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EDITORIALS
Apr 6, 2012

Prosecution's organizational ills

The Osaka District Court on March 30 found Mr. Hiromichi Otsubo, former head of the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office's special investigation squad, and his former deputy Mr. Motoaki Saga guilty of covering up evidence tampering by a subordinate, Mr. Tsunehiko Maeda.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2012

Budget finally passed

The fiscal 2012 budget, at more than ¥90 trillion the biggest in history, was finally enacted by the Diet on Thursday as an earlier vote in the Lower House took priority after the opposition-controlled Upper House shot it down earlier in the day.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Apr 6, 2012

Innsyoutei: Where to wander for a springtime sakura snack

The pink mist descends and sakura fever sets in. Resistance is futile: Get out there under the petals, gaze, imbibe, revel and cavort. And then, as the evening chill sets in — as it inevitably does at this time of year — adjourn for dinner. Here are a few places close to key hanami (blossom-viewing)...
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 / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Apr 3, 2012

Little houses crammed in a big city

The neighborhood of Minami Senju in Tokyo's Arakawa Ward is serviced by three train lines that provide easy, quick access to all parts of the city and beyond. East of these lines is an area called Shioiri, highlighted by a relatively new urban development complex centered around high-rise condominiums...
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.
EDITORIALS
Apr 2, 2012

Lawmakers' pay cut for what?

The Democratic Party of Japan has proposed cutting Diet members' salaries by ¥3 million annually in fiscal 2012 and 2013. The proposal came after the Diet enacted a special law to cut the wages for national public servants by an average of about 7.8 percent, also in fiscal 2012 and 2013. The public...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Apr 1, 2012

Naohiko Jinno: Master of public finance brings life to numbers

Born the grandson of a once-prosperous textile manufacturer in Urawa, Saitama Prefecture, Naohiko Jinno says that when he was growing up he was told by his mother, over and over again, that money was not important.
EDITORIALS
Apr 1, 2012

Money to study abroad

To combat the decline in Japanese students studying abroad, the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry is finally taking action. Special five-year grants of ¥100 million to ¥200 million will be offered to 40 universities for study abroad programs. These grants are a welcome step...
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Apr 1, 2012

Woodland therapy yields Tohoku school 'dream'

When our Afan Woodland Trust came into being in 2002 (after 16 years of hard work to purchase the land and begin restoring abandoned forest to healthy biodiversity), we started a program to invite disadvantaged, neglected or abused children into these living woods.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Mar 31, 2012

Swallows' Ishikawa stifles Giants in opener

Masanori Ishikawa often makes runs hard to come by. On this night, the Yomiuri Giants should feel fortunate to even have gotten on base.
BUSINESS
Mar 31, 2012

Experts: 10% tax too minor to dent deficit

The Cabinet on Friday made good on its vow and moved forward on doubling the consumption tax by 2015, but some experts and lawmakers already see it as only a tiny step in cutting the ever-expanding fiscal deficit.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 31, 2012

Singer finds fusion in Japan's cultural dichotomy

Japan's fusion of the traditional and modern fascinated musician Yara Eddine as a young child when she learned about the country at a school in Canada. Fifteen years later, Eddine witnessed this integration firsthand.
COMMENTARY
Mar 30, 2012

Russia's civil society is key

The future of democracy in Russia will depend on the correct relationship between "people" and "power" — the two major elements constituting any society.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 30, 2012

Art Fair Tokyo searches for new breed of buyer

Occupying almost twice the area of last year's event, and with more galleries set up and side-events being staged than ever before in its Tokyo International Forum venue, this year's Art Fair Tokyo will almost be unrecognizable to regular visitors — let alone anyone returning for the first time since...
CULTURE / Art
Mar 30, 2012

Art Fair Tokyo searches for new breed of buyer

Occupying almost twice the area of last year's event, and with more galleries set up and side-events being staged than ever before in its Tokyo International Forum venue, this year's Art Fair Tokyo will almost be unrecognizable to regular visitors — let alone anyone returning for the first time since...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 30, 2012

'The Help'

The Help" could be a lot more thorny than it is, but as a tale of bigotry and racial prejudice set in Jackson, Mississippi, in the early 1960s, its contours are surprisingly smooth. It doesn't have the high rage factor of, say, 1988's "Mississippi Burning," nor the intense, provocative drama of 1990's...
JAPAN
Mar 29, 2012

Firms furious over Tepco rate hike

Businesses are displeased to say the least with Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s rate hike taking effect April 1, as it will put an extra burden on their operating costs, especially in those industries that use a large amount of power.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 29, 2012

The precious qualities of today's art jewelry

"The difference between art jewelry and a painting or a sculpture is that jewelry is closer to the heart — literally. Because you can wear it, it's actually even more intimate and personal than other artwork."
CULTURE / Art
Mar 29, 2012

The precious qualities of today's art jewelry

"The difference between art jewelry and a painting or a sculpture is that jewelry is closer to the heart — literally. Because you can wear it, it's actually even more intimate and personal than other artwork."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 29, 2012

Japan's tall stories of great towers in the city

Perhaps because we are upright, vertical animals, towers have always held a special fascination for us. The artist Taro Okamoto expressed this attraction in anthropomorphic terms when he designed the centerpiece of the 1970 Osaka Expo, the 70-meter-tall "Tower of the Sun" with its three faces, including...
CULTURE / Art
Mar 29, 2012

Japan's tall stories of great towers in the city

Perhaps because we are upright, vertical animals, towers have always held a special fascination for us. The artist Taro Okamoto expressed this attraction in anthropomorphic terms when he designed the centerpiece of the 1970 Osaka Expo, the 70-meter-tall "Tower of the Sun" with its three faces, including...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 29, 2012

'Japanese-European Samurai: Arms and Armor of Austria and Japan'

During the 2001-04 restoration of the Japanese cabinet of the Eggenberg Castle in Graz, Austria, it was discovered that the wall covering of the room was in fact a 17th-century Japanese folding screen depicting Osaka Castle. The discovery of the work, which was originally commissioned by Toyotomi Hideyoshi...
CULTURE / Art
Mar 29, 2012

'Japanese-European Samurai: Arms and Armor of Austria and Japan'

During the 2001-04 restoration of the Japanese cabinet of the Eggenberg Castle in Graz, Austria, it was discovered that the wall covering of the room was in fact a 17th-century Japanese folding screen depicting Osaka Castle. The discovery of the work, which was originally commissioned by Toyotomi Hideyoshi...
EDITORIALS
Mar 29, 2012

Child allowance devoid of principle

Providing a monthly child allowance of ¥26,000 for each child aged 15 or younger to all the child-rearing families was one of the primary campaign promises made by the Democratic Party of Japan in the August 2009 Lower House election and it began providing half the amount in fiscal 2010. The basic concept...

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan