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COMMENTARY
May 1, 2011

The lowdown on sieverts and a healthy diet

Gastronomic habits are hard to change. That was conventional wisdom as regards Japanese food when I arrived here more than four decades ago. After all, back then, there were said to be only about a dozen Japanese restaurants in this city.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 1, 2011

It is time to target who calls the shots in Japan when disaster strikes

Why did it take so long for any Japanese Cabinet ministers to make their presence felt on the site of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant — and what does this tell us about the decision-making process in Japan?
EDITORIALS
May 1, 2011

Kodansha's changing guard

The March 11 earthquake and tsunami have overshadowed the news on March 30 of the death at the age of 67 of leading Japanese businesswoman Sawako Noma due to heart failure.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
May 1, 2011

Revenge of the aunties

If the collective noun for a bunch of morons is a "drool," then what would it be for a group of feckless twenty-something cretins? A "slobber"? A "salivation"? The group of six men in this rollicking satire run the entire gamut of idiocy as they battle the formidable Midori Oba-sans (aunties), those...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 1, 2011

Tohoku charity a minefield for Japanese celebrities

One of the worst-kept secrets on television is the location of Dash Village, a remote farm that was built by the boy band Tokio in the late 1990s. It has since been maintained by the quintet as part of a running feature on their Sunday night Nihon TV variety show "Tetsuwan Dash," and in order to discourage...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 30, 2011

Japan's oldest boxer keeps dreams of championship alive

"Champions aren't made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them: A desire, a dream, a vision . . . . They have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill."
EDITORIALS
Apr 30, 2011

Learning from train tragedy

Six years have passed since the April 25, 2005, train crash on West Japan Railway (JR West) Co.'s Fukuchiyama Line in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, in which 106 passengers and the driver were killed, and 562 others were injured. In the ensuing years, people have been asking why the accident occurred and...
CULTURE / Art
Apr 29, 2011

ArtGig offers 'Dirty, dirty! Sex, sex!' — for free

When curator Shai Ohayon says he's organizing 12 hours of "dirty, dirty, sex, sex" in Shinjuku, he's not making a sordid offer.
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Apr 29, 2011

Hamamatsu's Parmer named season MVP

When a team goes 40-6 in the regular season, its players deserve recognition for their success.
COMMENTARY
Apr 29, 2011

Attacks on physicians in Bahrain

The government of Bahrain has been conducting a systematic attack on doctors and other medical personnel, ostensibly because of the care they provide to protesters attacked and maimed by government forces. The United States, which has been quite clear in its criticism of repression in Syria, should now...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 29, 2011

Logic System sets the mood for Moog

"I think people come to my shows to hear a 'nostalgic' sound, something that they might have otherwise forgotten," says Hideki Matsutake, who has been at the forefront of Japan's electronic music scene since its beginnings.
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Apr 29, 2011

Media should be included in voting for bj-league awards

It's time for the bj-league to get rid of its voting system — players and coaches have votes but the media doesn't — for the Best Five team and related awards. The current selection process reminds one of an elementary school popularity contest.
Reader Mail
Apr 28, 2011

Refusing a Russian hospital ship

Since March 24, I have organized a group of online friends to help facilitate the deployment of a Russian military hospital ship in port near my hometown of Vladivostok, Russia. In its initial response to our group, the Japanese Foreign Ministry cited concerns about visas, the need for translators and...
Reader Mail
Apr 28, 2011

Better food service for evacuees

Regarding Kaori Shoji's April 20 article, "A personal letter from a Miyagi hinanjo resident": Thank you for the very touching comments from a person who survived the March 11 quake-tsunami and who now lives as an evacuee in a gym.
LIFE / Lifestyle / Japan Pulse
Apr 26, 2011

Electric bikes highly charged and geared for commuting

Frequent quakes makes commuters rethink their modes of transportation and the worth in investing in an electric bike.
COMMENTARY
Apr 25, 2011

The lower odds for female births in India

India's 2011 census report has many heartening things to say. More educated men and women indicate a surge in literacy. People are living longer than ever before. Stability can be seen in the size of family; couples are having fewer children.
Reader Mail
Apr 24, 2011

Keep the good ol' boys tethered

Regarding the April 19 article "METI hit for 'amakudari' habits that put retirees in Tepco" (in which the government is described as urging industry ministry officials to refrain from taking positions at power utilities after retirement): It is old government retirees "descending from heaven" into comfortable...
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Apr 24, 2011

After March 11, Japan must reconsider its energy options

Viewed from abroad, there is no doubt that Japan is suffering an unmitigated disaster.
CULTURE / Books
Apr 24, 2011

Lotus Stutra enlightenment

THE STORIES OF THE LOTUS SUTRA, by Gene Reeves. Wisdom Publications, 347 pp., 2010, $18.95 (paper) Gene Reeves is just the kind of preacher-teacher I like, one who lays his wares out, takes a step back and lets you appraise what he has to offer without obligation. Buddhism, like all religions, is best...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / BACKSTREET STORIES
Apr 24, 2011

Gaming Moto Azabu

Rather than dwell on the dark side of life at this time, I decide to get my game on by heading to a store just off Azabu-Juban's main shopping street in central Tokyo's Minato Ward. Max Game, at the foot of Kurayamizaka (Dark Slope), is surrounded by kids of all ages sitting at tables, strategizing and...
CULTURE / Books
Apr 24, 2011

Of monsters and men: Godzilla's stable master

MASTER OF MINIATURES, by Jim Shepard. New York: Solid Objects, 2010, 51 pp., $12 (paper). Jim Shepard's "Master of Miniatures" is a masterful miniature, a small container filled with substantial events and substantial pleasures. Based on the life of Eiji Tsuburaya, the special effects man who made it...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Apr 24, 2011

Miyazaki's Cole displays fortitude by sticking it out

For every expansion team, its inaugural season is a series of highs and lows. There's the exhaustion and enthusiasm that it takes to build a team from scratch and the growing pains that go with it. And it's never an easy task.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Apr 23, 2011

Experience has taught Nakamura how to persevere

If the J. League is looking for inspiration as it prepares to restart the season on Saturday, Shunsuke Nakamura knows more than a thing or two about triumph over adversity.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Apr 22, 2011

NHK hopes for a home run with new anime

It's a quintessential scene of Japanese youth: Young boys out in baseball uniforms jog across their school grounds, the white and maroon of their gear contrasting with a clear blue sky. In the bleachers, an earnest-looking high school girl named Minami, in a jersey that matches the team's uniforms, eyes...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 22, 2011

'Unknown'

Life as you know it can shatter and change in just a few short minutes — ain't that the truth. For Dr. Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) in "Unknown," the shock comes twofold: Although he can remember his own identity and life prior to his taxi accident, no one else recognizes him — not even his wife....
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Apr 22, 2011

Lack of action makes it tough for Albirex BB

The Niigata Albirex BB will enter the postseason after a remarkably light schedule in recent weeks. So light in fact that it's easy to forget when the team actually played games in back-to-back weeks.
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Apr 22, 2011

Japanese music fans need the shows to go on

Last month I wrote a hastily conceived piece for this column documenting the immediate reaction of the music scene in Tokyo to the Great East Japan Earthquake. It was a difficult article to write because the situation was still unfolding and so much was unresolved; however, a month later, a picture of...

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