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BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Aug 15, 2012

Vitamin drinks demonstrate their stamina in the market

Stamina drinks are more popular than ever in Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 15, 2012

Output trumps energy-saving mood

In this summer of idled nuclear plants and energy shortages, corporate Japan is under duress.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 15, 2012

Iran is not the cause of Syria's worsening crisis

We humans often make the mistake of not learning from history, even when it is recent. Civil war in the Levant is not a thing of the distant past. With Syria descending into worsening violence, the 15-year Lebanese civil war should provide frightening lessons of what happens when the fabric of a society...
EDITORIALS
Aug 15, 2012

Pacifist principle must stand

Japan marks the 67th anniversary of its surrender to Allied Powers in World War II on Wednesday. This year's anniversary is different from past anniversaries. It came amid moves by several political parties to change the war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution.
COMMENTARY
Aug 14, 2012

China betting on wrong side in Syrian conflict

On the weekend before last, the United Nations General Assembly voted, 133 to 12, for a resolution that condemned the violence in Syria and called for a "political transition that meets the aspirations of the Syrian people."
OLYMPICS / LONDON POSTCARD
Aug 12, 2012

Wishing the show could continue on indefinitely

There's a different vibe in the air as I walked around Olympic Park on Friday.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 12, 2012

Osaka trial highlights Japan's deficient mental-illness facilities

On July 30, the Osaka District Court sentenced a 42-year-old man to 20 years in prison for killing his sister. That's the maximum term for the crime, but it's also four years more than what prosecutors demanded. The reasoning behind the decision of the court, which included lay judges, has provoked an...
EDITORIALS
Aug 12, 2012

Happy 50th, Beatles!

Imagine there's no Beatles. It's impossible, even if you try. Their music is too well known and too deeply loved. When Paul McCartney sang "Hey Jude" at the opening of the London Olympics two weeks ago, people around the world sang along — they all knew the melody and the words. What other band in...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 11, 2012

Who can afford a day on the beach?

"We went to the beach on the mainland," said a foreign friend, "and it wasn't very nice."
JAPAN
Aug 10, 2012

Opposition vote to oust Noda fails

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and his Cabinet survived a no-confidence vote Thursday, bringing him one step closer to achieving his goal of doubling the consumption tax.
COMMENTARY
Aug 9, 2012

Populism is destroying globalism

Globalism is now faltering. The international community can neither exert its power to block the Syrian government forces from taking repressive actions nor take any effective steps to deter nuclear developments in Iran and North Korea. Security deterioration continues in Iraq while threats of terrorism...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 9, 2012

From Comme des Garcons to Somarta, Japanese fashion excels at weaving past, present and future

In 1981, while Western designers focused on shoulder-padded power suits, bright colors, sharp stiletto heels and statement jewelry, Yohji Yamamoto and Comme des Garcons' Rei Kawakubo sent their models down the runway in defiant black, voluminously draped garments, accessorized with nothing but flat shoes....
COMMENTARY
Aug 9, 2012

Populism is destroying globalism

Globalism is now faltering. The international community can neither exert its power to block the Syrian government forces from taking repressive actions nor take any effective steps to deter nuclear developments in Iran and North Korea. Security deterioration continues in Iraq while threats of terrorism...
EDITORIALS
Aug 8, 2012

The darkness in India

Twice in one week, Indians were forced to endure the worst blackouts in their nation's history. Two consecutive incidents, for reasons as yet undetermined, left hundreds of millions of people without power.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 7, 2012

Poisons in the Pacific: Guam, Okinawa and Agent Orange

The day after 19-year-old Sgt. Leroy Foster arrived on Guam's Andersen Air Force Base, one of America's largest Pacific military installations, in 1968, he was assigned to what his superior officers called "vegetation control duties."
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 7, 2012

Female parley slaps male dominance

Men need to shed their deeply ingrained leadership mentality and tap female innovation, especially in Japan, where women could be the key to regaining competitiveness and igniting the rapid economic growth being experienced in many other parts of Asia.
COMMUNITY
Aug 7, 2012

American photographer recounts childhood in wartime Karuizawa

Hungarian-American photographer Tom Haar, 71, who spent several years of his childhood in wartime Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, says he wants to help promote the resort area once again "as an international cultural community."
Japan Times
LIFE
Aug 5, 2012

Restoration of temple 'harder than building it'

The year was 1735, and on the plains of Menuma in present-day Saitama Prefecture, master builder Hayashi Masakiyo was going from village to village assembling a group of top-class carpenters, engravers, painters and other artisans.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Aug 5, 2012

How not to climb Mount Fuji

If you're considering trekking Mount Fuji this year, look sharp — just four weeks remain of the official open season. But if you're making last-minute plans for an ascent of those conical 3,776 meters, think carefully about what you're taking on. Unless, that is, you've always pictured yourself summiting...
EDITORIALS
Aug 4, 2012

Japan's ongoing suicide problem

The basic law to cope with Japan's high suicide rate went into force in 2006. Then in 2007, the government adopted an outline of policies to deal with this serious social problem. But the government was slow in tackling the problem and even after the outline was adopted, ministries and agencies failed...
EDITORIALS
Aug 4, 2012

Police lessons from 3/11

The National Police Agency on July 24 released a fiscal 2012 white book that contained a section titled "Large-scale disasters and the police" at its outset. The section details what actions the police took when the earthquake and tsunami devastated the Tohoku coastal region on March 11, 2011, and the...
OLYMPICS / LONDON POSTCARD
Aug 3, 2012

Atmosphere was electric as Phelps swam to record

What was the atmosphere like at the Aquatics Centre on Tuesday evening?
JAPAN
Aug 3, 2012

Kids' safety key worry in Fukushima

A year and half after the start of the nuclear crisis, many who attended the government's latest public hearing on energy policy in Fukushima on Wednesday still expressed concern about the impact of radiation on their children.
EDITORIALS
Aug 3, 2012

Promoting entrepreneurship

A fiscal 2012 white book on the economy and state finances endorsed by the Cabinet on July 27 stressed the importance of entrepreneurship to accelerate innovation, an important factor for economic growth as Japan faces a declining birthrate and the graying of the population.
OLYMPICS / LONDON POSTCARD
Aug 2, 2012

Volunteers, fans enrich experience, ambiance

People watching is one of the most enjoyable aspects of being in England during the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / FUJI ROCKERS
Aug 2, 2012

Mono wants you to give your parents a hug

Great gig!
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / FUJI ROCKERS
Aug 2, 2012

James Blake says nothing beats mum's advice

Two gigs in one day, you must be busy balancing your schedule right now.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past