Search - japan

 
 
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jul 31, 2011

Leach happy to get second chance with BayStars

Brent Leach had already made history by the time he stepped on the mound at Tokyo Dome Thursday night.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jul 31, 2011

Timely film reiterates the 'no nukes' urgings of Barefoot Gen's creator

"Nothing has changed from the time of the atom bombs. ... It stands to reason that people are terrified of what they cannot see. I understand the hysteria. In the end, humans must not resort to the atom that they cannot control. The time has come for the Japanese people to make up their mind."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 29, 2011

Local galleries move to fore at Art Fair Tokyo

On the Japanese cultural calendar, visual-art events tend to take place in the more pleasant seasons of spring and autumn. Classical music and ballet have winter sewn up, with dozens of performances of Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 or "The Nutcracker" being held over the Christmas-New Year period,...
JAPAN
Jul 27, 2011

JETs fresh from the U.S. eager to help nation recover from March 11

Young Americans who will teach English at schools here on an international exchange and teaching program said Tuesday they want to help Japan recover from the March catastrophe.
LIFE / Language / KANJI CLINIC
Jul 25, 2011

Majestic bamboo is firmly rooted in ancient kanji

My first exposure to bamboo in Japan, as a newcomer from the United States in the early 1980s, was the jaw-dropping sight of tabi-clad construction workers deftly scampering about on bamboo scaffolding ten stories high. Although this versatile natural resource — utilized in Japan and China for thousands...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jul 24, 2011

What a difference a friend's tales of 'hair on the heart' can still make

"Shinzo ni Ke ga Haeteiru Wake" is the intriguing title of a book published in April by Kadokawa. The book was written by my good friend, Mari Yonehara, and its title in English would be "That's Why Hair Grows on the Heart."
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jul 24, 2011

Setsuden and the magic number 28

Japan's summer has started off with a bang, weather-wise.
BUSINESS
Jul 22, 2011

ANA, AirAsia tie up for budget carrier

All Nippon Airways Co. and AirAsia Bhd., Southeast Asia's biggest budget carrier, announced Thursday they together will launch a new low-cost carrier in Japan, aiming to cultivate new demand and survive intensifying competition.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 21, 2011

BOJ ready to take 'decisive' action

The Bank of Japan will make "decisive" policy decisions when needed by examining movements in the yen and the economy as the nation recovers from the March disasters, Deputy Gov. Hirohide Yamaguchi said in Nagano on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jul 20, 2011

The imperfect science of delineating poverty

How informative is the 'relative poverty' index?
EDITORIALS
Jul 20, 2011

3/11 victims face welfare cuts

Cases have surfaced in which municipalities in Tohoku have stopped welfare payments to victims of the March 11 earthquake-tsunami and subsequent nuclear crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 20, 2011

Kan meets soccer champs, perks up

It looks like the victory of the "Nadeshiko" Japan women's national soccer team not only gave hope to a nation still recovering from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami but also energized unpopular Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who vowed Tuesday to persevere.
BUSINESS
Jul 20, 2011

Toyota to build engines, small hybrids in Tohoku

Toyota Motor Corp. plans to build engines and small hybrid cars in the Tohoku region as the company strengthens its production hub in the area.
BUSINESS
Jul 20, 2011

Nikko Asset reportedly choosing underwriters

Nikko Asset Management Co. this week began choosing lead underwriters for an initial public offering, setting up the first debut share sale by a major Japanese asset manager in a decade, three sources said.
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...

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes