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Japan Times
BUSINESS / NOTEBOOK
Oct 31, 2012

Dance event charity for the deaf; Temple symposium on liberal arts education

Events
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK
Oct 29, 2012

Fighters skipper Kuriyama maintains light mood after opening setback

Despite a lopsided 8-1 loss to the Yomiuri Giants in Game 1 of the Japan Series, Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters manager Hideki Kuriyama came out in front of the media throng in a cheerful mode before Sunday's Game 2 at Tokyo Dome.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 29, 2012

Game 1 hero Bowker appreciates opportunity to play in postseason

One has to wonder what was going through John Bowker's mind as he rounded the bases after hitting a three-run home run during the fourth inning of Game 1 of the Japan Series.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 26, 2012

Festival/Tokyo theater event to give Asia a starring role

Japan has been on a bit of a losing streak for a while now. In 2010, it was overtaken as the world's second-largest economy by China, and in 2011 the nation was rocked by the Great East Japan Earthquake and the ensuing tsunami and nuclear crisis.
EDITORIALS
Oct 26, 2012

Nation honors an athlete

The government will bestow the People's Honor Award on Ms. Saori Yoshida — a wrestler who has won three Olympic gold medals and 10 world championships — "for bringing hope and courage to society." As Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said in announcing the government's decision to give her the...
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Oct 24, 2012

Senkaku dispute opens door wider for Istanbul 2020 bid

A prominent Turkish journalist believes that the ongoing dispute between Japan and China over the Senkaku Islands could affect the outcome of the voting for the 2020 Olympics, thereby making Istanbul's path to victory easier.
EDITORIALS
Oct 22, 2012

NRA must ensure transparency

More than a month has passed since the Nuclear Regulatory Authority was inaugurated on Sept. 19. The NRA started in a deplorable manner. In a political maneuver, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda used a provision of the relevant law and appointed the five commission members without Diet approval.
CULTURE / Books
Oct 21, 2012

Using the noodle to gain insight into Japanese culinary culture

SLURP! A Social and Culinary History of Ramen — Japan's Favorite Noodle Soup, by Barak Kushner. Global Oriental, 2012, 289 pp., $90 (hardcover) Under the heading "Ramen is Japan" Barak Kushner asserts: "Ramen (regular and instant) permeates all features of contemporary Japanese life." He goes on to...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 21, 2012

Watching the wealthy, a popular spectator sport

Twenty-five years ago, in what was to became known as the bubble economy, many Japanese suddenly found themselves awash in money.
EDITORIALS
Oct 20, 2012

New North korea approach needed

A decade has passed since five Japanese abducted by North Korean agents were returned to Japan on Oct. 15, 2002. That event took place a month after Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il held a summit that culminated in the signing of the Pyongyang Declaration in which...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 19, 2012

Understand Japanese cinema

The Tokyo International Film Festival, which runs Oct. 20-28 at Toho Cinemas Roppongi Hills and other venues around the capital and the Tohoku region, is a great opportunity to see new Japanese films — with a couple caveats.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Oct 16, 2012

Retirees can be rehired, but often under worse conditions

Reader PW teaches at an international school in Tokyo and wants to know about Japan's retirement laws:
CULTURE / Books
Oct 14, 2012

Heterodox views enter mainstream

RETHINKING JAPANESE HISTORY, by Yoshihiko Amino, translated by Alan S. Christy. Center for Japanese Studies, University of Michigan, 2012. 317 pp., $20 (paper) It is a testimony to Yoshihiko Amino's influential legacy that his once iconoclastic views regarding Japanese history have now become mainstream....
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Oct 12, 2012

Tax auditors running out of cheaters, ponder purpose in life

The economy is so bad, even tax investigators have nothing to do.
JAPAN / IMF-WORLD BANK IN TOKYO
Oct 12, 2012

Daishichi Sake Brewery makes tradition modern

The Daishichi Sake Brewery Co., located in the castle town of Nihonmatsu, Fukushima Prefecture, sits at the foot of majestic Mount Adatara. Daishichi was founded in 1752 by Saburoemon Ohta, who hailed originally from a samurai family. Since then, 10 generations of the Ohta family have overseen the business....
EDITORIALS
Oct 12, 2012

Mr. Chavez wins again

It was supposed to be a close vote; some even believed that an upset was in the works. But when the dust settled, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez had won another election. This time, however, his margin of victory was considerably reduced, from 25 percentage points six years ago to about 10 percentage...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Oct 9, 2012

North Korea abductees mark decade since coming home

Oct. 15 will mark the 10th anniversary since five Japanese citizens were repatriated from North Korea after being abducted by Pyongyang's agents in the 1970s. The government claims that the North has failed to properly address the fate of 12 more Japanese abductees that remain missing, while others say...
EDITORIALS
Oct 8, 2012

NHK's gamble with fee cut

NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corp.) on Oct. 1 implemented a reduction in its television-viewing fees, but the decision does not appear to be a wise one. There is the risk that a decrease in revenue could cause a decline in the quality of NHK programs.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Oct 7, 2012

Gruff Ochiai needs to change if return is in cards

The Pacific League's Orix Buffaloes announced on Sept. 25 manager Akinobu Okada will not return to run the club next season, and speculation about his replacement indicates Japanese baseball Hall of Famer and former Chunichi Dragons skipper Hiromitsu Ochiai is one of the candidates who might be appointed...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 7, 2012

Tabloids return fire, urge China business pullout

On Sept. 29, the 40th anniversary of the restoration of diplomatic relations between China and Japan, Sankei Shimbun editorial writer Ryutaro Kobayashi asked how it would be possible for Japan to continue discussions with a China that had "lost its national dignity."
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Oct 7, 2012

Minamata: a saga of suffering and hope

The last job I had that paid me a real salary was with the Canadian government's Environmental Protection Service in the mid 1970s.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Oct 6, 2012

Video journalist's work takes him to centers of the world's conflicts

Takeharu Watai has spent all of his two-decade career in video journalism as an independent. But he is conscious that public distrust of the mass media, particularly over its coverage of the Fukushima nuclear disaster and the nation's nuclear energy policy, has grown so strong that, by default, it extends...
BUSINESS
Oct 5, 2012

Caution urged on BOJ bond deals

New Vice Finance Minister Koichi Takemasa urged "extremely cautious consideration" of proposals for the Bank of Japan to buy foreign bonds.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 4, 2012

Sony's Hirai says efforts to revive TV business are ahead of schedule

Sony Corp. earnings are "moving in the right direction" as it accelerates a plan to turn around its unprofitable TV business, Chief Executive Officer Kazuo Hirai said.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Oct 2, 2012

JBL looking to go out with a bang

With its 2012-13 campaign getting under way this weekend, the Japan Basketball League, which will be rebranded as the National Basketball League next fall, promises to entertain the fans as much as possible in its final season under the old name.
BUSINESS
Oct 2, 2012

Sumitomo sees 'solar bubble' with rejection of nuclear power

As Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and billionaire Masayoshi Son lead a swarm of investors seeking to exploit Japan's solar power subsidies — the largest in the world — Sumitomo Corp. is betting on wind.

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