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JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Oct 4, 2011

World Heritage listing has its price

News that Iwate Prefecture's historic Hiraizumi area and the Ogasawara Islands would be added to UNESCO's World Heritage List last June lifted the spirits of residents in the Tohoku region after the March 11 quake-tsunami trauma.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 4, 2011

Japan's rivals look to lure away yen-harried firms

As the economy staggers under the weight of the strong yen, businesses in Japan are receiving much-needed offers of help, with a chance to reduce rent, pay fewer taxes and cut utility costs.
COMMENTARY
Oct 4, 2011

Saudi Arabia's balancing act

It's amazing how much subtext you can pack into a single word. Consider this recent announcement by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia: "Women will be able to run as candidates in the municipal elections and will even have the right to vote."
EDITORIALS
Oct 2, 2011

Resources used up this year

This year, humanity used up its annual "allotment" of renewable resources on Sept. 27. Dubbed Earth Overshoot Day by the Global Footprint Network (GFN) and its member organization nef (New Economics Foundation), Sept. 27 was the day on paper when humanity began adding to its ecological debt.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 29, 2011

Sage of Omaha could help Obama

President Barack Obama sure has been talking about Warren Buffett's taxes a lot lately. At his speech before a joint session of Congress this month, the president said that the billionaire shouldn't pay a higher tax rate than his secretary, a point Buffett has often made. The secretary's tax rate, and...
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA
Sep 29, 2011

Chim↑Pom and the art of social engagement

Most commercial art galleries in Tokyo — or anywhere in the world, for that matter — would be happy to get 100 visitors through the door in a day. Artist collective Chim↑Pom's most recent exhibition, "Real Times," which was held over six days in May at Mujin-to Production in Tokyo's Koto Ward,...
JAPAN
Sep 29, 2011

Radioactive soil can fill 23 Tokyo Domes

Radioactive soil and vegetation that must be removed in Fukushima and four adjacent prefectures could reach up to 28.79 million cu. meters, equal to filling the Tokyo Dome 23 times, according to a recent Environment Ministry estimate.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 29, 2011

The real financial rogues

The story of the latest "rogue trader" who allegedly cost his Swiss employer $2.3 billion in fraudulent trading is a marvelous one, especially since the alleged rogue, Kweku Adoboli, was praying on his Facebook page for a miracle more than a week before UBS realized that a large pot of its money had...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 29, 2011

Azari & III to get Japan sweaty

Azari & III (pronounced "Azari and third") have snagged a lot of influential supporters in the short period they've been making music together.
JAPAN / POWERING THE FUTURE
Sep 28, 2011

Wind power quest faces stability, regulatory hurdles

Southern Awaji Island is technically in Hyogo Prefecture. But its location — within sight of Shikoku just across the Inland Sea — bright sunshine, and strong gusting winds give it the feel of a subtropical island.
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Sep 26, 2011

Time favors Tepco rebound

As the crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power station continues, there has been a mounting call in Japan to eliminate or reduce its reliance on nuclear power and to reform the regional monopoly enjoyed by the utilities, notably Tepco.
Reader Mail
Sep 25, 2011

Three issues in Chilean protests

Cesar Chelala's Sept. 16 article, "In Chile, dissent has a woman's face," has aspects of Chile's student protests all wrong, and Camila Vallejo's role as well. Students have combined three different movements into one, but their objectives remain separate.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 24, 2011

Keynes was not a big 'Keynesian'

What does it mean to be Keynesian? It was the British economist John Maynard Keynes who declared that when, like today, economic growth grinds to a standstill and businesses fail to provide enough jobs, governments have the ability, and the duty, to fill the gap.
Japan Times
JAPAN / POWERING THE FUTURE
Sep 24, 2011

Despite headwinds, solar energy making progress, advocates say

Japan's largest solar panel plant is in full swing in Kunitomi, Miyazaki Prefecture, daily churning out up to 16,000 30-sq.-cm solar panels that have a conversion efficiency rate of more than 12 percent.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CABINET INTERVIEW
Sep 24, 2011

Society must value overseas study: Nakagawa

Young Japanese shouldn't be blamed for not studying abroad, but society needs to change so they can attend universities overseas without having to worry about their careers after they return, education minister Masaharu Nakagawa said.
SOCCER / J. League
Sep 24, 2011

Tashiro, Antlers not ready to relinquish J. League crown

Kashima Antlers would need a miracle to end the season with their fourth J. League title in five years, but that does not mean striker Yuzo Tashiro is prepared to write the campaign off as a bust just yet.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 23, 2011

The energy for trilateral ties

The Japan-U.S.-Australia trilateral relationship looks great on paper. Three major democracies and advanced economies in the Asia-Pacific region, geographically distant but sharing numerous common values and interests.
Japan Times
JAPAN / POWERING THE FUTURE
Sep 23, 2011

Current nuclear debate to set nation's course for decades

First in a six-part series about major sources of renewable energy in Japan and the prospects for their future use and development
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 23, 2011

Thinking the unthinkable in Europe

To resolve a crisis in which the impossible has become possible, it is necessary to think the unthinkable. So, to resolve Europe's sovereign-debt crisis, it is now imperative to prepare for the possibility of default and defection from the eurozone by Greece, Portugal and, perhaps, Ireland.
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2011

Fukushima evacuees weigh risks of return

Kimie Furuuchi recently received a letter encouraging her to come home. Signed by the mayor, it began, "Dear Minamisoma Evacuee. . . ."

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