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Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Mar 31, 2013

The 'eternal modern' gardens of Matsuo-taisha

When new buildings were constructed in 1971 at Matsuo-taisha in Kyoto, one of Japan's oldest shrines, the largely self-taught landscape master Mirei Shigemori was commissioned to create a series of gardens on the site.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Mar 31, 2013

Last post: Japan's outdated model is dead; long live the emerging vision

As of today, Roger Pulvers takes leave of Counterpoint, for which he has written weekly since its inception on April 3, 2005. In his final three columns, he set out to consider in turn Japan in the past, present and future. This is the concluding part of that trilogy.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Mar 30, 2013

Brazilian chief wields high-tech tools in battle to save tribe, forests

As a small boy in the early 1980s, Almir Surui hunted monkeys with a bow and arrow, wore a loincloth and struggled with Brazil's official language, Portuguese.
Japan Times
JAPAN / FORUM ON AFRICA-JAPAN RELATIONS
Mar 30, 2013

The evolution of Japan-Africa relations through TICAD

The fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD V) will be held in Yokohama from June 1 to 3 to discuss various issues regarding the continent with political and business leaders from around the world.
JAPAN
Mar 28, 2013

Elderly 3/11 nuke evacuee deaths spiked

The mortality rate of elderly nursing-care facility residents in Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture, jumped nearly 2.7 times after they evacuated the city in the days after the March 11, 2011, nuclear disaster, a study finds.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 27, 2013

Seibu rebuffs takeover bid by U.S. fund Cerberus

Seibu Holdings Inc. said Tuesday it opposes a takeover bid by its top shareholder, U.S. private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP, because the move could undermine the railway and hotel operator's corporate value.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 26, 2013

Lessons from the cyber-attacks on South Korea

Japan seems ill-prepared for massive, simultaneous and physical disruption to critical infrastructures like last week's cyber-attacks on South Korea.
JAPAN
Mar 26, 2013

Japan, EU agree to open FTA talks in April

Prime Minister Abe and two European Union leaders agree in a teleconference to start official negotiations on a free-trade pact in April.
EDITORIALS
Mar 26, 2013

Push comes to shove on base issue

Given strong Okinawan opposition to a plan to move Futenma air station to Nago City, Tokyo should start talks with Washington to find a suitable relocation site outside Okinawa Prefecture.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Mar 24, 2013

World faces rhino horn dilemma

Wildlife parts are valuable. A general rule of thumb is that the bigger the beast, the bigger the price. You don't get much bigger than a white rhino (3,000 kg). It is the largest grazing (i.e., purely grass-eating) animal that has ever lived. Its horn is worth, gram for gram, more than gold.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Mar 24, 2013

Being a zombie is a no-brainer for this Japanese actress

Unlike many of her prim-and-proper friends at Shirayuri College — a Catholic school in Kanda, Tokyo — 20-year-old Akane Kanbayashi doesn't recoil at the sight of splattered blood and dismembered human bodies.
EDITORIALS
Mar 21, 2013

China completes its transition

With the transition to the so-called fifth generation of leaders complete, China faces formidable environmental, economic and diplomatic problems.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 21, 2013

The West is in decline, but its values still prevail

The first ever non-European pope takes over at the Vatican, while Italy's economic ills and ungovernability foretell, it's argued, the wider decline of the West. First World Catholics enmeshed in scandal in Europe and the United States have turned to a devout Argentinian to clean up their mess.
JAPAN
Mar 20, 2013

No. 1 fuel pool power to be restored: Tepco

Critical cooling systems for four pools containing thousands of nuclear fuel assemblies at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant shut down due to a loss of power overnight Monday, highlighting the vulnerability of the ad hoc equipment set up after the meltdowns two years ago.
BASEBALL / WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC
Mar 20, 2013

Dominicans make WBC final

Moises Sierra makes big plays in the field and at the plate as the Dominican Republic beats the Netherlands in the semifinals.
JAPAN
Mar 19, 2013

French firm hit for aiding Chinese ship choppers' ability

Tokyo voices concern to Paris after a French defense contractor sells a copter-stabilization system to China that could help it badger Japan near the Senkaku Islands.
EDITORIALS
Mar 18, 2013

No place for nuclear weapons

An international conference sponsored by Norway underscores the impossibility of rescue and relief activities after a nuclear weapon is detonated.
EDITORIALS
Mar 17, 2013

Rough seas ahead for Japan

The prime minister should not entertain the delusion that membership in the Trans-Pacific Partnership will automatically strengthen Japan's economy.
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 16, 2013

The Facebook executive on a self-help mission

Sheryl Sandberg does not do things by half-measures. So when the chief operating officer of Facebook and the most high-profile businesswoman in the world publishes a book she does not sit back, give a few interviews and let the glowing reviews flow in. No, Sandberg tries to start a fully fledged social...
JAPAN
Mar 14, 2013

Universities to boost classes in English

To accelerate the internationalization of their institutions, Kyoto University and Kyushu University look to drastically boost the number of classes taught in English and educators who are foreign nationals.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 14, 2013

The diverse works of Asian women artists

I don't normally visit exhibitions in company, but this time I made an exception and press-ganged a female acquaintance to join me. The reason for this was that the show I visited, "Women In-Between: Asian Women Artists 1984-2012" at the Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Art, is an exhibition of female...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 12, 2013

Carpentry seminars help bring men out of isolation

One snowy Sunday morning in late February, elderly men were awkwardly driving nails into half-finished furniture under the instruction of skilled carpenters at a factory in Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture.
EDITORIALS
Mar 12, 2013

Approach trade talks cautiously

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe should carefully consider whether Japan's interests will be served in the negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement.
Japan Times
JAPAN / TOHOKU TRAPPED IN TIME
Mar 11, 2013

Residents failed by fitful rebuilding

Two years after thousands of Fukushima residents fled to escape the radiation from the No. 1 power plant meltdowns, many are gradually returning as more areas are deemed safe.
EDITORIALS
Mar 11, 2013

Problematic proposals on bullying

A government panel's recommendation that 'morals' become a regular school subject is problematic because of the ideological threat to students.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?