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COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Dec 13, 2011

Real cause of nuclear crisis

Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco), the operator of the stricken Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Station, has been insisting that the culprit that caused the nuclear crisis was the huge tsunami that hit the plant after the March 11 earthquake. But evidence is mounting that the meltdown at the nuclear power...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Dec 13, 2011

Eyewear designer Alain Mikli

Alain Mikli, 56, is not just the most famous eyewear designer in the world — he invented the job description. Mikli was the first person to achieve worldwide success as a designer of nothing else but eyeglasses. He established his own brand in Paris in 1978 and pioneered the idea of wearing frames...
Reader Mail
Dec 11, 2011

End tax breaks for homemakers

Kudos to The Japan Times for covering a big problem with Japan's tax system today — preferential treatment based on lifestyle (Dec. 6 article "Tax, pension breaks called favoritism for homemakers").
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 11, 2011

Free agency likely to make negative impact on Hawks

They call the baseball off-season the "Hot Stove League" but, this winter, it might be called the "Overheated Stove" or the "Microwave League." As predicted in this column a few weeks ago, the flurry of activity in December would be fast and furious, especially because of the delayed end to the Japan...
EDITORIALS
Dec 11, 2011

Is a girl or boyfriend worth it?

This year's Christmas date night might have plenty of vacant slots if a recent survey on Japanese relationships is correct. Fewer young people than ever before say they have a girlfriend or boyfriend.
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE MONTH
Dec 10, 2011

Hamamatsu's Dixon recognized for leadership as team climbs in standings

With floor leader Jermaine Dixon providing inspired, smart leadership, the Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix rediscovered their mojo in November, winning seven of their eight bj-league games.
EDITORIALS
Dec 10, 2011

SOFA move a small step forward

On Jan. 12, 2011, 24-year-old American Rufus J. Ramsey III, a civilian U.S. Department of Defense employee working for the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, lost control of his car after overtaking another vehicle, crossed into the oncoming lane on a national highway in Okinawa City and collided head-on...
BUSINESS
Dec 10, 2011

Citi posts big loss to fund lender

Citigroup Inc. said its Japan unit will incur a one-time loss of ¥139.9 billion for the six months that ended Sept. 30 as it increased funds set aside as reserves for its consumer finance unit.
Reader Mail
Dec 8, 2011

Going the way of the dinosaur?

Regarding the Dec. 5 Kyodo front-page article "50.7% want election held before tax hike": Surely as God made little green apples, self-interest will kill Japan. The markets are currently distracted with the "1+1 = 5" economics of Europe and the United States, but eventually the Japanese short-sellers...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 8, 2011

Quake-stricken orchestra plays on in style

The Tokyo Symphony Orchestra faced a setback this year after Muza Kawasaki Symphony Hall was severely damaged by the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, effectively leaving the musicians homeless.
BUSINESS
Dec 8, 2011

Deutsche Bank cuts 20 jobs in Tokyo

Deutsche Bank AG's head of corporate finance coverage in Japan, Koichiro Yasuda, resigned as the German bank cut about 20 jobs in Tokyo, two sources said.
EDITORIALS
Dec 7, 2011

A milestone for Myanmar

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has just concluded a historic trip to Myanmar. Her visit heralds a breakthrough in relations between the two countries, and a shift in political dynamics in Southeast Asia could be anticipated. While optimism is warranted, it should be tempered by caution; Myanmar...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 7, 2011

Toward a peaceful Pacific

The Western Pacific is currently facing a difficult problem: how to accommodate China's rising aspirations in a region where the United States has held primacy since the Cold War's end.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Dec 6, 2011

Buck stops with landlord of moldy apartment

Reader G.R. writes: "My apartment has a serious mold problem. The bathtub is built in such a way that there is a space between the tub and the wall and water can easily get underneath and does not drain well.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Dec 6, 2011

If you can't afford the land, why not just buy the house?

The real estate agent picked us up in a company car at Takayanagi Station in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, about an hour and 15 minutes commuting time north of central Tokyo. The car had long scratches on the side, probably incurred during attempts to park in unfamiliar spaces, and we drove to the property...
BASEBALL / HIT AND RUN
Dec 6, 2011

Uchikawa's MVP win shows voters favor team over player

If Seiichi Uchikawa's win in the race for the Pacific League MVP award says anything, it's that the ultimate individual honor is really a team award in disguise.
Reader Mail
Dec 4, 2011

Carmakers are jumping the gun

I've been an ardent fan of the Tokyo Motor Show, having been there twice. I much regret that I can't be there this year. But after reading reports such as the Dec. 1 article "Green is the big thing at this year's Tokyo Motor Show," I have doubts about its success this year.
Reader Mail
Dec 4, 2011

A MacArthur view revisited

This month marks the 70th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack by the Japanese Imperial Navy. Last year I learned from a speech by Dr. Shoichi Watanabe, professor emeritus at Sophia University, what American Gen. Douglas MacArthur, who oversaw the allied occupation of Japan after World War II, told...
CULTURE / Books
Dec 4, 2011

No safe haven for modern-day assassins

MAXIMUM TARGET, by Martin Gower. NoirEast Publishing, 2011, 360 pp., $26 (hardcover) THE DETACHMENT, by Barry Eisler. Thomas & Mercer, 2011, 324 pp., $14.95 (paperback) Some time ago, it became clear that thriller fiction set in Asia that featured Caucasian superheroes like James Bond was becoming increasingly...
CULTURE / Books
Dec 4, 2011

Global challenge of the big sell

THE DENTSU WAY, by Kotaro Sugiyama and Tim Andree. McGraw Hill, 2011, 310 pp., $28 (hardcover) Founded in 1901, Dentsu Inc.'s success in becoming Japan's top advertising agency, and the world's fifth-largest, reflects the nation's development from a sheltered, rural-based economy to an international...
JAPAN
Dec 3, 2011

'Nadeshiko' buzzword of year, 3/11 terms next

"Nadeshiko Japan," the nickname of the women's national soccer team, has been awarded a high-profile prize for being the No. 1 buzzword of the year.
EDITORIALS
Dec 2, 2011

Mr. Noda in the firing line

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on Wednesday held his first debate in the Diet with Liberal Democratic Party leader Sadakazu Tanigaki and with Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi. Although the LDP and Komeito had cooperated with the Democratic Party of Japan in passing the third supplementary budget for fiscal...

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight