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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 5, 2013

Juku: an unnecessary evil or vital steppingstone to success?

For the past year, Tokyo sixth-grader Manami has had dinner at home an average of four times a week. The rest of the time she has had to make do with a juku-ben, a boxed dinner prepared by her mother and consumed between classes at juku, or cram school.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Mar 2, 2013

Kawai out as coach of Hamamatsu

In the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately world of pro basketball, Ryuji Kawai's 60-30 record in 90 games as head coach wasn't good enough.
BASKETBALL
Feb 27, 2013

Dixon, Tomori shine in Gunma triumph over Sendai

After a quiet game in the series opener, Gunma Crane Thunders point guard Jermaine Dixon lit up the scoreboard for 28 points in a 78-75 bounce-back win over the host Sendai 89ers on Tuesday night in the bj-league.
EDITORIALS
Feb 27, 2013

Making sense of cosmic coincidences

Two extraterrestrial objects intruded into the presumed order of our daily lives this month, one sideswiping the planet, the other impacting in Russia.
Japan Times
LIFE
Feb 24, 2013

An inclined view: The life and work of Donald Richie

It was with a heavy heart that I heard from Donald Richie's longtime friend and editor Leza Lowitz that he had passed away on the morning of Tuesday, this week. He was 88.
Japan Times
LIFE
Feb 24, 2013

Sharing films with a master critic

Donald Richie was my friend and mentor for more than 20 years and my inspiration before that. When I was preparing to come to Japan for the first time in 1975, I read many books about the place, but Donald's masterpiece "The Inland Sea" was the one that entranced me. My first long trip after my arrival...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 22, 2013

Senkaku showdown taxing forces

The past few months have put the Japan Coast Guard and Air Self-Defense Force to the test, as they defend the nation's territorial waters and airspace around the Senkaku islets in the East China Sea, a flash point for potential military clashes with China.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Feb 17, 2013

Nuclear dispute shapes fight over future of fading town

This superbly told tale about the waxing and waning fortunes of Kaminoseki town over the past four centuries presents some interesting local counterpoints to the more familiar national narrative.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 16, 2013

Probe details coach's abuses against boy who killed himself

Details of the brutal physical and verbal abuse an Osaka high school boy suffered at the hands of his basketball coach before committing suicide in December are revealed in a report compiled by an external panel.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Feb 16, 2013

War on the seabed: the Hebridean shellfishing battle

The problem with bottom-trawling is that it lacks discrimination. The gear plows through the seabed, taking or breaking nearly everything in its path.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Feb 15, 2013

Akita rookie Togashi shows talent, promise right away

Like any first-year pro, Yuki Togashi must cope with the ups and downs of his new job.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 8, 2013

The movie exposing the lies at the heart of U.S. capitalism

In one sense, "Inequality for All" is absolutely the film of the moment. We are living through tumultuous times. The economy has tanked. Austerity has cut a swath through our lives.
Reader Mail
Feb 7, 2013

Fair tax share for universities

As one who used to work for a private educational institution, I was interested in the Feb. 3 editorial "Entrance exam change needed." It seems that it mainly refers to "software" aspects. Let me suggest a few basic things that Japan should change.
Reader Mail
Feb 7, 2013

Qualified to ride on the road?

As a daily cyclist in the suburbs of Tokyo and as a regular cyclist when I lived in England, I can comment on the Feb. 5 Japan Times article "Cyclists who flout the law face charges."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 7, 2013

Dirty Beaches draws from Serbian film on new album

Alex Zhang Hungtai is constantly in motion. The Taiwanese-born artist, who performs under the name Dirty Beaches, has said in interviews the idea of "home" doesn't mean much to him. He's lived in Taipei, Honolulu, Shanghai and Montreal, and is an avid traveler on top of that. This feeling of always being...
BASKETBALL
Feb 3, 2013

Osaka coach Cartwright puts focus on fundamentals

Osaka Evessa bench boss Bill Cartwright reveals what he thinks are important traits for the team leader after landing his first head coaching job since guiding the Chicago Bulls from 2001-03.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 1, 2013

Ticket giveaway: Attend an advance screening of 'Silver Linings Playbook'

Ahead of the Feb. 22 Japan release of "Silver Linings Playbook," the acclaimed new film from director David O. Russell and starring Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence and Robert De Niro, a special preview screening will be held in Tokyo. The Japan Times has 10 pairs of tickets to give away free to readers...
Reader Mail
Jan 31, 2013

Retiring teachers deserve better

Shame on The Japan Times for implicitly joining in with the wholly unjustified criticism of teachers who have retired early to avoid cuts to their retirement allowance. The use of the word "dodge" in the Jan. 23 article titled "Teachers retire to dodge benefit cut" implies that teachers are doing something...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Jan 27, 2013

Evessa give Cartwright winning debut

Call it a successful start.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Jan 27, 2013

Time to stop nonsense on import rule, expand to 48-minute game

Formed as a six-team breakaway circuit from the old-guard JBL, the bj-league aimed to usher in a new era of pro basketball in Japan in 2005.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jan 21, 2013

Lincoln set the bar high for inaugural addresses

He first wrote out his speech in longhand. He had it printed and then cut the text into 27 snippets that he pasted on a sheet of paper. He changed three words and added 15 commas and semicolons.
Reader Mail
Jan 19, 2013

Concern for Fukushima people

I want to express my appreciation for The Japan Times' coverage of Dr. Masaharu Tsubokura's work monitoring internal radioactive contamination of people living in Fukushima, as reported in the Jan. 10 article "As radiation fears dwindle, so do checkups."
Reader Mail
Jan 19, 2013

Deport the solo 'fly-jin' of 3/11

Regarding the Jan. 16 article "Frenchwoman fired for leaving Japan during nuclear crisis sues NHK": I know this will upset a lot of foreigners in Japan, but I fully agree with NHK's terminating the employment of Emmanuelle Bodin after she fled Japan during the Fukushima nuclear plant crisis in March...
Reader Mail
Jan 19, 2013

Coach may be just tip of iceberg

Regarding the Jan. 12/13 Kyodo article "Osaka basketball coach tries to justify physical discipline after beaten boy's suicide": Whether the student was struck one time, 10 times or 30 times does not make any difference. People with a mind-set like this teacher's have to be kept away from pupils.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 17, 2013

China sets sights on an 'outer space trump card'

When China destroyed one of its own satellites in space six years ago, it alarmed many other Asia-Pacific countries that have invested heavily in orbiting satellites for telecommunications, Earth observation and scientific research.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
Jan 14, 2013

Advising Abe on the wisdom of a nuclear restart

Readers offer some advice to the new prime minister on the contentious issue of nuclear power in post-3/11 Japan.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 14, 2013

Sotomayor recalls life story shaped by diabetes

Very soon after being diagnosed with diabetes, 7-year-old Sonia Sotomayor decided she would not depend on the adults in her life — a distant, overworked mother, a doomed, alcoholic father — for the daily shots of insulin that would keep her alive.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 14, 2013

U.S. should extradite ex-officer under Pinochet

On Dec. 28, 2012, Judge Miguel Vásquez charged eight retired army officers with the murder of Victor Jara, a popular songwriter, guitarist and theater director who was killed days after the 1973 military coup against Chilean President Salvador Allende.
Reader Mail
Jan 13, 2013

Twitter's fine, grammar's better

Regarding Ai Shiinoki's Jan. 6 letter, "Using Twitter to learn English": Frankly, I feel disgusted when I hear the argument that English education in Japan is rather useless or that English-language textbooks contain expressions that are too old and so on.

Longform

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