Search - special

 
 
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 2, 2011

U.S. volunteer group earns tragedy-hit Iwate's respect

Since its formation in the wake of the 2004 Sumatra tsunami, American nonprofit organization All Hands has dispatched more than 6,000 volunteers to the scenes of more than a dozen disasters across the globe. While these teams are accustomed to encountering tough conditions — including torrential rain...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2011

Radioactive debris dilemma unresolved, growing worse

Second of two parts
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jul 1, 2011

Shichi Jyu Ni Kou: Sampling unusual finds on the sake list

Perhaps the most singular aspect of Shichi Jyu Ni Kou (72 Kou) is its drinks list. No other kaiseki restaurant we know of this sophistication lays such emphasis on sake produced with organically grown rice — and to a lesser extent organic wine — to the point of devoting special sections in the menu...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 30, 2011

Getting Japan to think inside the juke box

It's juke night at Club Noon in Osaka on a Monday. The event, called Hobo, has drawn about 50 people — not many, but alright for a genre of dance music that is making its debut on the city's club scene. As with most debuts, the reaction is mixed. The men nod their heads and the women shift their weight...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 30, 2011

The enduring reputation of Shigeru Aoki's brief career

Shigeru Aoki's short life was "beset by all manner of bad luck, and he passed through it like a shooting star" wrote Hanijiro Sakamoto (1882-1969), one of the giants of post-WWII Western-style painting. Shigeru (1882-1911) was only 28 when he passed away, and his active period as a painter was all the...
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2011

Kan hints at playing nuclear energy card

Whether to promote nuclear power will be the most crucial issue in the next national election, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Tuesday, rekindling speculation that he may want to dissolve the Lower House over energy policy.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 27, 2011

Japan is losing IMF game, and it isn't keeping score

Yoshihiko Noda, Japan's finance minister, is increasingly tipped as the frontrunner to take over from Naoto Kan when the prime minister finally bites the bullet and resigns.
Reader Mail
Jun 26, 2011

An idea for a containment dome

The No. 4 reactor of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant contains large quantities of radioactive material that presents a hazard due to the threat of aftershocks like the one (6.7 magnitude) recorded Thursday morning off the Tohoku-Pacific coast.
JAPAN
Jun 26, 2011

Tax increase urged to pay for rebuilding

The government's reconstruction panel submitted a report Saturday to Prime Minister Naoto Kan mapping out measures needed to recover from the devastating March 11 quake and tsunami.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jun 26, 2011

Hearn the Westerm misfit finally found himself at home in Meiji Japan

What does it mean to be an expatriate, particularly when you feel more at home and assimilated in an adopted country than in your own?
Japan Times
LIFE
Jun 26, 2011

Inside Aokigahara, Japan's 'Suicide Forest'

I am walking through Aokigahara Jukai forest, the light rapidly fading on a mid-winter afternoon, when I am stopped dead in my tracks by a blood-curdling scream. The natural reaction would be to run, but the forest floor is a maze of roots and slippery rocks and, truth be told, I am lost in this vast...
BUSINESS
Jun 25, 2011

Tepco pensions may be tapped for redress

Tokyo Electric Power Co. may need to cut pensions to acquire ready cash to compensate people affected by the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant crisis if a government panel examining the utility's assets deems this necessary, Tepco Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata said Friday.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jun 25, 2011

Darvish leads All-Star voting

Kyodo Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters ace Yu Darvish and his three teammates were leading their respective positions Friday at the halfway point of fan voting for the three-game Japanese All-Star series in late July.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 24, 2011

Joyful Honda and the rise of the car-centric 'home center'

Are American-styled home centers Japan's retail model for the future?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 24, 2011

"Ming Wong: Life of Imitation"

For "Life of Imitation," Berlin-based Singaporean artist Ming Wong's video installations reinterpret famous movies. Taking on some roles himself and re-casting others with actors and actresses of different nationalities, he mimics scenes from classic films such as Wong Kar Wai's "In the Mood for Love."...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 24, 2011

Director Ishii brings style to family drama

Japanese directors with any kind of ambition usually end up making a family drama, which is to Japanese cinema what the Western used to be to Hollywood: the core national genre.
Reader Mail
Jun 23, 2011

Tax money for homes, not arenas

Regarding the June 18 article "Ishihara eyes another Olympics bid, this time 2020": I see that once again Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara intends to waste taxpayer money, this time by bidding for the 2020 Summer Olympics. Tokyo used ¥15 billion in taxpayer money for the campaign to host the 2016 Summer...
EDITORIALS
Jun 23, 2011

Employment in Tohoku

The nation's employment situation has worsened since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami damaged its supply chains, thus affecting economic activities nationwide. The unemployment rate for April was 4.7 percent, 0.1 percentage point higher than in March.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 23, 2011

Ludovit Kanta's 20th year in Japan Memorial Concert

Slovakian cellist Ludovit Kanta plans to celebrate his 20th anniversary in Japan with a special concert in his adopted hometown of Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture.
COMMENTARY
Jun 22, 2011

Kissinger analysis key to understanding China

It is very tempting to proclaim "On China" as the most important new nonfiction book of 2011. But that it may well be.
JAPAN
Jun 21, 2011

Reconstruction agency bill passed

A basic law for reconstructing the Tohoku region, including plans to form a new agency dedicated to this task, cleared the Diet Monday, more than three months after the megaquake and tsunami calamity.

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