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EDITORIALS
May 28, 2012

Selling an Olympic image

Tokyo, along with Madrid and Istanbul, has made it to the final phase of the International Olympic Committee's selection process for the city that will host the 2020 Summer Olympic Games, after the IOC's eliminated Doha and Baku from the list of candidates. But to become the host for the games, Tokyo...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 27, 2012

Anniversary of Okinawa's reversion highlights opposing press views

In February, Foreign Minister Koichiro Genba assured the mayor of Iwakuni City and the governor of Yamaguchi Prefecture that Japan would not ask the people they serve to take on "any additional burden" from U.S. forces. Iwakuni already has a Marine Corps air station, and it is thought that the United...
CULTURE / Books
May 27, 2012

Life and death north and south of the Korean DMZ

The Orphan Master's Son, by Adam Johnson. Random House, 2012, $26.00 464 pp., (hardcover) Mr. Kill, by Martin Limon. Soho Crime, New York, 2011 $23.00 375 pp., (hardcover) A North Korean will instantly recognize that the young man called Pak Jun Do was raised in an orphanage; the name is a generic one...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 26, 2012

Head monk of Kyoto temple takes Buddhism into the community

Climb the stone walkway, stippled with fallen red camellia blossoms, that leads to Kyoto's Honen-in Temple, past a mossy thatched gate and raised platforms of sand combed in tight patterns of waves and chrysanthemums, and you enter a hushed and otherworldly space at the foot of Mount Daimonji.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 25, 2012

'Men in Black 3'

How do you feel about men in black suits? Black shoes? Narrow (but not too narrow) black ties? Call me strange, but I've always had a weakness for that look, ever since Jake and Elwood Blues of "The Blues Brothers" perfected the mode in 1980. Always trust the guy in the suit, as my granny used to say....
Reader Mail
May 24, 2012

Drivel from populist politicians

It is my experience in Japan that there is a common tendency of people to make mountains out of molehills and to complain about things that are practically nothing at all. It's not universal, of course, but it is common enough that I think it must be a deliberate strategy to manufacture an excuse to...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 24, 2012

Wi-Fi, Facebook and all that jazz

Fumito Fukuchi, owner and proprietor of Kissa Sakaiki jazz cafe in Tokyo's central Yotsuya neighborhood, grins as he puts the finishing touches to an online schedule.
COMMENTARY / World
May 24, 2012

Beijing's North Korea policy only emboldens Pyongyang

Discussions in Beijing about North Korea are always frustrating. It's not so much due to the sharp divergence in U.S. and Chinese thinking about how to deal with Pyongyang; the two sides differ on many issues. No, the real problem, from our perspective, is the illogic of the Chinese position. Indeed,...
JAPAN
May 22, 2012

Spooked lemurs avoid the ground after celestial event

Possibly influenced by the annular eclipse Monday morning, 23 ring-tailed lemurs at the Japan Monkey Center in Inuyama stayed in palm trees and on poles instead of coming down to eat as usual around 7 a.m., said Akira Kato, general manager of the zoo in Aichi Prefecture.
JAPAN
May 20, 2012

Kansai leaders vow 15% cut in summer electricity use

Kansai government leaders agreed Saturday to cut electricity use in the region by at least 15 percent between July and September under the assumption that the Oi No. 3 and No. 4 nuclear reactors in Fukui Prefecture won't be restarted in time to meet peak summer demand.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
May 20, 2012

Narai's nostalgic delights revisited

I was thinking about Narai today. It sprang to mind, unbidden, while I was driving somewhere else, and all day visions of the little streets and old buildings haunted me. Memories double-exposed over the place I was really in.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
May 20, 2012

The sky's the limit

After the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11 last year, the performance of the spectacularly tall Tokyo Sky Tree going up in the capital's downtown Sumida Ward became a subject of heightened interest to experts, residents and the general public alike.
JAPAN
May 19, 2012

Outsider of sorts champions his, Okinawa's cultural roots

When observing the history of Okinawa, one can't ignore the fact that since before World War II it has produced more emigrants than any other prefecture except Hiroshima.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
May 19, 2012

Grateful architect has grand designs in store for disaster-prone Japan

The first thought that tumbled through architect Albert Abut's head as he sat in his car watching an intersection in Shibuya undulate last year during the Great East Japan Earthquake was "Is my family safe?" A quick call to his wife confirmed she and their 6-year-old daughter were fine.
EDITORIALS
May 19, 2012

A rare annular eclipse

The morning of May 21 will give many people a opportunity to start becoming interested in the universe and science. An annular eclipse of the sun can be observed in large areas of Japan along the Pacific around 7:30 a.m. that day.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
May 15, 2012

Name on deeds shouldn't affect divorce asset split

Mr. A writes: "I'm a foreigner who has been married to a Japanese for more than 20 years. We bought a house in her name a few years ago, with a loan that's due after 30 years. Every month I pay half of the monthly installment.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
May 15, 2012

The women who get go

On a chilly Sunday afternoon in January in downtown Osaka, a group of young Japanese women in kimono were drinking green tea and eating chocolate cake while excitedly chattering away. The topic was their respective rankings in the ancient Asian mind sport of go. Later, when the talk died down, six of...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
May 15, 2012

Exporting culture via 'Cool Japan'

The auto and electronics industries have served as the economy's main locomotives for decades, but now they are being eclipsed by heavier global competition, particularly from their aggressive Asian rivals.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
May 14, 2012

Atomic exit deserves warm welcome in land of nuclear apprentices

As of May 6, Japan became a nuclear power-free zone. All of the nuclear plants throughout the country are offline, either as a result of last year's Fukushima disaster or routine maintenance. The government and electric power companies are hoping to see them back in action soon, but public sentiment...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 13, 2012

Road-death stats hide the truth

The media likes to report on victims of accidents, disasters and crimes, and while it's natural to feel sympathy for unfortunate individuals, the only imaginable benefit this sort of coverage provides to viewers and readers is catharsis, which is better served by the popular arts.

Longform

Rock group The Yellow Monkey played K-Arena Yokohama in June as part of a nationwide tour. Concerts are increasingly popular in the age of social media as users value in-person experiences.
Inside Japan’s arena boom: Sports, sound and city-building