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Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 1, 2012

Yonaguni: Japan's most westerly isle

A colossal, dark-skinned man rides along the sidewalk on a motorbike: no helmet, two small children aboard — a vision of life in the laconic Tropics. There are times here too on Yonaguni, the westernmost land mass in Okinawa Prefecture, when you see a curvaceous island woman in a vivid, flower-patterned...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Mar 31, 2012

Aichi students develop disaster recovery project

Students at Aichi Gakuin University in Nisshin, Aichi Prefecture, have been striving to launch a business project that would support post-March 11 reconstruction efforts.
EDITORIALS
Mar 31, 2012

Approach tax hike with caution

The Noda Cabinet on Friday endorsed and submitted to the Diet a bill aimed at raising the consumption tax from the current 5 percent to 8 percent from April in 2014 and to 10 percent from October 2015. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is so obsessed with a tax hike that he seems oblivious to the possible...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 30, 2012

'The Ides of March' / 'Route Irish'

OK, my job this week is to convince you that "The Ides of March" is one of the best films you'll ever see about politics and elections and the eventual disillusion we all come to harbor about both. But this task is complicated by the fact that I don't want to spoil it for you in the least — and believe...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 29, 2012

Japan's tall stories of great towers in the city

Perhaps because we are upright, vertical animals, towers have always held a special fascination for us. The artist Taro Okamoto expressed this attraction in anthropomorphic terms when he designed the centerpiece of the 1970 Osaka Expo, the 70-meter-tall "Tower of the Sun" with its three faces, including...
CULTURE / Art
Mar 29, 2012

Japan's tall stories of great towers in the city

Perhaps because we are upright, vertical animals, towers have always held a special fascination for us. The artist Taro Okamoto expressed this attraction in anthropomorphic terms when he designed the centerpiece of the 1970 Osaka Expo, the 70-meter-tall "Tower of the Sun" with its three faces, including...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / TECH_JAPAN
Mar 28, 2012

Japan gets new Android gadgets

I expect you've heard about as much as you can take regarding Apple's third-generation iPad over the past few weeks. It's an undeniably improved offering over the iPad 2, which itself is now a tempting buy at its new discounted price. But while the iPad is still the clear leader in the tablet space,...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Mar 24, 2012

Higashi Mikawa mining ancient sources for tsunami info

Municipalities in the Higashi Mikawa region in Aichi Prefecture have been busy examining records of major earthquakes and tsunami that hit the region in the past.
COMMENTARY
Mar 23, 2012

Bowing out with a farewell of great expectation

What was most amazing to Westerners at least -and perhaps, especially, to the Chinese people — was that his comments were broadcast live on official China TV. After all, his official observations weren't exactly pretty. Here is the back-story.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Mar 23, 2012

Top chef visits Mandarin Oriental

From April 4 to 8, the Mandarin Oriental, Tokyo, in the Nihonbashi district of the capital will hold a special food fair that features dishes by two-Michelin-starred chef Richard Ekkebus.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 23, 2012

Local diversions during the Okinawa fest

A fun-filled week is upon Okinawa as the fourth annual Okinawa International Movie Festival descends on the prefecture's main island. Like last year, the festival's concept is centered around "Laugh & Peace," in celebration of the sense of courage and joy for life that comedy and film can instill....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 22, 2012

"Tomohiro Muda: OKUGAKE"

The term "okugake" refers to the Buddhist ascetic practice of walking along the pilgrimage course called Omine Okugakemichi, an 80-km route from Yoshino/Omine to Kumano Sanzan in Nara Prefecture. Passing along the Kii Mountains, the route, traditionally traveled by Buddhist monks, drew worldwide attention...
CULTURE / Art
Mar 22, 2012

"Tomohiro Muda: OKUGAKE"

The term "okugake" refers to the Buddhist ascetic practice of walking along the pilgrimage course called Omine Okugakemichi, an 80-km route from Yoshino/Omine to Kumano Sanzan in Nara Prefecture. Passing along the Kii Mountains, the route, traditionally traveled by Buddhist monks, drew worldwide attention...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 20, 2012

Reflections on 3/11: reporters' dispatches

Initial hopes turn to frustration In the immediate aftermath of 3/11 I penned several optimistic pieces for European newspapers predicting that the disaster might jolt Japan out of its long period of economic torpor and social ennui. I wouldn't write the same today.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Mar 20, 2012

Fukushima not just about nuke crisis

The Tohoku region continues to struggle beyond the first anniversary of the March 11, 2011, Great East Japan Earthquake, particularly Fukushima Prefecture, whose recovery is being greatly hampered by the triple-meltdown crisis at a coastal nuclear plant.
COMMENTARY
Mar 19, 2012

Chief executive falls on Hong Kong's reputation

Chief Executive Donald Tsang, chastened by the disclosure that he had accepted favors from Hong Kong and mainland tycoons, was on the verge of tears when he appeared March 1 before the Legislative Council and pleaded: "No matter whether you still trust me or not, don't lose faith in Hong Kong's institutions."...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Mar 18, 2012

Ryunosuke Akutagawa in focus

Though he died by his own hand at the age of 35, novelist Ryunosuke Akutagawa's accomplishments were such that, even after so brief a writing career, Japan's most prestigious literary accolade — the Akutagawa Prize — now bears his name.
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
Mar 18, 2012

Frog battles carp, indignant seamen strike, Roppongi the new night-life hub, passive-smoking case stubbed out

100 YEARS AGOTuesday, March 15, 1912
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2012

Push to replace Tokyo's aging expressways with tunnel routes revived

A once-shelved project to bury Tokyo's expressway network, which is now aging, deep underground is finding new life, in part because of last year's devastating Tohoku quake and tsunami.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Mar 17, 2012

Aging pipes lurk under Nagoya

On Jan. 26, a sinkhole formed under the sidewalk running in front of the Mitsukoshi Sakae department store in Naka Ward, Nagoya.
EDITORIALS
Mar 16, 2012

New approach to fisheries needed

One year after the massive earthquake and tsunami hit the Tohoku region, harvesting of wakame seaweed has started in Iwate and Miyagi prefectures. But the 3/11 disasters have left deep scars in fisheries of the region's Pacific coastal areas. The central and local governments and fishing industry people...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Japan Pulse
Mar 15, 2012

Natural Lawson takes it to the next level

Targeting health-conscious female shoppers Natural Lawson teams up with kurrku and pump up the healthy, hip organic goodness.
CULTURE / Art
Mar 15, 2012

"Eshi 100: Contemporary Japanese Illustration in Kyoto"

Eshi are illustrators who work within various fields of Japan's pop culture, such as manga, anime and games, all of which have become increasingly popular around the world.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 15, 2012

"Eshi 100: Contemporary Japanese Illustration in Kyoto"

Eshi are illustrators who work within various fields of Japan's pop culture, such as manga, anime and games, all of which have become increasingly popular around the world.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Mar 13, 2012

Celebrating friendship with Japan and 100 years of U.S. hanami

Once an activity for the nobility of the Imperial court in Japan, hanami (cherry-blossom viewing) became a popular tradition among the elite ruling class during the Heian Period (794-1185), and then later, with the encouragement of Tokugawa Yoshimune (1684-1751), among commoners.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Mar 11, 2012

Magic special; traveling chefs; CM of the week: Suntory Premium Malt's

The inter-season TV season is getting longer and longer, with more two- and three-hour specials to tide viewers over until the next batch of hastily assembled drama series start. Presenting something that gets people's attention becomes a challenge.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami