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BASKETBALL
Sep 21, 2012

Defense fuels victory for Japan over China in FIBA Asia Cup quarterfinals

Veterans Kosuke Takeuchi and Ryota Sakurai powered Hayabusa Japan at both ends of the floor in a 60-50 win over China in the FIBA Asia Cup quarterfinals at Ota City General Gymnasium on Thursday night.
COMMENTARY
Sep 21, 2012

What grooms a physician to oversee torture?

It was an unusual event in July at the Libertad (Freedom) prison in Uruguay. Miguel Angel Estrella, an Argentine pianist, was giving a concert in the same prison where he had been imprisoned and tortured 32 years earlier.
Reader Mail
Sep 20, 2012

Government arrogance to blame

Regarding the Sept. 18 front-page article "China warns anti-Japanese demonstrators against further violence": We have the arrogant Japanese government to thank for the current situation between Japan and China. You can't tell me that Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda didn't know that demonstrations would...
SOCCER / J. League / J. LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Sep 20, 2012

Urawa eyeing immediate reward for improved season

Urawa Reds would have settled for a step in the right direction after escaping relegation by the skin of their teeth last season, but with a first J. League title since 2006 in sight with only nine games left to play, hopes of an unlikely triumph are gathering steam.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 20, 2012

'It' girl Rola welcomes Jepsen to Japan

It's a meeting of the memes. Inside one of Shibuya's biggest clubs, Japan's happy-go-luckiest talent perches eagerly and wide-eyed on her high stool awaiting the arrival of Canada's most cheerful pop star.
COMMENTARY
Sep 20, 2012

Give Deng's proposal to share Senkaku resources a chance

"Our generation is not wise enough to find common language on this question," Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping said in 1978 about his country's territorial dispute with Japan. "Our next generation will certainly be wiser. They will certainly find a solution acceptable to all."
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Sep 18, 2012

Work-rules verdict jars with laws aimed at leveling playing field for employees

We live our lives bound by rules. As a student, my teachers scolded me to comply with school regulations, which were Draconian by modern standards: "Skirt hems must reach down to within 5 cm above the knees," "Boys must shave their heads" and other meaninglessly strict school regulations were the rule...
LIFE / Language
Sep 17, 2012

Going with the flow, in water we trust

In the Tokyo area, August was a month of hideri (日照り, brutal sunshine), the effects of which were accelerated by the setsuden (節電, energy-conserving) mood. Many of us trudged through the streets under a blazing sun, clutching a towel in one hand and a water bottle in the other.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Sep 16, 2012

'The government could still save lives'

In the immediate aftermath of last year's Fukushima triple meltdown, Japan's government and pronuclear experts scrambled to dampen public concern. Experts waved away fears about radiation, cabinet ministers scoffed at comparisons to Chernobyl, and the word "meltdown" itself was effectively scoured from...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Sep 16, 2012

People-watching on a ferry in the fog

Rust streaked down from the anchor hole in the ferry's bow. The only noticeable color in the harbor — a bright-red sun rising out of the gray water — was painted on the side of the white ship. There was no sound except the soft clanging of tools from the crew preparing to cast off.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Sep 16, 2012

'Cheating' robot poses tech and ethical issues

Like a child eagerly trying to win some trading cards during a playground huddle, I scrunch up my fingers behind my back before unleashing my hand in time-honored fashion with the Japanese phrase: "Saisho wa gu, janken ... pon!"
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Sep 16, 2012

Living the botanical high life

Japan, though it has a very different image, is on the same latitude as southern Europe and North Africa, while my nearest city, Sapporo, is oddly enough on the same east-west parallel as France's boisterously cosmopolitan second city of Marseille on the Mediterranean.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Sep 15, 2012

Hillsborough report confirms truth

It is like blaming the passengers for an aircraft crash or the audience if a theater's ceiling collapsed.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Sep 14, 2012

Tsukuda having fun in German League

Up until a year ago, Germany wasn't even an option to for running back Soichiro Tsukuda.
Reader Mail
Sep 13, 2012

The least noble of alternatives

Regarding the Sept. 10 article "Japan minister Matsushita found dead at home in possible suicide: police": The heads of Japanese ministries and companies must understand that suicide is not noble. It brings shame to families and everyone around them.
EDITORIALS
Sep 12, 2012

Turkey's troubles

Like Japan, Turkey sees itself as a bridge between two worlds — in this case, between Europe and the Middle East. Not only does geography enable Turkish leadership, but its successful combination of Islam and democracy is seen as model for the Middle East as well.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 11, 2012

18 months on, 'stayjin' in Tokyo, Iwaki tell a tale of two cities

While the media both in Japan and overseas reported on a perceived exodus of foreigners in the immediate aftermath of the March 11, 2011, disasters in Tohoku, the reality is that very few actually left for good.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Sep 11, 2012

Fukushima city: Are you happy with the post-3/11 reconstruction efforts in Tohoku so far?

Mieko Sasaki Housewife, 72 From the start nothing was managed properly. I'm upset that nothing has been resolved, even though I am 50-60 km away from (radiation) hot spots. I'm worried for the next generation but I want to say thank you to people from around the world for looking out for us in our hour...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Sep 10, 2012

Home centers forcing JA to improve its game for farmers

Home center Komeri has become a potent challenge to JA's farm-sector retail dominance.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Sep 9, 2012

Final countdown under way for Ishii, Kokubo

Infielder Takuro Ishii of the Hiroshima Carp has announced his retirement as an active player effective at the end of the 2012 season. Ishii joins infielder Hiroki Kokubo of the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks who will also hang up his spikes when his club concludes its schedule in October or November.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Sep 9, 2012

Aki Basho 2012: Time for ozeki Harumafuji to step up his game

When the Aki-basho starts today, all eyes will be on one man, and this time it is not yokozuna grand champion Hakuho. Rather the focus of sumo fans throughout Japan and around the world will be on ozeki Harumafuji. Looking to secure a second consecutive championship victory and thereby guarantee his...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Sep 8, 2012

Eye surgeon makes a difference, performing 'miracles' in Vietnam

In 1965, Akira Kurosawa directed "Akahige" ("Red Beard"), the story of an Edo Period doctor who teaches his arrogant intern the importance of compassion, responsibility, and empathizing with his patients. Ophthalmologist Tadashi Hattori has seen this movie, but he insists that he was not thinking about...
EDITORIALS
Sep 8, 2012

Cloudy outlook for economy

In its latest monthly economic report released on Aug. 28, the government downgraded its assessment of the economy for the first time since October 2011 when the effects of the European sovereign debt crisis and the strong yen broadsided the economy.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 6, 2012

Soil & "Pimp" Sessions, Jaga Jazzist and Bruut! challenge jazz's conservative image

Grammy Award-winning bassist and singer Esperanza Spalding recently told the Los Angeles Times that one of the problems in bringing jazz to a wider audience was essentially one of image.
EDITORIALS
Sep 6, 2012

Up from the 'baby post'

In May 2006, Jikei Hospital in Kumamoto City set up a "baby post" in which women who have unexpected or unwanted pregnancies and have difficulty in raising children can leave their newborn babies.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 3, 2012

The heirs of inequality

It has long been known that spurts of rapid economic growth can increase inequality: China and India are the latest examples. But might slow growth and rising inequality — the two most salient characteristics of developed economies nowadays — also be connected?

Longform

A mushroom cloud from the atomic bombing on Hiroshima taken from a U.S. military aircraft on Aug. 6, 1945. Copying the photo without permission is prohibited.
80 years on, a Japanese American hibakusha recalls the day the bomb dropped