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COMMENTARY / World
Aug 16, 2012

Spillover could force Washington to consider how to end Syria's war

"The beginning of wisdom," a Chinese saying goes, "is to call things by their right names." And the right name for what is happening in Syria — and has been for more than a year — is an all-out civil war.
JAPAN
Aug 8, 2012

Depth of Fukushima No. 1 evacuation plan unclear in videos

Scrutiny of the 150 hours of teleconferencing footage recorded by Tokyo Electric Power Co. in the initial days of the March 2011 meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 plant shows that crucial decisions were being made hastily.
JAPAN
Aug 7, 2012

Sharp mulls review of Hon Hai capital alliance deal

Sharp Corp. is considering reviewing the terms of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co.'s investment in the company in light of the share price plunge triggered last week by its expanded loss projection, sources close to the matter said Monday.
JAPAN
Aug 6, 2012

New hearing held to gauge nuke sentiment

The government continued to solicit public opinion on nuclear energy policy over the weekend by holding a discussion-oriented polling session in Tokyo involving about 300 citizens from across the country.
EDITORIALS
Aug 6, 2012

Half-baked notions of revitalization

The Noda Cabinet on July 31 adopted the Japan Revitalization Policy, which incorporates the strategy for economic growth through fiscal 2020. It aims to achieve average economic growth of 3 percent nominally and 2 percent in real terms by focusing on eco-friendly industries, medical services, and agriculture...
CULTURE / Books
Aug 5, 2012

Okinawa: between a rock and a hard place

Resistant Islands: Okinawa Confronts Japan and the U.S., by Gavan McCormack and Satoko Oka Norimatsu. Rowman and Littlefield, 2012, 312 pp., $29.95 (hardcover) T his year marks the 40th anniversary of the U.S. reversion of Okinawa to Japanese sovereignty, but the long-standing disputes about the U.S....
EDITORIALS
Aug 5, 2012

Let them dance!

The police have been cracking down on dance clubs over the past year, arresting operators and shutting clubs by suddenly enforcing a law about dancing and other amusement that goes back to 1948, and related regulations.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 4, 2012

Cataclysmic circumstances lead to neko strike

Fed up with long working hours, minimal job security and paltry remuneration in Japan's depressed economy, maneki neko cats all over Japan are going on strike.
COMMENTARY
Aug 2, 2012

The Olympic extravaganza

London has Olympics mania. The newspapers are devoting more than half their pages to the games while the airwaves are dominated at all hours by coverage of Olympic events. Even cynical oldies can't avoid catching some of the fever.
JAPAN
Aug 2, 2012

Fukushima residents rip nuke power

Residents of Fukushima Prefecture, speaking Wednesday at a government-sponsored public hearing on national energy policy, called for an end to dependence on nuclear energy by 2030.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 2, 2012

Christian Boltanski's mesmeric "No Man's Land" draws visitors to the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale 2012's new Satoyama Museum of Contemporary Art

Christian Boltanski's "No Man's Land" is both daunting and mesmerizing. It's difficult to take your eyes off the 20-ton mound of clothing, which at 9 meters tall dwarfs an accompanying crane that tosses on more T-shirts, trousers and dresses with a giant claw.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 2, 2012

Architect Andrew Burns and artist Brook Andrew introduce Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale's new Australia House

"Surely, post 3/11, post Global Financial Crisis, we need to make buildings and spaces that are simple and allow us to remember essential things," says Andrew Burns, the architect behind the new Australia House in Urada, Tokamachi City.
COMMUNITY / Issues / HAVE YOUR SAY
Jul 31, 2012

Debate rages over value of JET program, assistant language teachers

Some readers' responses to letters published in this column on July 10 ("Readers lament the ever-shrinking eikaiwa salary") regarding Patrick Budmar's July 3 Zeit Gist article, "The curious case of the eroding eikaiwa salary":
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Jul 29, 2012

Energized crowd creates lively environment during swimming events

The Aquatics Centre was not sold out to capacity on Saturday morning. There were dozens of empty seats, but those in attendance let their presence be known.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Jul 29, 2012

A heavenly retreat amid the bustle of Kyoto

On my first visit to the ancient pond garden of Kajuji, it took me a devil of a time just to locate it. Alighting at Ono, a subway stop on Kyoto's Tozai line, there was nothing to suggest the area might be of interest to visitors, that it could have any serious historical or cultural credentials.
COMMENTARY
Jul 28, 2012

China deepening aid and trade ties with Africa

Having overtaken the United States as Africa's biggest trading partner two years ago, China is continuing to cement its relationship with the continent, with President Hu Jintao pledging $20 billion in loans over the next three years at a meeting in Beijing attended by leaders from 50 African countries....

Longform

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