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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jul 2, 2013

The LDP constitution, article by article: a preview of things to come?

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is pushing for constitutional change. Yet he is playing the political huckster by proposing to first only fiddle with the amendment procedure in Article 96, lowering the threshold for the process to move forward from the approval of two-thirds of both houses of the Diet, as...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Jul 2, 2013

Moved by the benefits of mobile-home housing

The model house sat on an empty patch of brown land along a commercial stretch of road in southern Ibaraki Prefecture. Few people would have identified it as a model house. It had a forlorn, out-of-place look to it. Technically, it was a mobile home — "trailer house," in Japanese parlance — propped...
EDITORIALS
Jul 2, 2013

Alternative ideas need a voice

Merely opposing Shinzo Abe's policies and goals before the Upper House polls is not enough. The opposition needs to clarify an alternative vision for Japan.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 2, 2013

Understanding China's maritime aspirations

China's declaration that it wants to be a sea power and focus on this interest is not sudden. China has long dreamed of becoming a 'maritime civilization.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jul 1, 2013

Blanco, Balentien putting up impressive homer totals

If there's a home run derby during this year's All-Star Series, odds are it won't be half as exciting as the one Wladimir Balentien and Tony Blanco are currently staging on a near-nightly basis during the regular season.
Japan Times
JAPAN / MAKING THEIR CASE
Jun 30, 2013

JCP chief tabs party as bulwark against Abe plans

Only the Japanese Communist Party can act as a counterweight to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in the Upper House election, especially against Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's economic and constitutional revision plans, JCP Chairman Kazuo Shii declared Saturday.
Reader Mail
Jun 30, 2013

Universities are for the Japanese

In his June 24 article, "Top students shunning Japan," professor Takamitsu Sawa presents interesting facts and rightly concludes that Japan may not attract outstanding students from abroad. But he misses a very important point: Are there global brands among the Japanese universities, and do they present...
Reader Mail
Jun 30, 2013

Laid-back attitude needs work

I beg to differ with the headline for Takamitsu Sawa's article, asserting that top students are shunning Japan. Talented students are not shunning Japan, per se — just the laid-back, everyone-gets-a-degree, pay-your-tuition approach to higher education in Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 29, 2013

Opposition slams ruling bloc on jobs deregulation

Major party leaders held their first online debate Friday ahead of the July 21 Upper House election, with opposition chiefs voicing concern that ruling bloc-proposed employment deregulation may further worsen the working conditions of younger generations.
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2013

Abe wants to gut public protections: expert

If the Liberal Democratic Party succeeds in rewriting the Constitution, it would severely scale back fundamental human rights and strip the public of various civil liberties, a prominent constitutional scholar warns.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / MAKING THEIR CASE
Jun 29, 2013

New Komeito chief vows to counter Abe if he tries to change Article 9

New Komeito President Natsuo Yamaguchi said Friday his party will continue to act as a counterweight to the Liberal Democratic Party if the senior coalition partner aggressively pursues revising the war-renouncing Article 9 or exercising the right of collective self-defense after the Upper House election....
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 27, 2013

Abe hopeful ruling bloc juggernaut cleans up in Upper House poll in July

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed Wednesday to ensure the Liberal Democratic Party-New Komeito ruling bloc recaptures control of the Upper House in the July election, bringing an end to the divided Diet.
Reader Mail
Jun 27, 2013

The only ethical energy option

Regarding the June 19 article "Meltdowns haven't killed anyone: LDP bigwig": Liberal Democratic Party policy chief Sanae Takaichi's comment that the meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant "have not claimed the lives of any people," however technically accurate, was deservedly criticized...
EDITORIALS
Jun 26, 2013

Mr. Obama rekindles nuclear dream

Japan, despite its reliance on the U.S. nuclear umbrella, must emphasize to the U.S. that it supports international agreements to reduce nuclear arsenals.
JAPAN
Jun 26, 2013

Relaxed visa program for Southeast Asian visitors starts

The government will relax visa requirements for visitors from Southeast Asian countries starting Monday, hoping to lure more travelers from fast-growing economies to spur economic growth.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 26, 2013

Suntory ¥388 billion drinks IPO priced at low end

Suntory Beverage & Food Ltd. is set to raise as much as ¥388.1 billion in Japan's biggest initial public offering this year after pricing near the low end of its range as volatile markets curbed demand.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jun 26, 2013

Disaster-relief volunteer networks are essential

Takashi Yamamoto, 42, president of Peace Boat Disaster Relief Volunteer Center, is Japan's leading expert on volunteer disaster-relief activities. In 1995, when he was a staffer of the educational cruise ship Peace Boat, Yamamoto began working on disaster relief for Kobe after the Great Hanshin Earthquake...
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 25, 2013

Day traders creating, exploiting volatility

Sitting before a cluster of computer screens in an apartment with the drapes shut, it took Naoki Murakami seconds to make $3,500 betting $1 million that Tokyo Electric Power Co. shares would fall a fraction of a percent.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jun 25, 2013

A year on, what you should already know about residence cards and re-entry

Reader CW writes: "I've lived here 35 years and am a permanent resident. Recently I met an American who had just returned through Tokyo immigration and all the information about his work, residence and visa status was on his card but not on his passport. The passport had not been endorsed. Why is Japan...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jun 24, 2013

Lions' Kikuchi emerging as one of NPB's top pitchers

Yusei Kikuchi might be in the major leagues right now if he'd chosen differently.
SOCCER / J. League
Jun 23, 2013

Yokohama defender Dutra turning back time as he nears 40

Yokohama F. Marinos left-back Dutra will celebrate his 40th birthday before the current J. League season is over, but that does not mean he intends to shift down a gear anytime soon.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jun 23, 2013

'Hate speech' in the media, but not the legal code

This writer, on previous occasions, has expressed irritation over the recent tendency for the vernacular media to rely heavily on English borrowings for neologisms with socially negative connotations, such as sexual harassment, stalking and domestic violence — to name three examples.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jun 23, 2013

North Korea occupies Fukuoka in Murakami's alternate world

Not to be confused with another famous Japanese novelist who has the same surname, Ryu Murakami is known for being an overtly political, even subversive, writer. "From the Fatherland, With Love," his latest novel to be translated into English, cements that reputation. Taking place in an alternate world...

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’