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Japan Times
Figure Skating / ICE TIME
Apr 24, 2013

Mao certain to face massive pressure if she tries to retire

Mao Asada's recent proclamation at the World Team Trophy that she “intends” to retire after next year's Sochi Olympics took many by surprise, but I think the proclamation is far from set in stone.
Japan Times
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Apr 24, 2013

Yoshimoto seeks laughs and profit beyond Japan

Osaka-based Yoshimoto Kogyo, the giant talent agency that celebrated its 100th anniversary last year, has made an enduring business out of that fleeting phenomenon: laughter.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Apr 23, 2013

Student seeking Kyoto flat told: No foreigners allowed

After spending 2u00bd years living the quiet life in Shiga Prefecture, Ryukoku University student Victor Rosenhoj was looking forward to moving to Kyoto, where things promised to be more lively and international.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Apr 23, 2013

Hiroshima: What sweets tickled your taste buds at the National Confectionery Exposition?

'A bag of cheap sweets and snacks from Osaka, as well as candies using tangerines from Sakurajima, Kagoshima Prefecture. I buy sweets mostly to give away to my kids and their friends.'
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 22, 2013

Attack will prove urban resiliency

Cities exist to connect humanity and to enable us to work collaboratively. Those connections only strengthen when we are attacked as the Boston Marathon was.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Apr 20, 2013

Doraemon trumps Hello Kitty for Olympic Games ambassador

Japan's most lovable anime character, el gato cosmico (the cosmic cat) has been chosen to be Japan's ambassador in Tokyo's bid for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic games. It's the first time Japan has chosen an anime character for an Olympic ambassadorship. Congratulations Doraemon!
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Apr 20, 2013

Boston in lockdown as police hunt second bombing suspect

A massive manhunt is launched in the Boston suburbs after one suspect in the deadly marathon bombings is killed in a confrontation with police and the second is identified but remains at-large.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 19, 2013

'Beasts of the Southern Wild'

On the one hand, Sundance and Cannes award-winner 'Beasts of the Southern Wild' has been correctly labeled as 'magic realism.'
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 19, 2013

China-Pakistan nuclear axis defies nonproliferation aims

The China-Pakistan relationship may be the only one where a nuclear-armed state has passed on fissile material and a bomb design to a nonnuclear weapons state.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 18, 2013

'Sayonara Speed Tribes': Documentary chronicles disappearing world of bosozoku

Once a symbol of a burgeoning postwar counterculture, the bōsōzoku are fading. Gone are the days when gangs of bikers would zoom through neighborhoods with daredevil temerity.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 18, 2013

Holes in industrial ecosystems threaten manufacturing

Even in a globalized economy, nations need to have strong local production capabilities in order to bring innovation to the market, American and Japanese scholars said in a recent symposium held in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Apr 17, 2013

Asylum seeking compatriots in Japan welcome Suu Kyi visit

Asylum seekers from Myanmar were buoyed by the visit of their country's democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and hope it will strengthen bilateral ties and encourage more private-sector investment in their nation's struggling economy.
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 17, 2013

U.S. program secretly feeding Syrians

In the heart of rebel-held territory in Syria's northern province of Aleppo, a small group of intrepid Westerners is undertaking a mission of great stealth. Living anonymously in a small rural community, they travel daily in unmarked cars, braving airstrikes, shelling and the threat of kidnapping to...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 16, 2013

Taiji dolphin cull inhumane: study

From a cliff above the tiny cove, a stocky, bald man could be seen between tightly drawn lengths of green tarpaulin, a metal rod in one hand, and something long, black and smooth wriggling helplessly under the other.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Apr 16, 2013

Tokyo: What have been your best and worst jobs, and why?

My current job is the best I've had. Since 2008 I've worked for a university entrance exam company here. The worst was also here in Japan, when I was working as an assistant language teacher, because I had different bosses, and the job description was so loose that it was far from satisfying.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Apr 16, 2013

Mad court rush could brake or bless Abe's vision

As Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Cabinet rush to diminish the Bank of Japan's bothersome independence, join the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations (sort of . . .), start pouring lovely, popular concrete before the summer House of Councilors elections and (sotto voce) maybe even amend the Constitution,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
Apr 16, 2013

Education: What are we paying all the money for?

Dear Minister of Education Hakubun Shimomura,
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LABOR PAINS
Apr 16, 2013

Employers' 'box them in, drive them out' tactics fail legal test

Surely few employees would jump out of bed every morning, itching to start work at the 'Department for Driving Them Out'? But what is an oidashi-beya? And what scary entities are to be driven out?
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 16, 2013

No resting on techie laurels

Only a few years ago, it was forecast that Japan's best growth strategy would be to develop environment-related products. That forecast was off the mark.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Apr 16, 2013

Tokyo: Do you have a message for young North Korean leader Kim Jong Un?

Get a hobby. Play less Battleships. Kim should take up something else, such as darts. He really needs to show his generals who is boss, and needs to be a little more refined in how he demonstrates his power.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Apr 14, 2013

Iran's presidential hopefuls take aim at Ahmadinejad

Iran's political landscape has become increasingly divided during controversial President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's second and final term. But as a diverse array of candidates to replace him takes shape, nearly all the contenders seem united on one thing: attacking the president's legacy.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Apr 14, 2013

Myanmar's unrest: Colonial legacy undermines nascent democracy

Alarming outbreaks of sectarian violence pitting Buddhists against Muslims in Myanmar cast an ominous cloud over that nation's democratic transition from military rule.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 14, 2013

Net TV expresses views the mainstream ignores

Last week's column mentioned "Pack-in News," a current-affairs talk show that used to stream on the Internet TV channel Kinkin.tv, which is the personal project of veteran actor-emcee Kinya Aikawa. It was a continuation of "Pack-in Journal," a show hosted by Aikawa on the satellite station Asahi Newstar...
CULTURE / Books
Apr 14, 2013

Digging for insights on foreigners living in Japan from some of the most prominent figures

Donald Richie, prolific author of more than 40 books and longtime contributor to The Japan Times, died in February at age 88. April 17 was his birthday, so this review pays tribute by sharing some of the insights he passed on during an interview, one of 12 in this book, conducted four years ago.
Events / KANSAI: WHO & WHAT
Apr 13, 2013

Welcome party for new residents of Kyoto

The Kyoto City International Foundation will hold a welcome party and seminar April 21 for newly arrived foreign residents.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji