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Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 28, 2012

Time for Japan to let go of the status quo, U.S. leadership expert counsels

Japan isn't going to end decades of economic malaise, nor will its corporations meet the challenge of overseas rivals, unless bold changes are made, warns an expert on leadership from Harvard University who was in Japan recently to give a series of lectures.
EDITORIALS
Dec 27, 2012

Mr. Abe has his work cut out

Liberal Democratic Party leader Mr. Shinzo Abe on Wednesday formed his Cabinet after the Diet nominated him as Japan's new prime minister. This is his second tenure as prime minister, with the LDP returning to power after an absence of three years and three months.
COMMUNITY / Issues / LIGHT GIST
Dec 25, 2012

The year in quotes: 25 windows on the way things were in 2012

It was a year dominated by Japan's spats with its most powerful neighbors, China and South Korea, over tiny specks in the sea, and by national soul-searching over nuclear power and the calamity that struck Japan in March 2011. It ended with the stunning political resurrection of the Liberal Democratic...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Dec 23, 2012

Journeying to the ends of the Earth ...

Travel is an addiction for which there seems no cure. Once under its sway, it is best just to ride out the alternating fevers and chills and see where they take you.
Reader Mail
Dec 23, 2012

Way of compassion worth a try

What to say, what to do in response to a massacre like the most recent one in Newtown, Connecticut? As a U.S. national (and Anglican priest) who moved to Japan just over a month ago, I have felt deep gratitude for the regards and concern that the people of this country have shown me since news of the...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Dec 22, 2012

Will.i.am: social activist, pop star and tech evangelist

How smart is will.i.am? Pretty damned smart, I'd say. He might have the trappings of a rap star with an entourage that includes a film crew, but that's only a small part of it. He's also one of the most sought-after producers in the music industry and one of its shrewdest business brains.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 18, 2012

Charles and Ray Eames: A deep-seated legacy

A touring exhibition and a recently released full-length documentary are shedding new light on the polymathic world of the U.S. couple Charles and Ray Eames, two of the most prolific and influential creatives of the 20th century.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Dec 16, 2012

Survivor pens 'too painful' 3/11 tale

'March 11, 2011 — We will never forget the day. The disaster ...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / WEEK 3
Dec 16, 2012

Pyongyang offers a rare 'real' photo opportunity

Most images of North Korea appearing in the media express just a few aspects of that country — namely, repression, militarism, poverty, backwardness, gloom.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 16, 2012

An aging country learning to adapt

Occasionally in this space I refer to a financial writer called "Gucci-san" who contributes a weekly column to Aera. Apparently, he works for an investment consulting firm that does a lot of work in mergers and acquisitions. In a recent piece he said that some of his clients are involved in importing...
Japan Times
JAPAN / ELECTION 2012
Dec 14, 2012

Dismayed Tohoku faces first post-3/11 poll

A mere 15 minutes before Azuma Konno, a Democratic Party of Japan candidate running in Sunday's Lower House election, was set to make a stump speech in front of JR Sendai Station last Friday evening, a 7.4-magnitude quake struck deep off Miyagi's shore, flooding one coastal district with 1-meter-high...
EDITORIALS
Dec 12, 2012

Footing for social welfare

Anational conference for social welfare reform, an advisory body based on a law enacted in August with the support of the Democratic Party of Japan, the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito, was inaugurated Nov. 30 with 15 scholars and experts serving as its members.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 11, 2012

Some election campaign rules outdated, quirky

From Hokkaido to Okinawa Prefecture, 1,504 candidates are campaigning for the 480 seats up for grabs in Sunday's Lower House election.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Dec 8, 2012

In era of skyscrapers, group lobbies to keep Tokyo's traditional buildings

Sitting at a wooden table in the glass-enclosed sun room of the miraculously preserved 95-year-old Yasuda House, Sumiko Enbutsu, a very youthful 78, radiates enthusiasm.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Dec 8, 2012

In era of skyscrapers, group lobbies to keep Tokyo's traditional buildings

Sitting at a wooden table in the glass-enclosed sun room of the miraculously preserved 95-year-old Yasuda House, Sumiko Enbutsu, a very youthful 78, radiates enthusiasm.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Dec 4, 2012

Japan's part-time landlords are overestimating single-tenant needs

In an effort to cut costs, electronics maker Sharp has announced that it is transferring its struggling liquid crystal display business from factories in Kameyama, Mie Prefecture, to factories in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture. In 2004, the Kameyama facility started making large LCD screens for TVs and more...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Dec 4, 2012

Japan's part-time landowners are overestimating single-tenant needs

In an effort to cut costs, electronics maker Sharp has announced that it is transferring its struggling liquid crystal display business from factories in Kameyama, Mie Prefecture, to factories in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture. In 2004, the Kameyama facility started making large LCD screens for TVs and more...
COMMENTARY
Nov 28, 2012

Failures in market economies

The eurozone has not yet collapsed and all countries not in the zone must hope that it will survive. If it did fall apart and new currencies were established, there would be serious threats not only to international trade but also to economic growth and prosperity. Competitive devaluations would exacerbate...
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Nov 27, 2012

What role will 'walking NGO' Clinton choose next?

On a recent Monday, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton walked with her husband onto a stage at the New York Sheraton to cheers and whoops and a standing ovation that only got louder as she tried to quiet things down.
EDITORIALS
Nov 18, 2012

Public libraries are thriving

That Japanese public libraries are thriving may come as no surprise to anyone, but an education ministry report found that the number of books checked out by elementary school children from the 3,274 public libraries nationwide reached an average of 26 per child in fiscal 2010. That is up from 18.8 in...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 17, 2012

Miyakojima — dolphins to the port side!

After four days of sightseeing on Okinawa Island, we set sail for Miyakojima, the next major island to the south in the Okinawan chain. Having just visited Okinawa's Churaumi Aquarium, I was more aware of the beautiful sea life underneath our sailboat such as manta rays, sea turtles and maybe even dugong....
EDITORIALS
Nov 16, 2012

Japan's 'third pole'

Various political forces are talking about establishing a "third pole" that will replace the ruling Democratic Party of Japan and the No. 1 opposition Liberal Democratic Party. Most of these forces call for revising the war-renouncing Constitution or for exercising the right to collective defense, while...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Nov 13, 2012

There's much more to Mormonism than this

The truth of Mormon As a Mormon living in Japan, I would like to take a moment to comment on John Spiri's article "Against all odds, Mormons in Japan soldier on" (Zeit Gist, Oct. 23).
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 13, 2012

Failing students: Japanese universities facing reckoning or reform

I had been warned of the "Circus," yet still I was unprepared.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Nov 11, 2012

Japan's live organ donors enjoy better health than 'normal' citizens do

At age 56, Toshinobu Horiuchi was a desperate man. He had suffered kidney failure and needed a transplant. As a doctor, based in Tokyo, he knew better than most that he faced a long wait.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Nov 6, 2012

Violin maker brings traditions of Italian masters to Tokyo

Born in Nebraska, Louis Caporale started playing the violin at the age of 4. By 14 he was building violins. At 18, he was the youngest student enrolled at the Chicago School of Violin Making.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Nov 3, 2012

Antinuclear rallies an eye-opener for university students

Some 300 people joined an Oct. 27 antinuclear rally staged by a citizens' group at Hisaya Odori Park in Nagoya. Observing them were 10 students from Chukyo University.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 1, 2012

Fair trade slowly catching on here

Hirokazu Kanetaka, who works in the cafe section of restaurant operator Zensho Holdings Co., was thrilled when an elementary school teacher in Rwanda thanked the company for helping students get to school on time.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight