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JAPAN
Apr 13, 2012

Lawmakers give nod to weakened postal bill

A government-sponsored bill that waters down the postal privatization reforms pushed through by then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi cleared the Lower House on Thursday, which may allow the government to retain control of the banking, mail and insurance juggernaut for years to come.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 13, 2012

Asano goes for an A-1 hit with 'Battleship' film

History often repeats itself in the most interesting ways. In 1945, principal members of the Japanese government signed an agreement for total surrender of the country's armed forces to the United States atop the famed USS Missouri battleship, also known as the "Mighty Mo." Sixty-seven years later, audiences...
EDITORIALS
Apr 13, 2012

Reimpose weapons export ban

The Noda administration in December 2011 drastically relaxed Japan's long-standing weapons export ban. On the strength of this step, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on April 10 agreed with visiting British Prime Minister David Cameron to push joint development of weapons.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Apr 11, 2012

Evessa claim star Washington has decided to 'retire'

Osaka Evessa power forward Lynn Washington has been the most recognizable player in bj-league history.
JAPAN
Apr 10, 2012

Vaunted missile shield more for show than protection

With Aegis destroyers and Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missiles deployed and standing by, Japan's military appears ready to shoot down any debris from North Korea's rocket — or even the rocket itself — should it threaten the country this week.
COMMENTARY
Apr 10, 2012

Energy conservation is key

If all the reactors at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture remain offline, and if approval is not given for restarting the Nos. 3 and 4 reactors at Kansai Electric Power Co.'s Oi nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture following their just-completed...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Apr 10, 2012

Can I sue a former employer for not paying toward my pension?

John has a question about the Japanese pension system. He writes: "I am a permanent, legal Japan resident, and worked full time for a foreign company in Tokyo for six years. I am now retired and the Japan pension office advised that this company did not enroll me in any government pension plan during...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Apr 8, 2012

New York fashion gurus applaud 'second-tier' Tokyo

As part of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tokyo, Dr. Joyce F. Brown, president of the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York City, and Dr. Valerie Steele, director and chief curator of The Museum at FIT — and curator of the groundbreaking "Japan Fashion Now" exhibition there in 2010/11 — visited...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Apr 8, 2012

Keene shares his love for Tohoku

Donald Keene, one of the world's most renowned scholars of Japanese literature, said during an event held in Tokyo on March 20 that he believes that Japan's northeast will recover from the Great East Japan Earthquake and be reborn as a beautiful region.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 6, 2012

Way of thinking at stake in U.S. 'boxing match'

Japan and America may share values such as democracy, rule of law, freedom of expression and protection of human rights. But do we share the same national mentality?
Reader Mail
Apr 5, 2012

Inaccurate review of 'Dispatches'

Regarding the April 1 review of my book "Life and Nihonjin: Dispatches from Japan": This book is not a novel. How can a book reviewer make such a blunder? If I were a reviewer and I referred to Darwin's "The Origin of Species" as a novel about small creatures, what would anyone think of what else I had...
JAPAN
Apr 5, 2012

Foreign law firms aim for equal treatment

While major foreign law firms often have wide networks of offices that span the globe, those firms are allowed only one office in Japan because of a law that they say has blocked them from expanding in the world's third-largest economy.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Apr 3, 2012

Polish envoy comes to terms with 3/11 via noh

Jadwiga Rodowicz-Czechowska, Poland's ambassador to Japan, says she was utterly heartbroken when she witnessed the catastrophe caused by the earthquake and tsunami that hit Tohoku last March.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
Apr 3, 2012

'Silver democracy' could undermine Tohoku's reconstruction

Dear Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda,
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Apr 3, 2012

Keene should engage brain before fueling 'flyjin,' foreign crime myths

Congratulations to Donald Keene, who was granted Japanese citizenship last month with great media fanfare. At 89 years young and after a lifetime contributing to world scholarship on Japan, he truly deserves it.
EDITORIALS
Apr 3, 2012

Support foreign health professionals

Thirty-five Indonesians and one Filipino have passed Japan's fiscal 2011 national qualification test to become certified care workers. The Indonesians came to Japan in 2008 and the Filipino in 2009 under Japan's economic partnership agreements (EPAs) with their countries. Despite all being professionally...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 2, 2012

Reconstructing Tohoku to fit today

The official and unofficial memorial ceremonies marking one year since the massive March 11 earthquake and tsunami that devastated the Tohoku region of Japan, killing some 16,000 people, are now past. The question remains though: Will Japan's politicians and bureaucrats come together and heed a simple...
JAPAN
Mar 31, 2012

3/11 cast a spotlight on the importance of international cooperation: Sadako Ogata

The March 2011 disasters have increased Japanese awareness of international cooperation, says Sadako Ogata, and the departing president of the Japan International Cooperation Agency hopes this will lead the government to play a larger role in assisting developing nations.
BUSINESS
Mar 31, 2012

Narita to open Tokyo's first biz jet terminal

Tokyo's first dedicated business-jet terminal opens Saturday as Japan tries to lure millionaire tourists from China and investment from multinationals adding Asian offices.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Mar 30, 2012

How much money do rice farmers need to make from farming?

Since most Japanese farmers are part-timers, TPP may have little effect on their real income.
Reader Mail
Mar 29, 2012

Painful to see payoffs to U.S.

Regarding the March 25 Kyodo article "Japan asked to shell out extra $1 billion over [U.S. Marines'] transfer to Guam": As a long-term resident of Japan, it is painful to see Japan taken to the cleaners. Japan signed a peace treaty a long time ago, meaning that Japan has full sovereignty over its own...
JAPAN
Mar 29, 2012

36 foreign caregivers pass qualification exam

Thirty-six caregiver candidates from Indonesia and the Philippines passed the national care worker exam in January, becoming the first applicants to pass Japan's qualification exam among hundreds of recruits under economic partnership agreements, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said Wednesday....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 28, 2012

Japanese-Americans continue to grapple with mixed legacy

For a long, quiet moment, a white-haired gentleman stood and gazed at the words engraved in a low granite wall. Few passersby noticed the memorial, tucked on a tiny patch of federal parkland near Union Station in Washington. But every time Grant Ichikawa returns to the spot and stands before the statue...
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Mar 27, 2012

Old guard see despot in Hashimoto

Toru Hashimoto's push to fundamentally reform Japan picked up steam Saturday with the opening of Ishin Seiji Juku (Restoration Political Institute), as criticism grows in Tokyo that the outspoken Osaka mayor is leading not only a national revolt against established parties but also a mass movement reminiscent...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 27, 2012

Detainees' families fighting for dignity — and hugs

The East Japan Immigration Center, more commonly known as the Ushiku detention center, stands in the middle of sleepy countryside in Ibaraki Prefecture, 50 km north of Tokyo. With one of the world's tallest standing Buddha statues less than 3 km away, the center could have made a nice country getaway...

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years