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BUSINESS / ELECTION 2012
Dec 18, 2012

Yen skids to 20-month low against dollar after LDP victory

The yen fell to its weakest level versus the dollar since April 2011 after Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party swept back to power in Sunday's election, giving him a chance to act on pledges of expanded fiscal and monetary stimulus.
JAPAN / ELECTION 2012
Dec 18, 2012

Economy, split of antinuclear vote, aided LDP

The economy prevailed over nuclear power in the minds of voters in Sunday's general election, dealing a setback to antinuclear parties, including the newly established Nippon Mirai no To (Tomorrow Party of Japan) and the Social Democratic Party.
BUSINESS / ELECTION 2012
Dec 18, 2012

Torrent of support for LDP clears pipes for fiscal spigot

The magnitude of the Liberal Democratic Party's win in Sunday's general election smooths the path for fiscal stimulus in early 2013 as incoming Prime Minister Shinzo Abe seeks to end the economy's contraction.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / WEEK 3
Dec 16, 2012

Last Tokyo street view of Mount Fuji set to go

As the sun sets over a small patch of the Nippori district of Tokyo's northeastern Arakawa Ward, people can often be seen stopping to gaze to the West — something not so surprising atop a street named Fujimizaka, which means "Mount Fuji Viewing Slope."
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 16, 2012

Otani made right decision by choosing to play for Fighters

So, the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters got a nice Christmas present with the decision by 18-year-old fire-balling right-handed pitcher Shohei Otani to play for the defending Pacific League championship club rather than head straight for a career in the major leagues. From this point of view, the boy did...
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
Dec 16, 2012

Coal mine explosion, Nanking falls, economy grows 14 percent, whalers depart despite protests

A part of the Mount Yubari coal mine in Hokkaido exploded at 10 a.m. Monday, possibly trapping up to 238 workers.
EDITORIALS
Dec 15, 2012

Choices in South Korea

As the campaign for next Wednesday's South Korean presidential election enters its final stage, the feud between Ms. Park Geun Hye of the ruling New Frontier Party and Mr. Moon Jae In of the opposition Democratic Unity Party is heating up.
Japan Times
JAPAN / ELECTION 2012
Dec 14, 2012

Dismayed Tohoku faces first post-3/11 poll

A mere 15 minutes before Azuma Konno, a Democratic Party of Japan candidate running in Sunday's Lower House election, was set to make a stump speech in front of JR Sendai Station last Friday evening, a 7.4-magnitude quake struck deep off Miyagi's shore, flooding one coastal district with 1-meter-high...
EDITORIALS
Dec 14, 2012

Detecting active faults near reactors

A five-member team of the Nuclear Regulatory Authority decided Nov. 10 that there is a strong possibility that a "crush zone" of small rocks and sediment running beneath the No. 2 reactor of Japan Atomic Power Co.'s Tsuruga nuclear power plant is an active fault. The team's conclusion is based on a two-day...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 13, 2012

We got the beat: Our club picks to ring in the New Year

The end of the year is approaching, which means — if you're not stuck in the house watching popular music show "Kohaku Uta Gassen" with Grandma — it's time to party hard. For those who like beats, there are tons of dance-music events across the country. We've sifted through the press releases and...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 13, 2012

Independent route pays off for jazz act Indigo Jam Unit

Whichever way you look at it, there's something a little bit different about Indigo Jam Unit. The Osaka-based band has succeeded on its own terms, eschewing the Tokyo club-jazz crowd, but at the same time carving out their own little niche within the scene. They've adopted a slightly different approach...
WORLD / Politics
Dec 13, 2012

Britain less religious, more diverse

London AP
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 13, 2012

Nuclear risks not bound by borders

One of the key issues in Sunday's Lower House election is the future of Japan's 50 commercial nuclear reactors, all but two of which remain off line in light of the Fukushima disaster.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 12, 2012

'Republic of Samsung' viewed warily at home

FOCUS
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 12, 2012

Kan's plight encapsulates DPJ's plunge from grace since '09

Two days into the campaign for the Lower House election, former Prime Minister Naoto Kan made a stump speech last Thursday at Fuchu Station in his western Tokyo constituency.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 11, 2012

Privacy debate surrounds U.S. electronic spying law

A measure granting the government expansive power to intercept electronic communications in the United States without a warrant is set to expire this month, setting up a sharp debate in the Senate over how to balance privacy against national security.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Dec 11, 2012

For Santa's little stand-ins, 'tis the season for cash gigs

At a salon in Rockville, Maryland, as a beautician carefully combed bleach through his beard and eyebrows, John Parks sat with the patience of a saint — St. Nicholas, to be exact. Parks was halfway through his annual transition from black-haired information-technology specialist to white-whiskered...
EDITORIALS
Dec 11, 2012

Accident probes in full swing

The seven-member Consumer Safety Investigation Commission, which was inaugurated in October, has chosen five accidents as initial targets for investigation.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 9, 2012

Chernobyl factored in the fall of a corrupt regime — Fukushima may too

There are approximately 7,000 exhibits in Kiev's Ukrainian National Chornobyl Museum. (The location of the nuclear plant that exploded on April 26, 1986 is spelled this way in Ukrainian.) Among the documents, photographs, maps and objects at this museum that opened on the sixth anniversary of the accident...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Dec 9, 2012

There are 'snow monsters' who can help save Tohoku

Yes, it's true. Spending some money on skiing among snow monsters and soaking in hot-spring baths is a good way to help the Tohoku region of northeastern Honshu recover from the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011, the terrible tsunami it triggered and the ongoing nuclear crisis that followed....
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Dec 9, 2012

New breed of 'criminal elements' emerging from the shadows

Don't look now, but some new bad guys have come to town. Referred to as han-gure, they've actually been around for a while already, flying under the radar of the mainstream media.
CULTURE / Books
Dec 9, 2012

Serious business of murder turned into entertainment

THE INCENSE GAME, by Laura Joh Rowland. Minotaur Books, 2012, 290 pp., $25.99 (hardcover) ONE RED BASTARD, by Ed Lin. Minotaur Books, 2012, 280 pp., $25.99 (hardcover) Since publication of her first mystery, "Shinju," 18 years ago, Laura Joh Rowland has churned out about one book a year.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 8, 2012

Kada hit for playing two roles

As Nippon Mirai no To (Tomorrow Party of Japan) leader Yukiko Kada tours Japan drumming up support for her new group's candidates in the Dec. 16 election, she is facing a growing backlash in Shiga Prefecture, where she's the governor.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 8, 2012

BOJ has done too little, says contender

The Bank of Japan has failed to end more than a decade of deflation by being too cautious, according to Takatoshi Ito, a former Finance Ministry official who is a contender to become the central bank's next governor.
JAPAN / ELECTION 2012
Dec 7, 2012

Third force's reform proposals flashy but unreal

The so-called main third force parties hope to cast themselves after the Lower House election as viable alternatives to the established parties by proposing ambitious, even radical, reforms in a number of areas.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Dec 7, 2012

Xi attempts communist makeover to repair image

Just three weeks after taking over as his country's top leader, Xi Jinping is trying to give Chinese communism a more common touch.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 6, 2012

Deflation beatable in months: Abe adviser

Bank of Japan Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa's former professor said the next central bank chief could end decades of deflation in just months by going beyond the current head's "very weak" efforts.

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