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JAPAN
Jul 1, 2011

113 households identified as radioactive hot spots

The central government on Thursday designated 113 households in Date, Fukushima Prefecture, as areas with radioactive hot spots and recommends that the people living there evacuate despite being outside the no-entry zone around the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2011

Doubled sales tax by '16 gets nod

Yielding to strong opposition from the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, the government of Prime Minister Naoto Kan, the DPJ president, approved a social security and tax reform plan Thursday that will enforce a 10 percent consumption tax "by the mid-2010s," instead of its initial target of fiscal 2015....
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jul 1, 2011

Nigerian folk tale to transport theater-goers to the end of the world

Deaf Puppet Theater Hitomi is a company aimed at appealing to all audiences, regardless of nationality, age, language and disability.
BUSINESS
Jul 1, 2011

Toyoda to U.S. dealers: Recovery under way

Toyota Motor Corp. Chief Executive Officer Akio Toyoda says production is rebounding ahead of schedule from the March megaquake and new versions of the Camry sedan and Prius will soon arrive to aid sagging U.S. sales.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jul 1, 2011

Shichi Jyu Ni Kou: Sampling unusual finds on the sake list

Perhaps the most singular aspect of Shichi Jyu Ni Kou (72 Kou) is its drinks list. No other kaiseki restaurant we know of this sophistication lays such emphasis on sake produced with organically grown rice — and to a lesser extent organic wine — to the point of devoting special sections in the menu...
BUSINESS
Jun 30, 2011

Atomic power to stay, Kepco tells investors

Kansai Electric Power Co. told shareholders Wednesday it will stick with and boost nuclear power, its main source of juice, and alternatives such as solar, wind and thermal energy would be a smaller part of the overall future mix.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 30, 2011

Africaemo "Power of the City"

Africaemo are a band from the attention-deficit-disorder generation. From the Tokyo trio's name — an amalgamation of two words that don't have much to do with each other — to their mashup of music genres, flip-flopping languages and breakneck singing, you'd wonder why the band's sophomore mini-album,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 30, 2011

Getting Japan to think inside the juke box

It's juke night at Club Noon in Osaka on a Monday. The event, called Hobo, has drawn about 50 people — not many, but alright for a genre of dance music that is making its debut on the city's club scene. As with most debuts, the reaction is mixed. The men nod their heads and the women shift their weight...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 30, 2011

An artist caught in the moment

Why isn't Yukihiro Taguchi in jail?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 30, 2011

Lite "For All the Innocence"

One of Japan's top instrumental rock acts, Tokyo's Lite have performed at festivals such as Fuji Rock and Summer Sonic, and gigged throughout Asia, Europe and North America. They've also toured with such U.S. indie-music luminaries as Mike Watt and Lou Barlow, and have recorded with John McEntire from...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 30, 2011

"Making of Tokyo Sky Tree®"

The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan), Special Exhibition Closes Oct. 2
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 30, 2011

The enduring reputation of Shigeru Aoki's brief career

Shigeru Aoki's short life was "beset by all manner of bad luck, and he passed through it like a shooting star" wrote Hanijiro Sakamoto (1882-1969), one of the giants of post-WWII Western-style painting. Shigeru (1882-1911) was only 28 when he passed away, and his active period as a painter was all the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 30, 2011

"Anything But"

The Container Closes Aug. 29
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Jun 29, 2011

Local heroes take Japanese video games to the world

Japan may not be the all-conquering video-game powerhouse it once was, but there are still plenty of gamers in the West who want to get their hands on the latest "Mario," "Final Fantasy" or "Street Fighter" title. And it goes without saying that they want to play them in their own language — not in...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Jun 28, 2011

Travel writer gets intimate with Japan

Freelance travel writer Beth Reiber knows Tokyo inside out — maybe much more than most Tokyoites.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 28, 2011

"Hello, It's We: New Paintings by Rob Judges and Mike Ness"

Moscow, Nakameguro Closes Aug. 25
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Jun 27, 2011

Power industry's chokehold

The electric power industry in Japan has such strong political clout that nobody, not even the government, seems capable of liberalizing the generation and distribution of electricity, let alone making a dent in the regional monopoly currently enjoyed by each of the 10 utilities.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jun 26, 2011

Readers offer 3/11 insights, valuable resources

As Japan has struggled with the physical and emotional challenges of the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake and tsunami of March 11, and the ongoing nuclear crisis that resulted, I have written three Our Planet Earth columns related to those events: one on Japan's response (March 27); one on alternative...
Japan Times
LIFE
Jun 26, 2011

Experts urge great caution over radiation risks

In order to address public concerns over post 3/11 food safety, the government should be more forthcoming in the monitoring and disclosure of data regarding radiation contamination of soil, Akira Sugenoya, mayor of Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture, told this reporter recently.
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2011

Shift to weekend work ups day care crunch

The nuclear crisis in Fukushima continues to extend its reach months after the March 11 disaster, with the latest repercussion hitting working parents across Japan who will be forced to work on weekends to save electricity but when day care centers are normally closed.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 24, 2011

Joyful Honda and the rise of the car-centric 'home center'

Are American-styled home centers Japan's retail model for the future?
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jun 24, 2011

Foreign residents take part in Japanese traditional dance contest

With summer just around the corner, the spirit of dancing will radiate in the heart of Tokyo as The 6th Foreigner's Traditional Japanese Dance Exhibition takes place June 25.
EDITORIALS
Jun 24, 2011

Restart of reactors is premature

Trade and industry minister Banri Kaieda on June 18 declared that the nation's operators of commercial nuclear power facilities had taken adequate measures to handle severe accidents and called for restarting the power plants.
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Jun 24, 2011

Prospects look grim for HeatDevils in Oita

The Oita HeatDevils' budgetary woes aren't surprising to longtime observers of the league. But the temerity with which they begged fans for money to help them make ends meet for the 2011-12 season caught people's attention over the weekend.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jun 24, 2011

Black Stripe gets weighty with new play

Black Stripe Theater (BST) is the creation of three expatriates residing in Tokyo: Ian Martin, Walter Roberts and Chris Parham. They founded the company in 2007 after meeting through the 115-year-old foreigners' theater company, Tokyo International Players.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 24, 2011

First Tohoku documentary captures tsunami aftermath

Japan will probably be seeing many more, but "Mujo Sobyo" beats all others as the first documentary on the aftermath of the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake and tsunami. A 75-minute film shot and made in 50 days and now playing at the Auditorium Shibuya theater in Tokyo (with screenings in Osaka and Nagoya...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 24, 2011

Director Ishii brings style to family drama

Japanese directors with any kind of ambition usually end up making a family drama, which is to Japanese cinema what the Western used to be to Hollywood: the core national genre.

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’