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LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 30, 2012

Mikitani and his 'Englishnization' of Japanese business

On July 1, Rakuten Inc. CEO Hiroshi Mikitani published a book about his company's so-called Englishnization project titled "Takaga Eigo!" (「たかが英語!」"It's only English") to coincide with the the start of the company's eigo kōyōgoka (英語公用語化, making English the official language)....
OLYMPICS
Jul 30, 2012

Lochte takes gold as Phelps misses medal

He made it look easy, and he made history in the process, beating the greatest swimmer of all time.
Reader Mail
Jul 29, 2012

Ridding the world of dictators

In his response to Roger Pulvers' July 22 Counterpoint article "Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto: 'What Japan needs now is dictatorship," Ian Gould writes that "Dictators exist only to climb to the top of the rest of humanity" ("Mayor's kind needs pruning," July 26 letter). But I am confident that, for the...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jul 29, 2012

Vancouver fest offers a warm (but not humid!) welcome

Summers in Tokyo, indeed in most of Japan except for Hokkaido or Okinawa, are often unbearably hot and humid, with temperatures in the mid to high 30s and humidity reaching as high as 90 percent. This summer, in the wake of last year's Fukushima nuclear power plant meltdown, use of air conditioning will...
SPORTS / ODDS AND EVENS
Jul 27, 2012

London will launch dreams for millions

You can't put a price tag on dreams. And that alone has created worldwide fascination for the Olympics for decades now.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 27, 2012

'Madagascar' director Darnell returns to complete his trilogy

After a four-year wait, the third installment in DreamWorks Animation's "Madagascar" series will screen this summer in Japan. Opening Aug. 1, "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted" is directed by Eric Darnell, who also made the first two films.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jul 25, 2012

Wag the dog: Pooch tax more than just a source of revenue

A city in Kansai finds its citizens surprisingly receptive to a tax on dogs.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 25, 2012

Wired with technology to fight fear in Mexico

A couple of months ago we visited Juarez, Mexico, a city right across our border — yet so far away.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Jul 22, 2012

Summer League needed to help players improve

Summer time shouldn't be a low-key offseason for the bj-league. Instead, there's plenty of work to do — together.
LIFE
Jul 22, 2012

Taxi facts and figures to impress your driver

Next time you're in the back seat and tired of watching the meter clock up, use these ice-breakers to get the conversation flowing in your driver's language.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / JAPAN TIMES BLOGROLL
Jul 22, 2012

Shisaku

Shisaku is a homophone meaning essay, a meditation upon a subject, a policy or measures a government takes. A fitting title for analyst Michael Cucek's blog which provides insight and opinion on Japanese politics, with a distinct hint of satire. In the eight years he's been writing the blog, Shisaku...
Japan Times
LIFE
Jul 22, 2012

A century of Tokyo taxis

The year 1912 is recorded in Japan both as the 45th year of Meiji Era and the first year of the Taisho Era. After a protracted illness, Emperor Mutsuhito expired, age 61, on the night of July 29 (although the official announcement came the next day). Through the remainder of the summer, the front pages...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jul 22, 2012

Is Rio+20 the way the world ends — with a whimper?

Last month, more than 45,000 people descended on Rio de Janeiro for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jul 21, 2012

Architect builds Heart House for 3/11 survivors

When Richard Bliah visited Ishinomaki last August after the coastal city in Miyagi Prefecture was devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the veteran French architect was quite sure many residents lost not only family and friends but also the "network of people living in the same area" —...
COMMENTARY
Jul 21, 2012

A telling tale of two Koreas

What has been happening in North Korea recently is straight out of the "Hereditary Dictatorship for Dummies" handbook. Kim Jong Un, the pudgy young heir to the leadership of one of the world's last communist states, is removing powerful people who were loyal to his father and replacing them with men...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jul 21, 2012

Raw beef liver not alone in Japan's big menu of extreme foods

The ban on serving raw beef liver at restaurants in Japan is a small victory for the bovine community. The question now is, will this cause a black market to fill the gap? Could mere cow tipping turn into liver-stealing? Will we have little yatai restaurants inside pastures with cows on display the way...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 20, 2012

Just what's so brave about 'Brave'?

"Wall-E" was a brave endeavor. A kids' film where the main character can't speak: That must have been a hard sell, and a risk in itself. But it paid off, creating one of the most emotionally charged films of 2008. "Wall-E" taught a moral lesson about our consumerist behavior; a lesson that transcended...
EDITORIALS
Jul 19, 2012

A good start for Libya

The Arab Spring has been a mixed blessing for Western governments. While those governments provided considerable support for the forces battling the old regimes in the region, the overthrow of those autocratic governments has in some cases brought to power Islamic political parties whose commitment to...
BUSINESS
Jul 19, 2012

FSA's No. 2 tells Nomura to get its house in order after insider probe

The government wants the Nomura brokerage to clean its "wounds" and uphold higher ethical standards after it leaked information used for insider trading, the deputy head of the Financial Services Agency said.
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Jul 17, 2012

Chindonya

Dear Alice,
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Jul 15, 2012

Better late than never for Japan's first, "slowest" Olympian

Have you heard the one about the Japanese runner who took 54 years to finish the Olympic marathon?
EDITORIALS
Jul 15, 2012

Alternatives by Mr. Ozawa

Former Democratic Party of Japan chief Ichiro Ozawa, who bolted the DPJ to protest against Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's plan to eventually double the consumption tax rate from the current 5 percent to 10 percent from October 2015, inaugurated a new party on July 11 together with 36 other Lower House...
OLYMPICS
Jul 15, 2012

Speculation increases on who will light flame

There's plenty of speculation and anticipation about who will light the Olympic flame on July 25 at the London Games Opening Ceremony.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Jul 15, 2012

Slugs, snails and astonishing tales

Late last month, I arrived at my friends' house in the historic southwest English town of Stroud a little too early, only to find both Ian and Caroline Redmond out. So, with time on my hands, I wandered into their lovely garden on the slope of a hill overlooking the town and began to "potter about."...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jul 14, 2012

NPO's projects seek to help Tuvaluans facing global warming issues

For many years people have been acquainted with the word "refugee." Though it usually brings to mind wars, genocide and ethnic cleansing, more and more often it has been linked to climate change and natural disasters. We may now be entering the age of the "environmental refugee."
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Jul 13, 2012

Tuneups good tests for Japan teams

Japan Olympic men's soccer team manager Takashi Sekizuka has warned his players their stay in London will be short-lived unless they show more imagination than they did in Wednesday's 1-1 final home warmup draw with New Zealand.

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