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COMMENTARY / World
Mar 20, 2010

Let the clean water flow

LONDON — The 18th annual World Water Day (March 22) offers the same old problems and rejects the practical solutions. On Monday, 1 billion people will, as usual, spend the day without clean water and a third of humanity without adequate sanitation. As usual, some 3.5 million men, women and children...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Mar 20, 2010

Here comes the never-ending season

The season is here . . . again. As if it ever ended.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 20, 2010

American gomi yashiki

I was recently asked by a Japanese person if we have gomi yashiki (trash houses) in the United States. In Japan, such houses refer to those whose inhabitants hoard things to the point that their stuff is overflowing onto the streets, sometimes impeding traffic.
JAPAN / GOVERNMENT DEBT CRISIS
Mar 19, 2010

Bubble prophet fears new disaster

Prominent economist Yukio Noguchi is one of the few who correctly predicted the collapse of Japan's bubble economy in 1987, warning the preceding euphoria was based on a major distortion in land prices.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 19, 2010

Flower designer Daniel Ost breathes life into Baccarat crystal

Belgian flower artist Daniel Ost is filling Ikebukuro's Seibu Gallery with a taste of spring. His flower decorations and collaborative works with French crystal makers Baccarat will be on display till March 23. "The most important thing in this exhibition is the exchange of my work with Baccarat," Ost...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Mar 19, 2010

Tell them Twitter sent you

Bargains galore can be yours, if you know how to track down the twiwari hashtags on Twitter.
BUSINESS
Mar 18, 2010

BOJ doubles loan program to ¥20 trillion

Responding to the government's call for deflation-fighting steps, the Bank of Japan said Wednesday it will expand liquidity by doubling its three-month loans to banks, introduced in December, to about ¥20 trillion.
JAPAN
Mar 16, 2010

Half-year on, Hatoyama struggling

It's been six months since Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and his Cabinet strutted the red-carpet for an inaugural photo session, staging a perfect Hollywood ending to a summer blockbuster election that knocked the Liberal Democratic Party out of almost 50 years of unbroken rule.
EDITORIALS
Mar 15, 2010

Yubari set on reconstruction

The assembly of Yubari, a bankrupt city in central Hokkaido, on March 2 adopted a financial reconstruction plan to pay off accumulated debts of ¥32.2 billion over 17 years. The plan also features 74 new projects to resuscitate the city and improve services for residents. To persevere through a long,...
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Mar 14, 2010

Pens and pools: prisons for cetaceans

The death in February of a killer-whale trainer at SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida, made headlines all over the world. As has been widely reported, Dawn Brancheau, an experienced orca trainer, was dragged by her hair into the whale's pool, where she died of traumatic injuries and drowning.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Mar 14, 2010

Beauty transformation, documentary on working poor; CM of the week: Kirin's Sekai no High Ball

The makeover variety show "Kasupe! Beauty Colosseum" was a weekly series up until a few years ago, and its return to Fuji TV this Tuesday at 7 p.m. is for a 2-hour " kiseki no daigekihen " (miracle super change) special.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Mar 14, 2010

Patient's tale casts a sublime lightness on some awful scars of war

"Elephant," by Minoru Betsuyaku, is a postwar classic of Japanese drama.
BUSINESS
Mar 13, 2010

BOJ looks to expand balance sheet

The Bank of Japan may seek next week to counter a contraction of its balance sheet caused by the monthend expiration of an emergency-credit program and persistent deflation.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 12, 2010

'Bruno'

After the success of "Borat," people wondered what comedian Sacha Baron Cohen could do next. His comedy derived from launching his over-the-top Kazakh character into situations where people weren't in on the joke, yet a blockbuster hit obviously makes it harder to find willing dupes.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 12, 2010

Yazaki opens up about 'Lies'

A leader of Japanese cinema's 1990s New Wave, Hitoshi Yazaki dropped off the radar for more than a decade, returning in 2006 with "Strawberry Shortcakes," a widely praised drama about four lonely women in search of, not just a partner, but reasons for living. In his new film, "Sweet Little Lies," the...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 12, 2010

Dancer Rizzi brings unique story to Japan

"Why go to a performance instead of renting a DVD and staying at home?" ponders 44-year-old dancer, choreographer, actor and visual artist Antony Rizzi on the Boston Cyberarts Festival Web site. Rizzi feels that this is an exciting time for dance to do battle with the lethargic pull of the home entertainment...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 12, 2010

Israeli confronts past by mastering Wagner

Rising Israeli conductor Dan Ettinger will complete, in Tokyo in March, his first series of performances of "The Ring of the Nibelung," a cycle of four linked operas by 19th-century composer Richard Wagner.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / STYLE WISE
Mar 11, 2010

Revamps, re-openings, relocations and the return of Fashion Week

MISHA JANETTE Get ready for Fashion Week
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 10, 2010

Wait long enough and daikon legs get fashionable

Bridget Jones said a woman starts to feel her age when the fashion of the times comes full circle and she witnesses the ghostly resurrection of all the stuff she wore in her youth.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Mar 9, 2010

TV gets fickle fans flocking to fads to shed fat

Many people in Japan, especially young women, are keen to diet.
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Mar 9, 2010

Internet Go BOOM: Visual Kei's Deep Throat

In a long interview with Tokyo Damage Report, an anonymous music executive familiar with the Visual Kei scenes lights a short fuse.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 9, 2010

Detainees allege abuse at Kansai holding center

The only way to see or speak to Moses Ssentamu is through a Plexiglas window at the West Japan Immigration Center in Ibaraki City, so there is no independent way to verify his claims of physical and psychological abuse. But if true, they raise serious concerns about Japan's treatment of visa overstayers...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 7, 2010

Myth of Palestine's economic development

AL-BIREH, West Bank — A serious misconception is being propagated by the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah. Media, international organizations, foreign governments and Palestinians at large are being coaxed into believing that the flurry of economic activity in the West Bank is economic development...

Longform

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