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BUSINESS
Jun 15, 2011

Honda and Toyota getting outgunned in U.S.

Stephen Ragsdale is no longer one of Honda's "Happy Drivers." A loyal owner for a decade, he ditched a 2009 Accord just 18 months after he bought it. The reason: He coveted his mother's stylish Kia Optima.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 15, 2011

Shipyards beat rivals in fuel-saving

Japanese shipbuilders, leapfrogged by South Korean and Chinese yards in an industry they once dominated, are counting on fuel-saving technology to help them overcome the stronger yen and high wages.
Reader Mail
Jun 12, 2011

Benefits of singing the anthem

Regarding the June 7 editorial, "": As a student, I sang the national anthem "Kimigayo" and felt that I was a Japanese. I cannot agree with former Tokyo-area high school teacher Yuji Saruya's opinion and I wonder if he has contemplated the importance of the national anthem.
Reader Mail
Jun 12, 2011

The opposite of a 'dead zone'

The Japan Times' coverage of the Tohoku-Pacific disasters has been excellent. Keep up the great work. I write with regard to the comment on the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster by Ukraine's ambassador to Japan (May 27 Bloomberg article "Fukushima No. 1 eyed as site for nuke graveyard") that...
EDITORIALS
Jun 12, 2011

A life in the coal mines

This May brought unexpected news of the selection by UNESCO of annotated paintings and diaries by Sakubei Yamamoto of life in the Japanese coal mines for entry in its Memory of the World Register.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jun 12, 2011

Heights of survival

When the March 11 tsunami hit the village of Yoshihama in Iwate Prefecture, the water overran a seawall, smashed through a coastal pine forest, poured over a large embankment and then surged up a long, low-lying valley. It was a scenario almost identical to that being played out at dozens of settlements...
COMMUNITY
Jun 11, 2011

Group on a mission to deliver fresh fruit to disaster-zone shelters

Survivors of the March 11 tsunami living in shelters need fresh fruit — this is what Minami Ishikawa and Paul Yoo from Akita Prefecture learned when they went to volunteer their time in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, in early April.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jun 11, 2011

Worldly duo took chance on Japan, find beachhead

Ask Alana and Michel Bonzi where they are from and their first answer is they are citizens of the world.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jun 10, 2011

Toyama lantern festival provides bright opportunity for pictures

Still relatively unknown despite being historically famous, northwestern Japan will host one of the country's most enthralling events, the Tonami Yotaka Festival.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jun 10, 2011

Osaka park celebrates firefly season

The Expo Park in Suita City, Osaka Prefecture, is hosting a firefly-viewing festival through June 12.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jun 10, 2011

Miyamoto piece to open up Yokohama to Broadway gem

The first Broadway musical directed by a Japanese person will be performed in Yokohama from June 17 to July 3.
EDITORIALS
Jun 10, 2011

Scrutinizing Fukushima crisis

The government on Tuesday released a report on the accidents at Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant. Submitted to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the report describes 28 lessons and countermeasures.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 10, 2011

The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo

Works by the Swiss-born German painter Paul Klee have been shown in Japan several times. This time, however, the exhibiton at The National Museum of Modern Art focuses not on the actual art but on the artist's intricate creation process.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BY THE GLASS
Jun 10, 2011

Koshu wine gets uncorked abroad

On June 19, Shizen, a white wine made in Japan with the native Koshu grape, will make its debut at Vinexpo, Bordeaux. By exhibiting at one of the wine industry's most important events, Ernest Singer, the man behind Shizen and a project to improve winemaking in Japan, is declaring his confidence in Koshu...
Reader Mail
Jun 9, 2011

Unreasonable expectations

Regarding William Pesek's May 30 article, "Nuclear meltdown digs hole for Tokyo as Tepco sullies Japan's brand image": I am sure that few readers will fault Pesek's analysis characterizing Tokyo Electric Power Co. as a "symbol of the incestuous ties between government and industry."
CULTURE / Art
Jun 9, 2011

New York Metropolitan Opera's tales of lost love and madness arrive in Tokyo

Singers from the New York-based Metropolitan Opera greeted the press in Tokyo on Monday and showed that the setback of two singers pulling out after the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake has not dampened the spirits of their current tour. Four replacement singers — Marina Poplavskaya, Marcelo Alvarez,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 9, 2011

Caroline

In another time, Caroline Lufkin could easily have ended up as a chart-topping J-pop star. After graduating from Boston's Berklee School Of Music, the Okinawa-born artist moved to Tokyo, where she began working on her first album. Her management at the time wanted Lufkin (who performs simply as Caroline)...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 9, 2011

Puffyshoes just wanna have fun

Shorter is nearly always better. The Pixies managed to cram three verses and choruses into just 94 seconds on "Trompe le Monde" track "Palace of the Brine," and it became one of the best songs they ever wrote. And just look at almost any tune recorded by The Supremes or The Shangri-Las or Elvis Presley,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 9, 2011

Portrait of an artist or photographer?

For Takashi Homma, being a contemporary photographer is very different from being a photographer.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 9, 2011

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy: ahead of his time

The profound influence of the Bauhaus School, which included training in crafts and fine arts, is inestimable. Over a 14-year period, its innovative methods, utilitarian philosophy and utopian social vision transformed art, architecture and design for the modern age.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 9, 2011

Cinema Staff "Cinema Staff"

Now based in Tokyo, Gifu Prefecture-bred Cinema Staff played at the 2009 editions of both the Summer Sonic and Rock in Japan festivals. Formed in 2003, the indie-rock quartet issued three EPs prior to the release of their eponymous full-length debut.
JAPAN
Jun 8, 2011

Nuke plant was unprepared for crisis, government admits

The government on Tuesday compiled a report on the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 plant for submission to the International Atomic Energy Agency, underlining the need to reinforce measures against earthquakes, tsunami and other calamities.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Jun 7, 2011

'Flyjin,' 'sheeple,' angry people: readers' views

Debito Arudou's May 3 Just Be Cause column, headlined " Better to be branded a 'flyjin' than a man of the 'sheeple,'" provoked an online skirmish between contributors to the columnist's blog, Debito.org, and its self-proclaimed "debunker" site. Here are just some of the mails received at The Japan Times...
Japan Times
Events / WHERE IT'S AT
Jun 7, 2011

Book readings for children capture kids' imaginations

"Let me read you a picture book in Dutch," said Rudie Filon, the Dutch counselor of the Delegation of the European Union to Japan as he began reading the popular picture book "Jip and Janneke" in Dutch. Children and their parents' eyes lit up, and even the smallest of the kids listened attentively to...
EDITORIALS
Jun 6, 2011

Child abduction convention

The Kan Cabinet on May 20 endorsed a policy of Japan joining the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, which sets procedures for settling cross-border child custody disputes.

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’