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JAPAN
Jan 14, 2011

Kitazawa, Gates to speed talks on SM-3

Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa met with his U.S. counterpart, Robert Gates, Thursday in Tokyo, with the two agreeing to speed talks on the possibility of providing jointly developed sea-based missile-shield systems to other countries and the need to prevent North Korea from taking further provocative...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 14, 2011

'Yoyochu: Sex to Yoyogi Tadashi no Sekai (Yoyochu in the Land of the Rising Sex)'

Japan's sex industry is huge, diverse and different. One oddity, at least to Western eyes, is the pinku eiga (pink film), a genre of soft porn made according to certain rules (the most important being the inclusion of a simulated sex scene every 10 minutes or so) and shown in specialized theaters. Pink...
Reader Mail
Jan 13, 2011

Americans should avoid lecturing

In his Dec. 30 letter, "Conceptions of rape, sexism differ," James Hicks chides me for making a statistical comparison of Japan and the United States in my Dec. 26 letter ("Statistically Japan does value life") "as though their history, culture and tendency toward liberalism were irrelevant." Mine was...
Japan Times
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Jan 13, 2011

Toothless performance shows Zaccheroni flip side of coin

After the euphoria of beating Argentina in his first match as national team manager, Alberto Zaccheroni got a good look at the other face of Japanese soccer on Sunday.
EDITORIALS
Jan 12, 2011

Local bellwether elections

The results of coming local elections in Osaka and Aichi prefectures could have a great impact on the shape of Japan's local government. The people concerned need to carefully watch and consider the moves of two men — Osaka Gov. Toru Hashimoto and Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / MIXED MATCHES
Jan 11, 2011

Absence makes couple grow fonder

Long-distance relationships are no longer rare in today's global village. But how long can a couple last without actually seeing each other? Fukuoka residents Naoko Yufu, 28, and 26-year-old Xie Guosong from China have been apart for about four of the five years of their relationship.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jan 11, 2011

Smart grid pursuit slow off mark

The term "smart grid" is coming up a lot as the United States prepares to replace its aging electricity infrastructure. While President Barack Obama pledged $3.4 billion in 2009 to spur an early transition to the new distribution grid, Japan isn't expected to follow anytime soon.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jan 8, 2011

Tokai firms test mettle of migrants from Brazil

On the shop floor of a factory filled with the telltale scent of welded metal, Japanese-Brazilians are working hard to produce filtering tanks for lubricating oil.
BUSINESS
Jan 8, 2011

HSBC unit to up project lending

HSBC Holdings' Japanese banking unit plans to increase financing for government-backed projects as profitability in domestic corporate lending declines.
Reader Mail
Jan 6, 2011

Too much respect for 'officialdom'

Regarding Shinji Fukukawa's Dec. 25 article, "Revitalizing national politics": The problem of Japan as seen by an outsider like myself is that the Japanese give enormous respect to bureaucrats and officialdom. Such respect is very uncommon in many other countries. As in most countries, officials are...
Reader Mail
Jan 6, 2011

Thin-skinned 'Christophobia' reeks

In the Dec. 30 letter, "Overbearing demand on Christmas," Usman Makhdoom bemoans The Japan Times' decision to run Kevin Rafferty's Dec. 24 op-ed article, "A thought for the holy day" (about the religious meaning of Christmas). Why does Makhdoom label it "overbearing" and a "rant"?
Japan Times
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Jan 6, 2011

Zaccheroni equipped to make winning start to new era

No sooner than one soccer year ends, another one begins.
BUSINESS
Jan 6, 2011

Goldman Sachs taps BOJ's Baba

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has hired Naohiko Baba as its chief economist for Japan, drawing on a former central banker and specialist in financial markets.
JAPAN
Jan 5, 2011

Maehara hopes 2011 yields North dialogue

Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara said Tuesday he hopes to create an environment for direct dialogue between Japan and North Korea this year in an effort to resolve Pyongyang's abductions of Japanese and press the reclusive state to drop its nuclear and missile threats.
BASKETBALL
Jan 5, 2011

Sunflowers end Yamanote's win-filled season

The weak can beat the strong.
COMMENTARY
Jan 5, 2011

China targeting U.S. deterrence

SINGAPORE — In 1996, China fired ballistic missiles and held military exercises in waters close to Taiwan to warn the electorate not to vote for a pro-independence candidate in presidential elections. In response, the United States sent two aircraft carriers and their warship escorts to the area. It...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / TECH_JAPAN
Jan 5, 2011

The best of last year's games and looking forward to 2011

Last year was a rough one for Japan. China overtook the country as the world's second largest economy, yet another prime minister upped and resigned and the economy was stagnate as ever. Things weren't much better for the game industry.
BUSINESS
Jan 5, 2011

Banks look to invest in debt sales

Prime Minister Naoto Kan's plan to plug the budget gap with record debt sales this year will get some help from banks needing a place to park deposits that are outstripping loans by the widest margin on record.
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 31, 2010

A great year for theater innovation

Japan's drama scene has seen some change in 2010. It was as if the theater crowd grew tired of waiting for the country's ailing economy and faltering politics to offer them anything new to work with and decided to go and find their own inspiration.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 31, 2010

Japanese art has come a long way: a curator's top five 2010 exhibitions

This year's art scene was largely dominated by two new major events, the Aichi Triennale and the Setouchi International Art Festival, both of which not only utilized gallery space, but showed a large number of works outside of the "white cube." They indicated a trend in Japan of art tourism merging with...
BUSINESS
Dec 31, 2010

Spending big question for 2011

The economy's tepid recovery will have trouble staying on track in 2011 as the effects of government stimulus gradually fade.
CULTURE / Music
Dec 31, 2010

2010's many charts tell a confusing tale

As seems to be becoming commonplace with these end-of-year roundups, the big music story was once again the rise (and rise) of AKB48 and their rapidly multiplying sister groups, SKE48 (named after their home at Nagoya's Sunshine Sakae building), NMB48 (after Namba in Osaka) and "mature" proto-porn, postgraduation...
Reader Mail
Dec 30, 2010

Conceptions of rape, sexism differ

In his Dec. 26 letter, "Statistically Japan does value life," Greg Hutchinson makes the mistake of comparing statistics from the United States and Japan as though their history, culture and tendency toward liberalism were irrelevant. After nearly 20 years here, I have come to believe that problems in...

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’