Search - japan

 
 
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 19, 2011

All reactors off by spring — a once unthinkable scenario

As the crisis continues at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant and thousands of people remain evacuated due to radiation fears, public sentiment has turned against allowing reactors idled for regular checks at power stations nationwide to be restarted.
CULTURE / Books
Jul 17, 2011

Erasing the bloody wounds of war

IMAG(IN)ING THE WAR IN JAPAN: Representing and Responding to Trauma in Postwar Literature and Film, edited by David Stahl and Mark Williams. Brill, 2010, 375 pp., $179 (hardcover) This anthology is as incisive and demanding of consideration as any that I have read. The central question reframed again...
EDITORIALS
Jul 17, 2011

Autumn admissions

Cherry blossoms have long accompanied the start of the school year in Japan, but that may soon change to autumn leaves. The University of Tokyo is looking into the possibility of beginning its school year in the fall rather than spring. If adopted, the change, which would likely be followed by other...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Jul 17, 2011

Green is good for you — and the Earth

My work often takes me away from my home in Hokkaido, and with every absence I am irked to be missing out on some part of the inexorable seasonal advance. So, each time I return I make a beeline for my local forest to reacquaint myself with the resident and migrant birds, to trace the tracks and signs...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jul 17, 2011

Four former ballplayers remembered after their deaths

More than 900 foreigners have played in Japanese pro baseball since Wally Yonamine joined the Yomiuri Giants in 1951, and it is always sad to hear when any of them have died. Baseball America and various Internet outlets have reported the recent deaths of four ex-major leaguers who also played in Japan...
EDITORIALS
Jul 17, 2011

English teachers sent abroad

Positive comments about Japan's system of English teaching are rare, but hope is on the horizon. This month, 96 Japanese high school and junior high teachers of English leave for a half-year training program in the United States. They will enroll this fall in courses on English-teaching methods, stay...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jul 17, 2011

In charting their life's course, today's youth might better stay foolish

Why is this generation of young people in Japan so self-absorbed and seemingly unconcerned, to the point of distracted apathy, about the social and political dilemmas facing their country today?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 16, 2011

Canadian martial artist finds the way to tea of tranquility

The intricate stained glass window in the heavy wooden door provides an artistic and unusual welcome. Stoop inside the restored Kyoto machiya (town house) and step into a future melded with the past. Drinking in the Art-Deco/Taisho roman decorations, your eye moves away from the geometric stained glass...
BUSINESS
Jul 16, 2011

Pension funds look to spread risk

Japanese corporate pension funds, with about ¥60 trillion in assets, may triple their allocations to alternative assets as they seek to reduce risks and boost returns, according to Credit Suisse Group AG.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Jul 15, 2011

Rogge says Pyeongchang win will not affect Tokyo's bid for 2020 Summer Games

International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge lauded Pyeongchang, South Korea's victory in the race for the 2018 Winter Olympics as a win for Asian sport.
EDITORIALS
Jul 15, 2011

A long shot at what cost?

Not a man to let last summer's costly failure to land the 2016 Summer Olympics deter him, Gov. Shintaro Ishihara announced on July 5 at a reconstruction seminar that Tokyo is ready to host the 2020 Games "at any cost." Mr. Ishihara claims that hosting the games would contribute to Japan's recovery from...
Japan Times
CULTURE
Jul 15, 2011

Will heartthrob Mukai shine as the shogun?

This year's NHK Sunday evening drama has already entered the history books for one, perhaps inauspicious, reason. On March 12, a day after the Great East Japan Earthquake, NHK announced that the following day's broadcast of "Go," as the show is titled, would be canceled to make way for news coverage....
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jul 14, 2011

Hummer don't hurt them: Are Japanese consumers allergic to big cars?

Does GM's plan to sell small cars in Japan make sense?
Reader Mail
Jul 14, 2011

Shameful neglect of students

Regarding the July 9 Kyodo article "Students from Taiwan denied disaster funds": When the tragic quake and tsunami struck Japan (March 11), my wife and I immediately wrote a check and donated money to the relief effort. Many foreign people donated money like this, including many people from Taiwan.
JAPAN
Jul 14, 2011

GE plan followed with inflexibility

Second of two parts
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 14, 2011

The future of Japanese theater lies in individuality

In April 2010, Junnosuke Tada became Japan's youngest-ever artistic director of a public theater when, at age 33, he was appointed by the Kirari Fujimi Theater in Fujimi, Saitama Prefecture.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 14, 2011

Fighting for change the Fuji Rock way

Faced with the nation's worst disaster since World War II, Fuji Rock Festival founder Masahiro Hidaka had to make a choice back in March — whether to hold Japan's biggest summer music festival this year or not. He decided that the show must go on.
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2011

'Stress tests' to be done in two stages

The government announced a new safety assessment plan for nuclear power plants Monday, making it precondition that reactors undergoing check-ups to pass the first stage of the so-called stress test before restarting them.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
Jul 12, 2011

Boycott sumo, a sport tainted by racist rules

To the Japan Sumo Association:
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 12, 2011

Son's quest for sun, wind has nuclear interests wary

In late March, while engaging in volunteer work and making efforts to restore telecommunications networks in the quake-stricken Tohoku region, Softbank Corp. founder and Chairman Masayoshi Son met with evacuees from the area surrounding the troubled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
CULTURE / Books
Jul 10, 2011

Watch your manners!

MANNERS AND MISCHIEF: Gender, Power and Etiquette in Japan. Edited by Jan Bardsley and Laura Miller. University of California Press, 2011, 245 pp., $22.95 (paper) Don't let the cutesy Hello Kitty cover fool you. "Manners and Mischief" disdains frivolity and stands firm as an academic text for students...
Japan Times
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jul 10, 2011

Pro baseball hopes to inspire Fukushima in return

On July 29, the Yakult Swallows will be playing the Yomiuri Giants at Azuma Stadium in Fukushima City, the closest a Japan pro baseball game will be played this season to the restricted zone around the crippled Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant No. 1. Yakult will be the home team for the encounter that...
EDITORIALS
Jul 8, 2011

Nuclear accident disclosure

The Atomic Energy Society of Japan, an academic society made up of experts on nuclear power engineering, nuclear reactor physics and radiology, on Monday issued a statement criticizing the government, Tokyo Electric Power Co. and other related institutions for delays and insufficiency in their disclosure...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 8, 2011

Key to 'East Asian' health

On May 8, 2011, leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations issued a joint statement to reaffirm their commitment toward the development of a common position on global issues.
Reader Mail
Jul 7, 2011

Food safety precedes 'uniqueness'

Regarding the July 1 Kyodo article "UNESCO listing for Japan fare?": While it is apparent that Japanese authorities need to do what they can to promote safe Japanese food products in the aftermath of the recent tragic events in Japan, I am concerned, after reading this article, that too much emphasis...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 6, 2011

Lagarde in the IMF inferno

Christine Lagarde has leaped into a hot job, an inferno, as the first woman to head the International Monetary Fund less than a week after after having been chosen.

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