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Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Feb 7, 2012

Bubble era's aviation legacy: Too many airports, all ailing

Japan has 98 airports, and most of them are operating in the red as a result of exaggerated demand forecasts and rampant, costly and arguably pork-barrel construction projects.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 5, 2012

Todai calls for change, but will others follow?

Spring approaches, and the thoughts of the media, which like nothing better than the warm comfort of a predictable news cycle, turn to education. Students are wrapping up the scholastic year and some are taking tests that will determine their lives. Last year, reporters got a bonus; That story about...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jan 31, 2012

Plebicites first step in pulling nuclear plug

Last June more than 90 percent of Italian voters said no to nuclear power in a referendum, while Germany and Switzerland voted to phase out atomic energy in the coming years.
Reader Mail
Jan 29, 2012

Symptoms of classroom collapse

Amen to Willie Taylor's Jan. 26 letter, "Can't defend a broken system." What of stressed out teachers who dread entering a classroom? It's sort of like the First World War soldier in the British trenches going "over the top" to face the enemy! A modern teacher has to be something of a lion tamer, a drill...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Jan 27, 2012

Vets have Shiga making strong bid for trip to Final Four

The Shiga Lakestars sit three games behind the first-place Ryukyu Golden Kings in the Western Conference standings, and the 17-9 club has demonstrated it has a legitimate shot at reaching the Final Four for the first time.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jan 24, 2012

Nadeshiko Japan eyes London Olympic gold

Japan's overtime defeat of the United States in the 2011 women's World Cup soccer finals inspired a nation suffering from the March 11 disaster and ensuing nuclear crisis. This year will see the club dubbed Nadeshiko Japan attempt to repeat their success at the Summer Olympics in London. Following are...
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jan 17, 2012

Corporate Japan: woeful lack of outside directors

Japan Inc. is often criticized for its poor corporate governance, especially when it comes to monitoring how top management makes decisions.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jan 10, 2012

Student count, knowledge sliding

Education experts have for years been lamenting the academic decline of young Japanese.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jan 8, 2012

Stop the presses and hold the front page

It was perhaps the biggest financial story of postwar Japan — or it should have been.Yamaichi Securities, one of the nation's four top brokerages, which was among the world's six largest in the 1980s, had in 1992 started to illegally bury millions of dollars in red ink off the books, setting up dummy...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jan 8, 2012

'Strange' is the new 'normal' for 2012

"Whatever happens won't be strange."
COMMENTARY
Jan 5, 2012

Why Obama will (won't) win re-election in 2012

Could 2012 turn conventional wisdom on its head? Here's the conventional wisdom: U.S. President Barack Obama's re-election is vulnerable to the weak economy and high joblessness. Here's what might happen: The economy gradually improves, and although unemployment stays high (exceeding 8 percent), what...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jan 1, 2012

Japan's troubled royals put up a brave front

Bungei Shunju ("literary spring and autumn") is arguably Japan's most prestigious monthly magazine. Emblazoned in celebratory red across the cover of its New Year's edition is the rather ominous headline, "The Day the Heisei (Era) Ends."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / LIGHT GIST
Dec 27, 2011

2011: a year of disaster in quotes

This year produced more than its share of memorable quotes, many of which were inspired by the March 11 disaster and its aftermath. But figures from other fields, from sports to entertainment, also said things worth repeating. Here is a sampling, in chronological order:
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 27, 2011

Many angles to acquiring Japanese citizenship

Nationality has long been a controversial issue in Japan. For most, it is something they are born with; for others, it is something they had to fight for. For some, nationality may be a source of pride, while for others, it may be the cause of discrimination.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Dec 26, 2011

Strange how isolationist stance can ruin a politician's reputation

Perhaps because it's a round number, the 70th anniversary of Japan's assault on Pearl Harbor has given me the impression that more articles on it saw print than in the past, except for, as I recall, the 50th anniversary of the same.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 23, 2011

'I am Love'

'I am Love" is an ode to Tilda Swinton: Once she appears before the camera, directors such as Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino want to keep gazing at her forever. According to the production notes, Guadagnino says the project had been in the works for 16 years, and during that time he had never once...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Dec 23, 2011

Western Conference squads enjoying success on road

If this season's first 20 games have proven anything, there's no such thing as home sweet home for the Miyazaki Shining Suns. Nor is there a home-court advantage for coach Koto Toyama's team.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 20, 2011

Festive lights prevail, with restraint

Every winter places set themselves aglow with illuminations as part of the festive mood for Christmas and New Year's.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 20, 2011

Family ties spur spending sprees

Hiromi Komatsu is hitting Tokyo department stores in search of Christmas presents this year for the first time in her life, as she prepares for a rare visit by family members for the holiday season.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Dec 18, 2011

The times may change, but the hits keep coming

The 46th year of Showa, 1971, is remembered as the year of the "Nixon Shock," when the U.S. president took unilateral action to raise the Japanese yen's value against the dollar — from ¥360 to $1, to around ¥308 to $1. Nixon sought to reduce the swelling trade deficit by action aimed at forcing up...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Dec 16, 2011

Losing streak by Five Arrows nearing epic proportions

Considering their recent history, it's no surprise the Takamatsu Five Arrows are piecing together a season that resembles a comedy of errors. But the fact that the team has made zero roster upgrades or additions in recent weeks may come as a shock to even the biggest of cynics.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 16, 2011

Futenma base relocation has little hope left

The political games being played in Washington and Tokyo regarding whether the U.S. will fund the transfer of Okinawa-based U.S. Marines to Guam are of no consequence, experts say, because the 2006 plan to relocate the Futenma airbase to Henoko in northern Okinawa Island, which the Guam transfer depends...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 13, 2011

Fukushima rice in cesium limbo

Autumn is high season for freshly harvested "shinmai," the new rice marketed as a seasonal favorite in Fukushima Prefecture. But the farmers there fear their fare will go unsold because harvests around three cities have turned up excessive levels of radioactive cesium, prompting shipment bans.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 6, 2011

Tax, pension breaks called favoritism for homemakers

The tax and social security systems have long been seen as favoring full-time homemakers over working women because they are based on single-income households.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Dec 4, 2011

Occupy Wall Street resonates within Japan

While Japan's vernacular media has regularly reported on the Occupy Wall Street movement that has swept the United States over the past several months, coverage regarding the movement and its aims has been somewhat bland.
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Dec 2, 2011

Hannaryz building momentum in Western Conference

In the rugged Western Conference, the Kyoto Hannaryz face a rough road ahead in their quest to reach the Final Four for the first time in franchise history.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Nov 29, 2011

Utilities to cut it close amid winter demand

With winter just around the corner and possible electricity shortages looming from a string of nuclear power plant inspections, utilities and the government are urging people to once again conserve power.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?