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Japan Times
OLYMPICS / ODDS AND EVENS
Aug 11, 2012

Supporters helped propel Icho, Obara to gold

Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, is not known for being Party Central. But that changed in a big way when freestyle wrestlers Kaori Icho and Hitomi Obara doubled Japan's gold medal total on Wednesday, making their hometown proud and bringing immense joy to Tohoku.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Jul 24, 2012

'Flyjin' feel vindicated, worry for those left in Japan: some readers' responses

Responses to Patrick Budmar's June 12 Zeit Gist article, " 'Flyjin' feel vindicated, worry for those left in Japan:"
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jul 7, 2012

In wake of 3/11 disasters, successful Italian helps those who helped him

After 21 years in Japan and for most of that time working 15 hours a day, Calabrian restaurateur Elio Ermanno Orsara has achieved a certain measure of success.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 21, 2012

Slow design: Everyday objects that make us rethink our lifestyle

If you've never been to the 21_21 Design Sight exhibition space in the Tokyo Midtown complex, and have even a passing interest in craftsmanship, now is the time to pay a visit. Just touring the building, which was designed by famed architect Tadao Ando and lies largely underground, would be well worth...
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Jun 5, 2012

'It's just because ... foreigners know best': readers' views

Some readers' views on John Spiri's May 1 Zeit Gist column, "It's just because . . . foreigners know best":
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 21, 2012

Incredible images capture surreal disaster zone

Twisted wreckage thrown against the pastoral countryside, surreal scenes of the elements of everyday horribly juxtaposed, a world exploded yet eerily calm in its chaos. The photos are at once deeply disturbing and uncomfortably captivating. Rich colors, uncanny detail and stunning skies brought out by...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 10, 2012

Toyota, Nissan primed for comeback

Automakers were among the companies most heavily damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami last year, but the road to recovery was fast and their plants are getting ready to make up for lost time.
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Apr 3, 2012

Keene should engage brain before fueling 'flyjin,' foreign crime myths

Congratulations to Donald Keene, who was granted Japanese citizenship last month with great media fanfare. At 89 years young and after a lifetime contributing to world scholarship on Japan, he truly deserves it.
Reader Mail
Mar 25, 2012

Broad 'contamination' brush

The March 21 Kyodo article, "No. 1 (reactor) long way from being out of the woods," states: "Outside the plant's premises, work to reduce the contamination level of land detected to have an annual exposure dose of 1 millisievert or more, excluding from natural sources, is scheduled to accelerate in eight...
CULTURE / Art
Mar 16, 2012

Take a break from reality at Roppongi Art Night

At one end of town there will be a young girl in a polka-dot dress standing some 10 meters tall. At the other, a team of large yellow mice will host a festival complete with portable shrines. Tokyo's Roppongi district is a spectacle at the best of times, but come March 24, it promises to outdo even itself....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 16, 2012

Take a break from reality at Roppongi Art Night

At one end of town there will be a young girl in a polka-dot dress standing some 10 meters tall. At the other, a team of large yellow mice will host a festival complete with portable shrines. Tokyo's Roppongi district is a spectacle at the best of times, but come March 24, it promises to outdo even itself....
BASKETBALL
Mar 12, 2012

89ers finish Kyushu trip with victory over Rizing

Playing on the one-year anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake, the Sendai 89ers gave their rabid Tohoku fans a heart-warming 73-65 victory to savor, and they salvaged a series split on Sunday in the bj-league.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Mar 11, 2012

Tanaka earns victory as Japan routs Taiwan in charity baseball game

On the eve of a day sure to bring back a lot of painful memories, the members of Samurai Japan made it their mission to offer a little bit of relief, if only temporarily.
Japan Times
JAPAN / QUEST FOR RECOVERY
Mar 10, 2012

Summer power crunch looms large

As the closure of the nation's 54th and final reactor approaches, businesses and think tanks are starting to wonder whether Japan can survive next summer without atomic energy and a mandatory power-saving order.
JAPAN
Mar 8, 2012

