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JAPAN
Jan 10, 2012

Europe atomic stress tests a charade

Stress tests being carried out on European nuclear power plants are a political charade designed to reassure the public that the reactors are fundamentally safe, a member of the European Parliament and a prominent Bulgarian atomic expert said Monday at a seminar in Osaka.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 9, 2012

Russia's inevitable democratization

Twenty years ago, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev resigned, the Soviet Union ended, and Russia began an imperfect transition to democratic capitalism — a transition that has proven to be far more difficult than expected.
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Jan 9, 2012

China's Un-relenting watch

The entire world was shocked by the news of the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, who was as vicious a dictator as Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin or Mao Zedong.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jan 8, 2012

Nine years later, A's and Mariners set for Japan openers

Happy New Year.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jan 8, 2012

'Strange' is the new 'normal' for 2012

"Whatever happens won't be strange."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jan 7, 2012

Confessions of a beer lover on the New Year

So, how's your New Year's resolution coming along? "The what?" you say? Given up already, have you? Well, I haven't given up mine. And so enthusiastic am I that I've already completed three weeks of my resolution even though we're only one week into the New Year. And I don't even consider myself an overachiever....
JAPAN
Jan 7, 2012

Nuke regulators get teeth via bills

The government wants to legally compel nuclear plant operators to take every measure possible to prevent a crisis like the one that occurred at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 power plant and follow the latest safety steps when reactor standards are changed, Environment Minister Goshi Hosono...
Japan Times
JAPAN / NUCLEAR AWAKENING
Jan 6, 2012

Domestic robots failed to ride to rescue after No. 1 plant blew

After the March 11 tsunami slammed into the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant and wrecked three reactors, many people expected the nation's cutting-edge robotic technologies to come to the rescue.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 5, 2012

Beijing maintains its iron grip on country's past

With China stumping assertively on the world stage, one might think Beijing would be open, even gracious, about the country's past. To the contrary, history remains an exceedingly sensitive subject here, drawing relentless attention from authorities anxious to keep all skeletons safely in closets.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 5, 2012

Bo Ningen bend it like the Brits on new EP, 'Henkan'

How might typical Japanese music fans look if they stopped worrying about social norms? Take a look at British-based psychedelic-rock band Bo Ningen and you may find the answer.
Reader Mail
Jan 5, 2012

New paradigm for nuclear energy

Regarding the Jan. 3 front-page article "Fukushima meltdowns set nuclear energy debate on its ear": Nuclear power isn't the problem. The problem is with the reactors we've been using to produce it. If the reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant had been liquid fluoride thorium reactors (LFTRs),...
COMMENTARY
Jan 5, 2012

Why Obama will (won't) win re-election in 2012

Could 2012 turn conventional wisdom on its head? Here's the conventional wisdom: U.S. President Barack Obama's re-election is vulnerable to the weak economy and high joblessness. Here's what might happen: The economy gradually improves, and although unemployment stays high (exceeding 8 percent), what...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 4, 2012

Going to war, U.S. missed its opportunity to combat WMD

Now that U.S. troops have left Iraq, Americans are taking stock of the staggering price of this nine-year war of choice, in blood (nearly 4,500 Americans dead, 33,000 wounded), in fractured relations worldwide and in monetary terms (nearly $1 trillion in direct spending; several times that when counting...
JAPAN
Jan 3, 2012

Solid alliances key as diplomatic challenges loom

2012 is shaping up to be full of diplomatic challenges for Japan and the world.
JAPAN / NUCLEAR AWAKENING
Jan 1, 2012

DIY cesium scanning store may be 'new normal'

Kashiwa, about 30 km northeast of Tokyo, is known for its humble beginnings as a 1970s bedroom community for Tokyo workers.
JAPAN
Jan 1, 2012

What 2011 means for Japan in 2012 and beyond

We asked three long-term foreign residents to give their thoughts about Japan's past year and the coming year.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 30, 2011

Top 5 DVDs to alleviate holiday cabin fever

The three Japan Times film critics (Mark Schilling, Giovanni Fazio and me, Kaori Shoji) are taking a much-needed and entirely fictional break in a log cabin in a remote location, with no entertainment except for five DVDs. (Personally, I would rather have camped out at a 24-hour cocktail lounge in my...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 29, 2011

2011 was a dangerous year for world's bad guys

This was a bad year for bad guys. Departing the political scene — or departing the scene altogether — were Osama bin Laden, North Korea's "Dear Leader," Kim Jong Il, and a trio of Arab leaders: Tunisia's Zine el-Abidine ben Ali, Egypt's Hosni Mubarak and Libya's Moammar Gadhafi.
COMMENTARY
Dec 28, 2011

Build Japan-India naval ties

At a time when the specter of power disequilibrium looms large in Asia, the visit of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to India offers an opportunity to the two natural allies to help promote Asian stability by adding concrete strategic content to their fast-growing relationship. Japan and India need to...
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.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 27, 2011

Grubs wreck India's dreams

My old friend Manmohan Singh has just suffered a devastating and very public defeat. Is it time for him to step down as India's prime minister and take a well-earned retirement after more than 40 years of top-level public service?
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 26, 2011

A look back at the buzzwords and street slang of 2011

On Dec. 1, publisher Jiyukokumin-sha announced that the winner of its annual 流行語大賞 (ryūkōgo taishō, buzzword grand prix) for 2011 was 撫子ジャパン (Nadeshiko Japan). This of course is the name of the winners of the Women's Soccer World Cup held last June-July, and you can hardly blame...
EDITORIALS
Dec 25, 2011

The earthquake year

The year of the earthquake and tsunami is how 2011 will be remembered in Japan. No bounen-kai (forget-the-year party) has passed without thoughts of those who lost so much in the triple earthquake-tsunami-nuclear disaster on or after March 11. The powerful 9.0-magnitude earthquake devastated the northeast...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 24, 2011

Volunteers' hugs warm tsunami-hit Ofunato

When the March 11 earthquake and tsunami hit northeastern Japan, numerous volunteer organizations rushed to help the survivors with basic necessities like food and clothing.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years