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EDITORIALS
Jun 19, 2011

Speaking out on nuclear power

Japan's most renowned living writer, Mr. Haruki Murakami, received the Premi Internacional Catalunya prize in Barcelona on June 9 from the Catalan Government, and took the occasion to criticize Japan's nuclear policies.
JAPAN
Jun 18, 2011

Temple hopes for UNESCO nod and big cheer for Iwate

Hidden among giant cedar trees at the summit of a mountain in central Iwate Prefecture, Chusonji Temple, with its stunning golden hall dating from the 12th century, couldn't feel farther from the distraught, tsunami-ravaged coast just 50 km away.
EDITORIALS
Jun 16, 2011

Weapons-export ban threatened

In meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates in Singapore on June 3, Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa told him that Japan would allow the United States to export to other countries an anti-missile missile being jointly developed by Japan and the U.S. if certain conditions are met.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 16, 2011

Son takes on atomic future with solar plans

Billionaire Masayoshi Son has a track record in taking on monopolies after building a business that opened up the nation's telecommunications industry. Now he aims to shake up Japan's power utilities amid the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years.
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Jun 15, 2011

Yakuza eye cleanup profits

The government and law enforcement authorities appear to be fighting an uphill battle to prevent gangsters and other "antisocial" groups from cashing in on disposing of huge amounts of debris generated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, which played havoc with large areas along the Pacific coast...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 15, 2011

Economy hits political faults

Naoto Kan's departure as Japan's prime minister looks to be as messy and wretched as his uncomfortable time in the job.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 15, 2011

Shipyards beat rivals in fuel-saving

Japanese shipbuilders, leapfrogged by South Korean and Chinese yards in an industry they once dominated, are counting on fuel-saving technology to help them overcome the stronger yen and high wages.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 14, 2011

New budget carrier Peach hopes to fly high, charge low

Despite the huge impact the ongoing nuclear crisis is having on the nation's travel and aviation industries, the head of Japan's newest budget carrier said it is sticking to plans it made before March 11, including extremely low fares and black ink three years after its takeoff.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jun 14, 2011

Support network backs Japanese-Filipino kids abandoned by fathers

We regularly receive emails from Japanese-Filipinos searching for their Japanese fathers. Many of these adults were abandoned as children, along with their Filipino mothers, while others were forced to leave Japan for various reasons.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jun 14, 2011

Top chefs keep taste of Tohoku alive

Some of the country's most highly esteemed chefs are working together to ensure that the people of the Tohoku region are not forgotten three months after being hit by the March 11 disasters.
EDITORIALS
Jun 11, 2011

Pursuing a new energy policy

The crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant has prompted the government to launch a seemingly radical rethink of Japan's energy policy. On May 25, Prime Minister Naoto Kan announced that Japan will generate 20 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by the early 2020s, but without...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jun 11, 2011

How I saved ¥40,000 doing it myself

The day I leave Japan, the country will be worse off for it. The Japanese will have lost a cartoon character in their comic strip of life. Once I am gone, who will they laugh at?
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Jun 10, 2011

Toyama dumps coach again; Ishizaki eyes Europe

The Toyama Grouses' predictable blueprint — one that's failed repeatedly — contained the following decision on Wednesday:
EDITORIALS
Jun 10, 2011

Energy draft misses the point

The nuclear accidents at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in the Tohoku-Pacific region have given Japan second thoughts on the wisdom of pushing nuclear power generation. In view of the havoc wreaked by the nuclear plant crisis, Prime Minister Naoto...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Jun 7, 2011

'English-speaking diaspora' should unite, not backbite

There has been an ill wind blowing around Japan, and I don't just mean the fallout after Fukushima. I'm talking about the nasty attitude non-Japanese (NJ) residents have towards each other, even in this time of crisis.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 7, 2011

Quake levels playing field for imported cars

The record March 11 earthquake had an unexpected side effect for Bayerische Motoren Werke AG dealer Jun Kubota: His showroom in central Tokyo had its best April in at least three years.
EDITORIALS
Jun 6, 2011

Child abduction convention

The Kan Cabinet on May 20 endorsed a policy of Japan joining the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, which sets procedures for settling cross-border child custody disputes.
EDITORIALS
Jun 5, 2011

Japanese life index

Last month the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development cataloged Japanese dissatisfaction in a survey of Japan and the 33 other members of the OECD. The compiled results in OECD's "Your Better Life Index" show that despite the relatively good aspects of life in Japan, many more parts of...
JAPAN
Jun 3, 2011

Kan offers exit, beats no-confidence vote

Prime Minister Naoto Kan survived a no-confidence motion Thursday after suddenly announcing his intention to resign once disaster-hit Tohoku is back on its feet and the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant is safely under control.
/ Sarah Furuya Coaching
Jun 2, 2011

A hard road to the leading edge

Paul Frey writes in his May 29 letter, "Japan's return to the leading edge," that Japan can be a leader in the "new" areas of wind, solar, geothermal, conservation and energy efficiency. That goal will certainly not be reached tomorrow, but I agree with Frey that Japan ought to take serious steps in...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 1, 2011

Strong trilateral ties in Asia are key to stability

Like many regions of the world, Northeast Asia faces severe political challenges in creating a viable structure of peace. But given China's rising power, such a regional structure is becoming all the more necessary if today's lack of trust is not to devolve into military antagonism.
Reader Mail
May 29, 2011

JTA's questionable use of students

The Japan Tourism Agency's recent announcement that it will dispatch 1,100 international students to tourist destinations throughout Japan beginning in July raises more questions than it answers. JTA's press release and an accompanying PDF can be found at www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/news03_000028.html.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
May 27, 2011

Farming without chemicals — or radiation

Yasunori Toyoguchi peers under the netting protecting a small rice paddy. "See," he says, pointing to some grassy shoots, "here's this year's crop, just starting to emerge." He scoops up a little of the water trickling over the mud with one hand. "See how clear and clean this is?" he asks. "The frogs...
Reader Mail
May 26, 2011

Compassionate aid has strings

William Twaddell's May 19 letter, "Okinawa issue and aid don't mix," criticizes my May 8 letter ("Better use of the U.S. Marines"), saying that the issue of where to locate U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, Okinawa Prefecture, should not be conflated with the marines' relief operations after the...

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