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Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 16, 2009

After fast start, it's crunch time for Cabinet

The Democratic Party of Japan-led Cabinet heads into its second month Friday, after coming out quickly to usher in a new political era in the wake of the Liberal Democratic Party's long domination.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Oct 16, 2009

NBA lockout gives Greene a shot at big time

Considered a top official during the bj-league's first four seasons, Tim Greene is now in uncharted territory.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Oct 14, 2009

Electric vehicles, touted as next big thing, still in their infancy

Competition has been heating up in the domestic market for electric vehicles and many automakers have been prioritizing the technology since Mitsubishi Motors Corp. launched an egg-shaped electric minivehicle in July.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 11, 2009

Japan's No. 1 playboy hardly a lady- killer

Talk-show host David Letterman obviously did the right thing when during a recent monologue he confessed to having had sex with some of his female staff. He made the admission to pre-empt news that he had been blackmailed for his indiscretions, but whatever the revelation said about Letterman's lack...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Oct 6, 2009

Rice — a staple of unstable future, funds?

Rice is an indispensable staple in Japan, but the people who grow it have an average age of 60 and their offspring increasingly are looking to other, more lucrative fields.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 29, 2009

Murakami: Titan of postwar literature

Haruki Murakami is probably the most internationally acclaimed and influential contemporary Japanese author alive today. Over a career spanning 30 years, he has illustrated the apathy and ennui enveloping postwar Japan through sometimes wildly fantastic storytelling with surreal twists and turns, sprinkled...
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2009

Mercury danger in dolphin meat

SAPPORO — The annual dolphin hunt in Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, as documented in the film "The Cove" has sparked an emotional international debate, with animal rights activists decrying the capture and slaughter as unnecessary and cruel, and those in Japan who defend the slaughter as both legally...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 22, 2009

Small group making waves

About two months before the Aug. 30 election, a small group of political leaders made big news by forming a new group. Though it consists of only half a dozen politicians at the local level, Shucho Rengo (the Local Leaders Federation) grabbed headlines nationwide and created concern among senior Diet...
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 22, 2009

'The last flies of summer'

Three years ago, I was lying on the beach of a package hotel, watching a pair of jet skis churn the sea to muddy silt. J-pop blared from the shore-side Tannoy, and two lifeguards were pinning down a hysterical toddler, while a third doused vinegar over a scarlet welt of jellyfish sting.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 20, 2009

The forgotten DPJ promise on women's rights

In the weeks since the Democratic Party of Japan secured a majority in the Lower House, the new DPJ members of that institution have apparently been told to keep their mouths shut when they're around the media.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 15, 2009

Community groups provide lifelines in many ways

If you spot a festival or sporting event taking place in your neighborhood, chances are it was organized by the local neighborhood association.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 13, 2009

ANA looks to sky as JAL hangs head

In a TV commercial aired all last summer, airline passengers are shown relaxing when the pilot comes on the PA to make the usual announcement about travel times and weather. Nobody seems alarmed when they learn that the skipper is teen golf sensation Ryo Ishikawa, who isn't old enough to drive a car...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Japan Pulse
Sep 11, 2009

New strapless facemask may ruffle a few feathers

Need a new faskmask for the flu season? Go strapless . . . if you dare.
BUSINESS
Sep 9, 2009

PlayStation 3 hits sales record

Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 video game console's weekly sales jumped to a record in Japan following the introduction of a slimmer, cheaper model, research firm Enterbrain Inc. said.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 8, 2009

U.S. ambassador serves a role most vital

The U.S. ambassadors chosen for Japan have long reflected Washington's dedication to Tokyo, as each successive nominee has drawn Tokyo government and media speculation of how bilateral ties will evolve.
Reader Mail
Sep 3, 2009

Slow response to bird disaster

Regarding the Aug. 20 article "Avian killing fields of lotus": Thank you for this much needed coverage of birds that are being trapped around Lake Kasumigaura. I drive through the area on a weekly basis, and the sight of birds struggling in the nets is one I will never forget. Most of them hang by a...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 2, 2009

Cell phone culture here unlike any other

Cell phones in Japan have evolved as a virtual extra appendage that people can't walk, ride or relax without, as they constantly peer into their screens, send and receive messages, play video games, watch TV, and sometimes even communicate verbally.
JAPAN
Sep 1, 2009

Bureaucrats jockey to face new management

The Liberal Democratic Party's crushing election defeat brings to an end its cozy relationship with the bureaucracy, which the victorious Democratic Party of Japan has promised to weaken.
Japan Times
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Aug 31, 2009

Historic sea change at polls product of frustrated public

For better or worse, history has been made.
Reader Mail
Aug 27, 2009

Dillon's witty take on differences

After reading Thomas Dillon's Aug. 22 column The right word and the right to choose it" and Amy Chavez's "Oscar the Grouch would be homeless here," I was struck by the contrast in tone by two long-term foreigners in Japan.
COMMENTARY
Aug 26, 2009

Drawing key lessons from the failure of Obamacare

"What worries me: time and time again," writes Brendan Skwire in the Philadelphia Weekly about the circuses that are currently passing for Democrats' town hall meetings on health care, "[is that] the needs of the stupid and disingenuous are not only treated as valid concerns, but as the greatest concerns."...
Japan Times
JAPAN / ELECTION 2009
Aug 25, 2009

Tanaka battling in New Komeito heartland

AMAGASAKI, Hyogo Pref. — Yasuo Tanaka, the leader of New Party Nippon and former governor of Nagano, is attempting to unseat New Komeito heavyweight Tetsuzo Fuyushiba in a race widely seen as a test of Tanaka's popularity in a region where his volunteer activities after the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Aug 25, 2009

Pop 'idol' phenomenon fades into dispersion

The arrest of singer-actress Noriko Sakai, 38, this month in connection with illegal drugs shattered the image of a star who in the 1980s parlayed being cute and innocent into idol status.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Aug 18, 2009

In anonymous packed train lurk gropers

A perverse reality that periodically surfaces on the country's crowded urban trains is the groper.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Aug 15, 2009

Man United facing huge challenge to retain title

LONDON — The questions have been asked and just about everyone with a love of football has an opinion, but we must wait until next May to know the answers.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Aug 11, 2009

Todai still beckons nation's best, brightest but goals diversifying

For more than 130 years, the University of Tokyo has been unrivaled as the gateway to elite careers for thousands of hopeful candidates who pass the exam to get in.

Longform

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