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COMMENTARY
Aug 16, 2011

Too much local sovereignty?

Since the Democratic Party of Japan came to power in September 2009, the word "chiho bunken" (devolution) has been replaced by the new expression "chiiki shuken" (local sovereignty).
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Aug 14, 2011

Delving into 'white matter'

Last week I watched "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," a new film about superintelligent chimps that bust out of captivity and rampage across San Francisco in a bid for freedom.
BUSINESS
Aug 5, 2011

Finance Ministry intervenes to stem gains in currency

Japan followed Switzerland in seeking to stem appreciating exchange rates that threatened to damage export competitiveness, selling the yen and pledging to inject ¥10 trillion ($126 billion) in funds into the economy.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Aug 2, 2011

Once settled in, chances are you'll have to pay to stay

In 1946, Japan was in ruins. The housing shortage was severe and inflation was high, so the government issued a directive to freeze rental fees. To make up for the perceived loss of income, property owners came up with supplemental fees — renewal fees, called koshinryō, and "gift money" or reikin,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 26, 2011

The more things change ... the more they stay the same

Ex-Alien chief picks five phenomena from '90s Japan that are gone but not forgotten
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Jul 21, 2011

Plugging reactors no longer stated goal for Tepco

The government and Tokyo Electric Power Co. are boasting success in achieving the first stage in the road map to stabilize the reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant, but experts said big challenges remain as the utility moves to the second phase, the goal of which is to achieve a cold shutdown...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 21, 2011

Looking beyond the landscape view

Most of us understand bridges to be structures that help us keep our feet dry. However, in the latest exhibition at the Mitsui Memorial Museum, "The Bridge in Japanese Art: From Ama-no-Hashidate to Nihonbashi," it turns out that we've only been partly right. The bridge is also a device to help us see...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jul 20, 2011

The imperfect science of delineating poverty

How informative is the 'relative poverty' index?
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jul 17, 2011

Four former ballplayers remembered after their deaths

More than 900 foreigners have played in Japanese pro baseball since Wally Yonamine joined the Yomiuri Giants in 1951, and it is always sad to hear when any of them have died. Baseball America and various Internet outlets have reported the recent deaths of four ex-major leaguers who also played in Japan...
Japan Times
CULTURE
Jul 15, 2011

Will heartthrob Mukai shine as the shogun?

This year's NHK Sunday evening drama has already entered the history books for one, perhaps inauspicious, reason. On March 12, a day after the Great East Japan Earthquake, NHK announced that the following day's broadcast of "Go," as the show is titled, would be canceled to make way for news coverage....
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 8, 2011

Key to 'East Asian' health

On May 8, 2011, leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations issued a joint statement to reaffirm their commitment toward the development of a common position on global issues.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jul 3, 2011

Murakami puts a bomb under his compatriots' atomic complacency

"The Japanese will someday outgrow their nuclear allergy." I've never forgotten futurologist and Cold War military strategist Herman Kahn saying this to me on his visit to Japan in 1969, when I was his guide and occasional interpreter.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Jun 29, 2011

Local heroes take Japanese video games to the world

Japan may not be the all-conquering video-game powerhouse it once was, but there are still plenty of gamers in the West who want to get their hands on the latest "Mario," "Final Fantasy" or "Street Fighter" title. And it goes without saying that they want to play them in their own language — not in...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 27, 2011

Japan is losing IMF game, and it isn't keeping score

Yoshihiko Noda, Japan's finance minister, is increasingly tipped as the frontrunner to take over from Naoto Kan when the prime minister finally bites the bullet and resigns.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2011

Suicides upping casualties from Tohoku catastrophe

On June 11, a dairy farmer in Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, chalked a note on the wall of his cattle shed. "If only there wasn't a nuclear power plant," the message read, in reference to the damaged Fukushima No. 1 plant just 45 km away, which had effectively ended his livelihood.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 23, 2011

A marriage of East and West: something old, something borrowed and something blue

The Museum fur Kunst und Gewerbe in Hamburg is showing its collection of Japanese prints for the first time on these shores as part of diplomatic celebrations around the 150th anniversary of Japan-German relations. It is a catholic exhibition that showcases ukiyo-e in its wide array of manifestations,...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 20, 2011

Let one character lead to enlightenment and civilization

Many of Japan's admired historic figures were adulated for being "warrior scholars," since they were equally adept at leading armies and composing poems. This ideal is referred to as 文武両道 (bunbu ryodō). Bun refers to writing and by extension the literary arts. Bu relates to martial or military...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 17, 2011

'Saya Zamurai (Scabbard Samurai)'

of manzai comedy duo Downtown, Hitoshi Matsumoto has sat atop the slippery pole of popularity on Japanese television for nearly two decades. He has also directed two films, 2007's "Dai-Nipponjin (Big Man Japan)" and 2009's "Shinboru (Symbol)," that have screened widely abroad, while occasioning some...
Reader Mail
Jun 16, 2011

Disappointing antinuke coverage

Regarding the June 12 front-page article "Three months marked since killer quake, tsunami": I was very disappointed by The Japan Times so-called coverage of the worldwide demonstrations against nuclear power held June 11.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / STYLE WISE
Jun 14, 2011

A season for accolades, milestones and new frontiers

Florence and Kyoto unite to celebrate Gucci's 90 years Revered luxury brand Gucci is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year with a special traveling exhibition in Japan that highlights its prowess in craftsmanship. Starting at the famed Kinkaku-ji Golden Temple in Kyoto, "Gucci: 90 years" showcases...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jun 12, 2011

Warp-drive quest for the Big Bang's 'lost' material

What do these three things have in common: a mysterious, donut-shaped belt of plasma wrapped around the Earth; the warp engines on the starship USS Enterprise; and a laboratory at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) outside Geneva, Switzerland?

Longform

An ongoing shortage of rice has resulted in rising prices for Japan's main food staple.
Why Japan is running out of rice — and farmers to grow it