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Japan Times
JAPAN
May 26, 2007

Dietitians find new use for cell phone cameras

Wondering how much of a diet-buster that banana cream pie on your plate is? Some people have a novel way to find out: Photograph it with your cell phone and send the image to an expert.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
May 23, 2007

Can 'organic' feed us all?

Having experienced firsthand the waste, power abuse and nepotism that malign the United Nations from within, I am not usually a fan of its conferences.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 6, 2007

Fast-food binge continues to take Japan

After years of staying slim on a humble diet of fish, vegetables and rice, Japanese are developing a sweet tooth. That's proving a business opportunity for Krispy Kreme and other chains from the U.S., a nation famous for knowing a thing or two about fattening food.
JAPAN
Sep 5, 2006

First HIV-2 infection of a Japanese confirmed

The health ministry is calling for vigilance at hospitals across the country after the first case of HIV type-2 infection has been confirmed involving a Japanese person.
JAPAN
Aug 24, 2006

Office staff stressed out amid rising competition

Office workers, particularly those in their 30s, are increasingly stressed and struck by mental health problems, partly because of grueling corporate competition, a new study shows.
JAPAN
Aug 19, 2006

Fertility treatment coverage upped

The health ministry will expand the coverage of public health insurance to include the cost of artificial insemination for infertile couples in an effort to combat Japan's falling birthrate, government sources said Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 7, 2006

Abortions up in China as taboos weaken

NEW YORK -- Parallel to the economic revolution in China is a sexual revolution, particularly among youth, which is having far-reaching consequences on their health and quality of life. Since feu- dal times, sex has been a taboo subject in China. Even today, despite progress in many areas, many Chinese,...
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jul 26, 2006

Will commons sense dawn again in time?

These days we can be forgiven for wondering if Homo sapiens have gone completely mad. From just a glance at the headlines, it is easy to conclude that humans are hellbent on destroying themselves and their environment, with little concern for which goes first.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 26, 2006

Japan to OK U.S. beef imports this week

The government is preparing to approve the resumption of U.S. beef imports this week, officials said Tuesday, despite a report that Japanese inspectors found problems at some U.S. meat processing plants.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Jul 16, 2006

Dental 'charm school' puts bite on competition

The Omori Group is a booming dentistry franchise company that doubled its sales to 1.07 billion yen last year and now aims to double them again to 2 billion yen this year.
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2006

No autopsies for Hansen's fetuses

The health ministry will not ask for autopsies on the preserved remains of decades-old fetuses and newborns discovered in government sanitariums for people with Hansen's disease, ministry officials said Wednesday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 29, 2006

Nisei bears witness to 'looking like the enemy'

Mary Matsuda Gruenewald was 17 when her life fell to pieces, shattered by the U.S. policy of interning Japanese-Americans after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941.
EDITORIALS
Apr 21, 2006

Reforms for nursing-care insurance

Under a revision of the nursing-care insurance law, the nation's care system for the elderly (people aged 65 or older) entered a new stage on April 1, the first day of fiscal 2006. This stage boosts efforts to prevent the health of senior citizens from deteriorating to the point that they need expensive...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Apr 4, 2006

Gonna make you sweat

The Japanese love bath-time, whether it be in a hot spring (onsen), a public bathhouse (sento), or a soak in the tub at home (o-furo). Bathing in Japan really is something of an art that verges on an obsession. Of course, the Japanese didn't invent it (the ancient Romans take credit for that), but they...
JAPAN
Mar 21, 2006

Asbestos-affected apply for relief

People suffering from asbestos-linked diseases and those who lost relatives to such illnesses began filing applications Monday for government financial aid prior to the coming into force next week of a relief law for victims.
EDITORIALS
Mar 15, 2006

Asbestos aid falls short

The Diet enacted a law in early February to financially help people suffering from asbestos-related health problems not covered by labor accident compensation. Eligible people can start filing requests for the aid under the law on March 20. Enactment of the law was quick -- in about seven months -- after...
Japan Times
LIFE
Mar 12, 2006

Pointers to progress and inertia

This story is part of a package on women in Japan. The introduction is here.
BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2006

Bill targets pension premium refusers

The Cabinet OK'd legislation Friday for presentation to the Diet the same day to establish a new pension services agency in 2008 to replace the Social Insurance Agency and enhance collection of pension premiums.
EDITORIALS
Mar 1, 2006

Race against bird flu speeds up

A vian flu appears to be spreading with increasing rapidity. In recent weeks, there have been confirmed reports of the disease in Europe and Africa, demonstrating that the H5N1 strain is hardier than thought and truly a global danger. While health officials call for continuing surveillance and vigilance,...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 15, 2006

Ignored epidemic: violence against women in Russia

NEW YORK -- It is under-recognized and under-reported. It is also one of the most significant epidemics in the Russian Federation today. It is gender violence, manifested essentially as violence against women. A recent report by Amnesty International, "Russian Federation: Nowhere to Turn to: Violence...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Feb 7, 2006

How Japan became No. 1

Who has the global bragging rights to slimness? First there was Mireille Guiliano's book, "French Women Don't Get Fat: The Secret of Eating for Pleasure," published in 2004. Hot on the heels of this best-seller, Naomi Moriyama threw down the gauntlet less than a year later with "Japanese Women Don't...
EDITORIALS
Jan 28, 2006

No place for pension evasion

At a time when people's trust in the nation's pension systems is declining, some enterprises, especially small ones, are behaving in a manner that will weaken the reliability of social security. They deliberately choose not to join the corporate employees' pension system (kosei nenkin) while the number...
EDITORIALS
Jan 26, 2006

Preventing a flu pandemic

The chances that the avian flu virus will mutate into a form that can be transmitted from human to human is high enough for the World Health Organization (WHO) to classify the present situation as a "pandemic alert." Should a pandemic break out it would likely do so in Asia. Therefore Japan needs to...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 6, 2006

East Timor split by truth, justice and reconciliation

EAST TIMOR Swooping low over the azure Savu Sea, the pristine coastline and gnarly hills of Timor suddenly appear about two hours after takeoff from Bali. Before entering the spartan air terminal, visitors pass through a trailer where, upon arrival, $30 one-month visas are sold.
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2006

TB hospitalizations of homeless probed

The health ministry is probing allegations of human rights abuse carried out through the forced hospitalization of homeless people under the Tuberculosis Control Law, the ministry said Thursday.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past