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JAPAN
Apr 25, 2010

Nara kicks off anniversary celebrations

NARA — Celebrations to mark the 1,300th anniversary of the founding of Nara's ancient capital of Heijokyo kicked off Saturday morning, the official start of an event officials hope will attract 2.5 million visitors to the historical site, especially restored for the event, and up to 12 million visitors...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Apr 25, 2010

Tani pays tribute to Kimura with dramatic pinch-hit grand slam

The last time Yoshitomo Tani hit a grand slam, it helped send Takuya Kimura to his second Japan Series.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Apr 25, 2010

Results of carnal prohibition are no surprise

When the Vatican "scandal" erupted, I happened to be reading Kumagusu Minakata's writings on homosexuality — to be exact, his writings as selected, with comments, by Taruho Inagaki. I was doing so because Inagaki (1900-1977) won Japan's literary "grand prize" for his book, "The Aesthetic of the Love...
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Apr 25, 2010

Will arrogance and ignorance doom our biosphere?

This year, 2010, is the United Nations' International Year of Biodiversity — which is a very good thing. But why this critically important global concern gets just one year is seriously worth debating.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Apr 24, 2010

Commuting by bicycle benefits more than just your health

In an attempt to reduce Japan's carbon footprint, more government and corporate initiatives are encouraging commuters to cycle to work.
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.
EDITORIALS
Apr 24, 2010

Learn from H1N1 experience

The threat posed by H1N1 influenza, the spread of which caused an international health scare last year, appears to now be less serious in the northern hemisphere. It's time for the government to review its preventive and reactive policies on H1N1 influenza, in preparation for any strain of influenza...
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2010

Geos' fate sealed by failure to react quickly to rapid drop in demand

The failure of major language-school operator Geos Corp. occurred because the company didn't trim unprofitable branches fast enough at a time when the industry was facing a drastic drop in students, people in the industry said.
EDITORIALS
Apr 23, 2010

Going green with nuclear power

The Nuclear Safety Commission and the Atomic Energy Commission have issued their annual reports for 2009, in which they call for the promotion of nuclear energy as an important means of fighting global warming. Nuclear power plants do not emit carbon dioxide while operating.
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2010

Technically Kagoshima but Ryukyu in its soul

TOKUNOSHIMA, Kagoshima Pref. — Astute readers will notice this story is datelined "Kagoshima Prefecture." But given that this island lies just southwest of Amami-Oshima and roughly 100 km from the northern tip of Okinawa, it's no surprise that Tokunoshima feels more like a part of the Ryukyu Islands...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 23, 2010

Inspector Cluzo mix rock, blues, funk — no bass

Last year, French rock group The Inspector Cluzo played 185 concerts in 23 countries. Despite linguistic and cultural differences between the guitar-and-drums duo and their audiences, they had little difficulty spreading their basic message: "F-ck the bass player."
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Apr 23, 2010

Angelic vocal choir to sing Lennon, hymns

The "voices of the angles" are back.
EDITORIALS
Apr 22, 2010

The field of parties thickens

On Sunday, Nippon Soshinto (the "Japan Innovation Party") was launched by a group of politicians with experience rooted in local government. Headed by Tokyo Suginami Ward Mayor Hiroshi Yamada, the party accuses both the Democratic Party of Japan and the Liberal Democratic Party of pursuing baramaki ("rose...
EDITORIALS
Apr 22, 2010

Helping post-conflict countries

On April 16, Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada chaired a United Nations Security Council debate on peace building in post-conflict countries. The council adopted a presidential statement calling for long-term and comprehensive support for such countries.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Apr 21, 2010

Be good to your vacuum cleaner and it will suck, if you're lucky

There's not a lot of turnover in vacuum cleaners, but manufacturers are doing their best to change that with new bells and whistles.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Apr 21, 2010

Rera Kamuy close to deal with Kobe Bryant

Joe Bryant is poised for a return to Japan.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 21, 2010

High price for cheap yuan

HONG KONG — U.S. President Barack Obama decided to back off at least from an immediate direct confrontation with China over the value of the yuan. It is a sensible decision on both economic and political counts. But there is no sign yet that policymakers and noisy troublemakers in Washington, Boston,...
COMMENTARY
Apr 20, 2010

Methane has scent of potential

SINGAPORE — Starting this month and extending through May, South Korea will resume exploratory drilling in waters off its east coast to find out whether a long-hidden energy resource can be turned into a new wellspring of natural gas. Other major energy users and importers, including the United States,...
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Apr 19, 2010

Playing ends off the middle

Komeito, the third largest political party in Japan, is striving not to antagonize but to be friends with as many rival groups as possible in a determined bid to win in the Upper House election scheduled for this summer. The principal reason for pursuing this tactic, which has been described by some...
EDITORIALS
Apr 19, 2010

Addressing food self-sufficiency

The Hatoyama administration March 30 introduced a basic food, agriculture and agricultural-village program. Among other things, the program calls for raising Japan's food self-sufficiency rate from the current 41 percent to 50 percent (calculated by calories) in 10 years. This goes beyond the 45 percent...
JAPAN
Apr 18, 2010

Foreigner suffrage opponents rally

Conservative intellectuals and key executives from five political parties were among the thousands who gathered in Tokyo on Saturday to rally against granting foreign residents voting rights for local elections.
EDITORIALS
Apr 18, 2010

Victory for freedom of information

The Tokyo District Court on April 9 determined that Japan and the United States had secret pacts over the 1972 reversion of Okinawa and ordered the state to disclose related diplomatic documents. Twenty-five journalists and academics had filed a lawsuit calling for the disclosure in March 2009 when Mr....
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 18, 2010

NPB boxscores now available in English

The question is often raised by fans in Japan and in other countries, relatives and friends of foreign players in Japan, major league team scouts and player agents: Where can I get box scores of Japanese professional baseball games in English?

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past