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JAPAN
Mar 30, 2012

Liquefaction driving away Chiba residents

Chiba's population is declining for the first time in 66 years as residents in bedroom communities damaged by last March's liquefaction decide to abandon the prefecture, fed up with authorities' failure to repair their homes and fearful of radioactive fallout.
JAPAN
Mar 30, 2012

Kyoto governor demands reactor safety guarantee

Opposition in the Kansai region to restarting reactors 3 and 4 at the nuclear plant in Oi, Fukui Prefecture, continued to build Thursday, with Kyoto Gov. Keiji Yamada telling the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency that he isn't convinced of their safety.
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 30, 2012

For Kawasaki, new challenge provides fun experience

Munenori Kawasaki had it all in Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 30, 2012

'Ano Sora no Ao (Halcyon Skies)'

Tao Nashimoto's "Ano Sora no Ao (Halcyon Skies)," which premiered at this year's Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival, is the type of lyrical, personal, naturalistically acted and elliptically narrated Japanese indie film I used to see by the dozen in the 1990s but is now rather rare. One foreign...
EDITORIALS
Mar 30, 2012

Surprising choice for World Bank

U.S. President Barack Obama has named Dr. Jim Yong Kim as his nominee to lead the World Bank. In the past, that would have been the end of the process — Washington spoke and the bank complied. It is still probable that Mr. Kim will assume the post in June when it becomes vacant, but old certainties...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Mar 29, 2012

Ekitame — coming to a station near you soon?

In Japan's new shopping trend, the destination might be the train station itself.
Reader Mail
Mar 29, 2012

Tap the ocean for energy

I was very interested in the March 26 article reprinted from Sentaku magazine titled "Tapping into oceanic energy." Since the 3/11 accidents at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, several alternative-energy substitutions have been proposed:
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 29, 2012

EU can live on without the euro

Great significance — probably too much — has been attached to a possible breakup of the eurozone. Many believe that such a breakup — if, say, Greece abandoned the euro and reintroduced the drachma — would constitute a political failure that would ultimately threaten Europe's stability. Speaking...
Reader Mail
Mar 29, 2012

Infantile use of 'racism' label

In two AP articles published March 21, "Police see racist motive behind French shootings" and "British teacher used Nazi antics to rile neighbors," we see once more the common misuse of words.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 29, 2012

Japan's tall stories of great towers in the city

Perhaps because we are upright, vertical animals, towers have always held a special fascination for us. The artist Taro Okamoto expressed this attraction in anthropomorphic terms when he designed the centerpiece of the 1970 Osaka Expo, the 70-meter-tall "Tower of the Sun" with its three faces, including...
CULTURE / Art
Mar 29, 2012

Japan's tall stories of great towers in the city

Perhaps because we are upright, vertical animals, towers have always held a special fascination for us. The artist Taro Okamoto expressed this attraction in anthropomorphic terms when he designed the centerpiece of the 1970 Osaka Expo, the 70-meter-tall "Tower of the Sun" with its three faces, including...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 29, 2012

Korean boy band F. T. Island still look to grow after release of 'Grown Up'

At an agency studio in southern Seoul, three of the five members of South Korean pop group F.T. Island are waiting; the missing two are still at the doctor. Of those present, bassist Lee Jae Jin looks at this writer with a curious grin but becomes alert when our eyes meet. Guitarist and so-called leader...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Mar 29, 2012

A tale of two paths to indie success

Tokyo postpunk quartet Otori is an archetypal product of the city's underground live-music scene. The band's sets feature a machine-gun rattle of drums, slashes of guitar that explode in fierce climaxes, and bursts of scattershot vocals that teeter on the brink of hysteria — the kind of music that...
JAPAN
Mar 28, 2012

Cultist who hid Aum fugitive gets 14 months

The Tokyo District Court sentenced former Aum Shinrikyo member Akemi Saito to 14 months in prison Tuesday for harboring fugitive cultist Makoto Hirata for more than 14 years.
JAPAN
Mar 28, 2012

Kansai politicians want new safety regime before Oi reactor restart

Politicians in the Kansai region are increasingly coming out against approving any early restart of two nuclear reactors in Fukui Prefecture unless the central government first issues new safety guidelines that would hopefully prevent another crisis like Fukushima No. 1.
JAPAN
Mar 28, 2012

Tanaka ratchets up SDF missile shield standby

Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka on Tuesday ordered the Self-Defense Forces to prepare missile shield elements to intercept a rocket North Korea plans to launch next month.
JAPAN
Mar 28, 2012

Cabinet firm: Friday OK for tax hike bill

The Cabinet will stick to its plan and approve a bill Friday to double the consumption tax to 10 percent despite fierce opposition from within the Democratic Party of Japan, Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said Tuesday.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Mar 27, 2012

Old guard see despot in Hashimoto

Toru Hashimoto's push to fundamentally reform Japan picked up steam Saturday with the opening of Ishin Seiji Juku (Restoration Political Institute), as criticism grows in Tokyo that the outspoken Osaka mayor is leading not only a national revolt against established parties but also a mass movement reminiscent...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Mar 27, 2012

Shonan: What do you think about the government's plan to create citizen ID numbers for tax and other purposes?

Yoshihara, 45
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 27, 2012

Visa overstayers rally to maintain privileges after immigration revision

Foreigners overstaying their visas took to the streets of Tokyo on Monday, calling for the Justice Ministry to grant them special residency permits before the new immigration law takes effect July 9.

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