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EDITORIALS
Jan 8, 2012

Thinner and thinner

Japanese girls weigh less than ever, according to an Education Ministry survey of 650,000 Japanese children aged 5 to 17. The average weight of girls in Japan was at its lowest since data started being compiled in 1948, even though average height has increased by five to eight centimeters. These worrisome...
COMMENTARY
Jan 7, 2012

Suddenly a fun candidate, but GOP is in trouble

The complaint that Iowa is not a typical American state is true but trivial because there is no such state. Can you name one whose political culture, closely considered, is more like than unlike any other state's?
CULTURE / Art
Jan 5, 2012

Looking ahead: 10 shows to mark on the 2012 calender

"Fuyuko Matsui: Becoming Friends with All the Children in the World" Yokohama Museum of ArtDec. 17, 2011-March 18.www.yaf.or.jp/yma
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 5, 2012

Looking ahead: 10 shows to mark on the 2012 calender

"Fuyuko Matsui: Becoming Friends with All the Children in the World" Yokohama Museum of ArtDec. 17, 2011-March 18.www.yaf.or.jp/yma
JAPAN / NUCLEAR AWAKENING
Jan 3, 2012

Fukushima meltdowns set nuclear energy debate on its ear

The Fukushima nuclear crisis changed the national debate over energy policy almost overnight.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 2011

Things the telly didn't tell you about Thatcher

Britain in the early 1970s was decayed, ungovernable and globally irrelevant, done in by the cumulative effect of postwar socialist reforms.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 2011

Letter from a Ukraine jail

It has been said that there are no atheists in a foxhole. Here, after my show trial and 4½ months in a cell, I have discovered that there are no atheists in prison, either.
COMMENTARY
Dec 29, 2011

Disappointed with Obama? It's not all his fault

Perhaps one of the most important questions globally now is who the real Barack Obama is, and what to expect from him from now on, particularly after the death of Osama Bin Laden.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / LIGHT GIST
Dec 27, 2011

2011: a year of disaster in quotes

This year produced more than its share of memorable quotes, many of which were inspired by the March 11 disaster and its aftermath. But figures from other fields, from sports to entertainment, also said things worth repeating. Here is a sampling, in chronological order:
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 22, 2011

Japan's dramatists take on the 'nuclear village'

The place to start when reviewing this year's highlights in contemporary Japanese theater, has to be The Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11. That day led to a nation in mourning, an ongoing nuclear crisis and an awakening among dramatists, who saw the importance of their role to stimulate debate...
Reader Mail
Dec 18, 2011

'West' is not a gauge for Japan

Regarding Philip Brasor's Dec. 4 Media Mix article, "Mass media not clean in soap-allergy controversy": Truth in advertising is not as strict a concept in Japan as it is in the West, and most viewers here won't necessarily believe that the stars they see on TV use the products they are selling, since...
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Dec 18, 2011

Don't expect Japanese basketball to embrace a real, workable plan

Every few months a false sense of hope surfaces on the blogosphere and in the mainstream media, where optimists peddle the message that Japan's basketball "leaders" finally have their act together, that a new men's pro league will, ahem, finally replace the outdated, increasingly irrelevant JBL and the...
COMMENTARY
Dec 14, 2011

Fed paying a price in current round of revisionism

The further we get from 2008, when the American economy flirted with another Great Depression, the more people forget what happened and create stories that satisfy some political, ideological or journalistic urge. Among the biggest losers in this revisionism is the Federal Reserve. Although it helped...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 9, 2011

Without U.S. funds, UNESCO strikes downbeat

I cannot imagine a world without music, art, film, dance, theater and books. It would be a dreary and colorless existence, with little cooperation and communication among citizens. The arts are the glue that holds us together, the cultural fabric of our lives, and they sow the seeds for inventive, universally...
COMMENTARY / World / 50 years of ASEAN
Dec 5, 2011

China: soft or crash landing?

Economists who believe that China can come to the rescue of an increasingly troubled global economy are now in a decided minority, with questions increasingly being asked whether China can save itself: Will China's economy achieve a soft landing, a hard landing or even suffer a crash landing?
JAPAN
Dec 3, 2011

'Nadeshiko' buzzword of year, 3/11 terms next

"Nadeshiko Japan," the nickname of the women's national soccer team, has been awarded a high-profile prize for being the No. 1 buzzword of the year.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 1, 2011

Green is the big thing at this year's Tokyo Motor Show

Japanese carmakers highlighted their latest green technology concept cars during Wednesday's media preview at the Tokyo Motor Show as they bid to lead the global trend toward energy efficiency and reignite interest among young people in automobiles.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 1, 2011

'Ryoko Suzuki: "I am ..."'

Zeit Foto Salone Closes Dec. 17
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / INSIDE ART
Dec 1, 2011

Restless Arab region presents curatorial challenge

In mid-February, Mori Art Museum Associate Curator Kenichi Kondo noticed an article on the Nafas website, which specializes in art news from the Middle East. Egyptian media artist Ahmed Basiony, it said, had gone to Tahrir Square in Cairo to join the protests against president Hosni Mubarak. He had been...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 30, 2011

Bhutan royals trip masks rights issues

The recent visit by Bhutan's king and queen helped raise the country's profile in Japan and even spurred interest in travel to the country, but few Japanese seem to be aware that Bhutan, often portrayed as an idyllic Himalayan getaway, has forced more than 70,000 Nepalese to leave the country as refugees,...
COMMENTARY
Nov 22, 2011

Syrian uprising victimized

Syrians continue to be victimized, not only in violent clashes with the Syrian military, but also by regional and international players with various agendas.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Nov 20, 2011

Is Aum's guru finally headed for the gallows?

Tomorrow, Nov. 21, the Supreme Court is expected to hand down its ruling on the appeal filed by Seiichi Endo, a former member of the Aum Shinrikyo (Supreme Truth) cult. Endo, now 51, was sentenced to death in 2002 (upheld in 2007) for his role in the nerve gas attacks in Matsumoto City in June 1994 and...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 20, 2011

The B-class-food boom reveals true Japanese cuisine

Two weeks ago, an advisory panel to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries recommended it apply to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization for recognition of Japanese cuisine as an intangible cultural asset. The panel made its suggestion after UNESCO granted...
LIFE / Lifestyle / Japan Pulse
Nov 18, 2011

Virtual games in a real sports club

With the new unveiled e-Sports Ground, fitness hounds and video game freaks can play on the same virtual/real playing field.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2011

First glimpses inside the Fukushima No. 1 compound since 3/11

On Saturday a group of journalists, including this reporter, were allowed for the first time to enter the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant on a guided tour.
JAPAN
Nov 15, 2011

Fukushima No. 1 tour an eye-opener

"Now 1,000 microsieverts (per hour)!"
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 15, 2011

Tokyo ordinance a potential contract-killer

A prediction: if Japan ever becomes a police state, it will come about not by national law but municipal ordinances. And the war on organized crime could be the engine that drives the process.
COMMENTARY
Nov 15, 2011

Scientific mind meltdown

In a survey conducted more than 10 years ago, Chikio Hayashi, former director of the Institute of Statistical Mathematics, polled people's opinions toward the statements of two hypothetical airlines with regard to airplane accidents.

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear