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Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2012

Agent Orange at base in '80s: U.S. vet

The U.S. Marine Corps buried a massive stockpile of Agent Orange at the Futenma air station in Okinawa, possibly poisoning the base's former head of maintenance and potentially contaminating nearby residents and the ground beneath the base, The Japan Times recently learned from interviews with U.S. veterans....
CULTURE / Music
Jun 14, 2012

Rocker Hotei hears London calling

Queen Elizabeth's Jubilee celebrations are never complete without a rock star wielding an axe to inaugurate proceedings. For the Golden Jubilee in 2002 it was Queen's Brian May atop Buckingham Palace. And for The British Embassy in Japan's Diamond Jubilee party this month, the sword fell on the broad...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 14, 2012

"Marc Chagall 2012: The Love Story"

Marc Chagall lived through the hardships of both world wars. Because of this life and his Belarusian-Russian-French roots, he moved many times — from Vitebsk in Belarus, where he grew up, to traveling between St. Petersburg, Berlin and Paris — until he was forced to flee German-occupied France for...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 14, 2012

An artistic way with words

"Shoichi Ida, Prints (1941-2006)" focuses on works bequeathed to The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, by the artist's studio and family. Though mostly forgotten today, Ida could count among his acquaintances such renowned artists as modernist painter Robert Rauschenberg and minimalist sculptor Carl...
EDITORIALS
Jun 14, 2012

Bottom line of welfare

A weekly magazine in April reported that the mother of an entertainer earning an annual income of ¥50 million has been receiving public livelihood assistance known as seikatsu hogo (literally livelihood protection). Through a blog of a Diet member and other media, the entertainer was identified as TV...
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Jun 13, 2012

Heat should roll up Thunder in six

Which images grabbed or repelled you the most Saturday night as the bent and battered Ancient Men of the C's farewell tour proved no endurance challenge to the Stones, and the Heat hopscotched to The Finals for the second straight season since LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh ganged up on the...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Jun 12, 2012

Kansai: What do you make of midfielder Shinji Kagawa's move to the mighty Manchester United?

Michael M. Parrish
MORE SPORTS
Jun 11, 2012

With Suntory win, Kim becomes youngest title winner on Japan LPGA Tour

South Korean teenage amateur Kim Hyo Joo embarked on a birdie rampage to pull off an astonishing come-from-behind victory at the Suntory Ladies Open on Sunday, becoming the youngest ever title winner on the Japan LPGA Tour in the process.
Reader Mail
Jun 10, 2012

Great need for Christian witness

Contrary both to common parlance and to what Dipak Basu writes in "What need for missionaries?," I think that rather than describing Christianity as "Western," it is more accurate to describe all three of the main monotheistic religions — Judaism, Christianity and Islam — as Asian religions. Mesopotamia,...
Reader Mail
Jun 10, 2012

The definition of nonviolence

Regarding Dipak Basu's June 7 letter: Basu conveniently omits to tell us of the backlash against Christianity in Edo Period Japan, in which "nonviolence as the supreme principle" manifested itself in the form of crucifying Japanese Christians, a process in which the Buddhist temples were wholly complicit....
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jun 10, 2012

It's not that easy to quit

"If you don't like it, quit."
Reader Mail
Jun 10, 2012

Osaka mayor should be watched

In my understanding of human nature, most of us have a hidden agenda in our dealings with the world at large — private thoughts and desires often not shared with those nearest to us. I believe this is even more true of politicians. Assessing the depth and width of their humility and humanity is usually...
COMMENTARY
Jun 9, 2012

Jubilee a very British occasion

Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee is over. It was a very British occasion, including the weather.
SOCCER / World cup
Jun 9, 2012

Honda scores hat trick in Japan rout over Jordan

Japan took control of its 2014 World Cup qualifying group in ferocious style with a 6-0 win over Jordan on Friday to claim maximum points from two games on the road to Brazil.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 9, 2012

Wanted: round-trip freedom for China's dissidents

Western media describe my friend and colleague Chen Guangcheng as a blind activist who made a flight to freedom when China allowed him to journey from Beijing to the United States. What is essential about Chen is neither his blindness nor his family's visit to the U.S., but the fact that he upholds a...
EDITORIALS
Jun 9, 2012

Disappointing Baghdad talks

The most recent round of nuclear negotiations with Iran began with optimism. The previous round of talks appeared to make headway and there was hope that a breakthrough could be achieved when the seven parties — the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council or P5 states (Britain,...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jun 9, 2012

Scholar to help restore Kesennuma treasures

An engineering scholar at Toyohashi University of Technology in Aichi Prefecture is helping to restore cultural assets damaged by the March 2011 tsunami in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, in an effort to make them "a symbol of reconstruction" in the coastal city not far away from his hometown.
BUSINESS
Jun 9, 2012

Olympus to cut 2,700 workers, restructure

Olympus Corp. said Friday it will cut 2,700 jobs and restructure plants as it seeks to recover after writing down assets following an accounting-fraud scandal involving more than ¥100 billion.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 8, 2012

'My House' takes Tsutsumi home

"Auteur" is not the first word that leaps to mind to describe Yukihiko Tsutsumi. In a directing career that began with a segment of the 1988 comedy anthology "Bakayaro! I'm Plenty Mad," the prolific Tsutsumi has made films in a variety of genres — mystery/thriller ("Spec: The Movie"), dystopian fantasy...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jun 8, 2012

Christmas set to come early when gift trade show opens to the public

To anyone visiting Fukuoka next week and in need of omiyage (souvenirs) to take home, you may have hit the jackpot.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Jun 8, 2012

Hyatt Regency Tokyo summer plan

The Hyatt Regency Tokyo in Shinjuku is offering a special Summer Stay accommodation plan, through Sept. 30.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 8, 2012

'Michi' actors Yoshizawa and Bae learn from their characters that experience is key to understanding

It's been a long while since the Korean Wave first washed through the Japanese entertainment industry and altered the landscape forever. Not a day goes by without a Korean star making an appearance in the Japanese media. DVD rental stores devote huge sections of floor space to hanryū productions.
Reader Mail
Jun 7, 2012

What need for missionaries?

Regarding Catherine Wallace's May 31 letter, "Japan's access to Christianity": Does it matter whether Japan had access to Western Christianity in the 16th century or in 1945, when Japan is historically a Buddhist country?

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years