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EDITORIALS
May 27, 2010

Hepatitis B compensation

Ten district courts across the nation are handling lawsuits filed by 420 hepatitis B sufferers and bereaved family members who accuse the state of failing to take necessary steps to avert the risk of hepatitis B virus infection from shared needles during mass vaccinations.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
May 25, 2010

National health insurance a basic universal safety net

All Japanese citizens are required by law to be covered by public health insurance.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 23, 2010

What's a rogue gusher when you never had a cherry tree anyway?

Fingerpointing, dear reader, has been elevated to an art. Halliburton is pointing the finger at BP. Transocean is also pointing the finger at BP. And BP, not to be outdone, is pointing fingers at both Halliburton and Transocean.
EDITORIALS
May 17, 2010

What to preserve or abolish?

People's interest in the work of the Government Revitalization Unit, the Hatoyama administration's task force for cutting wasteful public spending, appears to be as high as last year. As the unit screened some 150 projects run by 47 of Japan's 104 independent administrative agencies April 23 and April...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
May 16, 2010

One of a kind

A young Japanese woman in colorful African clothes appeared on the stage at a small club in Tokyo's central Roppongi district on April 25. She sat down on a low chair in front of an eight-stringed wooden instrument.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 16, 2010

Reality check, 2010: 'Smoking doesn't cause cancer' (Japan Tobacco)

Every generation has its theme song.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
May 15, 2010

Disposing of a sticky problem

The answer to the disposable chopsticks problem is now at hand. And it always has been. We should all just eat with our fingers.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
May 15, 2010

Are we Kobo Daishi freaks?

"You're wearing a Kobo Daishi T-shirt," the Buddhist priest observed.
JAPAN
May 12, 2010

Don't fault China for sea confrontation: envoy

The Chinese marine survey ship that confronted a Japan Coast Guard vessel last week in what Japan says was its side of the border was not acting illegally, Cheng Yonghua, Beijing's new ambassador to Tokyo, reiterated Tuesday, urging both nations to resolve the dispute over the East China Sea demarcation....
JAPAN
May 11, 2010

Tuna auction reopens to tourists

The tuna auction at Tokyo's popular Tsukiji fish market reopened Monday to the public with new restrictions following a monthlong ban leveled after tourists obstructed business.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Japan Pulse
May 10, 2010

Apartment shares in Japan draw a share of the herd

Rents aren't getting any lower, but if you're willing to share, you might end up with a pretty cool place to live.
JAPAN
May 10, 2010

Taiji locals test high for mercury

TAIJI, Wakayama Pref. — Researchers have found extremely high methyl mercury concentrations in the hair of some residents of Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, where people have a tradition of eating whale and dolphin, but none have developed any related illnesses.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 7, 2010

Isolation brings The xx out to the world

LIVERPOOL, England — Every so often a band arrives, seemingly from nowhere, out of left field and fully-formed, with a sound, image and narrative so flawlessly off-kilter that once discovered, you wonder how you ever did without them.
COMMENTARY
May 1, 2010

How news skews views

BEIJING — I am not good at flying kites. But during a recent visit to the Olympic Village of Beijing, I felt compelled to do so. Despite the cold and late hour, there were many kite runners around me. A salesman insisted that I try my hand before committing to any purchase, and I did. After purchasing...
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2010

Floor manager bids Kabukiza adieu

When the Kabuki-za Theater in Tokyo's Ginza district closes its doors Friday after nearly 60 years, its floor manager will be bidding farewell to a place where he was devoted to providing the best of hospitality for the past 13 years.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / INSIDE ART
Apr 30, 2010

Japan's modern art gets an online boost

T he Bank of Japan has come under a lot of fire of late, but there's at least one thing it can be proud of: the work of former employee Rasa Tsuda.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 30, 2010

Hikari Mitsushima: from pop idol to screen diva?

Up until last year, 24-year-old Hikari Mitsushima was best known as a former member of the Okinawan idol group Folder 5.
COMMENTARY
Apr 29, 2010

Obama conceding lead in space exploration

In the movies, all the spacemen are Americans, but that's just because Hollywood makes the movies. In the real world, the United States is giving up on space, although it is trying hard to conceal its retreat.
COMMENTARY
Apr 26, 2010

China's true supporters versus the hackers

Caring about China can be hard to do. Many Chinese, for starters, resent it when others express concern, viewing it as an intrusion, especially when the other party disagrees with something China has done.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 25, 2010

Japan needs united opinion on Futenma's fate

In the middle of March, the Chunichi Shimbun published a survey of average people's opinions of the U.S.-Japan defense alliance. Seventy-eight percent of the respondents said they thought the alliance was either very important or mostly necessary. In addition, 59 percent felt the alliance was OK the...
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Apr 25, 2010

Will arrogance and ignorance doom our biosphere?

This year, 2010, is the United Nations' International Year of Biodiversity — which is a very good thing. But why this critically important global concern gets just one year is seriously worth debating.

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