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Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Mar 15, 2014

1866 and all that: the untold early history of rugby in Japan

The history of rugby in Japan is arguably longer than that of every major rugby-playing country in the world outside of the British Isles and Australia. Very sorry France, New Zealand and South Africa! Regarding early documented rugby history, Japan wins. Until the recent discovery of an 1864 article...
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 14, 2014

Culture of safety can make or break nuclear power plants

On the third anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami and its devastating impact on Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima nuclear power plants, we need to understand why Tohoku Electric Power Co.'s Onagawa Nuclear Power Station — which was even closer to the quake epicenter — had a drastically different fate.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 13, 2014

Ueno Park to welcome springtime with a song

The cherry trees of Ueno Park are inspirational in full bloom. Come early spring and Tokyoites head to the area early to snag spots beneath the pink blossoms, which inspire romance, revelry and perhaps more than a few visionary ideas.
Reader Mail
Mar 8, 2014

Arguing point on 'massacre' hurts Japan

Recently no day seems to pass without our having to put up with double talk from a Japanese leader or a director of NHK (the national broadcaster). It wasn't even a year ago that then Tokyo Gov. Naoki Inose made a spectacle of himself because of his comments in a New York Times article [suggesting that...
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK
Mar 8, 2014

Blanco out to prove stellar 2013 was no fluke

Tony Blanco was very good in 2013. Ridiculously good even, considering the already solid performer shattered a slew of career highs in one fell swoop.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 6, 2014

China's civilian fleet is a potent force asserting sovereignty in disputed seas

From harassing Filipino fishing boats and monitoring oil exploration off Vietnam to playing cat-and-mouse with the Japan Coast Guard, China's expanding fleet of civilian patrol vessels have become the enforcers in disputed Asian waters.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Mar 5, 2014

Duncan's impact on Fukuoka puts team in playoff chase

The Rizing Fukuoka have always been one of the most colorful, interesting teams in league history.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Mar 3, 2014

Loved abroad, hated at home: The art of Japanese tattooing

The perception gap between international views of irezumi and those of Japanese people dates back more than 150 years, to when foreigners first laid eyes on Japanese tattoos. Since that time, however, Japanese tattooists have influenced their foreign counterparts in remarkable ways — and sometimes vice-versa.
COMMENTARY
Feb 28, 2014

China uses Ukraine unrest as argument for stability

China's Communist Party-controlled media appear to be using the unrest in Ukraine as a teaching moment to point out the pitfalls of clamoring for more rapid reforms in a large, multi-ethnic society — one like China's.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Feb 22, 2014

Noam Chomsky: Truth to power

Often dubbed one of the world's most important intellectuals and its leading public dissident, Noam Chomsky was for years among the top 10 most quoted academics on the planet, edged out only by William Shakespeare, Karl Marx, Aristotle.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 19, 2014

'The refusal of time' is worth every minute

The former Rissei Elementary School site, nowadays an occasional cultural events center, was earlier home to the Kyoto Dento, the electric company whose technology helped industrialist Katsutaro Inabata to demonstrate the Lumière Brothers' cinématographe camera in 1897 — Japan's first experience...
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Feb 19, 2014

Shiga's Gomez provides steady veteran leadership, productivity

The Shiga Lakestars are one of five Western Conference teams with a win total ranging between 15 and 17 through Sunday. And that means half of the West's teams are in that position. Parity it is, but also a dogfight for a ticket to the playoffs.
Reader Mail
Feb 12, 2014

Making a clear cut with the past

Concerning the Feb. 4 article "Yasukuni: It's open to interpretation": I would like to add a few historic facts. Yasukuni is barely understood in its historic context. It is not just a memorial for the war dead! In the middle of the 19th century the modern nation of Japan was modeled according to the...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Feb 10, 2014

Renewable energy's future rosy if grids ever get updated

The March 11, 2011, mega-quake and monster tsunami that set off the Fukushima No. 1 atomic plant meltdowns forced Japan to rethink its nuclear-focused energy policy and explore the use of renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Feb 8, 2014

Weather in Japan: from balmy to barmy

The division of Japan into distinct climatic zones means that anyone traveling around the country will normally encounter quite predictable demands in terms of clothing requirements; while for those in any one area the local weather forecast will be correct more often than not.
BASKETBALL / ONE-ON-ONE WITH ...
Feb 5, 2014

Sendai's White recognizes importance of team chemistry, close-knit family

The Japan Times features periodic interviews with players in the bj-league. Wendell White of the Sendai 89ers is the subject of this week's profile.
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Feb 5, 2014

East power Akita decides to make roster move: source

Despite the Akita Northern Happinets' 28-4 record and 11-game winning streak, coach Kazuo Nakamura's club is tinkering with its chemistry.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 3, 2014

Uphold basic living standards

To attain a national minimum for social welfare, some urge introducing a basic income — provision of a fixed sum of money to each citizen — to replace social security, which covers only needy people.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Feb 1, 2014

Pursuit of happiness

The merry residents of Japan have long sought to attain the 'pleasantest of all diversions
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2014

Fears widen over Kadena toxins

Just days after the commander of U.S. Kadena Air Base, near the city of Okinawa, promised parents their children's schools were safe from dioxin contamination, a further 50 chemical barrels have been unearthed from adjacent land and a retired U.S. Air Force major has come forward with claims the school...
EDITORIALS
Jan 28, 2014

The Mac computer turns 30

Thirty years ago this month, little-known Apple Computer began to transform the world. Its signal event was a television advertisement broadcast during America's Super Bowl, announcing the introduction of a new product in two days.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 24, 2014

Pining for Lyndon Johnson, Americans got Christie

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's recent scandals won't impress anyone who has read of the political arm-twisting shenanigans conducted a half-century ago by U.S. President Lyndon Baines Johnson.
BASKETBALL
Jan 13, 2014

Iwate showcases depth, talent in triumph over Tokyo

The Iwate Big Bulls know there's only one way to climb above the Toyama Grouses and Akita Northern Happinets in the Eastern Conference standings.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jan 11, 2014

Communing with nature in Kumano's land of ancient gods

An old tale from Kumano tells of a hunter who was out one day with his dogs when he spotted a large boar. Stretching his bow, he took aim and loosed an arrow deep into the body of the beast.
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Jan 8, 2014

Shimane struggling after departure of coach, top star

The Shimane Susanoo Magic have dropped out of playoff contention this season, but big man Jeral Davis remains a bright spot for the fourth-year franchise.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 7, 2014

China's anti-Kim campaign

The next target of China's autocrats, already waging an undeclared war over territory against multiple neighboring countries, is likely to be fellow communist state North Korea, now an estranged ally.

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