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Japan Times
LIFE
Mar 25, 2012

Tracing the trees in a long national love affair

When five shell-pink buds open together on a particular tree in the precincts of Yasukuni Shrine in central Tokyo, the city explodes with the joy of spring. The cherry-blossom season has officially begun!
CULTURE / Art
Mar 23, 2012

Unlocking the secrets of the Inca civilization

The pre-Columbian civilizations of the Americas are very much in the public's mind this year due to the so-called Mayan Prophecy that suggests the world will end on Dec. 21. Perhaps any fear-mongering will have the positive effect of sparking increased interest in the region. Luckily, media company TBS...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 23, 2012

Unlocking the secrets of the Inca civilization

The pre-Columbian civilizations of the Americas are very much in the public's mind this year due to the so-called Mayan Prophecy that suggests the world will end on Dec. 21. Perhaps any fear-mongering will have the positive effect of sparking increased interest in the region. Luckily, media company TBS...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 20, 2012

Mistaken presumptions about Assad's Syria

Syria's uprising against President Bashar Assad, which began peacefully in Damascus a year ago, has become increasingly brutal and splintered. As the death toll nears 9,000, calls for international intervention have increased — but what worked in places like Libya won't necessarily succeed in Syria....
BASKETBALL
Mar 19, 2012

Phoenix flex muscles to hold off late Jets charge

The Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix don't have the fiery, demanding Kazuo Nakamura barking instructions from the bench anymore, but the two-time defending champions still feature a gifted ensemble of basketball players capable of winning another championship in May.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Mar 18, 2012

Goro plays up comic side; the journey of the cherry blossom tree; CM of the week: Kirin Hyoketsu

Goro Inagaki adds his peculiar comic touch to the role of a prosecutor's investigator, thus muscling in on fellow SMAP member Takuya Kimura's territory. Kimura's most famous character is the irreverent (at least in terms of sartorial choices) prosecutor in the "Hero" series. In the special two-hour drama...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Mar 18, 2012

Yu Darvish under the magnifying glass

Barring a major natural catastrophe, war or government upheaval, the vernacular news headlines for the next several months are almost certain to be dominated by baseball. Specifically, former Nippon Ham Fighters hurler, Yu Darvish, who on April 8 is scheduled take the mound in his first start for the...
Japan Times
LIFE
Mar 11, 2012

Catastrophe revisited 12 months on

The Ground Self-Defense Force troops have gone. So too the old blackboard with sheets of paper taped to it. I still remember a few of the names written in long lists there — the names of those whose muddied bodies could be identified after they were brought on military trucks to the makeshift morgue...
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2012

Chiba student defeats 35 to clinch Japan Times Spelling Bee crown

Haruka Masuda of Makuhari International School in Chiba Prefecture was crowned the winner Saturday of The Japan Times Spelling Bee after correctly spelling the word "ignominious," landing her a spot in the annual National Spelling Bee in Washington.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Mar 11, 2012

Disaster had major impact on NPB

Here we are, exactly one year after the Great East Japan Earthquake struck at 2:46 p.m. on March 11, 2011. Japanese baseball has been greatly affected by the quake, the tsunami triggered by it and the subsequent radiation threats from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 7, 2012

An Israeli strike on Iran would backfire

On June 7, 1981, eight Israeli F-16 fighter jets, protected by six F-15 escorts, dropped 16 907-kg bombs on the nearly completed Osirak nuclear reactor at the Tuwaitha complex in Iraq. Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Defense Minister Ariel Sharon saw the reactor as central to Iraqi President...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Mar 6, 2012

Caveat emptor: Not all 'word of mouth' blogs unpaid

Is word-of-mouth information on the Internet trustworthy — or to be taken with a grain of salt?
Japan Times
JAPAN / SPELLING BEE
Mar 5, 2012

The Japan Times Bee recasts its spell

The Japan Times is holding the third spelling bee in Japan on Saturday, when winners from 36 schools throughout the country will compete to win the chance to join the annual finals in the United States.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Mar 4, 2012

In the realms of true love and devotion, few could fault Akiko Koyama

On Feb. 21, 1996, Akiko Koyama, the actress wife of renowned film director Nagisa Oshima, received a phone call at her home in Kugenuma Kaigan, Kanagawa Prefecture. It was from an official at the Japanese Embassy in London.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 3, 2012

Is Japan's enrollment season really a problem?

The University of Tokyo -or Todai as it is locally called — is considering changing its enrollment from spring to autumn to be more in sync with universities around the world, 70 percent of which are said to have enrollments in the fall.
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Mar 3, 2012

Time for league to adopt 6-foul rule

There are several sensible reasons for the bj-league to adopt the NBA's six-personal foul disqualification rule. And by doing so, Japan's upstart pro circuit would be increasing the number of personal fouls it permits by one.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Feb 26, 2012

Fantasy series 'O-Parts'; documentary on Japan's new budget airlines; CM of the week: Bath Roman

A new four-part fantasy series, "O-Parts" (Fuji TV, Mon.-Thurs., 11 p.m.), based on the popular manga, will air this week. Ryuhei Maruyama plays Kakizawa, an unemployed youth who is abducted by a mysterious man in black.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / BACKSTREET STORIES
Feb 26, 2012

Venturing into the zone on Showajima

In his "Meditation XVII," the English Metaphysical poet John Donne wrote in 1623 that "no man is an island, entire of itself." Well, yes — but some islands are entirely more manly than others.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 23, 2012

Is the World Wide Web about to be 'closed'?

Within the tech community, there is much angst about whether the Web is about to be "closed." Will it be controlled by companies like Apple, Facebook, and Google, or will it remain "open" to all?

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