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COMMENTARY
Jun 1, 2012

Russia needs true family policy

The unprecedented upswing of public interest in Russia's presidential elections opened a window of opportunities — quite unexpected but welcome — to see and discuss many socioeconomic problems in a more realistic manner.
JAPAN / Media
May 27, 2012

Nuke documentary experiments with online fundraising

At one point or another, every filmmaker, producer or journalist has dreamed about freeing themselves from the financial restraints of media production. The team behind "We Are All Radioactive" — a documentary about a community of surfers and fishermen in the small tsunami-stricken town of Motoyoshi...
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 6, 2012

Nuclear power role still said critical

Despite the seriousness of the Fukushima disaster, Japan should continue using nuclear power because there isn't another energy source that can replace it and because the nation has a responsibility to further its global development using the lessons learned from the crisis, says energy expert Kenji...
JAPAN
Apr 10, 2012

Vaunted missile shield more for show than protection

With Aegis destroyers and Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missiles deployed and standing by, Japan's military appears ready to shoot down any debris from North Korea's rocket — or even the rocket itself — should it threaten the country this week.
EDITORIALS
Apr 10, 2012

Publish or perish

A U.S. government panel has concluded that findings from two avian flu studies can be published even though there is a risk that the work could be misused by governments or terrorists to create biological weapons. The weight of the panel's expert opinion is that the "real and present danger" of naturally...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 24, 2012

Emmert shares beauty, power of noh dramas with a wider audience

Richard Emmert has endeavored for decades to share the beauty and power of noh with English-speaking audiences and performers through "English noh."
JAPAN
Feb 16, 2012

Nuclear safety boss faults agency, utilities

Nuclear Safety Commission chief Haruki Madarame apologized Wednesday for mistakes and safety shortcomings that surfaced during the triple-meltdown crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant and blamed them on bureaucrats and utilities that failed to heed calls for better disaster preparedness.
JAPAN
Jan 3, 2012

Solid alliances key as diplomatic challenges loom

2012 is shaping up to be full of diplomatic challenges for Japan and the world.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 1, 2012

For how much longer will Japan's fate remain in the hands of amateurs?

As we enter into a new year in which last year's greatest event is still, dreadfully, uppermost in the mind of everyone in Japan, let's pause to think hard about the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, the tsunami it triggered, and the release into the environment of radioactive substances from...
EDITORIALS
Dec 6, 2011

Put the onus on prosecutors

The Kanazawa branch of the Nagoya High Court on Nov. 30 decided in favor of a retrial of a 46-year-old man who served out a seven-year prison term for murdering a 15-year-old junior high school girl in Fukui City in March 1986. No new, decisive evidence to cast doubt over the conviction ruling came out....
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Nov 13, 2011

Creating a future for Japan's aging society

Japan is an elderly country. Twenty-three percent of its population is 65 or over. By 2050, nearly 40 percent will be. Nothing like these demographics has ever been seen before, here or anywhere. This is well-known and much discussed, usually in terms of the grim implications for an enfeebled economy...
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Sep 3, 2011

Foreign, defense picks disappoint analysts

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's choice of ministers for foreign diplomacy and security reflects an emphasis on fence-mending in his party rather than plans to address imminent diplomatic challenges, analysts said Friday.
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Sep 3, 2011

Fiscal, economic rookies concern analysts

Financial experts on Friday were quick to voice their concern over the appointment of Jun Azumi as finance minister, saying the rookie Cabinet member will allow Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to push his own fiscal policies and may lack the authority to command the ministry's bureaucrats.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jul 24, 2011

Powering Japan's future

Last year, Japan produced close to one quadrillion watt-hours of electricity — that's 1 followed by 15 zeros. The vast majority of that — which translates into one billion megawatt hours (MWh) — came from coal, natural gas and nuclear power plants operated by 10 utilities that, only a few months...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / BACKSTREET STORIES
Jun 26, 2011

Morishita: treats in place of the trees

Sometimes it's hard to see the forest for the trees. According to Akinori Saito, a historian in Tokyo's Koto Ward Office, the area known as Morishita (lit. "forest below") was most likely named for woods that surrounded the yashiki (residence) of a feudal lord named Saemon Sakai (1564-1619), a retainer...
JAPAN
Jun 8, 2011

Official probe begins into nuclear disaster

An independent panel of experts launched a probe Tuesday into the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant amid strong domestic and international criticism that the government and Tepco have bungled their response.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Jun 7, 2011

Probe poised to take Tepco to task

Shortly after 7 a.m. on March 12, Prime Minister Naoto Kan confronted Masao Yoshida, director of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, at the compound in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture.
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2011

Fatigue sets in on nuke responders

Workers at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant are facing an increased risk of accidents due to human error caused by chronic sleep deprivation and fatigue, an expert on social medicine said Wednesday in Tokyo, as he called for improved working conditions at the plant.
JAPAN
May 29, 2011

As nuke workers wait, tainted water climbs

While Tokyo Electric Power Co. plans to set up a water treatment facility in mid-June to decontaminate the thousands of tons of radioactive water being generated at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant, the utility must also find a safe place to store it before it leaks into the ground or finds its way to...
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
May 23, 2011

Long hot summer on track

Fears of unbearable heat this summer for train commuters in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area are mounting for two reasons: (1) Electric power shortages triggered by the accidents at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power station may force East Japan Railway Co. (JR East), the major operator of commuter trains,...
COMMENTARY / World
May 16, 2011

Bin Laden bled U.S. of a cool trillion

Osama bin Laden must be laughing from his watery grave. In announcing a new policy of "bleeding America to the point of bankruptcy," he mockingly declared in a 2004 video that "It is easy for us to provoke and bait. ... All that we have to do is to send two mujaheddin ... to raise a raise a piece of...
JAPAN
May 12, 2011

Nuclear energy at a crossroads

The choice Japan must soon make over the future of its energy policy will determine whether it will develop safer nuclear power plants, expand reliance on other energy sources or remain in power-save mode for decades to come.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
May 11, 2011

Hamaoka impact will be far-flung

The decision by Chubu Electric Power Co. to shut down the Hamaoka nuclear power plant in Shizuoka Prefecture is testament to the long-lasting and far-reaching impact of the March 11 megaquake.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 27, 2011

Critical thinking crucial in the information age

Ignorance is the root of all evil, according to Plato, who also famously gave us a still-current definition of its opposite: knowledge. For Plato, knowledge is "justified true belief." That definition is worthy of consideration as we reflect on the perils of ignorance in the 21st century.
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Apr 11, 2011

From Russia with leverage

Spiraling oil prices and the serious accidents at a major Japanese nuclear power station caused by the March 11 quake and tsunami are helping strengthen the position of Russia in the international community.
JAPAN
Mar 19, 2011

Lapses, coverups color public view of nuclear plants

Behind the escalating nuclear crisis sits a scandal-ridden energy industry in a cozy relationship with government regulators, who are often willing to overlook safety lapses.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?