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BASKETBALL
Mar 29, 2014

Struggling Yokohama falling out of playoff race

The defending bj-league champion Yokohama B-Corsairs are fading from playoff contention.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Mar 29, 2014

A wistful note on a triumphant battle

When I was a boy, my father told me and my kid brother stories from the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) and taught us how to sing some of the threnodies that Gen. Maresuke Nogi composed in classical Chinese on the battlefield. My father was born three years after the war, but memories of it were still...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Mar 29, 2014

Unpersuasive logic for death penalty in Japan

The death penalty in Japan is imposed in cases of murder, and robbery and/or rape leading to death. In such cases, capital punishment is not mandatory and is usually only imposed in cases of multiple killings, though since 2006 this criteria has not been strictly observed.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 27, 2014

How low can you go? Cuvier's beaked whale the champ of deep-sea diving

If there were a gold medal for cetacean diving, it undoubtedly would go to the Cuvier's beaked whale. Scientists said Wednesday they have tracked these medium-size whales off the coast of California using satellite-linked tags as the creatures dove down nearly 3 km (1.9 miles) and spent two hours and...
BASEBALL
Mar 26, 2014

Yoh happy to carry on tradition as Fighters' showman

There has been a certain amount of pizazz associated with Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters center fielders the last several seasons.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / ONE-ON-ONE WITH ...
Mar 26, 2014

Chapman passing on lessons to young Nara teammates

The Japan Times features periodic interviews with players in the bj-league. Joe Chapman of the Bambitious Nara is the subject of this week's profile.
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Mar 26, 2014

Sendai seeking to maintain winning ways during stretch run

With seven victories in their past 10 games, the rejuvenated Sendai 89ers have bolstered their playoff chances.
Reader Mail
Mar 26, 2014

A gap that is destroying the U.S.

I was fascinated to read Andrew Sheldon's March 23 letter, "Let's celebrate the progress of the few wealthy." His theory that we would all be better off without government is so absurd that I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 25, 2014

English translation tells tales of 100 Miyagi tsunami survivors

It was the inspiration and eagerness of Hitomi Nakanishi, an Australia-based Japanese scholar, that led to the publication of an English-language book with recollections and photos of the experiences of 100 survivors of the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami in and around Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture....
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 24, 2014

Players push for more action against racism scourge

Urawa Reds striker Tadanari Lee has urged Japanese soccer to follow the Premier League's zero-tolerance attitude toward racism after taking part in the first J. League game to be played behind doors.
Japan Times
JAPAN / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Mar 23, 2014

When it comes to tourism, image is everything

The new Osaka Government Tourism Bureau is the latest effort by a Kansai entity to re-brand itself as Japan gears up for a bigger piece of the tourism pie.
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 22, 2014

Urawa prepares for darkest day

Urawa Reds will make unwanted J. League history when they take on Shimizu S-Pulse at an empty Saitama Stadium on Sunday, and S-Pulse manager Afshin Ghotbi knows from experience that it will not be an occasion to savor.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Mar 22, 2014

Energy debate challenges facade of wa

Torn between his nationalistic instinct to resurrect what he seems to regard as Japan's great bygone days of empire-building and the mundane demands of caring for the pressing needs of his nation, a remarkably caring soul might almost feel sorry for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during his first months in...
COMMENTARY
Mar 22, 2014

Norway shines for Japanese, Korean women

According to OECD data, women in Norway have more leisure time than women in any other OECD country: 367 minutes a day. Norwegian men's helpfulness are the reason.
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Mar 19, 2014

Takamatsu struggling to turn things around

The Takamatsu Five Arrows have had a topsy-turvy season. It started off fairly well, with a 13-7 record to open up the season.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 19, 2014

Deep feelings at high altitudes

The photographs, taken by artist Naoya Hatakeyama, hint at both the beauty and dangers of a mountain, as reflected in the shades of light and darkness alongside textures of soft-edged snow and sharply lined rocks.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 16, 2014

Good and bad, for better or worse

One approach to acquiring new vocabulary that I've always found effective is to seek out the 反対語 (hantai-go, antonyms) of words. To prove my point, how about looking at words that relate to "good" and "bad," which are about as opposite as you can get.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 16, 2014

Singh: missing for a decade

It would be interesting to know just what Prime Minister Manmohan Singh — in office for a decade but rarely in power during that time — thinks the job requires beyond being a sycophant toward the first family.
BASKETBALL
Mar 15, 2014

Kyoto mauls Hamamatsu in showdown of West rivals

The Saturday showdown between the Western Conference's second- and third-place teams turned into a rout.
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 15, 2014

Lost Malaysia passenger jet was diverted deliberately, premier says

Investigators believe someone aboard a missing Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 turned the jetliner around and flew for nearly seven hours after it vanished.
BASKETBALL
Mar 14, 2014

Ryukyu outlasts West rival Fukuoka in OT

The Ryukyu Golden Kings ended the Rizing Fukuoka's five-game winning streak on Friday, handing the hosts an 80-74 defeat in overtime.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBL NOTEBOOK
Mar 14, 2014

Hall looks on bright side during trying season

A year after he was on a team that had its hands on a possible NCAA men's national championship, American Carl Hall is on a club that struggles to get even a single victory in Japan.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 14, 2014

How about better health through good choices?

The premise that health is the product of medicine leads the U.S. government to believe it can deliver health by judiciously distributing preventive or therapeutic medicines rather than disseminate cost-effective public health information.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 12, 2014

Super Kabuki 'spells fun'

Just like the many native English-speakers who have difficulty understanding the language and classical references in the works of William Shakespeare, so Japanese people generally feel a sense of distance from kabuki, as though it were a foreign language.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Mar 12, 2014

From loyal aides and 'inner voice,' Putin hears no dissent on Crimea

Surrounded by faithful aides, President Vladimir Putin hears no opposition to his plans in Crimea, allowing him to drive Russia's bid to reclaim Ukraine's southern region guided by little more than his "inner voice."
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2014

Tokyo radiation less than the level in Paris

Data from the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Public Health show atmospheric radiation levels in the capital are at the same level as before the Fukushima nuclear disaster and are below those in Paris and London.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 11, 2014

NYC fans of Kyary Pamyu Pamyu share 'zest for life'

Two hours before the doors even opened, the line outside New York's Best Buy Theater snaked around several streets in the middle of Times Square. Fans lined up early for pop star Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's second-ever New York concert, the finale to her recent North American tour.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Mar 8, 2014

Noisy bulbuls change with the seasons

On cold winter mornings the bulbuls come squawking their full-throated calls as they swoop onto bird-feeders, their white-tipped gray breast feathers appearing frosted by the chill.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Mar 7, 2014

Early joys, trials put potter on path to the simple life

Growing up with severe asthma, Australian Euan Craig was acutely aware of the fragility of life from an early age.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 7, 2014

Breakup of asteroid witnessed for first time

Scientists have observed for the first time an asteroid breaking apart, crumbling into at least 10 pieces in a kind of slow-motion celestial train wreck.

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’