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COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 6, 2012

Teaching compassion for all living things

As the distinguished gaijin on the island (ie: the only foreigner here), the Shiraishi Island Elementary school asked me to come and give a speech to third- and fourth-year students. All four of them.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 5, 2012

'Casino Jack' / '4:44 Last Day on Earth'

As late-stage capitalism enters its terminal phase, democracy sees an epic fail, giving way to a kind of corporate plutocracy. The problem is all too clear: Government, in just about every country you can think of, has been bought and sold.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 4, 2012

Looking at art from a local perspective

In these recessionary times, any contribution to the arts is a cause for celebration. Such a state of affairs makes the opening of the Daegu Art Museum (DAM) in May 2011 in Daegu, South Korea, an especially joyous event.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Oct 4, 2012

Ex-UCLA QB Craft happy to be in Japan

Even though he fell short of reaching the NFL, former UCLA quarterback Kevin Craft doesn't curse his past, but rather, embraces it.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Oct 2, 2012

Tokyo: Which theater form — kabuki, noh or Takarazuka — would you say best represents modern Japan?

Sayuri Nakajima
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Oct 2, 2012

Divergent views on Debito; the fate of mixed-nationality kids

Arudou's writing still needed Most of the readers who indignantly criticize the writings of Debito Arudou seem to share the same outlook. Arudou, they say, should shut up and accept the good with the bad.
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Sep 30, 2012

Panasonic helped bring foreign players to Japan

Just as the Japan Basketball League is preparing to re-brand itself as the National Basketball League (NBL) for 2013-14, it is also coping with the planned loss of one of Japan's most successful basketball clubs, the Panasonic Trians.
Japan Times
LIFE
Sep 30, 2012

Telework answers rural and disabled needs

Disaster mitigation and a better "work-life balance" for staff are not the only benefits of having employees working outside the office, an increasing range of companies are now coming to realize.
EDITORIALS
Sep 28, 2012

Mr. Abe makes his return

Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a political comeback on Wednesday as the elected new head of the leading opposition Liberal Democratic Party. This is the first time that a person who has resigned as prime minister has been re-elected as the top leader of a political party. A big question about...
EDITORIALS
Sep 27, 2012

Confrontation may hurt economy

As tension between Japan and China escalates over the ownership of the Senkaku Islands following the Japanese government's decision to purchase three of the five islets in the island group, there is the possibility that China will step up its confrontational attitude toward Japan.
EDITORIALS
Sep 26, 2012

Ten years on, little progress made

Ten years have passed since then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and the late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il signed the Pyongyang Declaration (Sept. 17, 2002) with the eventual aim of normalizing a bilateral relationship. Despite the historic significance of the declaration, little progress has been...
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Sep 25, 2012

Fears over Hashimoto, beefs with Berlitz story

A recipe for 'Hashism'? Re: "How did we end up here, in 'Hashimotopia,' 2022?" by Christopher Robinson and Ben Stubbings (Light Gist, Aug. 28):
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Sep 25, 2012

Tokyo: What 10 words or phrases sum up Japan for you?

Luis Martin Padro
Reader Mail
Sep 23, 2012

Osprey will reduce the impact

The Sept. 14 editorial "Osprey adds to the burden" argues that the introduction of the new medium-lift U.S. Marine Corps aircraft to replace the aging CH-46 helicopter "will further increase the host burden" on the residents of Okinawa." If anything, the introduction of the MV-22, which has been in service...
Japan Times
LIFE
Sep 23, 2012

Antidancing law out of step with Japan's youth culture

Many in Japan's large and lively dance community centered on hip-hop, house and other styles are becoming increasingly upset at what appears to be a police crackdown on an essential part of their lives.
EDITORIALS
Sep 23, 2012

The endorsement that wasn't

The Noda Cabinet on Wednesday failed to endorse its new energy strategy announced five days before, which said that Japan will mobilize all available policy resources to achieve "zero operation" of nuclear power plants in the 2030s.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Sep 22, 2012

Filipino filmmaker-writer captures the stories of Asians on the fringe

Rey Ventura's prose startles with the subtle force of cinematic images: From the "rustling leaves" that signal the return of the rebel forces to the Aeta hill tribes in the Philippines to the "standing men" or day laborers populating the alleyways of the Kotobukicho district of Yokohama. As both filmmaker...
OLYMPICS
Sep 21, 2012

Taiwanese IOC member assures Tokyo over vote

Relations between Japan, China and Taiwan have spiraled out of control over the past week, but a longtime Taiwanese International Olympic Committee member is not using that as a pretext for his vote for the 2020 Summer Olympics.
EDITORIALS
Sep 21, 2012

LDP leadership fight

The campaigns of the five candidates competing in the Liberal Democratic Party election are in full swing. At least two themes are very apparent in the race. One is that faction leaders and party elders appear to be regaining power in the nation's No. 1 opposition party, which lost the reigns of power...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 20, 2012

Extremities festival brings together experimental artists from Australia and Japan

Support from government bodies and nonprofit organizations helps develop and promote artists and musicians internationally. Japan sees various events such as Nordic Music Night, Finland Fest and British Anthems thanks to financial assistance from the embassies of the countries involved. Australian support...
Reader Mail
Sep 20, 2012

Let Israel identify its own lines

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently called on the international community to lay down some "red lines" regarding Iran's nuclear program.
BUSINESS
Sep 19, 2012

Japanese companies become protest targets in China

As anti-Japan protests in China rage with no end in sight, Japanese businesses there are seeing their operations disrupted, while government officials seek to limit the damage to economic ties.
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Sep 18, 2012

Work-rules verdict jars with laws aimed at leveling playing field for employees

We live our lives bound by rules. As a student, my teachers scolded me to comply with school regulations, which were Draconian by modern standards: "Skirt hems must reach down to within 5 cm above the knees," "Boys must shave their heads" and other meaninglessly strict school regulations were the rule...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 18, 2012

Shilling for our side over the Senkakus

Akihiro Suzuki does not think war will come, but if it does, he believes Japan will prevail.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Sep 18, 2012

Osaka: Where will Mayor Toru Hashimoto and his ‘One Osaka’ vision be in 2022?

Narumi Watanabe
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 18, 2012

It's past midnight but child-abduction treaty promise is not yet a pumpkin

Despite much promise and a flurry of activity, it didn't happen: Japan failed to ratify the Hague Convention on international child abduction and pass the extensive piece of accompanying domestic legislation the government felt was necessary in order for it to do so. Both items on the Diet agenda were...
Reader Mail
Sep 16, 2012

Vaccinations against pneumonia

Regarding the Sept. 9 editorial "Upper hand on pneumonia": To protect people from community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), strategic use of pneumococcal vaccination is essential. The central and local governments need to enlighten the public on who is at increased risk of CAP and when they should be vaccinated....
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Sep 16, 2012

Getting food on tables is increasingly difficult

The cover of Nikkei Business of Aug. 27 carried a photograph of a sirloin steak atop a sizzling platter. The meat was artfully trimmed to form the shape of the Japanese archipelago.
LIFE / WEEK 3
Sep 16, 2012

Lover of detail strives to keep a kimono-dyeing art alive

As an expert dyer of Edo-komon-style kimonos whose repeated, especially intricate patterns are often so tiny as to be almost microscopic, Emika Iwashita is a mistress of subtlety and the tiniest detail.
EDITORIALS
Sep 16, 2012

Educating educators

A recent survey found that more than half of Japan's graduate schools in education are short of students for the 2012 academic year. More than 40 percent of schools had failed to meet their quotas for the past five years.

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