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Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 15, 2013

2013: A space conundrum

Long ago, in a dreamier era, space stations were imagined as portals to the heavens. In the 1968 movie "2001: A Space Odyssey," the huge structure twirled in orbit, aesthetically sublime, a relaxing way station for astronauts heading to the moon. It featured a Hilton and a Howard Johnson's.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Sep 14, 2013

Seed bank sprouts support a-plenty

In a sunny corner of Tomoko and Kenji Usui's garden, surrounded by marigolds and goldenrod, there stands a peculiar little house. The thatched roof is tall and pointy like a witch's hat, with flowers growing around the brim. The porch is wide and shady, with a handmade wooden chair on it inviting visitors...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / 'SUMMER DAVOS' SPECIAL 2013
Sep 10, 2013

Advising visitors to truly see Japan with their own eyes

Last summer at age 66, Seiichi Kondo climbed Mount Fuji for the first time in his life. Friends warned it wouldn't be an easy expedition, and it wasn't. But conquering Japan's highest mountain was essential for what he was about to do next.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Sep 7, 2013

Fukushima: health disaster or PR fail?

One thing about having a nuclear accident in a rich country is that at least there is going to be good medical care and long-term monitoring. The repair and clean-up operation is another matter, of course — which is why Japan is currently under pressure to accept help from abroad in fixing the appalling...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 5, 2013

Experts uncertain about Tokyo bid

As the weekend vote looms by the International Olympic Committee to decide the city that will host the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, experts in Japan say the three candidates are neck and neck amid lingering worries about the radioactive water leaking from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.
Japan Times
JAPAN / INTERPRETATION & TRANSLATION
Sep 2, 2013

Focusing on people, not just words

English interpreters in Japan may often be regarded as those who convert English into Japanese or vice versa. However, Mutsumi Katayama, who has worked for more than 20 years as a freelance professional interpreter, focuses more attention on interpersonal communication.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 30, 2013

Knock down barriers to FDIs

If Japan wants to regain its international competitiveness and recover its innovative capabilities, it must encourage leading foreign firms to come to the Japanese market.
EDITORIALS
Aug 26, 2013

Poisoned mongooses in Okinawa

Japanese researchers have detected high levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in mongooses found near two U.S. military bases in Okinawa.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 18, 2013

Interest in climate change ebbs

It's puzzling why so few arguments have been made in Japan this summer to link the heat waves and local cloudbursts to global warming and climate change.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
Aug 12, 2013

Radiation fears forced me to postpone Japan visit by U.S. students

Dear Minister of Education Hakubun Shimomura,
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 8, 2013

Tokyo beach reopens after five-decade effort

The seawater by Tokyo's Kasai Rinkai Park is only slightly cooler than body temperature, and its beach contains a mix of tiny gravel and seashell fragments instead of fine white sand.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 7, 2013

Okinawa dump site may be proof of Agent Orange: experts

The recent discovery of 22 barrels buried on former U.S. military land in the city of Okinawa could be posing the same level of risks to local residents as dioxin hot spots in Vietnam where the American military stored toxic defoliants during the 1960s and 1970s, according to two leading Agent Orange...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Aug 5, 2013

The aging issue of Chiba New Town

The Chiba New Town development project was begun in the late 1960s by the Chiba prefectural government, and a decade later, joined by the Land Development Corporation, the government housing organ that would morph into the Urban Renaissance (UR) Agency in 2004. It is located in the northern part of the...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Aug 3, 2013

Toyohiro Akiyama: Cautionary tales from one not afraid to risk all

In December 1990, journalist Toyohiro Akiyama made headlines the world over when he blasted off aboard a Soviet rocket to become the very first "space correspondent" in history.
EDITORIALS
Jul 31, 2013

Yet more Tepco incompetence

Tepco's late admission that radioactive groundwater from the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant is leaking into the ocean raises questions about its abilities.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 26, 2013

Pay properly for the music you like, even online

As the music business struggles to reinvent itself for the digital world, the only topic more controversial than what a recording is worth is who exactly should have the power to set its price.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jul 23, 2013

Obama's toughest campaign yet: selling health care reform

Deep inside the White House, in a bare room that the chief of staff uses for meetings, David Simas is still thinking about turnout.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 20, 2013

Misconceptions about how Wal-Mart operates

Wal-Mart's supporters laud its low prices while its opponents charge that it exploits workers and pollutes the environment. The truth is more complex.
EDITORIALS
Jul 15, 2013

Keeping Mount Fuji safe and clean

The U.N. designation of Mount Fuji as a World Heritage cultural site is something to celebrate, but it imposes moral obligations on local governments and hikers.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jul 14, 2013

'Alarm fatigue' at hospitals poses risks

Walk into a hospital intensive care unit and hear the din: A ventilator honks loudly. An infusion pump emits a high-pitched beep-beep every six seconds. A blood pressure monitor pushes out one long tone after another.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 25, 2013

Taksim Square and the new ways of mobilizing

Turkey's democratic opposition can address flaws of the system only if it recognizes the need for very different forms of mobilization from those of the past.
JAPAN
Jun 20, 2013

Strontium in groundwater at No. 1 soars

Groundwater contaminated with highly radioactive substances is detected from a monitoring well just 27 meters from the seashore within the compound of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 20, 2013

Producer Yosi Horikawa goes all natural on 'Vapor'

Yosi Horikawa's beats burble, hiss, slosh and gurgle. On his debut full-length, "Vapor," the 34-year-old producer may wield some identifiably hip-hop rhythms, but they're tangled in a rich, intricately detailed tapestry of field recordings, sampled percussion, snatches of tribal chants and warm, guileless...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WEEK 3
Jun 16, 2013

Insecticides pit trees against bees

"That's where they're going to spray."

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