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COMMENTARY
Jun 10, 2010

Finding your way to the world of happiness

There can be few things less useful than a world map of happiness. If you live in one of the unhappy places, there is little chance that you will be able to move to one of the happy ones — and anyway, there's no way of knowing whether immigrants are happy there. Besides, your personal capacity for...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 8, 2010

Futenma divides Okinawa's expats

Peter Simpson had just left his students at Okinawa International University and was on his way home when a helicopter slammed into the campus administration building. That no one was killed or seriously injured in the crash was remarkable given that the three-story concrete building had to be demolished...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 4, 2010

Meisa gets high fives all round

Halfway through the first-ever Girls Award fashion show at Tokyo's Yoyogi National Stadium last month, 22-year-old Meisa Kuroki strides down the catwalk, glistening in a sleeveless gold dress and black stockings while delivering her pulsing dance tune "Shock."
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 30, 2010

Studies highlight a 'heartwarming' resu of the real thing in Japan

Nothing gets the circulation going like sex.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 28, 2010

Sober approach pays dividends for these puritans

Jack Barnett, the scrawny, intense singer/songwriter with English post-art rockers These New Puritans, is stood on a rest area off a German autobahn on his way to Freiburg. This can be an unedifying business at the best of times, but the banality of the situation seems a world away from the sonic sorcery...
JAPAN
May 21, 2010

Former negotiator lays base woes on Okinawa

Every story has more than one side.
COMMENTARY
May 21, 2010

Thailand risks taking road that ends in a Burma night

LONDON — "The government does not want to negotiate, so I think many more people will die," said "red-shirt" leader Sean Boonpracong in Bangkok on Monday. "This will end as our Tiananmen Square." Or more precisely, it may end up as Thailand's "8888": the massacre by the Burmese army of thousands of...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
May 16, 2010

Globe-trotting Brit sets a new 'Guinness' record for itchy feet

If a thing is worth doing, it's worth doing under ludicrously difficult, not strictly necessary, self-imposed rules. Such was the thinking of 31-year-old Graham Hughes when, stewing on the details of a long-dreamed of plot to visit every country on Earth, he decided to add a bit of hot sauce: He would...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
May 16, 2010

'Pig Meat' journeys from cute to cutlets

A series of food-safety scandals in the early and mid 2000s — involving, among other scares, bacteria-infected milk and poisonous Chinese dumplings — have made many more people in Japan aware of the need to know — and the danger of not knowing — the origins of their daily fare.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 16, 2010

Sense of complacency links Japan to Greek crisis

There's nothing like a good financial meltdown to straighten out your priorities. When it happened in Greece more than a month ago, the Japanese press went over to see whether or not the country's situation had anything to teach Japan. After all, Japan's public debt is much worse than Greece's. In fact,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 15, 2010

Fatalist follows music to find his niche in life

Life can veer abruptly, in mere seconds, from the way it was to the way it is. Occasionally, change occurs so gradually that metamorphosis is under way before you can even detect the unfamiliar wind.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 14, 2010

'Whip It' with Drew

HOLLYWOOD — "The politest thing I can say is, 'It's about bleeping time!' " says Drew Barrymore with a giggle reminiscent of Gertie, the "E.T." role that made her famous back in 1982.
Events / WHERE IT'S AT
May 11, 2010

Cycling community offers helping hand to fair trade

During the three weeks between the Earth Day Festival in Tokyo on April 17 and Waorld Fair Trade Day last Saturday, cyclists and supporters of fair trade were busy threading their way through the dense Tokyo traffic with the help of a map that connected the dots between some of the main outlets selling...
JAPAN
May 10, 2010

Most Taiji residents rest easy, refuse to change diet

TAIJI, Wakayama Pref. — Residents of Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, appeared relieved Sunday after health specialists found no symptoms of mercury poisoning in their bodies, even though the hair samples of some residents contained high levels of methyl mercury.
COMMENTARY
May 10, 2010

Let 'elderly' get new start as firms force retirement

Japan's population is forecast to dwindle to less than 90 million by 2055 and the percentage of elderly (people at least 65 years old) will rise to 40.5 percent, according to median forecasts by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
May 7, 2010

Hatoyama's reach exceeds grasp

What a mess.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
May 5, 2010

Local governments try to make it a little easier for you to pay them

Sign up to have your local government tax paid by bank withdrawal and qualify to win seaweed or rice!
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 4, 2010

Eikaiwa on the ropes after fall of Geos

RICHARD SMART Special to The Japan Times A chain of English conversation schools is closed down. Thousands of employees are left worrying whether they will get paid or keep their jobs. Students are told refunds will not be given on advance payments for lessons. G.communication steps in to pick up the...
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
May 3, 2010

Accusations about Japan's youths lacking 'animal spirits' off mark

The old are invariably critical of the young. Japan is no exception. The older generation finds much to bemoan in the attitudes and behaviors of their successors.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
May 2, 2010

Renho: Japan's fiscal firebrand

Renho, a first-term Upper House member from the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, shot to stardom in Japan last November when, as a member of a government committee tasked with screening ministries' budget requests, she had several fierce, face-to-face battles with bureaucrats.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
May 2, 2010

'Zen-Nihon Kaso Taisho,' the trouble with herbivores; CM of the week: Sumisho Fruits

Several weeks ago, NHK profiled Yusei Uesugi, a matte painter who works for George Lucas's Industrial Light and Magic. Uesugi is a major talent in Hollywood special effects, and he got his start as a contestant on "Zen-Nihon Kaso Taisho" ("All-Japan Disguise Awards"), which takes place two or three times...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
May 1, 2010

Not easy being green: Eco-point system tests patience

Got Eco-points? Great, but cashing them is going to take more than a little paperwork.
JAPAN
May 1, 2010

Government, industry join to promote luxury travel

From a helicopter ride to see the crater of Mount Fuji to an exclusive entrance to a renowned historic temple, luxury travelers demand rare experiences.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Apr 29, 2010

Why cook food when it is better for you raw?

Sixteen years ago, the Boutenkos were a family in crisis. Mother Victoria was overweight and depressed. Her husband, Sergei, had arthritis. Their teenage son was battling diabetes, while their daughter suffered from asthma.
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2010

Craft shops cash in on recession

Tomoyo Shibuya's coat is more than six years old, but she has no plans to ditch it. Instead of buying a new coat, she went to a handicraft shop, bought new navy-blue buttons, the same color as the coat, to replace the old silver buttons.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Apr 25, 2010

Book makes real those whose lives led them to become homeless

When I was living in Kyoto in the late 1960s, I would often see homeless people along the banks of the Kamo River. They generally lived under the bridges in structures made of cardboard and blue sheeting. Having seen many homeless people in my native Los Angeles, I was particularly struck by the neatness...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Apr 17, 2010

You know you live in the countryside when . . .

Okayama Prefecture is considered Japan's inaka (countryside). When I first came to teach at a university here, my students, who were all from the local small towns, would introduce themselves as being from inaka, and then laugh as if this was the funniest thing in the world. To me, the word "countryside"...

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