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Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 10, 2009

Artist Yoko Ono is honored

On June 6, the Venice Biennale presented artist Yoko Ono with one of its most prestigious honors, the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement. Ono was nominated for the distinction along with American John Baldessari by the director of this year's biennale, Daniel Birnbaum.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / STYLE WISE
Jul 9, 2009

Maria H. at the beach, Peaches in Japan, denim art at Diesel and limited editions at Gap

Stylish swimmers Finnish designer Maria Hietanen wants to give the hard bodies of summer a sophisticated makeover with her Maria H. line of beachwear.
Japan Times
JAPAN / G8 ITALY SUMMIT
Jul 8, 2009

Japan leads the way with quake-resistant technology

When a massive earthquake hit the western part of Japan more than a decade ago, a highway collapsed, railroads and telephone lines were partially cut, and many buildings were toppled.
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Jul 8, 2009

Tornadoes learn lessons from 0-18 season

Nobody wants to play 18 games and lose every single one of them.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 7, 2009

NHK a fount of info, a lot of it from the government

Sometimes compared with the British Broadcasting Corporation or America's Public Broadcasting System — and by its fiercest critics even to the state-run media in China and North Korea — NHK boasts two terrestrial television services, three satellite television services, three radio networks and the...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jul 7, 2009

Accommodation advice and visas

It's good to be able to report some positive experiences regarding finding accommodation in Japan. Here are a couple of letters we received.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jul 5, 2009

New Niigata stadium opens this week, could host expansion team someday

The Hiroshima Carp and Hanshin Tigers will play the first official games at the new Niigata Prefectural Stadium this week with consecutive nighters on July 7 and 8. If ever Japanese baseball was going to expand or a team was to be moved, Niigata would be the next obvious best place in the country to...
EDITORIALS
Jul 5, 2009

Education on earthquakes

More than 7,300 public school buildings in Japan face a high risk of collapse in a serious earthquake, according to a recent report from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. Though the number of potentially dangerous schools is down significantly from last year, earthquakes of upper-6 seismic...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 5, 2009

The Shanxi trilogy: films that never made it back home

Sometimes called the most significant of the current generation of Chinese film directors, Jia Zhangke (b. 1970) enjoys the distinction of never having had some of his finest work commercially shown in his own country.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jul 3, 2009

A new way of experiencing Japan's old city

In a city that rightly boasts of its numerous monuments to its glorious and illustrious past, the Kaleidoscope Museum of Kyoto provides a counterpoint to the ancient capital's architectural and religious treasures.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 3, 2009

ART iT transforms into digital forum

When Tokyo-based quarterly magazine ART iT announced the discontinuation of its print edition and that all content would move online following the publishing of its June 2009 issue, it seemed like yet another example of how the popularity of the Internet had combined with a global economic recession...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK
Jul 3, 2009

Passed over by MLB, Inaba shines at home

Funny as it seems, being passed over for the major leagues might have been the best thing that could have happened to Atsunori Inaba.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2009

Single moms fight for kids' futures

For single mothers, no government financial assistance means no higher education for their children — and probably no future.
COMMENTARY
Jul 1, 2009

Tough to thwart North Korean arms exports

The cargo ship Kang Nam 1 has long been on a watch-list of North Korean vessels suspected of illicit trading. But it recently emerged from the shadows at the center of a cat-and-mouse game in Asian waters, tracked by U.S. warships, maritime reconnaissance planes and satellites under a United Nations...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2009

Key gripes converge in Tokyo poll

With the July 12 Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election drawing near, opposition parties are beginning to attack the contentious policies endorsed by the bureaucracy and Gov. Shintaro Ishihara.
EDITORIALS
Jun 30, 2009

Taxing way to save pensions

The Diet has enacted the revised National Pension Law, under which more tax money will be used to cover part of the public pension's base tier. The coverage by tax money will be raised from the current 36.5 percent of the base tier to 50 percent. In view of the graying of the population and the low birth...
EDITORIALS
Jun 29, 2009

Sundown on the merger era

A panel of the internal affairs ministry has submitted a recommendation to Prime Minister Taro Aso that the mergers of municipalities carried out at the initiative of the government in the past decade end by March 31, 2010. The mergers were aimed at using financial resources efficiently and streamlining...
EDITORIALS
Jun 29, 2009

Preparing for disasters

The government's 2009 white paper on natural disaster prevention shows that 62 percent of people surveyed feel that the risk of death or injury in Japan during natural disasters such as typhoons and earthquakes has increased. In this Internet survey, conducted in February and March and covering 1,500...
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2009

Aso, Lee confirm cooperation on N. Korea

Prime Minister Taro Aso and South Korean President Lee Myung Bak agreed Sunday to intensify joint efforts to stop Pyongyang's nuclear programs and urged North Korea to abide by a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning its recent nuclear test.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jun 28, 2009

International community signs on to help keep Bobby V. in Chiba

You heard where those dedicated fans of the Chiba Lotte Marines gathered more than 110,000 signatures on a petition opposed to the team's dropping of American manager Bobby Valentine at the end of the 2009 season. The document was delivered to the team's front office earlier this month for presentation...
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jun 28, 2009

Priorities and politics 'must change fast' to head off global calamity

The 19th-century German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer declared: "All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as self-evident."
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 28, 2009

The only bonus you'll get this summer is the sun

One of the cleverest ideas developed by the Japanese business world is the distribution of semiannual "bonuses" to employees. Usually, a bonus is tied to a company's good fortune or an employee's performance. Japanese workers have always deemed them to be part of their salaries and tend to plan their...
BUSINESS
Jun 27, 2009

CPI tumbles at record pace

Consumer prices fell at a record pace in May, adding to signs that a return to deflation may hamper a rebound from the nation's worst postwar recession.

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