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BUSINESS
Aug 10, 2012

BTMU yanks third London worker amid Libor probe

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. said its banking unit has suspended a London-based employee, the third worker in a month, as U.K. authorities investigate suspected manipulation of benchmark interest rates.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 8, 2012

95-minute glitch halts TSE derivatives trading

Tokyo Stock Exchange Group Inc. said a computer error Tuesday halted trading of Topix index futures, Japanese government bond futures and options trading for about 95 minutes, the second time in seven months a malfunction has forced a shutdown.
JAPAN
Aug 7, 2012

LDP chief holds tax bill hostage to election

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda needs to give assurances that he will dissolve the Lower House and call a snap election before the Liberal Democratic Party votes for his social security and tax reform bills in the Upper House, the leader of the top opposition party said Monday.
JAPAN
Aug 7, 2012

Tepco airs internal crisis footage

Tokyo Electric Power Co. on Monday began allowing journalists to view 150 hours of teleconferencing footage between its headquarters and the Fukushima No. 1 plant, showing how executives interacted with workers in the first five days of the meltdown crisis that erupted on March 11, 2011.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 7, 2012

Poisons in the Pacific: Guam, Okinawa and Agent Orange

The day after 19-year-old Sgt. Leroy Foster arrived on Guam's Andersen Air Force Base, one of America's largest Pacific military installations, in 1968, he was assigned to what his superior officers called "vegetation control duties."
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Aug 7, 2012

Curbs afoot as narcotic quasi-legal herbs slip through regulatory cracks

The use of "dappo habu" (quasi-legal herbs) that are dried and mixed with stimulants to make narcotics is spreading, and many people are ending up in hospitals for drug poisoning.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 7, 2012

25,000 barrels of Agent Orange kept on Okinawa, U.S. Army document says

During the Vietnam War, 25,000 barrels of Agent Orange were stored on Okinawa, according to a recently uncovered U.S. Army report. The barrels, thought to contain over 5.2 million liters of the toxic defoliant, had been brought to Okinawa from Vietnam before apparently being taken to Johnston Island...
COMMUNITY
Aug 7, 2012

American photographer recounts childhood in wartime Karuizawa

Hungarian-American photographer Tom Haar, 71, who spent several years of his childhood in wartime Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, says he wants to help promote the resort area once again "as an international cultural community."
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 7, 2012

Sharp needs Hon Hai ties, if only for Apple

Taiwan billionaire Terry Gou built a manufacturing empire that assembles iPhones and iPads. His Foxconn Technology Group may be key to ensuring Sharp Corp.'s survival and a stable supply of components for Apple Inc.
JAPAN
Aug 6, 2012

New hearing held to gauge nuke sentiment

The government continued to solicit public opinion on nuclear energy policy over the weekend by holding a discussion-oriented polling session in Tokyo involving about 300 citizens from across the country.
EDITORIALS
Aug 4, 2012

Police lessons from 3/11

The National Police Agency on July 24 released a fiscal 2012 white book that contained a section titled "Large-scale disasters and the police" at its outset. The section details what actions the police took when the earthquake and tsunami devastated the Tohoku coastal region on March 11, 2011, and the...
BUSINESS
Aug 4, 2012

Daiwa has another good quarter

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. said Friday it posted a second straight quarterly profit, exceeding analysts' estimates as the brokerage cut costs and trimmed staff.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Aug 3, 2012

World Cosplay Summit to hit its climax in Nagoya

Last week the London Olympics kicked off with no shortage of spectacle. However, if it's visual delights you're looking for then it might be better to turn your eyes toward Nagoya instead of London. This event is all about cosplay — the very essence of spectacle.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 3, 2012

Restaurant Week offers meal deals across Japan

In the relentless heat of summer in Japan, it is often hard to generate the appetite and energy for a full-course sit-down meal. But there's far more incentive to head out for dinner (or lunch) at a top restaurant if you know you'll be getting a bargain.
Reader Mail
Aug 2, 2012

U.S. study remains wise option

Unlike the situation with young Chinese and South Koreans, the number of Japanese students entering American universities has been declining over the past decade. Fewer students may be qualified to study in the United States, and others are probably choosing to study in other countries. The latter action...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 2, 2012

Speculative bubbles without financial markets

A speculative bubble is a social epidemic whose contagion is mediated by price movements.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 2, 2012

Christian Boltanski's mesmeric "No Man's Land" draws visitors to the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale 2012's new Satoyama Museum of Contemporary Art

Christian Boltanski's "No Man's Land" is both daunting and mesmerizing. It's difficult to take your eyes off the 20-ton mound of clothing, which at 9 meters tall dwarfs an accompanying crane that tosses on more T-shirts, trousers and dresses with a giant claw.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jul 31, 2012

How would changing jobs affect my visa?

S.E. has been working at the same English school for 16 years but is thinking of leaving her job and moving to another part of Japan.
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...
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jul 27, 2012

Yukata tour to show there's more to Sumida Ward than just the Skytree

The Tokyo Skytree has been hogging the spotlight in Sumida Ward recently. With lineups to get in still pretty long, people in the area want tourists to check out the more historic parts of the neighborhood.
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.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Jul 24, 2012

'Flyjin' feel vindicated, worry for those left in Japan: some readers' responses

Responses to Patrick Budmar's June 12 Zeit Gist article, " 'Flyjin' feel vindicated, worry for those left in Japan:"
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jul 24, 2012

From baby massage to fostering pets, many options for volunteers

Reader M.S. is looking for volunteer opportunities in Tokyo that don't require fluent Japanese ability, as many — if not most — do. In particular, she'd like to work with animals.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 23, 2012

This summer, signs of setsuden will again be all around us

Now that all but one of Japan's usable nuclear reactors have been halted as a result of the Fukushima No. 1 power plant disaster — which followed the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami — the nation's households, small businesses and factories will once again plow forward through the hot summer...
Reader Mail
Jul 22, 2012

Put a lid on 'malignant' shills

Regarding the July 16 Kyodo article "Public reactor hearing (Sendai) rocked by alleged government shill": A Japanese seminar or workshop usually has a question-and-answer time at the end for audience members. People are so shy that none wants to ask the first question. An awkward silence may ensue. To...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jul 22, 2012

Spies and their watchers in a tense war of nerves

What in the world is China going to do with 5,000 tsubo — about four acres — of land in Niigata City? Build a new consulate general, it says. But that seems like an awful lot for a consulate in a regional city whose main activity since it initially opened has been issuance of commercial visas.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’