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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Feb 3, 2009

Finding the silver lining

The difficulties encountered as a foreigner can be sources of ideas for business opportunities. This belief is demonstrated by Park Tae Moon's 18 years in Japan — and his successful transition from a newspaper delivery worker to the owner of a 20-staff magazine publishing/consulting business.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 2, 2009

Oceania presses Fiji leader for free election this year

SYDNEY — An Australian newspaper has fired an editorial salvo at the military government of the Republic of the Fiji Islands while reminding the world of what happens when a country tramples on media freedom.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 30, 2009

Who says an art work must exist?

Like precious gems, Aiko Miyanaga's crystalline sculptures reflect light and shine with a brilliance that beguiles the viewer. But while diamonds are forever, Miyanaga's carefully crafted forms are not long for this world. In fact, some of her pieces are gone before her exhibitions even come to a close....
Reader Mail
Jan 29, 2009

Contradiction needs a resolution

Regarding the Jan. 15 editorial "Education on cannabis": I think educating young people to stay away from cannabis will come only after a legal contradiction is resolved. The health risks from cannabis have yet to be proven. Some say the best argument against cannabis is that it may lead to stronger...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 25, 2009

Poking fun at the ¥12,000 handout

The opposition parties' objections to the extra fiscal 2008 budget, which was put together to deal with the unexpected seriousness of the economic downturn, center on the ¥2 trillion in cash handouts originally conceived by the LDP's coalition partner, New Komeito, last summer during the final days...
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2009

Temp support groups call for urgent steps

Support groups proposed several steps to the government and opposition on Monday to strengthen the safety net for laid-off temp workers ahead of an expected increase in their number at the end of March.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
Jan 20, 2009

Shame over poor English level lies with education ministry

To the minister of education:
Reader Mail
Jan 18, 2009

Risky shakeup for students

Regarding the Dec. 23 article "English classes face a shakeup": I disagree that high school English classes should be taught primarily in English (from 2013). Some students who are not good at English won't understand what's going on and may misunderstand what teachers say.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Jan 17, 2009

Embroidery center gives women fabric for a future

For bank manager Miki Yoshida, her desire to do volunteer work in rural India started from an unlikely inspiration on an American expressway.
EDITORIALS
Jan 16, 2009

Lay judiciary on track

The lay judge system for trials of suspects indicted on charges of serious crimes will start May 21. By mid-July, lay judges chosen from among ordinary citizens, together with professional judges, may have already handed down rulings.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 16, 2009

Che Guevara revived for a movie revolution

As the Cuban revolution celebrates its 50th anniversary, it's hard to recall the enmity that led the United States to threaten and embargo its small neighbor for all these decades. Oh, right, Cuba is a communist regime, so we can't trade with them, just like, uh, China?
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 15, 2009

Bangladeshi voters say no to Islamist politics

DHAKA — As fears about the Islamization of politics in the Muslim world grow, Bangladesh, with the world's fourth-largest Muslim population (126 million), has moved dramatically in the opposite direction. Bangladesh is usually heard about only when cyclones and tsunami ravage its low coastline, but...
EDITORIALS
Jan 15, 2009

Education on cannabis

The use of cannabis is spreading even among high school students. An October-November 2007 survey by the Okinawa Prefectural Board of Education shows that quite a few high school students have been exposed directly or indirectly to cannabis and narcotics.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Jan 15, 2009

Wildlife attendant Pat Kim

Pat Kim is a wildlife attendant at the Hyatt Regency Guam, where she takes care of the exotic birds in the hotel's gardens. Since the arrival of a flock of baby parrots in Guam 15 years ago, Kim's been a virtual mom to them, nursing eight little macaws and two cockatoos into the magnificent creatures...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jan 14, 2009

'Change' is for the better in year's kanji highlights

The most popular kanji in headlines, blurbs and slogans last year had to do with disasters. Hen (変, to change, or metamorphose) was the most used character, according to the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, beating out close second and third choices kin (金 gold) and raku (落, to drop, or...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 14, 2009

Matchmakers' 'marriage hunts' beating out fate to secure mate

Many singles may prefer to leave it up to fate to find their significant other, but experts are saying those who elect to wait for "the one" may never make it to the altar.
EDITORIALS
Jan 13, 2009

Health insurance for children

The Diet has passed a law to rescue some 33,000 children of middle school age or younger who are not covered by health insurance because their parents defaulted on premium payments to the National Health Insurance system (Kokumin Kenko Hoken) administered by municipalities. The new law, however, fails...
Japan Times
LIFE
Jan 11, 2009

Asia University for Women: magic in the making

Perhaps it is only fitting in this time of dismal economic news that Bangladesh, a country known principally for natural disasters and human misery, provides an inspiring and uplifting story to relieve the gathering gloom.
Japan Times
JAPAN / MIXED MATCHES
Jan 10, 2009

Irishman lets chips fall, finds love

Neither Frankie Lafferty nor Saika Kojima ever thought they would wed a foreigner. But nine months after their first encounter in 2004, the two registered for marriage in Sayama, Saitama Prefecture.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2009

Hibiya Park tent city for jobless closes down

Some 500 jobless people, many of them laid-off temp workers, who spent the New Year's period encamped in Hibiya Park were relocated Monday to four other sites arranged by the welfare ministry after volunteers closed the temporary shelter in the heart of Tokyo.
Events / WHERE IT'S AT
Jan 6, 2009

Countdown party India style

Almost a quarter of the Indian community in eastern Tokyo, adults and children alike, shared a lively countdown party with Japanese locals on Dec. 31.

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