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JAPAN
Jan 14, 2001

Homelessness being tackled from new angle

Asked why he became homeless, he said he was a victim of the current economic trend.
COMMUNITY
Dec 28, 2000

Down's diagnoses defied

Hope was not in the prognosis that doctors gave to Chie Myo, after examining her first son, Shunsuke, at the age of 3 months. They diagnosed the baby as having been born with Mongolism, a derogatory term previously used for Down syndrome, and predicted that he would not live long, saying a mere cold...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 16, 2000

Africa's growing thirst for democracy

There is a saying among my people in Ghana: one head alone is not enough to decide. I often think of that when I hear people say that democracy is alien to Africa, or that Africans are "not ready" for democracy.
COMMUNITY
Dec 14, 2000

Network crusades for dogs in distress

If the pope were to visit Yokohama, he would have to consider Kiyoto Kitaura for sainthood, for the modern-day St. Francis is nothing short of a godsend to animals in need.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Dec 10, 2000

Japan's new goodwill ambassador to the UNEP

Tokiko Kato Tokiko Kato is every bit as energetic and candid in person as she appears on stage. Best known as a singer and musician, Kato is also a poet and painter, and serves on the board of the World Wide Fund for Nature Japan. Though her schedule is hectic, it is by choice, and she has energy to...
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2000

Journalists debate role of English in Asia

English, as the dominant language in cyberspace, is becoming an indispensable communication tool for Asian people. And the increased use of English among nonnative speakers should make it more colorful as a world language.
COMMUNITY
Nov 23, 2000

Nurturing respect for all creatures great and small

For anyone with a passing knowledge of animal rights, or even a concern for the humane treatment of animals, Japan can seem a cold and uncaring place.
COMMUNITY
Oct 26, 2000

Hair today, gone tomorrow

With a father and grandfather who were both completely bald, sports journalist Nobuya Kobayashi had always suspected that he would turn out the same way. Yet, when he actually started losing hair in his late 20s, he was shocked and found himself unable to accept his fate.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 5, 2000

Celebrate the elderly when they stop saving

On Sept. 15, the country "celebrated" Respect for the Aged Day, when we honor our elders, who pass their wisdom and experience down to us so that our lives and those of our children will be happier and more fulfilling. Of course, nothing is farther from the truth. We in the industrialized world seem...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 6, 2000

Breaking down the Japanese inferiority myth

Do Japanese people have an inferiority complex? Japanese people often tell me they feel inferior to foreigners. You've probably heard Japanese people say some of following yourself:
COMMUNITY
Jul 19, 2000

Teachers share solutions to school concerns

People arriving in Japan in their professional capacities frequently see little more of the country than the interiors of taxis, hotel rooms and sterile offices, with the occasional tourist sight in central Tokyo thrown in.
BUSINESS
Jun 22, 2000

Japanese women: the new faces of small business

Most people would assume that to start a business you need plenty of time and money, or at least experience working in a relevant field. But an increasing number of Japanese women are proving this assumption wrong by setting up their own companies based on little more than a good idea and the will to...
COMMUNITY
Feb 20, 2000

Off to Iraq with leads for pencils

Having spent time with student nurse Erika Ito, I would very much like to meet her mother. Firstly I would shake her hand and say: "Congratulations, job well done! You have one terrific daughter." Then I'd patent the secret of her success, and make us all as fortunate.
COMMUNITY
Jan 26, 2000

China's gray peril

BEIJING -- Xue Aiying, a 65-year-old retired worker from Nanjing, used to go to Bailuzhou Park every morning to practice Falun Gong before the sect was outlawed in July last year. "I didn't know what to do with myself after I retired," she explains. "I felt lonely and empty before I joined Falun Gong."...
CULTURE / Books
Nov 17, 1999

Window on the fragile world of the Ainu

LAND OF ELMS: The History, Culture and Present-Day Situation of the Ainu People, by Toshimitsu Miyajima, translated by Robert Witmer. Ontario, Canada: United Church Publishing House, 1998; 184 pp., 2,000 yen (paper). Some books are published before the happy ending even happens, which can give readers...
JAPAN
Nov 16, 1999

Regional Special: Sanin

'Inaka' taps city disenchanted to repopulate>Staff writer
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 22, 1999

'Advance Australia fair' takes on a whole new meaning

"There goes another shiftless Aboriginal," said the Pioneer bus driver to those of us taking the half-day tour of Alice Springs. "We give them cars, they drive them till they're out of petrol, then, bloody hell, they just leave the bloody things by the side of the road."
LIFE / Travel
Sep 1, 1999

Eyes wide shut in North Korea

It's late afternoon in Beijing. Beside a gloomy, concrete platform an antiquated train lumbers into place. In the dim light, people scurry about looking for the right car. This is, in fact, important. The first four carriages are bound for Dandong, a small Chinese border town, but the last two will continue...
JAPAN
Aug 6, 1999

A-bomb doctor inspires Chernobyl aid worker

Staff writer
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jun 20, 1999

All it takes is a miracle to save the Earth

Last weekend I attended the 55th All Japan UNESCO conference in Okayama, where together we solved Japan's environmental problems. It's easy for everybody to do their part to help the environment. But it's surprising how many people don't do anything. So many people are environmentally unconscious --...
JAPAN
Jun 17, 1998

Election Equation: Energy of disabled can inspire sea change

Third in a series
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Jun 22, 2023

Dementia-related missing person cases doubled over past 10 years

A total of 18,709 people with dementia were reported missing in 2022, up 6.1% from the previous year.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 22, 2023

Months after toxic train derailment, East Palestine faces community 'corrosion'

With residents wary of assurances that the air and water are safe, some have already moved away while those who remain are increasingly at odds with one another.
PODCAST / deep dive
Jun 21, 2023

Things just got a bit tougher for asylum-seekers in Japan

Japan passes a controversial new law that changes the rules for which people can apply for asylum in an effort to solve issues like overcrowding at detention centers.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 19, 2023

Mass immigration experiment gives Canada an edge in global race for labor

A country that has about as many people as the state of California has added more than the population of San Francisco in immigrants over the past year.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Jun 14, 2023

How the climate crisis is supercharging Japan’s rainy season

When you think of natural disasters do you think of guerrilla rainstorms, landslides and heatwaves? You should, since that’s in the forecast for Japan’s climate-crisis-charged rainy seasons.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Jun 12, 2023

Woman with severe disability offers tips to change outlook on living alone

Yui Yuda, 25, has spinal muscular atrophy, and lives a life in an environment where tiny freedoms are not taken for granted.
JAPAN
May 28, 2023

Japan slowly wakes up to health risks of PFAS ‘forever chemicals’

Residents in western Tokyo have been testing themselves to measure their exposure, with results showing levels of the chemicals that could bring long-term health risks.

Longform

Visitors to Kyoto walk along a street near Kiyomizu Temple in April. A popular tourist spot, Kyoto has seen what locals feel to be an overwhelming amount of tourists in 2024.
Is Japan ready for 60 million tourists?