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Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 25, 2008

Harajuku in peril?

As a dedicated follower of Japanese pop culture and the coauthor of a book on Japanese teen fashion, I confess that I'm getting a bit concerned about the direction in which the Harajuku district is headed these days.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 23, 2008

We're just playing ball

It's an open secret that TV news shows tend to go easy on big advertisers in their reporting. In the many tributes to journalist Tetsuya Chikushi, who died two weeks ago of lung cancer, no one mentioned that he was a heavy smoker. The dangers of cigarettes were never covered on his nightly TBS show,...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 22, 2008

Barely squeezing by in Japan

I walked into a restaurant to get a quick bite for lunch. After I squeezed myself through the narrow door, I noticed the restaurant's first floor was completely full. "Packed" would be a more appropriate word: All four seats were taken.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 18, 2008

Coaxing a turnabout in our 'animal spirits'

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — The world's fundamental economic problem today is a staggering loss of business confidence. Commercial banks, investment banks and hedge funds all owe their ongoing trouble to its decline, which in turn is jeopardizing the plans of companies and entrepreneurs to launch enterprises...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 18, 2008

Prejudice among obstacles facing non-Japanese tenants

With a falling population, a shrinking tax base and a shortage of carers for its increasing number of elderly, calls are growing for Japan to allow in a large influx of foreign workers to plug the gap. The question is: When they come, will they be able to find a place to stay?
EDITORIALS
Nov 7, 2008

A healthy insurance system

The health insurance system for people aged 75 or over, introduced in April 2008, has proved unpopular because aged people covered by the system feel that they have been herded into a certain category separated from younger generations. They are also angry about the practice of withholding insurance...
Reader Mail
Oct 30, 2008

Adults act like they are helpless

It is true that young people are becoming less and less able to communicate with others, but I don't think the Internet is the only reason. I think society is also to blame. These days, we don't usually talk with people we don't know well such as neighbors. The cell phone may contribute to causing that...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 30, 2008

Going abroad to make it at home

Mugensha Theatre Company is based in Tokyo, but it is probably better known in Britain. The company has played three London seasons — in 2002, '05 and '06 — since it was founded by director and actor Soun Kotakebayashi in 1995 with the intention of taking contemporary Japanese drama to Europe.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Oct 21, 2008

How well does Japan look after the needs of its disabled population?

Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Oct 21, 2008

Dining on the Web

Every day at around 4 p.m., as the air cools down, the sky takes on a purple hue and schoolchildren make their way home, hordes of people across Japan — predominantly female, predominantly in their 30s — start furiously typing on their PCs. They all have one burning question on their minds: "What...
Reader Mail
Oct 19, 2008

Internet crisis of communication

Why are so many young people in Japan killing themselves? I am concerned that the Internet has changed people's relationships and communications styles. The Internet enables us to communicate with anybody via e-mail, chat rooms and bulletin boards, even as the opportunities to communicate face to face...
EDITORIALS
Oct 17, 2008

The high road or no road

Annual newspaper week started on Oct. 15. The Japan Newspapers Publishers and Editor Association marked the start of the week with a two-day convention in Sapporo. The week is designed to promote more popular interest in newspapers and renew newspapers' determination to properly perform the public functions...
JAPAN
Oct 17, 2008

'Anime' biz taps new inspiration

Astro Boy, created by animation pioneer Osamu Tezuka, is a superhero robot with a soft, adorable face, a feature that partly explains his global fame.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 16, 2008

Muslim-Hindu relations explored in PIFF selections

In terms of box office, India has always been the best market for movies, though with its plethora of languages and regional tastes in entertainment, the country has been impervious to imports. In recent months, however, there have been deals struck between Hollywood and Bollywood that allow for movement...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 12, 2008

Austria's fear and loathing still democratic

NEW YORK — Two far-right parties, the Austrian Freedom Party and the Movement for Austria's Future, won 29 percent of the vote in the latest Austrian general election — double their total in the 2006 election.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 8, 2008

Motorcycle makers battle it out in Vietnam

HANOI — Red roses, field flowers, baskets of vegetables, slaughtered hogs. In Vietnam, farmers bring anything that can be loaded onto a motorcycle to market in the morning. In early evenings, bikers jam the streets as they return home.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 7, 2008

New Japanese makes inroads into Chinese vocabulary

In my last column, on Aug. 5, I discussed how Japanese people still find it practical to use kanji (Sino-Japanese ideographs) when adopting new foreign terms and modern concepts.
COMMENTARY
Oct 6, 2008

Counterproductive antiterrorism

Buried deep in the U.S. Pentagon somewhere is an official in charge of the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. As he goes about his daily chores — organizing the floor shackles, bully guards, illegal confinements, arbitrary trials and occasional torture sessions — he no doubt thinks he is...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 5, 2008

So you think U.S. democracy's dying? Well, you're probably right

The national conventions of the U.S. Democratic and Republican parties are now but fast-fading memories. The only thing that I really wanted to know once they were over was: Who has the balloon concession for these events, because there's obviously a lot of easy money to be made from hot air.
EDITORIALS
Oct 4, 2008

Rekindling trust in pensions

At a time when people's trust in the nation's pension system has practically vanished due to pension records scandals, a panel of the Social Welfare Council, an advisory body to the welfare minister, is discussing problems related to the government's 2004 decision on dealing with pension issues.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 30, 2008

Practical fashion for the other end of life

One after the other, the models strutted across the stage to bouncy '80s dance tunes, all showing off designs of the same article of clothing — adult diapers.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 30, 2008

Don't go calling me kiseichū, you big daikon

By writing about bujoku (侮辱 , insults) in Japanese, I truly risk being labeled a namaiki na yatsu (生意気な奴 , a wiseacre). Well, wisdom comes in a variety of forms, including nasty ones. So, dear reader, even if you are donkan (鈍感 , obtuse), chi no meguri ga warui (血の巡りが悪い,...
EDITORIALS
Sep 29, 2008

Making aid work

In 2000, world leaders adopted the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), which were aimed at raising the standard of living in the developing world. Among other things, the eight goals called for cutting by half the number of people worldwide who live on less than $1 a day, achieving universal primary...
EDITORIALS
Sep 26, 2008

Mr. Aso has his Cabinet

Mr. Taro Aso was chosen as the nation's 92nd prime minister by the Diet and immediately formed his Cabinet on Wednesday. For Mr. Aso, a grandson of the late former Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida and a son-in-law of the late former Prime Minister Zenko Suzuki, this should be an auspicious occasion.
Reader Mail
Sep 25, 2008

Generalization doesn't work

Comments by Wyndham Miles in his Sept. 21 letter, "Shameful response to gropers," are based on a misunderstanding of Sumire Shigehara's Sept. 14 letter ("Women-only train cars are shameful"). Shigehara was not implying that molested women are dishonest or that Japanese people ignore gropers. Her point...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 24, 2008

Facing a rise in sea level

SINGAPORE — As policymakers plan ahead in Tokyo, Osaka-Kobe and other major port cities in Japan, one of the most vexing questions they face is how much will the sea level rise in coming decades?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Sep 23, 2008

Vivienne Sato

Vivienne Sato is a unique cultural concierge in Tokyo, full of the lowdown on both high art and mass culture. Vivi knows what and who's happening in the city 24/365, and if she's present, the party is on till the wee-wee hours. Always dressed to the nines — and often to the nine hundreds — with her...

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