system that once guided Japan's pronuclear power stance worked just fine when everybody moved in lock step, but its size and complexity have proved ill-suited for resolving conflict at a time of nuclear crisis.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 10, 2012

'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo'

On one level, "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" is simply an Agatha Christie story for Nine Inch Nails fans. You may think I'm joking, but think about it: an isolated island full of disgruntled relatives in a wealthy family, an unsolved murder with loads of potential suspects, and a sleuth who uncovers...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Feb 10, 2012

Solid record not enough for Ogawa in Fukuoka

The euphoria of Sunday's series-ending road victory for the undermanned Rizing Fukuoka against the Kyoto Hannaryz, a rising power, didn't last very long.
COMMENTARY
Feb 9, 2012

Dubious reasons to attack Iran

It is hard not to be impressed by the one-dimensional reasons the United States gives for its various animosities.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 3, 2012

DiCaprio visits America's dark past in 'J. Edgar'

Leonardo DiCaprio admits that he didn't hear much about the famously feared J. Edgar Hoover while he was growing up. That doesn't stop him from making an astute observation: "The man was a troll."
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 1, 2012

The dawning of a new American industrial era?

So much for postindustrial America. After decades of our leaders and sages assuring us that the United States would thrive as we moved beyond manufacturing, President Barack Obama used his State of the Union address to officially declare post-industrial America an unqualified bust.
COMMENTARY
Jan 31, 2012

To prepare for nuclear war is to seek the peace of death

The world faces two existential threats: climate change, and nuclear Armageddon. Action on both is required urgently. Tackling the first will impose significant economic costs and lifestyle adjustments, while tackling the second will bring economic benefits without any lifestyle implications.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jan 28, 2012

A serious case of the sniffles

On occasion I meet someone with a suggestion for this column, proposals that I typically decline.
COMMENTARY
Jan 26, 2012

Asian quest for energy security

East Asia's three top industrial powers, all heavily dependent on imports of Middle East oil, have moved quickly to try to secure their supplies as the West tightens sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program.
Japan Times
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Jan 25, 2012

Darvish could be in for rude awakening with Rangers

The worst way to start a new relationship of any kind is with a lie.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2012

Noda team faces rocky Diet session

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda says his partially reshuffled Cabinet is the best lineup ever, but it will need to be to face the turbulence expected in the Diet session that started Tuesday.

Longform

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