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COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 28, 2009

Practicing for the Olympics

My grandmother used to reminisce about spending the first five minutes of Spanish class practicing rolling her r's. My grandmother would be proud — the ESL classroom doesn't just spend five minutes on English pronunciation, we spend an entire class on it.
JAPAN
Mar 28, 2009

Hokuriku Electric to restart reactor

Hokuriku Electric Power Co. got government approval Friday to restart a nuclear reactor in Ishikawa Prefecture two years after it was ordered to shut the unit for covering up safety breaches.
BUSINESS
Mar 28, 2009

Retail sales fall 5.8%; biggest dive since '02

Retail sales retreated by the biggest margin in seven years in February, the government said Friday, as growing concerns about jobs and wages deepened the country's shopping slump.
BUSINESS
Mar 28, 2009

Steelmakers to slash output 43%

Steelmakers in Japan, the world's second-largest producer, will probably cut output 43 percent next quarter compared with a year earlier, as the recession slashes demand, the government said Friday.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Mar 28, 2009

Big man in the middle Sun helping Phoenix's ascent

Any professional basketball team would welcome the option of having a 236-cm center. In a sport that places a premium on height, an inside tower gives a team power.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 27, 2009

New National Theatre commences epic 'Ring' cycle

Coinciding with Tom Cruise's latest film, the New National Theatre Tokyo will next month perform the opera "Die Walkure" ("The Valkyrie"), part of "Der Ring des Niebelungen" ("The Ring of the Niebelung"), which is a cycle of four linked operas composed by 19th-century German Richard Wagner (1813-83)....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 27, 2009

As slump bites deeper, shoppers warm to no-name foreign gadgets

The recession is causing a massive consumer shift: No longer do Japan's famously finicky and brand-conscious shoppers assume imported and no-name electronics are as cheap in quality as they are in price.
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2009

Toyota: Reluctant savior of faltering U.S. carmakers?

Ever since U.S. auto giants General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC began contemplating bankruptcy last year, industry specialists have been asking one question: Will Toyota rescue them?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 27, 2009

Werner Bischof found a resurrected Japan

Although top photographers now enjoy high status and good money, they were once regarded as little better than any other button pushers — elevator girls, say — and were expected to run around, snapping whatever commissioning editors told them to.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Mar 27, 2009

Guitar Wolf return to silence the lambs

"We've come back and we're going to attack your planet with humongous love," says Seiji (that's Mr. Guitar Wolf himself) as he downs vegetable juice at a Jonathan's family restuarant near Yoga Station in western Tokyo.
JAPAN
Mar 27, 2009

When push comes to shove, can Japan shoot down missile?

First of two parts
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2009

Slump hits demand for haute couture

The first model to walk the runway during Japan Fashion Week strutted her stuff in the nude. She was also a robot — a high-tech gimmick in a fashion world struggling to retain attention as the global economy staggers through recession.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 26, 2009

Piracy and the Constitution

Once again the issue of Japanese contributions to international security efforts is the subject of tortured debate. And once again the proposed government policy, and aspects of the debate itself, reveals fundamental misunderstanding of the relationship between Article 9 of the Constitution and the relevant...
JAPAN
Mar 26, 2009

Aso urged to call election after budget

Prime Minister Taro Aso should call a snap election in May after an extra budget for fiscal 2009 is passed to break the current political stalemate caused by a divided Diet, former Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Hidenao Nakagawa advised Wednesday.
Reader Mail
Mar 26, 2009

End harassment of foreigners

Regarding the March 17 "Views from the Street" question "What changes would you like to see to Japan's immigration policies?": Families should not be separated. There should be alternative punishments to deportation. Immigration laws should encourage Japanese married to foreigners to stay together; immigration...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Mar 26, 2009

Going Postalco, smashing smileys and sounding fuzzy

Material emoticons
BUSINESS
Mar 26, 2009

Exports plunged 49.4% in February

Japan's exports plunged a record 49.4 percent in February, the largest drop since at least 1980, as deepening recessions in the U.S. and Europe sapped demand for cars and electronics.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC
Mar 25, 2009

Heavens align for leading man Ichiro

LOS ANGELES — A star actor always draws the spotlight in the end.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / JAPAN TIMES BLOGROLL
Mar 25, 2009

Black Tokyo

Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Eric L. Robinson found himself docking in Okinawa in 1981. For the past two decades, Robinson, a Marine Corps veteran, has traveled back and forth between between Japan and the United States, gaining experiences and insights from each culture that he now shares with...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Mar 25, 2009

A revolution in lighting, Japan's Kindle and an on-the-go theater

Light fantastic: The traditional light bulb in this period of global warming is seen as wasteful: It uses too much electricity and has too short a life span. Bulbs that use light-emitting diodes (LED) are seen as leading candidates to replace the incandescent bulb. Toshiba is promoting this technology...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 25, 2009

Crisis bites into Toyoda fortune

Toyota Motor Corp.'s looming loss isn't just a management challenge for Akio Toyoda, tapped to lead the carmaker his family founded. The global recession has cut the value of Toyota shares he and his father own by ¥42 billion and their dividend income may also fall.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 24, 2009

Punishing foreigners, exonerating Japanese

Examine any justice system and patterns emerge. For example, consider how Japan's policing system treats non-Japanese. Zeit Gist has discussed numerous times (July 8, 2008; Feb. 20 and Nov. 13, 2007; May 24, 2005; Jan. 13, 2004; Oct. 7, 2003) how police target and racially profile foreigners under...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC
Mar 24, 2009

Kawasaki steps out of the shadows to will Japan to victory

While Samurai Japan has discreet, silent players that lead the squad with their bats instead of their mouths, like Ichiro Suzuki or Michihiro Ogasawara, the contribution of less-heralded players is appreciated too.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji