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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
May 10, 2011

Japan Tourism Agency Commissioner Hiroshi Mizohata

Hiroshi Mizohata, 50, is the Commissioner of the Japan Tourism Agency. A native of Kyoto and a graduate of the University of Tokyo, Mizohata entered the ranks of the prestigious kanryō, the career bureaucrats who control Japan's top-tier government offices. He worked in various ministries in Tokyo and...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 8, 2011

Hisashi Inoue's great legacy is just the ticket to inspire our best efforts

A beautiful cherry-blossom tree stands right beside the sento (public bath) I religiously go to, and its top branch hangs over an opening in the roof. In early April, petals were falling from the branch down into the water, which comes out of the ground the color of strong coffee.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 8, 2011

New drama addresses the politics of surrogate pregnancy in Japan

Keiko Matsuzaka started out as a glamorous ingenue who sang and acted. Her career didn't differ greatly from those of other late Showa Era (1926-89) idols, except that she gave in to the unflattering changes her body underwent after entering middle age. Most other actresses who are still working in their...
COMMENTARY / World
May 4, 2011

Programming people to be better employees

In theory, it is hard to think of any nobler computer service than the typical "Help Wanted" board. It helps people find work that fulfills their potential, and it helps employers find people who can use their infrastructure (whether machines, office equipment or a methodology for service delivery) to...
JAPAN
May 3, 2011

Protesters urge rethink of child radiation limit

Four antinuclear groups demanded Monday that the government withdraw its decision to set the annual radiation limit at 20 millisieverts for schoolchildren in Fukushima Prefecture, saying the standard poses a health risk.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 3, 2011

It's innovate or die in today's mad mag world

In few countries are the most vital political, economic and cultural activities as geographically concentrated as in Japan. All the main institutions can be found in Tokyo — one can only shudder to think what will happen not only to this city, but to the whole country if and when a massive earthquake...
EDITORIALS
Apr 30, 2011

Learning from train tragedy

Six years have passed since the April 25, 2005, train crash on West Japan Railway (JR West) Co.'s Fukuchiyama Line in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, in which 106 passengers and the driver were killed, and 562 others were injured. In the ensuing years, people have been asking why the accident occurred and...
Reader Mail
Apr 28, 2011

Hold the sacrificial offerings

I felt dismay and sadness — but not shock! — when I read of the risk of death faced by the brave Tokyo Electric Power Co. workers at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant ("Nuke workers at risk of overwork death," April 20 article). Why not shock? Because this country has a long-held belief in sacrificing...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Apr 28, 2011

Maharaja Company president Emiko Kothari

Emiko Kothari is president of the Maharaja Company Ltd, a chain of Indian restaurants across Japan. In 1968, Emiko and her husband, Shivji, opened their first Indian restaurant in Tokyo, and the couple's winning recipe of mixing authentic Indian cuisine and Japanese hospitality contributed to an Indian...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 26, 2011

English mags approach milestone, crossroads

Those members of the expat community in Japan who are addicted to their weekly or monthly fix of English-language magazines will have surely noticed all the changes going on lately. These are troubled and exciting times and, just as it has in the past, the local media world is trying to rise to the challenge...
COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
Apr 26, 2011

Create 'GI Bill' to empower quake, tsunami victims

Dear Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Yoshiaki Takaki,
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Apr 24, 2011

Office ladies, our fresh-faced saviors

Slowly the nation wakes from its nightmare. Tokyo Disneyland reopens. A semblance of normality returns, at least to areas outside the stricken zone.
COMMENTARY
Apr 24, 2011

Will postquake recovery lead to a new Japan?

The March 11 Great Eastern Japan Earthquake and tsunami left some 27,000 people dead or missing and caused an estimated ¥25 trillion in economic devastation along the northeastern Pacific coastal areas. And the accidents at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant caused radiation leaks and a power...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Apr 22, 2011

Tradition goes on display at Yokohama fair

From ink prints to flower arrangements, Japanese handicrafts are renowned all around the world for an unmistakable blend of ancient customs with a dash of foreign-influenced flavor. This month, a festival in Yokohama will showcase a host of local artisans and their creations in a bid to support these...
COMMENTARY
Apr 22, 2011

Latest word from Mahathir

Before the prime ministry of Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, not that many people had ever heard of Malaysia, outside of adjacent Singapore, which shared a common border as well as an intense mutual antipathy that entertained the rest of Southeast Asia for decades.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 19, 2011

More than cocoa at stake in helping out Ivory Coast

Looking at the scenes of bloodshed and looting, and the terrified flight of thousands of people, as Alessane Outtara took over as president, it is hard to imagine that only 25 years ago the Ivory Coast was the sparkling jewel of sub-Saharan Africa.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Apr 17, 2011

Viewing wildlife through a lens

I grew up in Britain, which is a crane-free zone, so from the very first time I arrived in Japan I was dreaming of seeing the iconic red-crowned cranes of Hokkaido. How much more iconic as a crane can you get than being dubbed Grus japonensis? But just how was I to learn about their haunts and habits?...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 17, 2011

Isles of imperial exile where nature is king

Geology buffs take note. "By understanding the Oki Islands, you can understand how the Japanese archipelago was formed."
Reader Mail
Apr 14, 2011

Japanese can express anything

In their April 9 article, "With the world looking in, Japan needs to speak out," Kumi Sato and Michael J. Alfant write that the "inherent vagueness of Japanese creates many challenges in translation." While structural differences between Japanese and English certainly do make translation challenging,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Apr 14, 2011

Fashion designer Saleem d'Aronville

JUDIT KAWAGUCHI Saleem d'Aronville is a British fashion designer based in Tokyo. In 2003, he launched Orihica, a brand he developed for Aoki Holdings Inc., one of Japan's top fashion retailers. As its creative director, Saleem built Orihica into a major label with 65 stores around the country. The brand's...
BASEBALL / HIT AND RUN
Apr 12, 2011

Japanese baseball finally ready to get season under way

"Gambaro Tohoku.''
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Apr 10, 2011

'Kan the Destroyer' needs his fire back

In spring 1997, the American news magazine Time published a special issue titled "The New Japan." The subtitle was "A rising generation of risk-takers and rule-breakers is stirring the country from its slumber."
EDITORIALS
Apr 10, 2011

To 'hanami' or not hanami

As the annual hanami season arrives in the Japanese archipelago, cherry-blossom lovers are wondering whether they should go out and enjoy them. After the devastation of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in the Tohoku-Pacific region, many have suggested that this year's hanami parties should be prohibited....
Japan Times
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Apr 8, 2011

The U.S. role in advancing amateur sumo

In the second of two interviews with globally respected officials involved in the international sumo game, Sumo Scribblings recently threw a few questions over the Pacific to Andrew Freund, the face of the United States Sumo Federation. In many ways far bigger in the sport than his slim physique would...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 8, 2011

'Mama Bush' puts black women in a powerful light

Based in New York, Mickalene Thomas is known for mixed-media paintings, photographic collages and videos that explore representations of beauty in art history and pop culture through images of African-American women.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan