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JAPAN
Mar 9, 2010

Yosano faults Tanigaki rule, eyes LDP exit

Ex-Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano indicated Monday he may leave the Liberal Democratic Party and form a new party, saying LDP President Sadakazu Tanigaki "is not qualified" to lead since he has failed to attack the current administration's shortcomings and thus hasn't attracted voters.
JAPAN / MIXED MATCHES
Mar 9, 2010

For academic pair, viva art, history

Junko Kume and Isaac Ait Moreno moved to Tokyo last September for work, but they say it does not matter where they live as long as they can be together.
Reader Mail
Mar 7, 2010

Viewing older workers as an asset

Regarding Yosuke Kaneda's Feb. 21 letter, "Encourage foreign students to stay": Encouraging more foreigners to settle in Japan as a solution to the growing labor shortage — due to the declining and aging population — would be difficult to implement and would have various negative side effects.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Mar 7, 2010

Hark ye to the Donkey's Ears

There is a book in my library written by a Russian sailor named A. Novikoff Priboy who was captured by the Japanese during the Battle of Tsushima in 1905. His book was translated and published in English in 1933. It's a fine story, with vivid descriptions of the Russian squadron's epic journey from the...
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Mar 7, 2010

Olympic memories are priceless

It was only fitting that hockey's beloved icon lit the Olympic torch and Canada's top current star scored the gold medal-clinching goal — in overtime, the proverbial icing on the cake — on the final day of the Vancouver Winter Games.
JAPAN
Mar 6, 2010

Okada, Steinberg discuss Iran nukes

Visiting U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg said in Tokyo Friday that he and Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada are discussing how to coordinate more closely on the nuclear challenges of Iran.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 6, 2010

The art of peripheral heating

In my Japanese house in the countryside, I don't have central heating. Just peripheral heating. In an era where just a simple word like "change" can get a president elected, I suggest that the next person running for prime minister in Japan use the slogan "central heat!"
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 6, 2010

Kirin may raise stake to take over San Miguel

Kirin Holdings Co. may seek control of its Philippine beer venture after dropping a planned merger with Suntory Holdings Ltd. that would have created the world's fifth-biggest food and drinks maker.
EDITORIALS
Mar 5, 2010

Funding scandals keep coming

Another political funds scandal linked to a Democratic Party of Japan figure has come to light. On March 1, four trade union members were arrested on suspicion of violating the Political Funds Control Law with regard to donations allegedly received by the election campaign office of DPJ Lower House member...
EDITORIALS
Mar 3, 2010

A toast to Canada

The 21st Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver got off to a tragic start with the death of a Georgian luger in a high-speed crash during a training run on the morning of the opening ceremony. The games were also marred by some minor mishaps, like the malfunctioning of the Olympic cauldron during the opening...
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Mar 3, 2010

Decks cleared, DPJ focuses on poll

With Tuesday's Lower House passage of the fiscal 2010 budget securing the way for its enactment by the end of March, the ruling Democratic Party of Japan will now focus on passing as many key policies as it can to bring visible results to voters before the summer Upper House election.
EDITORIALS
Mar 3, 2010

Signs of tsunami complacency

The magnitude 8.8 earthquake that struck Chile on Saturday prompted the Japanese Meteorological Agency to issue "major tsunami" alerts. The quake killed more than 700 people in the South American country. Of the estimated 350 people who died in the seaside resort of Constitucion, it is thought many were...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Mar 2, 2010

All movies subject to rating, even cuts

Moviegoers in Japan may have noticed that either during the opening or ending credits of a feature film, a mark appears on the screen bearing two kanji enclosed in a circle.
CULTURE / Books
Feb 28, 2010

Australian forces, occupational hazards

The presence of Australian servicemen in the U.S.-dominated occupation of Japan (1945-52) is little known, an oversight that is overcome in this vivid and entertaining book. Some 20,000 Aussies served for over six years in Hiroshima and environs, doing their part in the demilitarization, democratization...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Feb 28, 2010

Bulking up in Bush Warbler Valley

I'd like to improve my grip on sumo wrestling, so when a friend invites me to watch the big boys tussle through a morning practice, I jump at the chance. I get off at Uguisudani (Bush Warbler Valley) Station on the Yamanote Line, where the station-identity jingle is of this warbler's mellifluous chortle...

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