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COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Apr 5, 2011

'Charisma Men' and temps: readers' views

Some readers' responses to last month's Just Be Cause column by Debito Arudou, headlined " Charisma Men, unite against the identity enforcers" (March 1):
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Apr 5, 2011

Shonan: After the bout-fixing scandal and the March 11 quake, do you think the sumo Summer Basho should still be held?

Robert Feeney
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 4, 2011

Russian alienation and the cost of freedom

MOSCOW — The Russian government, with its solid hold on power, has invariably gotten away with poor performance, inefficiency, corruption and widespread violation of political rights and civil liberties.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Apr 3, 2011

Renewed national pride will shape Japan's future

Spring dawns on a shattered Japan. "Not since World War II" is a recurring phrase, and no wonder. Mass destruction accompanied by radiation — what other analogy is big enough?
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Apr 3, 2011

Every day ought to be Earth Day

I usually avoid large gatherings of people, even though it has become my job to give lectures and to attend seminars and meetings and such. However, you would never see me anywhere near a rock concert or a rugby, soccer or baseball match.
EDITORIALS
Apr 3, 2011

Not by bread alone

The axiom "Man does not live by bread alone" is again demonstrated by scenes of quake and tsunami victims in shelters finding solace in recovered photo albums or in broadcasts of the Koshien high school baseball tournament. Those outside the immediate disaster areas as well have found respite from the...
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2011

Rural sports complex turns into base camp for nuclear workers

FUKUSHIMA — At the edge of a no-man's land around the Fukushima No. 1 reactor complex lies a grassy athletic village that now serves as base camp for an army of workers battling the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 3, 2011

Life's a breeze on far-out Miyakojima

Like tree rings, the islands of Okinawa contain cultures within cultures; ever more singular layers of age and time.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 1, 2011

Tsunami-hit towns face dire future

OSHIKA, Miyagi Pref. — Survivors of the March 11 magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami are expressing reservations about returning to their homes, raising the prospect of already depopulated communities turning into ghost towns.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Apr 1, 2011

Dining with a twist of cherry

Marking the arrival of the sakura season, the Tokyo Prince Hotel is holding a Cherry Blossom Festival through April 17.
JAPAN
Apr 1, 2011

High radiation found outside no-go zone

Despite alarming new radiation data presented by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the government said Thursday it has no plans to widen the evacuation zone around the crippled Fukushima No. 1 power plant.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Apr 1, 2011

Satterfield acquisition a big move for Evessa

After all of the unexpected changes this season over the past few weeks, this is no surprise: The Osaka Evessa and Ryukyu Golden Kings will play a meaningful series in April, one that could have a significant impact on the playoff picture.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Apr 1, 2011

Keats House: Simple nourishment that tastes like poetry

"A thing of beauty is a joy for ever." Those oft-quoted words by the romantic poet John Keats resonate here in Japan no less than in his native England. Now, two centuries after being penned, they are the inspiration for a splendid little cafe-restaurant in one of Tokyo's lesser-trod neighborhoods.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 31, 2011

Fukushima No. 1's scary shadow

FUKUSHIMA — Tetsuo Sakuma has loaded his small pickup with all it can carry. There's not much of value: a television, some books, boxes of clothes, snatched in haste from a home he may never sleep in again.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 31, 2011

Sendai struggles to regain footing

SENDAI — Nearly three weeks after the 9.0-magnitude temblor sent shock waves through the city and the massive tsunami devastated a long stretch of the coast, Sendai, the largest city in the Tohoku region, is slowly trying to get back on its feet.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 31, 2011

France's hard right embraces soft populism

PARIS — The central paradox of French politics was confirmed once again March 27. In a nationwide vote to select local authorities (the so-called Conseiller General), the far-right National Front gained 11 percent of the votes cast, but secured only 0.1 percent of the seats.
BUSINESS
Mar 31, 2011

Nuke crisis scares foreign buyers off seafood

Exports of Japanese seafood have been canceled by foreign buyers on concern that the products may have been contaminated by radiation leaking from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, a government official said.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Mar 30, 2011

Latest find sounds scary but risk is limited

Revelations that low amounts of plutonium, a component of nuclear bombs, were detected in soil near the Fukushima No. 1 plant sent shock waves across the nation Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 30, 2011

Japan's crisis leadership

Amid the horrifying news from Japan, the establishment of new standards of political leadership there is easy to miss — in part because the Japanese media follow old habits of automatically criticizing how officials are dealing with the calamity, and many foreign reporters who lack perspective simply...
BUSINESS
Mar 30, 2011

Job, sales data show economy was rebounding before quake

The unemployment rate fell in February and retail sales beat analysts' forecasts, signs that the economy was picking up before the March 11 disaster struck.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 29, 2011

The false panacea of workforce flexibility

AMSTERDAM — Competitiveness has become one of the economic buzzwords of our time. U.S. President Barack Obama trumpeted it during his State of the Union address in January, while European leaders and Japanese fiscal policy minister Kaoru Yosano have embraced it as a priority.
Japan Times
SOCCER
Mar 28, 2011

Saitama J. League clubs put skills to good use to lift evacuees' spirits

SAITAMA — Tuesday's charity match between the national team and a J. League select XI gives soccer a high-profile platform to contribute to disaster relief efforts, but beneath the radar the desire to make a difference is just as strong.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Mar 27, 2011

'What are the odds?' variety; 'Stand by Me' adaptation; CM of the week: Uniqlo

The purpose behind the occasional variety special "Kekkyoku! Kakuritsu Nano da" ("At last! What's the Probability"; TV Tokyo, Tues., 7 p.m.) is to figure out the probability of certain occurrences that will supposedly interest viewers but which sound more like they concern people in show biz. Past specials...
EDITORIALS
Mar 27, 2011

The young volunteers

As the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear plant disasters slowly start to be addressed, one of the hopeful images is that of young people volunteering. Shaken, literally, out of their daydreams, quite a few young people have signed up to help with recovery in the devastated region and with shelter and aid...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Mar 27, 2011

Japan's crises spark wide alarm and some unlikely sympathizers

The outpouring of goodwill toward Japanese people since the triple calamities of March 11's earthquake and tsunami and subsequent nuclear crises has overwhelmed the nation. There is generally so much indifference to — and criticism of — Japan in the West and parts of Asia, that the Japanese have...
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Mar 27, 2011

Don't destroy that invader, it was here first!

NEW YORK — Among the most recent invaders of the United States to be exterminated that I learned about is the red lionfish. Before that, the Asian carp got all the attention. About the time the carp scare was quieting down the yellow jacket — yes, the wasp — came forward as a heinous invader to...

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Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat