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COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jun 12, 2012

More than divorce: Courts could even help save your marriage

Concerned mother M writes: "In a situation where my husband doesn't give me any money for food or to look after our child, yet we still live together and pay 50/50 for our apartment, can I ask a lawyer to force him to pay, or in Japan can I only demand money after divorce?
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jun 12, 2012

Single fathers unite to voice their concerns about benefits in Japan

A group of dads and their small kids gathered around for a step-by-step demonstration of how to make perfect French toast. Then they got busy cracking eggs and beating them, cutting the bread into small squares that they dipped in the egg and then dropped into a hot skillet to watch sizzle as a buttery...
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,...
CULTURE / Books
Jun 10, 2012

Okinawa: a long history of hardship

THE OKINAWAN DIASPORA IN JAPAN: Crossing the Borders Within, by Steve Rabson. University of Hawai'i Press, 2012, 312 pp., $55.00 (hardcover) Okinawa, mainland Japan's subtropical playground, is no paradise to Okinawans. Ryukyu, the archipelago's original name, means "circle of jewels." Lush appearance...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jun 10, 2012

Matsue: 'City of Water ' with a history set in stone

The train from Okayama to Matsue took nowhere near as long as the one the English writer Sacheverell Sitwell boarded in 1959 to the same destination: "Nine hours from Osaka, into a remote and little-visited part." The region still feels faintly remote, the train carriages clickety-clicking over rivers...
BUSINESS
Jun 8, 2012

Public to Tepco: Don't hike rates

Citizens attending the first public hearing Thursday on Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s request to increase electricity rates for households voiced opposition to the plan and urged the utility to cut costs instead.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 8, 2012

'Michi — Hakuji no Hito (Takumi: The Man Beyond Borders)'

Millions of Japanese have become fans of things Korean, from weepy TV dramas to perky girl pop groups, since the start of the hanryu ̄ ("Korean Wave") popular-culture invasion over a decade ago. Many of the younger generation, however, have only a hazy awareness, if that, of the dark period between...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jun 8, 2012

'Doraemon' bully Gian to get a party

Fujiko F. Fujio Museum in Kawasaki, which is dedicated to the late creator of the "Doraemon" manga series, is celebrating the birthday of that series' "bully" character, Gian, on June 15.
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
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jun 8, 2012

Get cool as summer moves in

As summer approaches there's a chance some people have already switched on their fans or air-conditioners, even though you can still build snowmen in Tokyo.
EDITORIALS
Jun 8, 2012

Building a nation of green growth

The Noda Cabinet on May 29 endorsed the 2012 white book on the environment. It calls for promotion of electricity power generation through renewable energy sources in the Tohoku region. Given the effects of the March 11 disasters and the subsequent Fukushima nuclear crisis, this is a reasonable approach....
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Jun 8, 2012

Wine Challenge brings sake contest to Japan

At 9 a.m. on the morning of May 28, the 40 judges who had been invited to arbitrate in the 2012 International Wine Challenge sake competition convened in the Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association building in Tokyo's Shinbashi district. Conversations in English and Japanese floated around the room...
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.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 8, 2012

Refugee pines to go back to, help Myanmar

When Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi announced her trust in President Thein Sein last August, Tin Win Akbar decided it was time to return home after spending almost 16 years as an exile in Japan.
COMMENTARY
Jun 8, 2012

Unforgivable crimes against the people of Syria

That some of my ancestors came from Syria may be one reason for the horror I feel over the tragic events in Houla, Syria, where at least 108 villagers, including 34 women and 49 children were massacred last month. Who is responsible for this tragedy?
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?
Reader Mail
Jun 7, 2012

Constitutional worries misplaced

Regarding the allegation in the June 2 editorial "Naval exercise tweaks Constitution" that Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) participation in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise violated Japan's Constitution: This could only be stated by people completely unfamiliar with naval exercises....
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 7, 2012

The real deal on austerity and debt

Many, if not all, of the world's most pressing macroeconomic problems relate to the massive overhang of all forms of debt. In Europe, a toxic combination of public, bank and external debt in the periphery threatens to unhinge the eurozone.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 7, 2012

Russians who cringed at their own

One of the features of Europe's interwoven network of royal families was that it led to a great deal of cultural transference between the different states. In order to avoid marrying beneath themselves, royals were tempted to look abroad for spouses, with the result that the incomers would often bring...
EDITORIALS
Jun 7, 2012

Not a minute too soon

On April 25, a government panel proposed ways to improve the management of government documents after it had reflected on a deplorable omission on the part of the government — the failure to take minutes from a series of meetings held to cope with the 3/11 quake and tsunami and the subsequent Fukushima...
Reader Mail
Jun 7, 2012

Little trust in nuclear protection

I would like to applaud The Japan Times for its June 3 editorial, "Quickstep to restarting reactors," which exposes the illogic of Japan restarting nuclear reactors. The many technical reasons, such as dubious computer models and out-of-date equipment used at the power plants, flatly refute the supposed...
EDITORIALS
Jun 6, 2012

Cabinet reshuffle for convenience

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda reshuffled his Cabinet Monday — the second in nine months. His aim is clear: removing obstacles — Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka and infrastructure and transport minister Takeshi Maeda — to facilitate negotiations with the opposition Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito...

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