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Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2011

World Red Cross chief: Japan has crucial aid role

In November 2009, Tadateru Konoe, Japanese Red Cross Society head, became the first Asian president of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 11, 2011

The National break past indie's borders

Formed in Brooklyn, New York, via Cincinnati, Ohio, The National have taken an equally oblique route to success. Twelve years into a career where every strand of recognition has been painstakingly hard-earned, The National's exquisite melancholy has resonated long enough to transform any cult-status...
JAPAN
Mar 10, 2011

Matsumoto new foreign minister

Prime Minister Naoto Kan named political blue-blood and former banker Takeaki Matsumoto as foreign minister Wednesday, promoting the deputy foreign minister to replace Seiji Maehara, who stepped down over a political donation scandal.
EDITORIALS
Mar 10, 2011

Obsession with fault-finding

Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara's resignation over receipt of political donations from a Korean resident underscores a problematic Political Funds Control Law and politicians' obsession with fault-finding to pull others down.
BASEBALL / HIT AND RUN
Mar 8, 2011

Foreign hurlers face pivotal season after recovering from injuries

Seth Greisinger walked off the field at Tokyo Dome on Thursday looking relaxed and at ease. At the same time, Alex Graman had his glove tucked under his arm as he chatted with a reporter and teammate Dee Brown in front of the visitors' dugout.
BUSINESS
Mar 8, 2011

Maehara's departure no boon to finances

Prime Minister Naoto Kan's struggle to fund the nation's budget and avoid an early election suffered another setback when his foreign minister quit Sunday over illegal donations and a poll showed fewer than one voter in four supports him, and a stock slide heightened the sense of unease.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 6, 2011

Minding the tensions over changes in China

The closing decade of the 20th century offered a crystal ball for anyone peering into the future of the Asia-Pacific region. Japan's economy, once the region's leader, was "lost" after its asset bubble burst, whereas China overcame the economic stagnation that followed the Tiananmen Square crisis of...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Mar 6, 2011

Japanese families' nutritional values pay dearly for 'progress'

Last year, a gut-wrenching book by Nobuko Iwamura was published by Shinchosha titled "Kazoku no Katte Desho!" ("It's My Kitchen and I'll Do What I Like in It!"). Gut-wrenching because it describes, with the help of 274 highly unpalatable photos, the kinds of breakfasts, lunches and dinners ordinary Japanese...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Mar 6, 2011

Japanese players grow in bj-league, stagnate in JBL

The simplistic, elitist viewpoint that JBL squads would dominate against bj-league foes is a flawed argument because of the differences in the way the two leagues operate. The JBL's one-foreigner quota and the bj-league's three-imports-on-the-court rule present stark contrasts in their styles of play....
COMMENTARY
Mar 4, 2011

Why worry about China's nuclear warheads?

SINGAPORE — Latest estimates by Western analysts put China's stockpile at 240 warheads, with 175 in active mode and 65 in reserve or waiting to be dismantled because they are considered too old for use.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 4, 2011

'Chatroom'

Speaking strictly from a J-cinema fan/patriot point of view, "Chatroom" is a cause for celebration. It's set in London, stars some of the brightest young talent in the United Kingdom, centers around the timely topic of social networking — and the whole thing is directed by Japanese horror meister Hideo...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / MAKING INROADS
Mar 3, 2011

PC titans' joint venture shakes up global market

On Jan. 27, the biggest personal computer maker in Japan joined hands with the world's fourth-biggest in planning to launch a new company in June.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Mar 1, 2011

Latest volcano show: Shinmoe

OSAKA — In late January, Mount Shinmoe, one of a cluster of volcanoes on a mountain range straddling Kagoshima and Miyazaki prefectures, woke back up.
BASEBALL / HIT AND RUN
Mar 1, 2011

Terahara could make big difference for Orix

As the promise of yet another spring swirled around him, Hayato Terahara took the mound for the Orix Buffaloes on Sunday.
EDITORIALS
Feb 28, 2011

Tracking former sex offenders

A proposal by Gov. Yoshihiro Murai of Miyagi Prefecture to attach Global Positioning System devices to ex-convicts of sex crimes and people prone to committing domestic violence has given rise to renewed discussions of how to prevent sex-crime recidivism.
JAPAN / ELEMENTARY ENGLISH
Feb 26, 2011

Are schools ready for English?

Come April, English classes will become mandatory for fifth- and sixth-graders, but a 29-year-old elementary school teacher in Tokyo has heard the concerns of her overwhelmed colleagues, especially the older ones, who have neither taught the language nor studied it since their university years decades...
JAPAN / ELEMENTARY ENGLISH
Feb 26, 2011

Asian, European peers have big head start but success unquestioned

While all elementary schools in Japan are scheduled to start teaching English this April, other parts of Asia and Europe have been doing it for years.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 26, 2011

Conscripted prisoners of the Russian Army

MOSCOW — Some of the most interesting artifacts of the Soviet Union in Russia are the holidays that continue to be celebrated, almost two decades after the fall of communism. On Feb. 23, Russians celebrated the "Day of the Defender of the Fatherland," a rough equivalent of Father's Day but with a militaristic...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Feb 26, 2011

Arsenal poised to end trophy drought

LONDON — It will be a small start but Arsene Wenger knows it is not enough.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Feb 26, 2011

Here's Japan's big, white hope

I read a piece of news the other day that makes me feel that "Japan as No. 3" may finally be headed in the right direction.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Feb 24, 2011

Dr. Arihisa Fujimaki

Dr. Arihisa Fujimaki, 67, is the director of Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries (IHI) Hospital in Tokyo. An expert in reconstructive microsurgery, this orthopedic surgeon regularly performs operations to re-attach fingers, toes, hands and the occasional foot. Fujimaki is a hero to many, from construction...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 22, 2011

Red Devils and moneyed 'untouchables' of soccer

HONG KONG — The front cover of the report by the respected audit and consulting concern Deloitte is dramatic and eye-catching: It consists of just a picture of a fedora hat reminiscent of the 1930s and, above it, a stark headline, "The Untouchables."

Longform

It's back to the classroom for some residents as municipal governments across the country conduct lessons to learn how to use new technologies.
Can aging Japan go digital without leaving anyone behind?