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OLYMPICS / LONDON POSTCARD
Aug 10, 2012

A journalist's dilemma

There's so many events going on at the same time, that the only consistent thought swirling through my head on the topic is this: I wish I could be going to (fill in the blank), too.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 10, 2012

'Kirishima, Bukatsu Yamerutteyo (The Kirishima Thing)'

High schools are mercilessly hierarchical societies. At mine in rural Pennsylvania varsity basketball players occupied the summit. (Football players didn't because we didn't have a football team.) For a mere honor student to absent-mindedly sit in the "reserved" seat of one of these titans in the lunch...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Aug 10, 2012

Developing a taste for sake cocktails

Despite its funny-sounding name, the Sakenic is a compelling tipple. A fizzy mix of sake, soda and tonic water with an orange twist, it is light and refreshing, with a balance of sweetness and acidity that brings to mind a gin and tonic with less of a bite. The drink is one of the most popular items...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 10, 2012

Nagano artisans put cheese on the menu

My editor at The Japan Times has a very simple policy when hunting for cheese in Tokyo: He checks the label and if it was made in Japan (excepting Hokkaido), he puts it straight back down. To my editor I am now happy to reveal that Nagano is fast joining the elite ranks.
BUSINESS
Aug 10, 2012

Oki's shares plunge on Spain accounting woes

Oki Electric Industry Co. shares plunged the most in at least 37 years in Tokyo after the company said its Spain unit overstated accounts and it will miss the deadline for filing financial reports, prompting the Tokyo bourse to put the company on watch for possible delisting.
Reader Mail
Aug 9, 2012

Sure way to kill economic growth

Regarding the July 31 front-page Kyodo article "New growth strategy to focus on autos, FTAs": It's fine for the government to have a growth strategy, but the best one is just to get out of the way and let Japan's many innovative people and entrepreneurs lead the way.
SPORTS / ODDS AND EVENS
Aug 9, 2012

Coe a great spokesman for sport

What if the Soviet Union didn't invade Afghanistan in 1979?
Reader Mail
Aug 9, 2012

Another missed chance to lead

Recent events such as the Tokyo Electric Power Co. debacle have further eroded what little trust the public had in the government. In a similar vein, the policies regarding immunizations for this nation's children show that the health ministry is more concerned with protecting themselves rather than...
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Aug 9, 2012

Time to expand hoop tourney to 24 nations

Yao Ming's success in the NBA, short-lived but significant, sparked widespread interest in basketball in China. Furthermore, India has placed a growing emphasis on growing the sport at all levels.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Aug 9, 2012

Japan outlasts China in thrilling five-setter

Poise. Patience. Persistence.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 9, 2012

Music industry takes baby steps toward digital content

Will it be the "carrot and stick" or just "the stick" that revives flagging digital-music sales in Japan?
OLYMPICS / LONDON POSTCARD
Aug 8, 2012

Bolt's growing legend makes for good reading

My maternal great-grandmother used to wash the linens every Monday. She considered it a good tone-setter for the week.
COMMENTARY
Aug 8, 2012

The reasons for America's Generation Squeezed

I worry about the future — not mine but that of my three children, all in their 20s. It is an axiom of American folklore that every generation should live better than its predecessors. But this is not a constitutional right or even an entitlement, and I am skeptical that today's young will do so. Nor...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 8, 2012

Love and marriage in North Korea

Imagine North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in a tuxedo, waiting nervously at the altar (or shrine) of his grandfather, Kim Il Sung, and his father, Kim Jong Il. He beholds his future wife's face, anticipating his chance to kiss the bride. Of course, such an event can only be imagined in today's North Korea....
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 8, 2012

95-minute glitch halts TSE derivatives trading

Tokyo Stock Exchange Group Inc. said a computer error Tuesday halted trading of Topix index futures, Japanese government bond futures and options trading for about 95 minutes, the second time in seven months a malfunction has forced a shutdown.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Aug 7, 2012

Electronics makers lead the way in killing off lifetime employment system

If you want guaranteed employment for life, don't get a job with a home electronics maker.
JAPAN
Aug 7, 2012

Hiroshima honors A-bomb dead; protesters chant

Inside Hiroshima's Peace Park, tens of thousands of survivors, relatives, government officials and diplomats observed the 67th anniversary Monday of the city's atomic bombing, while just outside others marked the occasion by loudly protesting the decision to reactivate two nuclear reactors.

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan