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BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Sep 18, 2011

Carp's Sarfate keeps focus on game, not records

In 2010, it was Hanshin Tigers outfielder Matt Murton who broke the Japanese baseball record for most hits in a season when he banged out 214 safeties in his first year playing in the country.
EDITORIALS
Sep 18, 2011

Slacker in public education funding

Japan's spending on education as a proportion of gross domestic product (GDP) is the lowest among 31 member countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a comprehensive survey released in September by the OECD found.
Japan Times
Rugby
Sep 17, 2011

All Blacks validate superiority with rout

The Brave Blossoms had momentum after a confidence-building opener against France, but that wave hit a wall the second time out.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 17, 2011

American out to save boat-building art

Douglas Brooks is a man on a mission. A boat builder and craftsman originally from Connecticut, Brooks is committed to helping keep afloat the dying craft of traditional boat building in Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Sep 16, 2011

Expect tons of surprises at Tokyo Game Show

For gamers, this weekend will feel like Christmas. Tokyo Game Show (TGS), Japan's biggest gaming event, began Thursday at Chiba's Makuhari Messe convention center and will continue through Sept. 18 (on Saturday and Sunday it will be open to the public). More than 140 exhibitors are on hand, off-site...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 15, 2011

March 11 disasters a turning point for Japanese civil society

When the earthquake and tsunami hit the coast of Japan on March 11, it was clear the scale of this disaster, compounded by the nuclear crisis in Fukushima, was unprecedented — even for natural disaster-prone Japan, where some 20 percent of the world's earthquakes occur.
EDITORIALS
Sep 15, 2011

Tasks set for Mr. Noda

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda in his first policy speech before the Diet on Sept. 13 refrained from talking about eye-catching slogans. Instead he concentrated on listing issues his Cabinet will tackle in earnest — reconstruction from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, putting the Fukushima nuclear...
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA
Sep 15, 2011

Don't miss those fleeting moments

The closest English photographer, and former night porter, Chris Shaw ever came to Japan was listening to stories at home in Merseyside from his Irish ex-merchant navy father. Sailor Shaw told his wide-eyed son of an extraordinary stopover in Osaka before the war in 1939, when he was granted shore leave....
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Sep 13, 2011

3/11: no excuse for skipping your re-entry visa

Shortly after the March 11 disasters, Hans left Japan without a re-entry permit. He came back on a tourist visa and is wondering if he can easily regain his previous visa status:
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 13, 2011

Despite mounting debt, yen still a safe haven

The yen climbed to and has remained at a historic high since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami disaster. On Aug. 19 it hit a postwar high of 75.95 to the dollar, an event that has led the government to intervene in the foreign exchange market twice.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Sep 11, 2011

Print ad featuring MacArthur sends muddled message

On Sept. 2, a controversial newspaper advertisement placed by Takarajima-sha, a mid-tier publisher, went viral on Japanese blogs and Web news sites.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Sep 11, 2011

Taro Yashima: an unsung beacon for all against 'evil on this Earth'

First of two parts
JAPAN
Sep 10, 2011

'Terrorists' got redefined after 9/11

Ten years after al-Qaida attacked the United States on Sept. 11, Japan has strengthened efforts to combat domestic and international terrorism through new legislation, policy directives and tougher immigration procedures.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 9, 2011

Festival/Tokyo rewrites its script after quake

Chiaki Soma, the program director at Festival/Tokyo (F/T), needed to figure out how to proceed with the country's biggest theater festival following the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11. She closed her office for 10 days and asked the staff to carefully consider the meaning of the festival in...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 8, 2011

"Jamaica Rocks"

A group of Jamaican musicians and dancers led by explosive "singjay" Abijah, as well as Tessanne Chin and rising star I Eye, have set off on a major tour of Japan. The tour is being coordinated by the Min-On Concert Association, in collaboration with the Embassy of Jamaica in Tokyo, and Jamaica's Ministry...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 6, 2011

Kang family takes fight for justice to Tokyo

Sung Won, the father of Hoon "Scott" Kang, the Korean-American tourist who died in mysterious circumstances in Shinjuku last year, arrived in Tokyo this week to continue his fight to seek justice for his son.
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Sep 6, 2011

'Sexlessness' wrecks marriages, threatens nation's future

In its cover story last month, The Economist newsmagazine looked at the issue of "Asia's lonely hearts: Why Asian women are rejecting marriage and what that means." It offered many reasons — including economics, education level, changes in family structures and gender roles, divorce difficulties, and...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 6, 2011

Yen intervention failure may spur more BOJ easing

The yen's third monthly gain against the dollar means the Bank of Japan may decide this week to boost injections of funds into the financial system as Policy Board members seek ways to stem the currency's strength and spur growth.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 4, 2011

Flowering of civic activism

MAKING JAPANESE CITIZENS: Civil Society and the Mythology of the Shimin in Postwar Japan, by Simon Andrew Avenell. University of California Press, 2010, 356 pp., $24.95 (paper) In recent years the growth of civil society in Japan has attracted considerable attention. The invaluable contributions of Japanese...
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Sep 3, 2011

Foreign, defense picks disappoint analysts

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's choice of ministers for foreign diplomacy and security reflects an emphasis on fence-mending in his party rather than plans to address imminent diplomatic challenges, analysts said Friday.
COMMENTARY
Sep 3, 2011

Safe choice, but wrong choice?

Former Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda is the new prime minister of Japan. Noda is something of an anomaly: one of those self-deprecating politicians — he likens himself to a "loach," a scavenger that is kin to the catfish — who commands respect for having a steady hand and even temperament. Some...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Sep 3, 2011

Murray aims for change in Saitama

The Saitama Broncos have been a part of the bj-league's history since the beginning.
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Sep 3, 2011

Fiscal, economic rookies concern analysts

Financial experts on Friday were quick to voice their concern over the appointment of Jun Azumi as finance minister, saying the rookie Cabinet member will allow Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to push his own fiscal policies and may lack the authority to command the ministry's bureaucrats.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 1, 2011

Sachiko Hara makes her mark in Germany

Tokyo-born Sachiko Hara, 46, was the apple of her ordinary, working-parents' eye. She was encouraged to get a degree in German studies from the prestigious Sophia University, and after that it seemed some sort of high-flying career was hers for the taking.
JAPAN
Aug 30, 2011

Noda pro-U.S. but past remarks may haunt Asia ties

While Japan-U.S. relations will remain the cornerstone of the nation's diplomacy under the leadership of Yoshihiko Noda, the Democratic Party of Japan's newly elected president and the nation's next prime minister, his past comments on war criminals could strain ties in Asia, analysts said Monday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Aug 30, 2011

K-pop striking chord with the young

Korean pop groups began gaining popularity and media exposure in Japan last year, singing and dancing on TV shows and appearing in commercials.

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