Search - u_times

 
 
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Mar 18, 2012

Plan to N-shrine reactors for millennia

What do nuclear power plants and Shinto shrines have in common?
Reader Mail
Mar 15, 2012

Passivity toward negligence

Congratulations to The Japan Times for the editorial insight and courage to print William Pesek's March 10 article, ">Japan's nuclear mobsters don't share tsunami pain." I also want to congratulate Pesek on his analysis and evaluation of the causes and responsibilities for the catastrophe of March 11,...
COMMENTARY
Mar 15, 2012

Ocean acidification: another problem with CO₂ emissions

We tend to measure time by the span of a human life, making a century seem like an era and a millennium a mega-stretch of time. In this perspective, a million years is an eternity. So it can be revealing to consider our place in geologic history measured in hundreds of millions of years.
SOCCER / World cup
Mar 15, 2012

Japan punches ticket to London Olympics

Japan Under-23 manager Takashi Sekizuka allowed himself a moment to savor qualification for the London Olympic men's soccer tournament on Wednesday night, but the 51-year-old insists the real work begins now.
JAPAN
Mar 14, 2012

New regime for food radiation tests

The health ministry has issued to municipalities unified radiation testing guidelines effectively requiring regular sample checks on any food item that has a cesium reading of 50 becquerels per kilogram in current or past random inspections.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Mar 13, 2012

Import tax: a complex, seemingly arbitrary minefield

Paula writes: "What are the rules regarding taxes placed on imported purchases — for example, a pair of boots? I live in Kobe and had to pay taxes of ¥5,400 for a ¥9,000 purchase. I paid more than half the cost of what I bought in taxes."
JAPAN / QUEST FOR RECOVERY
Mar 10, 2012

Pupils excelled on 3/11 but life since a struggle

Shin Saito, a junior high school teacher in Kamaishi, still has nightmares about the day he and his students had to desperately dash to higher ground as tsunami crashed into Iwate's coast, barely managing to escape the terrifying waves.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 10, 2012

Cuts to wasteful public works now said blocking rebound

After years of criticism for public works spending that rewarded political constituents at the cost of adding debt, the government succeeded in cutting the largesse in half. Now, that legacy of success is hampering an economic rebound.
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 9, 2012

Promoted sides seek to make mark against J. League powers

The following is the first of a two-part preview for the upcoming J. League season. Team-by-team previews of the nine lowest-ranked teams competing in the first division are listed.
JAPAN
Mar 8, 2012

Calls mount for restrictions on foreign lawyers to be eased

A statute on foreign lawyers in Japan should be amended to allow them to practice law on an equal footing with Japanese attorneys, a legal expert said Wednesday.
COMMENTARY
Mar 6, 2012

Hamas' perilous maneuvers

Despite all of Hamas' assurances to the contrary, a defining struggle is taking place within the Palestinian Islamic movement. The outcome of this struggle — which is still confined to polite political disagreements and occasional intellectual tussle — is likely to change Hamas' outlook, if not fundamentally...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 6, 2012

Rebuilding lives in shattered Tohoku, one image at a time

As the minibus winds through the foothills of northern Fukushima, the Geiger counter flashes blue and buzzes loud alerts — but it doesn't distract Brian Peterson. The 35-year-old American holds up a boxy Konika Instant Press — what he calls his "magic camera" — then explains how to load it, set...
Japan Times
JAPAN / SPELLING BEE
Mar 5, 2012

A look back at the spellers who triumphed last year

Yuichi Yoshioka was crowned the winner of the second Japan Times Spelling Bee, held at The Japan Times headquarters in Tokyo in May last year, after he correctly spelled the word "presentient," landing a spot in the annual Scripps National Spelling Bee contest the following month in the U.S.
BASKETBALL
Mar 4, 2012

B-Corsairs make point with tenacious defense

As has been the case throughout the season, defense fueled the Yokohama B-Corsairs' win on Saturday, a 66-59 road triumph over the Osaka Evessa.
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE MONTH
Mar 3, 2012

89ers' Fitzgerald, Shimura share monthly honor for brilliance on offense

Success on offense begins with good shooting, good passing and good teamwork.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Mar 3, 2012

Ice phenomenon warms up hearts in the Lake Suwa region

To the delight of local residents this winter, an elevated line of cracked ice appeared on the frozen surface of Lake Suwa in Nagano Prefecture for the first time in four years.
EDITORIALS
Mar 3, 2012

Lighten the Emperor's workload

Two weeks have passed since the Emperor underwent coronary-artery bypass surgery at the University of Tokyo Hospital on Feb. 18. We sincerely pray that his recovery will go smoothly and that he will be able to return to his normal daily life free from health concerns. Now 78, the Emperor had been saddled...
COMMENTARY
Mar 3, 2012

How to push reform forward

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has stated he would stake his political life on realizing integrated reform of the tax and social security systems. Japan's financial structure is worse than those of other advanced countries and even that of Greece, which was responsible for the euro crisis. Therefore it...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Mar 2, 2012

Aomori's entry delayed a year by lack of sponsorship

By delaying its entry into the bj-league by a year, the Aomori expansion franchise will have more time to get its financial house in order. At least that's the basic assumption one has after last Friday's announcement made official what had been expected for several months.
Reader Mail
Mar 1, 2012

Simpler life a welcome change

I enjoyed reading the sentiments expressed in Amy Chavez's Feb. 25 column, "Austerity — we've embraced it in the countryside." As an young American adult who went through adolescence in the transitional times of the 1990s and early 2000s, I feel that some of these ideas of simplicity ring true in my...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 29, 2012

In Iraq, done in by the Clinton-Lewinsky affair

The recent public-television documentary on the Clinton presidency has focused attention anew on the scandal involving Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky. Overlooked is the important role this affair played in the confrontation with Iraq in 1998.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Feb 27, 2012

American safety tab in terms of drone deaths

Sometimes people make a startlingly mindless argument. One recent example is "Drones for Human Rights" (New York Times, Jan. 31).
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 27, 2012

The first rule of writing ate-ji: There are no rules

As a general rule, kanji (Sino-Japanese ideographs) are classified in dictionaries according to two readings: kun-yomi (native Japanese) and on-yomi (approximation of the original Chinese pronunciation). For example, 東, the tō in 東京 (Tokyo), meaning "east," is an on-yomi that came from the Chinese...
Reader Mail
Feb 26, 2012

Historical realities of getting old

In Craig Bowron's Washington Post article "At the end of a loved one's life, why is it so hard to let go?" (reprinted in The Japan Times on Feb. 22), certain impressions about life expectancy need to be further interpreted with examples from advanced societies other than the United States.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Feb 26, 2012

Nakase says goal is to coach in NBA

Isn't it funny how likes and dislikes can shape one's future when you least expect it?
MORE SPORTS
Feb 25, 2012

Toyo stars to enter NYC Half Marathon

Kento Otsu and Yuta Shitara, star members of Toyo University's record-setting team at the 2012 Hakone Ekiden, have been invited to run the NYC Half Marathon on March 18, it was announced recently by New York Road Runners president and CEO Mary Wittenberg.
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Feb 24, 2012

Knight still wonders why no team would give him shot

As the playoff chase picks up steam in the coming weeks, several bj-league general managers could be shaking their heads and asking themselves, "Why didn't I sign Billy Knight?"
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 24, 2012

'Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close'

"Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" was released last Christmas in the United States, slightly after the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. One would like to suppose that the filmmakers realized the crassness of opening a 9/11-themed film any closer to the actual anniversary, but I'd bet...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 24, 2012

Fiennes gets savage in Shakespeare's 'Coriolanus'

An angry mob of protesters waving banners and wielding bats advances on a government building protected by black-clad riot police. Hooded hotheads break open the gates and all hell breaks loose.

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’