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COMMENTARY
Jun 24, 2009

Tough to intercept missiles

Due to the severe economic slump, the United States recently announced that it would make substantial cuts to its costly and controversial missile defense program. Several new parts of the planned shield are to be canceled.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 21, 2009

Secrets to studying Japanese film

In its field I cannot imagine a research guide more needed. For whole decades scholars have struggled simply to locate sources, even to find out what there were. Now, however, the skill and stamina of Mark Nornes and Aaron Gerow have resulted in a reference work that both illuminates and defines this...
Reader Mail
Jun 21, 2009

Outstanding place to grow the soul

To follow up on the June 16 VIEWS FROM THE STREET question "What do you like most about life in Japan?," I find that the Japanese are among the world's best craftsmen, doing things so precisely and thoroughly with their hands. My wife is Japanese with a highly developed aesthetic sense. As I have always...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 21, 2009

Pain of Kashmir blocks realistic relations

HONG KONG — One of the most important, painful, politically controversial but essential tasks for the new Indian government of Manmohan Singh is to get relations with its neighbor and rival Pakistan onto a smoother footing for the sake of both countries, as well as for the peace and stability of the...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Jun 21, 2009

Injured Baker in limbo over cash dispute with Apache

First in a two-part series
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jun 20, 2009

Key ingredient in Japanese cuisine found in the mind

It started with a bowl of udon. Elizabeth Andoh, recognized expert on washoku and contributor to Gourmet magazine for over 30 years, cannot really discern a logical path to her success in the Japanese Epicurean kitchen.
JAPAN
Jun 19, 2009

Both Japan, U.S. must improve their 'soft power': experts

The world's two largest economies should reinvigorate their collaborative use of "soft power" to influence other countries as they approach a milestone year in their security alliance, participants said at a recent symposium that included key U.S. commentators on diplomacy.
JAPAN
Jun 19, 2009

Kids can be donors: Lower House

The Lower House passed a bill Thursday recognizing brain death as legal death, scrapping the age limit for organ transplants and paving the way for transplants for children under 15.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jun 19, 2009

A local artist with global cred

If there's one thing that Japan's hundreds of regional public museums have in common, it's a dedication to promoting their local artists. If you happen to live in the area in question, such "local artist shows" can be a lot of fun. The shared experience of place provides a ready-made entree into the...
Reader Mail
Jun 18, 2009

Useful but unofficial translations

The title of the June 10 article "Laws, legal terms get official translation" is misleading. As shown on the Web site in question and indeed on the predecessor site: "These are unofficial translations. Only the original Japanese texts of the laws and regulations have legal effect, and the translations...
JAPAN
Jun 18, 2009

Can an Android conquer Japan's finicky mobile phone culture?

Google Inc. is taking aim at Japan's cell phone market, but whether the search giant can win over the nation's notoriously picky consumers is very much an open question.
LIFE / Style & Design
Jun 18, 2009

The safety nets for would-be suicides

Every time the National Police Agency comes out with new suicide statistics, media reports tend to focus on the fact that the annual suicide count has reached a new high or has topped the psychologically significant 30,000 threshold for yet another year. (The latest figure available was 32,249 in 2008.)...
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Jun 18, 2009

Shichimi

Dear Alice, Based on my forays into Japanese restaurants in North America, I was under the impression that Japanese cuisine didn't feature any spicy flavorsat all. Then, on my first trip to Japan, I wandered into a restaurant that specializes in soba noodles. When my order came, the waitress drew my...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 18, 2009

Toyota may shift Prius output to NUMMI

Toyota Motor Corp., after shelving plans to build Prius hatchbacks at a factory in Mississippi, is considering making the hybrid at a California plant shared with General Motors Corp., two sources said.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 17, 2009

Incoming ambassador Roos is right for the job

After months of speculation, U.S. President Barack Obama recently nominated John V. Roos to represent the United States in Tokyo. Roos, like several American ambassadors, earned his position as a top Democratic fundraiser during the U.S. presidential campaign. As the head of a major Silicon Valley law...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / GLOBAL ECONOMY SYMPOSIUM
Jun 17, 2009

Japan Inc. must adapt to survive post-crisis global competition

In the post-financial crisis world economic landscape, people are increasingly turning to emerging markets as the new engine of global growth. But are Japanese companies ready to compete in the changing environment?
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Jun 16, 2009

Ozawa's residual influence

Even after being forced to resign as Democratic Party of Japan president because of a scandal involving his secretary, Ichiro Ozawa appears to exert strong influence over his successor, Yukio Hatoyama.
EDITORIALS
Jun 14, 2009

A vote for peace in Lebanon

The victory of the March 14th alliance in Lebanese parliamentary elections June 7 is a welcome surprise. For many, the election was a referendum on Hezbollah and the armed resistance movement it represents as well as on the continued influence of Syria and Iran over Lebanese politics.
LIFE / Style & Design
Jun 14, 2009

Scholars worldwide react to planned National Center for Media Arts

Proponents of the National Center for Media Arts argue that it will help foreign researchers examining Japan's popular culture. The Japan Times asked prominent scholars from overseas their thoughts on the proposed facility.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jun 14, 2009

Is a national 'Manga Museum' at last set to get off the ground?

When it was announced in April that ¥11.7 billion had been set aside in 2009's supplementary budget to create a new National Center for Media Arts (NCMA) — a museum for manga, anime, video games and technology art — the news was greeted in the same way that most cultural-policy issues are in Japan....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 12, 2009

Samurai get put through paces

Anyone who knows anything about musicals knows they require endless rehearsals in order to be staged successfully. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers didn't just jump up and glide around a sound stage as the cameras rolled; they had to practice each step of those seemingly effortless dance routines over...
EDITORIALS
Jun 12, 2009

Confusion in the Cabinet

The Aso Cabinet is in a state of confusion over the question of whether Mr. Yoshifumi Nishikawa should stay on as president of Japan Post Holding Co. While Prime Minister Taro Aso is believed to support the retention of Mr. Nishikawa, Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Kunio Hatoyama firmly...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 9, 2009

An entrepreneurial ambassador

PALO ALTO,, Calif. — The announcement of Silicon Valley attorney and Barack Obama fundraiser John V. Roos as U.S. ambassador- designate to Japan has sparked questions about what this appointment means for the U.S.-Japan relationship. Is the choice of a Washington outsider with no obvious Japan experience...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jun 9, 2009

Easter answers; credit crunch

The letter published in April about Easter in Japan — or rather the lack of it — provoked quite a response. The general consensus appears to be that Easter is too hard to pin down on the calendar for commercialization. Here are a couple of responses:

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan