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EDITORIALS
Jun 17, 2014

Saving the Japanese eel

The international designation of the Japanese eel as a species at risk of extinction underscores the need for more controlled and responsible fishing and consumption to preserve one of this nation's long-cherished food cultures.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Jun 10, 2014

Blue-eyed Austrian finds calling at shrine

Walking through the torii, or gateway, to the quiet and serene Konnoh Hachimangu Shrine in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward — minutes away from the hustle and bustle of Shibuya's main "scramble crossing" — and being welcomed by a blond and blue-eyed Shinto priest seems almost surreal.
EDITORIALS
May 10, 2014

Japan's orphans need foster care

Japan's tendency to place orphans and abused children into institutions instead of finding them foster homes too often leaves them open to mistreatment and socially scarred.
Japan Times
WORLD / EU SPECIAL 2014
May 9, 2014

EU enjoys close ties with Japan

Today is Europe Day, marking the day in 1950 when then French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman laid out a vision for post-war Europe that was to form the basis of the integrated Europe we know today.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
May 5, 2014

Money that must go down the pan

In almost all of Japan's major cities, close to 100 percent of the population are connected to public sewerage systems, but the farther away from cities you get the more the number drops. Tokushima Prefecture is the lowest, at 16.3 percent.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
May 4, 2014

Kikokushijo: returnees to a country not yet ready for them

Though the number of returnee students has tripled since 1977, and despite the recent government push to develop 'global human resources,' the existence of this group of globally educated young people has been largely ignored by policymakers.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / LEARNING CURVE
Mar 16, 2014

To get more out of your students, make the most of your space

Teachers need to know how to maximize their space to get the most out of their students, and schools should be designed to meet the needs of their specific range of students.
EDITORIALS
Mar 12, 2014

Reducing PM2.5 pollutants

Recent spikes in the concentration of so-called PM2.5 air pollutants over wide areas of Japan once again raise alarms over the potential health risks from the small particles.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 12, 2014

Chiba city asks dates to 'register' their love

Under a campaign to promote the city as a comfortable environment for young couples, the city of Nagareyama, Chiba Prefecture, has been offering residents an opportunity to officially declare their love by submitting "koi-todoke" (love registration) forms.
JAPAN / THREE YEARS AFTER 3/11
Mar 7, 2014

Illegal nuclear dumping in Shiga raises alarms

The illegal dumping in Takashima, Shiga Prefecture, of 300 tons of radioactive wood chips along a river sets off alarm bells.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 26, 2014

Get into 'Gear' at an immersive Kyoto theater show

Art Complex 1928, a contemporary performing-arts venue in central Kyoto, used to be a regional office of the Mainichi Shimbun national newspaper.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 23, 2014

Plans don't make the grade

Don't count on the education ministry's plan to hire more foreign teachers and students to have much effect on its goal of getting at least 10 Japanese universities to place among the world's top 100.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 21, 2014

Golden rice should be embraced as a lifesaver

With regard to the use of genetically modified organisms, regulations to protect the environment and the health of consumers should be maintained. What needs to be rethought, though, is blanket opposition to GMOs, especially when a lifesaver grain is at stake.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Feb 10, 2014

Renewable energy's future rosy if grids ever get updated

The March 11, 2011, mega-quake and monster tsunami that set off the Fukushima No. 1 atomic plant meltdowns forced Japan to rethink its nuclear-focused energy policy and explore the use of renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power.
Reader Mail
Feb 1, 2014

Anti-nuclear 'fad' belies the passion

Regarding the Jan. 26 AP article "Tokyo race focuses on nuke issue": I understand the strong public feeling against nuclear power that is a reaction to the 2011 Fukushima crisis.
Japan Times
JAPAN / DAVOS SPECIAL 2014
Jan 23, 2014

Reshaping Japan's next decade

(Publicity)
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 5, 2014

Wolf numbers surge across Europe

A twig snaps, a crow calls, but nothing moves in the dense pine forests of Spain's Guadarrama mountains. Vultures and eagles soar over the snowcapped peaks and wild boars roam the valleys below, as they have for centuries. But for the farmers who work this land, a threatening and worrying comeback is...
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 26, 2013

Budget limits trim NASA's plans for big projects

The Cassini spacecraft is in splendid shape as it circles Saturn. Conceived in the 1980s and launched in 1997, Cassini arrived at the gas-giant planet in 2004 and has continued to deliver stunning images of the jewel of the solar system.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Nov 23, 2013

Sendai Charter to aid conservation across Asia

Sendai is lovely at this time of year, its tree-lined streets alight with autumn colors.
JAPAN
Oct 29, 2013

Tepco refuses to fund outside cleanup

Tokyo Electric Power is refusing to reimburse the Environment Ministry for more than u00a530 billion that has been spent to decontaminate land hit by radioactive fallout from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.
MORE SPORTS
Oct 27, 2013

All Black absentees enjoying change of pace in Japanese league

The All Blacks are playing their first-ever away test against Japan in Tokyo on Saturday, but at club level the journey north is becoming familiar for more and more New Zealanders.
JAPAN / NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
Oct 20, 2013

Experts play down fish radiation fear

Given the flood of radioactive water gushing into the Pacific from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 complex, how safe, or dangerous, are fish caught off northeast Japan?
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health / FOCUS
Oct 11, 2013

Africa becomes GMO battleground

When the bell rang at midday, students fetched tin bowls and lined up under trees in the schoolyard for scoops of corn and bean porridge. Not one of them was fussy about the food.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / INNOVATIVE CITY FORUM
Sep 17, 2013

Beyond the Residence — Imagining a House for the Nostalgic Future

(Publicity)
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 16, 2013

Bats, snakes face deadly fungi threat

Jeremy Coleman was on the trail of a ruthless serial killer recently, studying its behavior, patterns and moves at a Massachusetts lab. The more he saw, the more it confirmed a hunch. He had seen it all before. He was looking at a copycat killer.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Sep 7, 2013

Don't worry: Team Abe is tackling the nuclear crisis at Fukushima

Even if the public remains overwhelmingly skeptical about nuclear safety in general, and anxious in particular about the impact of the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant on the environment, there is reassuring news that we can now rest easy.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 29, 2013

Stressed expats need, but oft sidestep real help: therapist

Many expatriates who face problems adjusting to the cultural differences of Japan tend to abuse alcohol and other drugs to deal with the stress of the transition, according to a Polish psychologist and therapist who counsels foreign residents in Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Aug 17, 2013

How green is Tohoku's 'Green Connections' project?

On its surface, the plan seems like an environmentalist's dream come true: Take wreckage from the March 11, 2011, Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami in the Tohoku region of Honshu and pile it along the washed-out coastline; cover the crumbled concrete and broken wood with soil; then top it all with...

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami