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Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Aug 4, 2009

Strict rules in play to keep campaigning above board

Since Prime Minister Taro Aso dissolved the Lower House last month and announced Aug. 18 would be the official start of campaigning for the Aug. 30 general election, hundreds of undeclared candidates have been making the rounds to attract voters.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Aug 2, 2009

Emergency medical drama, whaling in Taiji and Sican civilization special

The fourth season of the popular medical drama, "Kyumei Byoto 24 Ji" ("Lifesaving Ward 24 Hours"; Fuji, Tues., 9 p.m.), which premiered in 1999, was supposed to begin on July 7, but one of the drama's stars, Yosuke Eguchi, who plays a surgeon, was involved in a motorcycle accident just as filming started....
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 28, 2009

Japan's funerals deep-rooted mix of ritual, form

Funerals in Japan incorporate a unique mixture of religion, tradition, culture, ritual and geography that to the outsider may appear perplexing.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 26, 2009

Japan's maglev on track for financial crash

About 40 people are crowded onto the observation deck of the Yamanashi Linear Test Line Center, holding their cameras at the ready and waiting for the world's fastest train — an experimental maglev model that's called a "linear motor car" (LMC) — to make its appearance.
Japan Times
JAPAN / MIXED MATCHES
Jul 25, 2009

Belgian no waffler on love, life in Japan

Pascal Latui, 28, first fell for Yumiko, 36, on a backpacking trip in Japan in June 2006. She was a receptionist at the Tokyo youth hostel where he was staying.
JAPAN
Jul 24, 2009

'Anpanman' sets record for most characters

The TV program "Anpanman" has been recognized by Guinness World Records as having the most characters in an animated series, Nippon TV said.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 22, 2009

Wake up, hike out, tune in, move it

It's early on a summer morning and schoolchildren have gathered for some rhythmic exercise timed to music coming from the radio.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 14, 2009

For Hatoyamas, politics is considered birthright

Often compared to the Kennedy family for the impressive list of lawmakers and scholars hailing from its ranks, the Hatoyama clan is one of the nation's most prominent political dynasties.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Jul 8, 2009

Nagoya the testing stage once more — just as in 2008

As the long hot summer descends on Japan, and the people of Nagoya prepare for the annual visit of the Japanese Sumo Association, this year's basho, like that held last year, looks like being make-or-break basho for at least one rikishi in terms of reaching a career high.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 7, 2009

NHK a fount of info, a lot of it from the government

Sometimes compared with the British Broadcasting Corporation or America's Public Broadcasting System — and by its fiercest critics even to the state-run media in China and North Korea — NHK boasts two terrestrial television services, three satellite television services, three radio networks and the...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 7, 2009

Winter of Australia's discontent

SYDNEY — Now that Australia's politicians have scattered across the world — they are diligent in flying off on global research projects during long recesses — exasperated voters are enjoying relief from the mudslinging that marked the most frenetic-ever final week of a winter sitting in the Federal...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 5, 2009

Flashing the cash while the majority suffer

There haven't been many silver linings to the dark cloud of the recession that descended more than a year ago. One is the media's general loss of interest in ostentatious displays of stuff that most of us could never afford anyway. Nowadays, it's easier to boost TV ratings with features about places...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 30, 2009

Japan a low-key player in space race

Japan has launched Earth observation, communications and weather satellites as well as other space vehicles since it began its space program in the late 1960s.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jun 28, 2009

Chiang Mai: Thailand's beguiling Rose of the North

It is a great time to visit Thailand. The political crisis has abated, the airport is open, everything is a bargain and tourists are few and far between. What more could a traveler ask for?
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 23, 2009

Fans make troupe phenomenon it is

Takarazuka Revue Co., Japan's all-female musical troupe, is a love-it or hate-it theatrical landmark.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 16, 2009

The all-powerful voice of corporate Japan

Since its founding, the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) has been the nation's most powerful business lobby and its head is often called "the prime minister of the business world."
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 9, 2009

Narita airport — worth long struggle to build?

Narita International Airport has played a key role in the aviation industry since it opened in 1978.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Jun 9, 2009

What advice would you give to fellow students of Japanese?

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Jun 7, 2009

Kang Sang Jung: Born but not Bred

Kang Sang Jung is one of the most influential ethnically Korean residents of Japan (zainichi). A political science professor at the University of Tokyo, he also gives lectures around the country, is a regular television commentator and has a column in the prestigious weekly current affairs magazine Aera....
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 2, 2009

Supercomputers — infinity within reach?

From forecasting the weather to improving the earthquake resistance of architecture, supercomputers have become a vital tool in just the span of a few decades.
COMMUNITY
May 30, 2009

Writer answers ceaseless call for stimulation

Mark Schreiber was the first foreign writer in Japan to cover the wildly popular phenomenon of capsule hotels.
Japan Times
JAPAN / YOKOHAMA AT 150
May 27, 2009

Newspapers opened eyes in Yokohama

Second in a series
Japan Times
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
May 21, 2009

Nakamura faces tough decision when Celtic deal expires

Shunsuke Nakamura might be thinking of nothing other than winning the Scottish league title with Celtic for the time being, but sooner or later he will have to decide what comes next.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
May 19, 2009

Going clubbing in the capital

New to Tokyo, T.B. is trying to make friends and wants to know if there are any clubs that he can join to meet new people and get involved with the international community.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
May 19, 2009

Weight of Imperial world on Princess Masako

Observers often liken Crown Princess Masako to Britain's Princess Diana. They both embody the fairy tale gone tragically wrong — women outside the royal circle wooed by the heir to the throne, only to end up clashing with the establishment and surrounded by controversy and speculation that has made...
EDITORIALS
May 16, 2009

Responsibility stops with Mr. Aso

Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshitada Konoike resigned Wednesday "for health reasons." Clearly behind his resignation was Shukan Shincho weekly magazine's disclosure, with photos, of his April 28-30 rendezvous with a woman at an Atami resort in Shizuoka Prefecture. For the trip, he used a free JR...
CULTURE / Film
May 15, 2009

'Donju'

Kankuro Kudo was once hailed as the boy wonder of Japanese show business, first as a scriptwriter for hit TV shows ("Ikebukuro West Gate Park" in 2000, and "Kisarazu Cats Eye" in 2002) and then hit films ("Go," "Ping Pong," "Zebraman"). In 2005, he released his first film as a director: "Mayonaka no...

Longform

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