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COMMENTARY
May 31, 2010

Internet leveling the news field

SEATTLE — The debate is no longer confined to a few academics in distant universities. It is now a mainstream topic of discussion: How will the news of the future be distributed?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 29, 2010

Kiwi won't chicken out on farming in Japan

"Red eggs," says Andrew Hitchings, using the Japanese term for brown eggs, "are better quality than white."
COMMENTARY
May 26, 2010

Science takes another step down a long road

"This is both a baby step and a giant step," said scientist and venture capitalist Craig Venter as he revealed that his team had created the first "synthetic cell." "It's a giant step because, until this was done, it was only hypothetical that it could work. It's a baby step in terms of all the distance...
COMMENTARY / World
May 25, 2010

Liberating NASA from the risks to people

NEW YORK — People first landed on the Moon while I was a teenager. Decades later, space travel was still reserved for a small corps of astronauts and cosmonauts, and wealthy space tourists — six so far. The space business was the preserve of a few governments, plus large cost-plus contractors who...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
May 25, 2010

Expat dancer Hibari Misora-inspired

Chris Chavez maintains an upbeat outlook about life in Japan but leaves the rosy-tinted view for idealists or those newly arrived. This Mexican-American's snapping brown eyes differentiate clearly the good, bad and indifferent of living as a foreign woman in Tokyo.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 25, 2010

Looking East as British system goes south

In the months preceding the Lower House election last year, an ambitious Ichiro Ozawa, destined to become Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) secretary general, headed to Britain to study the "Westminster system." His aim was to bring Japan's politics closer to that of Britain, to weaken the power of the...
COMMENTARY / World
May 24, 2010

India needs to tread cautiously for a bolder nuclear-control deal

LONDON — A monthlong charade commenced early this month at the United Nations with the start of the eighth five-year Review Conference of the 42-year-old Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT).
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 14, 2010

Vamps bite into British rock roots

"L'Arc-en-Ciel is all about the musicianship. But Vamps are obsessed with rock music, and that's basically our watchword: 'rock.' "
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / STYLE WISE
May 13, 2010

From Ginza glitz to street 'n' surf styles

MISHA JANETTE and PAUL McINNES Pearls of fashion If Holly Golightly had been in Ginza instead of New York on a given morning, she might have been beside herself with jewelry lust in front of Japanese brand Tasaki's new flagship instead of that other T-named place.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 9, 2010

To realize its cultural potential, Japan must celebrate its strengths

Europe received a cultural shock of major proportions during the last quarter of the 19th century. The exquisite shikisai kankaku (sense of color), the startling spatial and compositional elements and the sublime craftsmanship of the Japanese arts took the continent by storm. Many well-known collectors...
COMMENTARY / World
May 4, 2010

Rural Africa planting seeds for bigger payoffs

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — After decades of bad news, at least three major trends are turning Africa's way: agricultural policies, rural demography and farm productivity all promise improved opportunities for farm families across the continent.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 4, 2010

Eikaiwa on the ropes after fall of Geos

RICHARD SMART Special to The Japan Times A chain of English conversation schools is closed down. Thousands of employees are left worrying whether they will get paid or keep their jobs. Students are told refunds will not be given on advance payments for lessons. G.communication steps in to pick up the...
LIFE
May 2, 2010

Between Japan and America: time, space and remembrance

About a century ago, my grandfather departed economically depressed Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu for Hawaii, followed by my grandmother. Then came the birth of two sons, the younger my father, on the island of Maui.
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2010

Small parties looking for bigger say

With the approach of the summer Upper House election, several new parties are vying for voters disenchanted with the Democratic Party of Japan, which swept to power last year on the promise of change but became mired in money scandals and accusations of poor leadership.
COMMENTARY
Apr 20, 2010

Between the lines of U.S. nuclear policy

HONOLULU — I have attended a number of discussions in recent years about U.S. nuclear weapons strategy and policy. All invariably begin with a presentation by a U.S. official or expert who proclaims that the United States, in the past decade, has significantly reduced the role and importance of nuclear...
EDITORIALS
Apr 16, 2010

Understanding U.S. nuclear policy

While Japan has made nuclear disarmament a pillar of its diplomacy, in fact the existence of U.S. nuclear weapons has been critical to Japan's postwar peace and prosperity. The U.S. nuclear arsenal provided an extended deterrent — a nuclear umbrella — that sheltered this country and protected it...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Apr 4, 2010

Mika Tsutsumi: Spotlight on the States

Mika Tsutsumi is a spirited journalist and writer whose work turns a spotlight on the widespread hardships and poverty caused by official policies and the behavior of businesses in the United States.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 3, 2010

Patience a virtue in miso making

If miso is part of your daily routine, "you're having a decent life," says Tony Flenley, Japan's only British miso maker. Flenley, who runs a 105-year-old miso company in Osaka, believes the time taken to prepare and eat the soup shows the right priorities have triumphed over a fast food lifestyle.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / 2010 CENTRAL LEAGUE PREVIEW
Mar 25, 2010

Dragons ready to rain fire on rivals

The following is the second of a two-part preview for the upcoming Nippon Professional Baseball season. Team-by-team previews of the six Central League clubs are listed in order of predicted finish.
LIFE / WEEK 3
Mar 21, 2010

Moves afoot to make Japanese holidays a pleasure not a pain

It's a seasonal phenomenon in Japan: lines of cars 40-km long and more clogging expressways; super- jammed shinkansen terminals and airports; and hot-spring resorts besieged by visitors crammed cheek to cheek in the steaming baths, imo-arai-style (literally, "washing potatoes in a bucket").
JAPAN
Mar 16, 2010

Hatoyama's brother quits 'ousted' LDP

Former internal affairs minister Kunio Hatoyama, whose older brother, Yukio, is the prime minister, served notice Monday that he was exiting the Liberal Democratic Party, saying he was ready to form a new force.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Mar 14, 2010

Patient's tale casts a sublime lightness on some awful scars of war

"Elephant," by Minoru Betsuyaku, is a postwar classic of Japanese drama.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 12, 2010

Regional resonance

In a metropolis the size of Tokyo, it is no surprise that there are several large orchestras and a number of high-quality concert halls. But the number of orchestras performing daily can be hard to keep track of, particularly as some have very similar names: Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan...
BUSINESS
Mar 9, 2010

Automaker's ads ditch apologies, get back to business

NEW YORK — New ads for troubled automaker Toyota Motor Corp. are skipping the apologies and easing back into sales pitches — too soon, some say.
COMMENTARY
Mar 9, 2010

Hatoyama's growth strategy for economy raises questions

Responding to the criticism that the Hatoyama Cabinet lacks a growth strategy, the government on Dec. 30 unveiled the basic policy of its new strategy for economic growth titled "For a Shining Japan."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Mar 7, 2010

Yoshiharu Fukuhara: 'Mr. Shiseido' blends beauty and business

In July 1942, seven months after the attack on Pearl Harbor that started the Pacific War, Tokyo hosted one of the most ambitious exhibitions of art the world had ever seen. "Leonardo da Vinci," staged in an exhibition hall in the central district of Ueno, featured 600 exhibits by and related to the Italian...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Mar 5, 2010

Springtime special hotel offers

Spring is a time of rebirth and renewal. In Japan, spring means the coming of a new year — in schools, at companies, fiscally. During this season, hotels offer a wide variety of events for you to refresh and relax in style. Like the cherry blossoms that dominate the imagery of spring, these offers...

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