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LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 21, 2010

New JLPT format: boon for some, bane for most

For students trying to leap the cavernous divide between Level 3 and Level 2 of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) (日本語能力試験), a new test being held for the first time on July 4 breaks the task into two smaller, more manageable hops. Other students, though, might find that progress...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 21, 2010

Will Syria come in from the cold?

ISTANBUL — Will the recent rapprochement between the United States and Syria mark a new era in Syria's international standing?
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Apr 20, 2010

Sumo association between a rock and a place

Sumo has been around in organized form for over 250 years. As a sport in which the rankings and most of the promotion/demotion rules and regulations have remained unchanged, sumo has just turned 100.
JAPAN
Apr 20, 2010

Ash-stranded Europeans low on cash, nerves

NARITA, Chiba Pref. — Europeans stranded at Narita International Airport expressed fatigue and frustration Monday after spending four days riding out the travel chaos caused by Iceland's volcanic ash.
BUSINESS
Apr 20, 2010

Stronger yuan may help China take second place

China's anticipated move to let its currency appreciate may help the nation overtake Japan as the world's second-largest economy, according to Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd.
COMMENTARY
Apr 19, 2010

Terrorists gain from inequality, recruiting those without options

CHANNAI, India — The recent massacre of 80-odd para-military soldiers by the Indian rebel group the Maoists was terrorism in its bloodiest form.
COMMENTARY
Apr 18, 2010

A chance for Russia and Poland

First, a tragedy that almost sinks beneath the weight of a huge historical coincidence. A plane carrying the political and military elite of today's Polish society crashes, killing everybody aboard, while bringing them to Katyn forest to commemorate the murder of a previous generation of the same elite...
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?
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Apr 18, 2010

Artist and architect rethink the condo

Drab, repetitive, formulaic, plain: some of the more polite adjectives that might be applied to most condominium design in Japan.
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Apr 16, 2010

Rowsom's role in Oita's turnaround worthy of honors

Brian Rowsom deserves to be on the short list of candidates for the bj-league's coach of the year honors.
EDITORIALS
Apr 15, 2010

Justice for former JNR workers

A 23-year-old labor dispute affecting former workers of the now-defunct Japanese National Railways (JNR) is likely to be resolved, as the National Railway Workers' Union (Kokuro) and other bodies concerned have accepted a ¥20 billion settlement plan.
Japan Times
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Apr 15, 2010

Old faces need new approach with World Cup looming

National team manager Takeshi Okada has run out of games to assess contenders for his World Cup squad, but the real question now is not so much who he takes to South Africa as how he uses them.
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Apr 15, 2010

Ear rakes

Dear Alice,
LIFE / Digital
Apr 14, 2010

Tech pushes Japan's music scene; industry won't budge

The music business reinvents itself every 20 years or so — basically every time a new format comes down the pike. But the industry has never faced the kind of fundamental challenge presented by the digital file-sharing revolution.
COMMENTARY
Apr 14, 2010

Whither goes Chinese identity?

The former prime minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, is now called the minister mentor. He is indeed a great mentor to Singapore, as it is he who has led the nation to become one of the most affluent and most stable, disciplined societies in the world.
JAPAN
Apr 11, 2010

LDP defectors launch new political party

Former trade minister Takeo Hiranuma and four other ex-Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers launched a new party Saturday in a bid to create a viable alternative to the dominant players ahead of this summer's Upper House election.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Apr 11, 2010

Aya Ueto as police detective, 'mystery assessments' variety show; CM of the week: McDonald's

If you want to guarantee sponsors for your drama series, hire actress Aya Ueto. At the moment she's appearing in a record-breaking 19 TV commercials, which is probably why she manages to star in more than one series a year.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 11, 2010

Public works project has DPJ in a dam mess

Japan has 30,000 rivers, of which 113 are considered major. Japan also has half a million dams of various shapes, sizes and functions, and close to 3,000 of them were built for greater public purposes such as power generation, flood control and water supply.
EDITORIALS
Apr 10, 2010

Spotlight on China's censorship

The battle is not over. Google Inc.'s closure of its Chinese Web-search site, Google.cn, and relocation of the portal to Hong Kong last month is only a skirmish in the fight between the Internet giant and the government in Beijing.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Apr 10, 2010

English clubs fail to inspire in CL this season

LONDON — And then there were none.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 9, 2010

Up from the underground: Womb turns 10

Since opening its doors in April 2000 with a live set from New York house legend Junior Vasquez, Tokyo's club Womb has been credited with doing more than other local venues to bring dance-music culture into the mainstream.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 9, 2010

Modernism put in perspective

Currently based in Seoul, Lee Bul is one of Korea's leading contemporary artists. She first became known for street performances incorporating provocative soft sculptures of her own design and then went on to create sculptures and installations commenting on contemporary culture and aesthetics.
JAPAN
Apr 8, 2010

Japan's eco-credentials assailed

OSAKA — Six months before Japan hosts a major U.N. conference on biodiversity, the government and major corporations involved in the issue are conducting a series of events to raise public awareness about threats to the world's ecosystems and what can be done to save natural habitats.

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan