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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Nov 20, 2012

Tokyo: What do you think of Shintaro Ishihara's decision to give up running the capital and start a new national party? Would you vote for him?

Kohei Yoshimura 
Reader Mail
Nov 18, 2012

Government's strange refusal

The Nov. 16 Kyodo article "Yokota visit to Pyongyang in works?" blandly states that DNA tests on the allegedly cremated remains of Megumi Yokota that were supplied by North Korea in 2004 showed that they were not hers.
EDITORIALS
Nov 18, 2012

Public libraries are thriving

That Japanese public libraries are thriving may come as no surprise to anyone, but an education ministry report found that the number of books checked out by elementary school children from the 3,274 public libraries nationwide reached an average of 26 per child in fiscal 2010. That is up from 18.8 in...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 18, 2012

It'll take more than few fine or foreign words to make Australia Asian

Australians have always been uncomfortable with their nation's geography.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Nov 17, 2012

LDP-DPJ grudge match may see unity after poll

Friday's dissolution of the Lower House sets the stage for a no-holds-barred grudge match between the ruling Democratic Party of Japan and the Liberal Democratic Party, while emerging "third-force" political groups are seen struggling to raise public awareness enough to change the current two-party system....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Nov 17, 2012

Ink artist pushes the boundaries of tattooing

The skin as canvas, inks and needles replacing the palette: tattoos by Khan transcend mere decorations. Whether he is depicting eye crinkles in a portrait of the Dalai Lama or the leer of a supernatural ghoul, his rich color and technical realism redefines the boundaries of art and pop culture.
JAPAN
Nov 14, 2012

Tokyo wary of looming Beijing helm change

China is on the verge of installing a new leader, presumably Vice President Xi Jingping, to lead the nation for the coming decade at a time when its economy and society are showing strains and its growing military expansion and tensions with its neighbors, particularly Japan, are promising turbulence...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Nov 13, 2012

Kamakura, Kanagawa: What is your ideal pet?

Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 13, 2012

Failing students: Japanese universities facing reckoning or reform

I had been warned of the "Circus," yet still I was unprepared.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 11, 2012

Local media are too vague on Fukushima radiation risk

Earlier this year, NHK rebroadcast a documentary it made in the late 1980s about the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident. It showed how the Soviet Union and European countries tested people for effects of radiation throughout the region. Appended to the doc was a discussion with experts who compared...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 11, 2012

Heartening new film will add to rising dementia awareness in Japan

"My mother having dementia turned into a chance for us to relate to each other again and even have fun in each other's company."
JAPAN
Nov 9, 2012

Communities key to preserving World Heritage

The World Heritage Convention concluded a three-day gathering Thursday by stressing that communities should be fully involved in the management and conservation of the sites the group designates, including activities to reduce the risks from man-made disasters and climate change.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 9, 2012

'The Power of Two'

Chronic respiratory disease is something I've lived with as a parent. My son's severe asthma had him in and out of hospitals and doctor's offices from infancy on, including several life-threatening emergencies. Thankfully, as he grew to adulthood, the bad episodes became fewer, though there is never...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Nov 9, 2012

Thanksgiving dinner at Four Seasons Chinzan-so; Gramercy Tavern chef at Park Hyatt; Armani/Ristorante anniversary plan

Thanksgiving dinner at Chinzan-so The Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Chinzan-so in Tokyo will offer a special Thanksgiving dinner at its casual restaurant Seasons Bistro, from Nov. 16 to 22.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 7, 2012

Overseas Japanese museums' representatives share ideas in Yokohama

Museums dedicated to the history of Japanese emigrants are increasingly becoming important for their descendants to understand the history of their ancestors as they become integrated in the societies they live in, according to participants of a recent symposium in Yokohama.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Nov 6, 2012

Violin maker brings traditions of Italian masters to Tokyo

Born in Nebraska, Louis Caporale started playing the violin at the age of 4. By 14 he was building violins. At 18, he was the youngest student enrolled at the Chicago School of Violin Making.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Nov 6, 2012

Revisionists, the Senkakus and Debito: readers' views

Some readers' letters in response to Debito Arudou's Oct. 2 Just Be Cause column, "Revisionists marching Japan back to a dangerous place":
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Nov 6, 2012

Osaka: Who will win the U.S. presidential election, and what changes will that bring?

Erkki Hietalahti, 53University professor (Finnish)Obama should be re-elected, because he saved a bad situation, even though many initiatives were blocked by the Republicans. Obama is a better choice than Romney, who seems to flip his opinions, so who knows what he'd do in office? Obama cares about people,...
EDITORIALS
Nov 5, 2012

Lessons of the Cuban missile crisis

Fifty years have passed since the Cuban missile crisis took place in 1962. A failure to diplomatically resolve the crisis, which lasted from Oct. 15-28, might have developed into a nuclear exchange that turned into a total nuclear war.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Nov 4, 2012

Breaking new ground with our Tohoku school in the woods

On Oct. 6, 2012, I took part in a Ji-chin-sai (Shinto ground-breaking ceremony) in the Nobiru area of Higashi Matsushima City in Miyagi Prefecture. Standing with me before an altar constructed in a wooded part of the Omokura Valley was Takahashi Yuugo, a volunteer who had been cutting trees and making...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 3, 2012

Time stands still on Amami Oshima

We had already been on Amami Oshima for a week waiting for Typhoon No. 21 to pass. But the typhoon was meandering around the Pacific like a drunken sailor, zigzagging a path north-west, once making a U-turn then righting itself, and another time its path taking a complete pirouette.
JAPAN
Nov 1, 2012

'Ecological footprint' pair awarded

A pair of scientists who have advocated the use of "ecological footprint accounting" to assess consumption of resources and nature's capacity to withstand human demands were among the winners Wednesday of a prestigious environmental award from a Tokyo-based foundation.

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb