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JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 9, 2012

It will take more than a pop group to save Fukushima's reputation

Last March, Tatsuya Yamaguchi of the idol group Tokio told the media that he was determined to someday reopen Dash Village, the farm that he and his bandmates built from scratch as an ongoing project on their long-running Nippon TV series "The Tetsuwan Dash." The farm is in Namie, Fukushima Prefecture,...
BUSINESS
Sep 7, 2012

Sharp puts up properties in bid to secure fresh bank loans

Struggling Sharp Corp. said Thursday it has put up some of its properties, including its Osaka headquarters and flagship Kameyama plant in Mie Prefecture, as collateral for ¥150 billion in fresh bank loans, confirming earlier news reports.
EDITORIALS
Sep 2, 2012

Troubling rise in small arms trade

T he international trade in small arms more than doubled since 2006, growing into a stunning $8.5 billion a year industry. The latest Small Arms Survey by an independent research group in Geneva found that large-scale government spending and increased purchases by American civilians, in addition to steady...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Aug 26, 2012

Should the public trust Japan's leaders when the 'big one' hits Tokyo?

No two calamities are alike, yet the needs of victims vary only in scale, not in kind.
Events / KANSAI: WHO & WHAT
Aug 25, 2012

Kobe NGO's event to help Indonesian orphans

NOW, a Kobe-based NGO, will hold a charity concert at Suma Beach in Hyogo Prefecture from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday to raise money for orphanages in Indonesia, some of which have suffered power failures.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Aug 25, 2012

Conductor-composer hits right note with Tokyo children's choir

Steven Morgan creates instant harmony with the wave of his hand. For 15 years, he has been conducting some of Tokyo's leading English choirs, bringing the pleasure of choral music performances to both singers and audiences alike.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 23, 2012

Crying Nut and Yellow Monsters

As K-pop continues its rise in stature, South Korea's small but prolific indie scenes are beginning to gain some recognition abroad as well.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Aug 17, 2012

Kodo drum troupe marks 25 years of Earth Celebration

Niigata's Sado Island becomes the stage for a high-energy performance of taiko (Japanese drums) this weekend.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / NOTEBOOK
Aug 15, 2012

Help Tohoku at a charity crowd-sourced photo exhibition; check out a revised English-Japanese dictionary

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EDITORIALS
Aug 13, 2012

Evil that comes with research funds

The special investigation squad of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office on July 31 arrested Mr. Gozo Tsujimoto, a former professor at Kyoto University's Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Science, for allegedly taking bribes worth some ¥6.2 million from Med Shirotori, a Tokyo-based medical equipment...
CULTURE / Books
Aug 12, 2012

Pyongyang: the Orwellian city through its architecture

PYONGYANG ARCHITECTURAL AND CULTURAL GUIDE, by Philipp Meuser. DOM publishers, 2012, 368 pp., $49.95 (paperback) Imagine an easy-to-navigate, pedestrian- and car-friendly city with enough space to avoid the kind of congestion that typically threatens to choke similar places worldwide — a city whose...
JAPAN
Aug 11, 2012

New foreigner IDs now bear minister's signature

Immigration offices nationwide Sunday began issuing "zairyu" residence cards to foreign residents with the electronic signature of the justice minister, a Justice Ministry spokeswoman said Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 11, 2012

Egypt's new old government

Egypt's first-ever freely elected president, the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi, has appointed his first Cabinet, and guess what? It is crammed with officials from the old regime.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 9, 2012

From Comme des Garcons to Somarta, Japanese fashion excels at weaving past, present and future

In 1981, while Western designers focused on shoulder-padded power suits, bright colors, sharp stiletto heels and statement jewelry, Yohji Yamamoto and Comme des Garcons' Rei Kawakubo sent their models down the runway in defiant black, voluminously draped garments, accessorized with nothing but flat shoes....
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Aug 3, 2012

Hawaiian food at JAL, Okura hotels

Through August, Okura Hotels and Resorts and its group company JAL Hotels Co. are collaborating to hold a summer Hawaiian gourmet fair, featuring special menus from member hotels Kahala Hotel and Resort in Honolulu and Makena Beach and Golf Resort in Maui.
COMMENTARY
Aug 3, 2012

Pushing Seoul-Tokyo forward

There is an old Russian proverb that applies to current Japan-South Korea (ROK) relations: "Forget the past and lose an eye; dwell on the past and lose both eyes!"
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Aug 3, 2012

World Ballet Festival shows how Japan has jetéd its way onto the world stage

Ballet lovers faced a difficult choice this week when two productions of "Don Quixote" were performed in Tokyo. The shows heralded the opening of the 13th World Ballet Festival, whose main program began Thursday and closes with a Special Gala on Aug. 16.
BUSINESS / NOTEBOOK
Aug 1, 2012

Design a mascot for Shibuya; see a traditional water ceremony in Hibiya

CONTESTS
COMMENTARY
Jul 31, 2012

Smell of untaxed trillions

One of the best tax-avoidance tactics in the late Roman Empire was to sell yourself into slavery. You didn't really have to work as somebody's slave, of course — it was more like rock star Hotblack Desiato being "dead for a year for tax reasons" in Douglas Adams' wondrous confection "The Hitch-Hiker's...
Reader Mail
Jul 29, 2012

The will to take on bullying

Jason Pierre's July 26 letter, "Adults accountable for bullying," appears to be criticism of bureaucracy and a call for lawful action. I agree that setting up a ministry task force won't change anything; it will once again take the problem away from the people.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’