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Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Mar 13, 2012

Celebrating friendship with Japan and 100 years of U.S. hanami

Once an activity for the nobility of the Imperial court in Japan, hanami (cherry-blossom viewing) became a popular tradition among the elite ruling class during the Heian Period (794-1185), and then later, with the encouragement of Tokugawa Yoshimune (1684-1751), among commoners.
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Mar 13, 2012

Chanel's little black jacket

Since 1983, Karl Lagerfeld has steered Parisian brand Chanel as the world's reigning barometer of chic. Now he's about to bring a little bit of that haute charm to Tokyo with a series of events beginning on March 21.
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 10, 2012

J. League big guns set sights on Reysol's crown

The following is the second of a two-part preview for the upcoming J. League season. Team-by-team previews of the nine highest-ranked teams competing in the first division are listed.
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 9, 2012

Promoted sides seek to make mark against J. League powers

The following is the first of a two-part preview for the upcoming J. League season. Team-by-team previews of the nine lowest-ranked teams competing in the first division are listed.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 3, 2012

Is Japan's enrollment season really a problem?

The University of Tokyo -or Todai as it is locally called — is considering changing its enrollment from spring to autumn to be more in sync with universities around the world, 70 percent of which are said to have enrollments in the fall.
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Mar 3, 2012

Time for league to adopt 6-foul rule

There are several sensible reasons for the bj-league to adopt the NBA's six-personal foul disqualification rule. And by doing so, Japan's upstart pro circuit would be increasing the number of personal fouls it permits by one.
COMMENTARY
Mar 2, 2012

Sure winner fails to inspire

Before the scandalous presidential election of 1996, the situation was clear-cut and critical. A victory by Gennady Zyuganov over Boris Yeltsin would have meant an old-style Communists' revenge for their defeat in the August 1991 putsch as well as a strong drive toward renationalization of the economy...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Feb 26, 2012

Gloom, doom — and Lester Brown's 'Plan B'

Anyone who has read any of the 50-plus books that Lester Brown has authored or co-authored (in any of the 40-odd languages into which they've been translated) might easily imagine him to be another gloomy environmentalist.
COMMENTARY
Feb 24, 2012

An alternative to Putin's way

A "frosty Saturday" Feb. 4 confirmed the deadlocked nature of the situation that has ripened in Russia for more than a decade of Vladimir Putin's rule (as president and senior partner in the infamous "tandem").
COMMENTARY
Feb 20, 2012

How the Arab Spring was hijacked

A year after the Arab Spring came to symbolize the ascent of people's power, hope has given way to a bleak sequel.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 18, 2012

Tireless volunteer Fukuda makes a difference in the lives she touches

Julie Fukuda, 75, is a giver — not financially, but physically — who has tirelessly volunteered for various organizations in her community for nearly 50 years in Japan.
EDITORIALS
Feb 11, 2012

Bolstering Japan's public commons

More than three years have passed since a new system for public service incorporated bodies (PSIBs) went into force. Under the new system, traditional incorporated bodies and foundations are called on to finish procedures to become new incorporated bodies for public services by Nov. 30, 2013. It is hoped...
COMMENTARY
Feb 10, 2012

Russia should back up a bit to find road to the future

I am not going to speak about a time machine and America but about Russia and its urgent need to return to the past in search of a tool to secure a better future.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 9, 2012

Goth-Trad hatches postdisaster pop

Talking with Takeaki Maruyama in a Tokyo cafe, I'm caught off guard when the dubstep artist better known as Goth-Trad suggests that his fourth and latest album is pop. When I let it sink in, though, I realize that "New Epoch" could in fact be the perfect postdisaster-pop album.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Feb 5, 2012

Mickey Curtis: from rocker to 'Robo-G'

The pioneers of the rock 'n' roll era on both sides of the Atlantic have now largely faded from the show-business scene — which is hardly surprising, given that those still strutting their stuff are in their 70s and 80s, and even "The King" himself, Elvis Presley, who died in 1977, would be 77 today....
LIFE / Digital / TECH_JAPAN
Feb 1, 2012

Despite first loss in 30 years, Nintendo is still a contender

Late last month, Nintendo signaled that for the first time in more than 30 years it was posting an annual loss — of $845 million — something that until recently had seemed virtually impossible.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jan 24, 2012

Tepco pole position may scupper land buy

Mr. A writes: "We are seriously considering buying a property (house and land) in a residential neighborhood. On a corner of and inside the property, Tepco installed a light pole several years ago, apparently under an agreement with the current owner. It is believed that a nominal payment from Tepco...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 19, 2012

The Arab Spring: separating fact from fiction

When the Arab Spring began a year ago, the Western world was shocked. On the surface, it had seemed that liberty had bypassed the Arabs; they had seemed resigned to tyranny. But once unleashed, the upheaval knew no restraint, and there were mayhem and promise in the streets of the Arab world. Since then,...
COMMENTARY
Jan 17, 2012

Democracy and growth: Russia's great challenge

At this particular historic moment, the urgency of the economic assimilation of new natural and human resources worldwide is somehow obscured by the global crisis and by the necessity of reforming the global financial system.
JAPAN
Jan 14, 2012

Futenma move may hinge on Okinawa 10-year growth plan

With U.S. officials pressing Japan to make major progress on the long-stalled relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and his new defense minister will have their work cut out getting locals to accept the move.
JAPAN
Jan 14, 2012

Picks mirror more pragmatic tack, bid to exert leadership

With a minor but crucial reshuffle Friday, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda prepared to tackle his most important and difficult task — raising taxes.
EDITORIALS
Jan 13, 2012

21st-century U.S. defense strategy

Two basic principles guide the United States National Defense Strategy unveiled Jan. 5. The first is the rising significance of the Asia-Pacific region to U.S. national interests. The second is a new fiscal environment: Washington just does not have the resources to fund a defense wish list as it did...
BUSINESS
Jan 7, 2012

JAL IPO bid defies budget rival threat

Japan Airlines Corp. is preparing for an initial public offering that may make it the world's most valuable carrier even as new low-fare airlines threaten to lure away travelers in its home market.
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.

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo