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JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jan 10, 2012

Student count, knowledge sliding

Education experts have for years been lamenting the academic decline of young Japanese.
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Jan 9, 2012

China's Un-relenting watch

The entire world was shocked by the news of the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, who was as vicious a dictator as Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin or Mao Zedong.
BASKETBALL
Jan 8, 2012

Defense fuels 89ers as Kyoto's win streak ends

The Sendai 89ers belatedly rang in the new year with a confidence-boosting win on Saturday. At the same time, the Kyoto Hannaryz lost their first game since Nov. 6, falling 76-62 to the host 89ers.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 7, 2012

Market network helps community bounce back

On a bright, warm late November day, an open-air market hums with activity. Children dart among strolling tourists, vendors cry out their wares to visitors and locals alike, who are looking to stock up on produce, cheap clothes and handicrafts from around the country.
EDITORIALS
Jan 7, 2012

Bumpy road ahead for Mr. Noda

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, at a new year news conference Jan. 4, expressed his determination to push a two-stage raise of the consumption tax as well as to reform the social welfare system, and called for the opposition forces to join consultations with his Democratic Party of Japan over the issue....
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jan 5, 2012

Mahjong parlors go deeper underground to stay in business

Police get wise and crack down on some of the mahjong industry's more creative ideas.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 5, 2012

Beijing maintains its iron grip on country's past

With China stumping assertively on the world stage, one might think Beijing would be open, even gracious, about the country's past. To the contrary, history remains an exceedingly sensitive subject here, drawing relentless attention from authorities anxious to keep all skeletons safely in closets.
Japan Times
JAPAN / NUCLEAR AWAKENING
Jan 5, 2012

Disasters kick-started dormant volunteer spirit

The March disasters generated an outpouring of volunteerism unseen since — let alone matched by — what followed the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake.
CULTURE / Art
Jan 5, 2012

Looking ahead: 10 shows to mark on the 2012 calender

"Fuyuko Matsui: Becoming Friends with All the Children in the World" Yokohama Museum of ArtDec. 17, 2011-March 18.www.yaf.or.jp/yma
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 5, 2012

Looking ahead: 10 shows to mark on the 2012 calender

"Fuyuko Matsui: Becoming Friends with All the Children in the World" Yokohama Museum of ArtDec. 17, 2011-March 18.www.yaf.or.jp/yma
EDITORIALS
Jan 5, 2012

Scrutinizing weapons exports

The Noda administration on Dec. 27 drastically relaxed Japan's long-standing weapons-export ban. For the second time, the Democratic Party of Japan government greatly changed Japan's defense policy without sufficient public discussions. In December 2010, it introduced the new concept of "dynamic defense...
LIFE / Lifestyle / Japan Pulse
Jan 4, 2012

2011 trends: Social media in Japan comes of age

Without a doubt, social media in Japan brought people together in 2011. The question remains: Where does everyone like to congregate?
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Jan 4, 2012

Rubio displays jaw-dropping talent

Now I know what all the fuss has been about. Now I know why NBA executives and Euro talent scouts were so enchanted all these years. Now I understand why Donnie Walsh offered to give up smoking to make Ricky Rubio a Knick.
Japan Times
JAPAN / NUCLEAR AWAKENING
Jan 4, 2012

Mothers first to shed food-safety complacency

The disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant and the threat of radioactive fallout changed the lives of many people, including Mizuho Nakayama and other mothers of young children whose primary goal suddenly became that of keeping their kids out of harm's way.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Jan 3, 2012

The rise and fall of property taxes

There are many incentives for buying a home. One of them is to simply get out of paying rent — but that isn't to say that once you own your residence there aren't costs that have to be paid on a regular basis.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 3, 2012

Japanese must tap their 'inner Israeli'

Aimless, Japan has been struggling to find a suitable vision, or model, for its future. Should it strive to be like Finland, small but prosperous? Should it de-emphasize economic growth and focus on sustainability and lifestyle? Should it look to the go-go '80s for inspiration? Or should it withdraw...
JAPAN / NUCLEAR AWAKENING
Jan 1, 2012

DIY cesium scanning store may be 'new normal'

Kashiwa, about 30 km northeast of Tokyo, is known for its humble beginnings as a 1970s bedroom community for Tokyo workers.
EDITORIALS
Jan 1, 2012

Quality of governance in 2012

Even though the new year has started, it is impossible for people in Japan to put 2011 behind them. The effects of the March 11 triple disasters — the magnitude-9 earthquake followed by the massive tsunami that devastated the Tohoku coastal area, plus the crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jan 1, 2012

Enjoy a hot night out at Nozawa Onsen

In the north of Nagano Prefecture, mid-January is the dead of winter. White mountains rise up into cloud. Fields are blanketed in snow, woods are bare and villages are hushed by cold. All along the roadsides, snowbanks rise as high as car windows, their sides revealing layered strata of snowfall after...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Dec 31, 2011

Year of the dragon — it'll be a hot one

The year of the dragon, (tatsu, ryu or ryo in Japanese) is upon us — and now just hours before the New Year, I can see the dragon peeking out of his lair, counting down the seconds until he is allowed to take over the world for a year. As midnight approaches, he waits . . . 10, 9, 8, 7, ready to pounce...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Dec 31, 2011

Spurs in position to live up to stature

Bill Shankly, the former Liverpool manager, once remarked that Tottenham is not a club which wins trophies, it loses them. Harsh but fair. Since their last title 50 years ago, Spurs have won the F.A. Cup five times, the League Cup four times, two UEFA Cups and one European Cup Winners' Cup, a poor return...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 2011

Things the telly didn't tell you about Thatcher

Britain in the early 1970s was decayed, ungovernable and globally irrelevant, done in by the cumulative effect of postwar socialist reforms.
EDITORIALS
Dec 30, 2011

Nurturing guardians for the elderly

As the graying of the population progresses, Japan will see a rapid increase in the number of elderly people living alone or suffering from senile dementia. In the past, their relatives acted like their guardians. But the spread of nuclear families will make it difficult for relatives such as siblings...
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Dec 30, 2011

Miyazaki improves roster with addition of Mims

It's the time of the season for teams to add reinforcements as they begin jockeying for playoff positions.

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear