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BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Nov 16, 2009

Are point cards worth it?

Point cards have become ubiquitous in Japan but at the end of the day, how much value is the consumer getting by using them?
EDITORIALS
Nov 16, 2009

Transparent universities

All Japanese universities may soon be required to provide students with key statistics about their employment and dropout rates and other quantifiable facts, if a new proposal is accepted by the Central Council for Education. The list of items to publicly divulge is divided into five areas the education...
CULTURE / Books
Nov 15, 2009

No defense for policy born of prejudice

THE TRAGEDY OF DEMOCRACY: Japanese Confinement in North America, by Greg Robinson. Columbia University Press, 2009, 408 pp., $29.95 (hardcover) This is a superb history about one of the more shameful chapters in U.S. history. Given all the books and articles about the internment of over 120,000 Japanese...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Nov 15, 2009

Notable memories and ones forgotten

On my most recent journey overseas, to southern Brazil, a fellow traveler gave me a large Moleskine-brand notebook. Though grateful for the present, at first I was uncertain what to do with it. I generally use a particular-size pocket notebook to write up all my field observations, and this new acquisition...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 11, 2009

A good time to remember the ANZUS alliance's fate

HONOLULU — The headlines associated with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates' recent visit to Japan notwithstanding, relations between Washington and Tokyo are not as strained as they may appear . . . at least not yet. But there is no question that improper handling of a number of sensitive issues...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 11, 2009

Life in Japan can be a long and fraught train ride

Here's an illuminating little tale: In the early years of the Meiji Era (1868-1912), a Japanese official was sent to France to study the police system (which, incidentally, was replicated here). Traveling across the Paris suburbs in a crowded train one summer afternoon, the official was assailed by acute...
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Nov 10, 2009

Will two of sumo's top dogs retire at Kyushu 2009?

Kyushu 2009 will, if for nothing else, be remembered as the tournament in which the old warhorse ozeki Kaio breaks former sekiwake Takamiyama's long-standing record of 97 basho in the sport's top flight. For Kaio — Kyushu will be number 98.
JAPAN
Nov 6, 2009

Hatoyama plays down prospects for drafting foreigner suffrage bill

Enacting laws to allow permanent foreign residents to vote in local-level elections may be difficult in the near future and more debate is needed to form a nonpartisan consensus in the Diet, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said Thursday.
BUSINESS / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
Nov 2, 2009

Japan, EU jockey for position in effort to ink India trade pact

Japanese policymakers do look to India. Last month, both countries' trade delegations met for the 12th time to explore the possibility of a free-trade deal. They have good reasons to do so.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Oct 22, 2009

Comparative payoffs

Considering housing as an investment in Japan? You might want to compare the PER (price earnings ratio) in different areas.

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