Lower House dissolution, snap poll baloney: Noda

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on Wednesday rejected speculation that he intends to cave to the opposition camp and dissolve the Lower House for a snap poll, in exchange for its support in passing legislation to hike the sales tax.
JAPAN
Mar 6, 2012

Government to pay debris disposal costs

The environment minister said Monday that financial support will be given to any local government that accepts and disposes of debris from Iwate and Miyagi prefectures generated by last year's devastating earthquake and tsunami.
JAPAN
Feb 24, 2012

Civil servant pay cuts clear Lower House

The Lower House passed a bill Thursday to cut civil servants' salaries 7.8 percent for two years in a move expected to save taxpayers ¥580 billion.
EDITORIALS
Feb 16, 2012

A new phase in reconstruction

The Reconstruction Agency was established Feb. 10, 11 months after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami devastated the Pacific coastal areas of the Tohoku region. Political confusion has delayed the establishment of the agency that will serve as a command center for reconstruction from the disasters and...
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2012

Scientists say contamination of ocean fish minimal so far

The massive radioactive fallout from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant has sparked fear in seafood lovers and commercial fishermen both at home and abroad, and some worry the contamination could pass through and even become more concentrated in the ocean food chain.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 27, 2011

Quake workers bolstered by training

Following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Tohoku, staff members of the Tokyo-based nonprofit organization Tokyo English Life Line felt they needed to help not only the survivors, but also the volunteers, NGO and welfare workers who supported the hard-hit people in the affected areas.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 1, 2011

Green is the big thing at this year's Tokyo Motor Show

Japanese carmakers highlighted their latest green technology concept cars during Wednesday's media preview at the Tokyo Motor Show as they bid to lead the global trend toward energy efficiency and reignite interest among young people in automobiles.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Nov 27, 2011

Nuke fears may spread faster than radiation

There are the measurable aspects of Tohoku's ongoing tragedy — so many becquerels or sieverts of radiation, so many million tons of rubble, so many trillion yen worth of damage and losses of various kinds, so many weeks, months, years or decades before cold shutdown, decontamination, reconstruction,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Nov 24, 2011

Seigo Hatasawa is no ordinary school teacher

Japan's performing arts world is massively centered on Tokyo, yet one of its leading lights is based in Aomori City in the country's deeply unchic far north — and he's a school teacher.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Oct 18, 2011

Bureaucrat housing perks draw fire

As The Government Scrambles To Find Funds To Rebuild The Disaster-hit Tohoku Region, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda Hinted Monday The Government May Cancel A ¥10.5 Billion Project To Construct A State-owned Housing Complex For Civil Servants In Asaka, Saitama Prefecture, Amid An Opposition Uproar.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Oct 6, 2011

Rice market turned upside down by radiation fears

Thanks to radiation fears, the pattern for seasonal rice sales is different this year.
JAPAN
Sep 30, 2011

Tokyo plans to store, burn debris from disaster zone

To help quake- and tsuami-damaged areas rebuild, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government said Thursday it is offering to store about 500,000 tons of debris and waste from Iwate and Miyagi prefectures for three years.
Japan Times
JAPAN / POWERING THE FUTURE
Sep 27, 2011

Geothermal trove lies mostly untapped despite energy crisis

Deep in the mountains of Aso-Kuju National Park, which straddles the border of Kumamoto and Oita prefectures, it's easy to believe you are in central Hokkaido rather than in central Kyushu. It's July, but the daytime temperature is in low 20s and evenings are, depending on your preference, either comfortably...
CULTURE / Books
Sep 25, 2011

The helping hand of travel

Travel Guide To Aid Japan. WAttention, 2011, 159 pp. ¥1,000 (paper) Tourism is the world's foremost industry, one that Japan, until very recently, has been rather slow to take advantage of. Sophisticated travel writing has never been a significant component of Japanese literature, the country failing...
EDITORIALS
Sep 17, 2011

Accelerate reconstruction

Six months after the massive earthquake and tsunami devastated the Tohoku Pacific coastal areas on March 11, people there are continuing to rebuild together their lives. In Fukushima Prefecture, people have suffered not only from the natural disasters but also from the disaster at Tokyo Electric Power...

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb