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EDITORIALS
Oct 5, 2013

Japanese language diplomacy

An expert panel has proposed increasing the number of Japanese teachers sent abroad to teach the Japanese language as a way of improving relations with Southeast Asian nations.
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Oct 5, 2013

Has business blackballed the yakuza? Don't bank on it

The Financial Services Agency (FSA) publicly spanked Mizuho Bank last month by slapping it with a "business improvement order" for letting Japan's organized crime groups use its facilities. At least $2 million in illegal transactions were cited.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 2, 2013

Koizumi takes up post for Tohoku reconstruction

Shinjiro Koizumi's appointment Monday as parliamentary secretary in charge of Tohoku's recovery has generated much attention amid mounting criticism of the government for failing to speed up reconstruction efforts or end the radioactive water spill into the sea at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 30, 2013

Abe betting this tax hike will be different

It's different this time. The four most dangerous words in markets, according to former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 30, 2013

Youths should learn from Malala's courage

What will it take to get more young people in Japan to break out of their shell and go out into the world to experience interacting with people of different cultural backgrounds
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Sep 30, 2013

A recipe for sanity: water, salt and nothing else

This summer, I spent an hour floating in a 1.21 × 2.4-meter isolation tank filled with tepid salt water in a basement in Manassas, Virginia.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 29, 2013

Abe's overture to Wall Street lost in translation

Something was definitely lost in translation when Shinzo Abe spoke in New York on Thursday. First, Japan's self-described reformist prime minister raised the specter of Gordon Gekko, the greed-is-good villain of Oliver Stone's 1987 film "Wall Street." Speaking at the New York Stock Exchange no less,...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Sep 28, 2013

Japan and Korea: Reconciliation and redress for wrongs remain elusive

On the eve of the International Olympic Committee's decision to award the 2020 Summer Games to Tokyo, Seoul's abrupt import ban on all fisheries products from Fukushima and seven other Japanese prefectures was clearly a response to public concerns about radiation spewing into the ocean.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Sep 27, 2013

Players react after NBL takes unilateral action

On Sept. 16, after a pair of National Basketball League preseason games wrapped up, four players came into the press room at Yoyogi National Gymnasium No. 2 in suits to announce something the nation's sport had never seen before.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Sep 27, 2013

FYI: Agricultural World Heritage status

After our 3,776-meter-tall friend Fuji-san won the coveted UNESCO World Heritage status this year, many people are wondering what site will win the status next? Only one Japanese site per year can be nominated for the award, and recent reports have said the government is considering a steel works, a...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 25, 2013

Students offer practical ideas to boost tourism

Creating a credit-card friendly market, providing round-the-clock public transportation and supporting travelers in multiple languages would go a long way toward increasing overseas visitors to Japan, international students advised the tourism ministry Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Sep 23, 2013

Monetary easing lifts land prices

It appears that the monetary easing pushed by the Abe administration through Bank of Japan's purchasing operations is gradually raising land prices in some urban areas.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 18, 2013

Tokyo Photo 2013 heads for Zojoji Temple

Japan's first international photography fair, Tokyo Photo, strengthens its hold on the photography scene in Asia with its fifth yearly installment from Sept. 27 to 30 at a new location at the Zojoji Temple in the downtown area of the city.
Reader Mail
Sep 18, 2013

When is a tattoo permissible?

Regarding the Sept. 15 article "Tattooed Maori barred by bath in Hokkaido": I have mixed feelings. I suppose that the difference of perception and mind-set regarding tattoos between Japanese and others is so great that such incidents will occur more frequently as the Olympics approaches.
Reader Mail
Sep 18, 2013

Much ado over a single cartoon

Regarding the Sept. 13 article "Japan to protest Fukushima-Olympics cartoons in French weekly": One — count it, one! — cartoon in a French satirical periodical makes the Japanese government cry "shame." This from the same government that denies Japan's World War II atrocities such as the enslavement...
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 17, 2013

Japanese might just miss deflation when it's gone

As BOJ Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda tries to spur Japan's inflation rate, he faces a graying public that has learned not only to live with deflation but also to enjoy it.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / INNOVATIVE CITY FORUM
Sep 17, 2013

Can Tokyo move up to the top spot of the Global Power City Index?

The 21st century may be considered the era of cities, as opposed to the 20th century being the era of countries.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Sep 16, 2013

Osaka: What on Earth should be done about the deteriorating situation at Fukushima No. 1?

As Tepco plays 'whack-a-mole' with myriad problems at the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, readers offer their advice to the utility and Abe's government.
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Sep 16, 2013

Oversized trash

Dear Alice,
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 16, 2013

Improved economic signs support consumption tax hike: Hayashi

Given the improving economic climate, the 3-point consumption tax hike should go ahead as scheduled next April, agriculture minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said at a business conference Monday.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Sep 15, 2013

NBL gets ready to begin inaugural season

With the National Basketball League getting under way in a couple of weeks' time, league officials, coaches and players expressed their excitement at a news conference in Tokyo on Sunday evening.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji