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SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Dec 8, 2012

Quality of play this season really weak

The most popular league in the world?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 6, 2012

Townshend: Japan, U.K. took same postwar path

Who guitarist and composer Pete Townshend originally wanted to call his memoir, "Pete Townshend: Who He?" His publisher, HarperCollins, settled on the less cheeky, more digestible, "Who I Am" — though a better title might be: "Who I Was."
JAPAN / ELECTION 2012
Dec 5, 2012

Parties posture with grand pronouncements, few details

Privatization of Japan Post was the focal point in the 2005 general election. The 2009 election ended in a lopsided victory for the Democratic Party of Japan and the ouster of the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party. This Dec. 16, voters will go to the polls to cast their judgment on nuclear power in...
COMMENTARY
Dec 5, 2012

Cast your ballots carefully

Disillusionment with politicians and established political parties has been growing in democratic countries for some time. Politicians are increasingly seen as venal. Some are incompetent and ignorant. Many are often arrogant and conceited. But we cannot do without them.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 2, 2012

Why is the potential turning point of 3/11 being allowed to slip away?

Dried Anpo persimmons from Fukushima Prefecture are famed for staying fresh and juicy. However, for the second successive autumn, 90 percent of the crop has had to be discarded due to it registering radioactive contamination levels above legally set limits.
JAPAN / ELECTION 2012
Dec 2, 2012

Abe's rightism: Campaign ploy or governance plan?

The main election slogan of the Liberal Democratic Party, which polls say will prevail in the Dec. 16 general election, is "Restoring Japan," underlining its determination to reclaim the power it lost three years ago.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Dec 1, 2012

The best-ever tips on learning Japanese

If you want to learn Japanese the fastest way possible, read on. Notice I did not say the easiest way possible. If you think learning Japanese is easy, well, you can stop reading now. Presuming you want to learn Japanese, I offer the following best-ever tips:
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 30, 2012

'Skyfall'

The 007 franchise has been around for 50 years now, and in that time we've seen the good, the bad and the Lazenby. The tendency has been, however, to view the success or failure of each movie as resting entirely on the actor playing super-spy James Bond. People will talk fondly about the rugged, masculine...
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Nov 29, 2012

The coming influx of an idol workforce

Much has been made in the media over the problem of Japan's aging population and shrinking workforce. But there is another demographic time bomb, at the heart of Japan's most militantly youthful sector of society, just waiting to explode.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS / ICE TIME
Nov 21, 2012

Mao striving to secure GP Final spot at NHK Trophy

Two-time world champion Mao Asada will be looking to clinch her place in the Grand Prix Final at this week's NHK Trophy in Sendai.
BASEBALL / HIT AND RUN
Nov 20, 2012

Japan gave Yamamoto something to build on against Cuba

Koji Yamamoto made it through his first two games in charge of the Japan national team with a pair of victories against Cuba, the world's top-ranked baseball team.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / OUR MAN IN TOKYO
Nov 20, 2012

Envoy acts as bridge between Japan, Armenia

It didn't come as much of a surprise to Grant Pogosyan when the offer came to him from the Armenian government to become his home country's ambassador to Japan.
JAPAN
Nov 9, 2012

Hashimoto mulls teaming up with Ishihara's new party

Despite fundamental differences in policy and continued doubts about how voters would react, Osaka Mayor and Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) head Toru Hashimoto has indicated a tieup with former Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara might occur.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 4, 2012

Ishihara resignation a gift for the media

When Shintaro Ishihara announced on Oct. 25 that he was resigning as governor of Tokyo so that he could form a new political party before the next general election, some of the dailies printed gōgai (extra editions) to report it, thus indicating it was really big news that everybody needed to know about...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 29, 2012

Halloween in Japan: no trick or treat, but scary spots galore

Japanese people generally have a well developed appreciation for the supernatural, and while the American practice of ringing doorbells in the neighborhood to demand "trick or treat" has yet to take root, Halloween-related events continue to grow in popularity.
LIFE / Style & Design
Oct 28, 2012

Menswear looks hot to trot

Men were quick to put their best feet forward at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tokyo, with a heavy concentration of light and minimalist sportswear that proved popular on the catwalks.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Oct 23, 2012

'Prenups' uncommon but doable; aid for avid J. League fans

Lana is planning to get married in Japan and wants to know if it's possible to arrange a prenuptial agreement.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Oct 23, 2012

Think 'white South Africa,' not 'Black Ships'; in unions' defense

Japan must play by the rules Re: Edward Moreno's letter "Bring back the Black Ships?" (Have Your Say, Oct. 2) in response to "Our mixed-race children deserve better than this, so why bother with Japan?" by Colin P.A. Jones (Zeit Gist, Sept. 4):
Japan Times
LIFE
Oct 21, 2012

In search of the fearsome Onibaba

"Here's as close as I can take you," said my taxi driver, a charming fellow named Ishii whose pronounced zuzu-ben (Tohoku accent), was strong enough to cut with the proverbial knife.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Oct 20, 2012

Then and now

I remember well my first Halloween in Japan, mostly because I was invited to speak about it at a junior high.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Oct 14, 2012

Why stem-cell science thrives in Japan

It's easy to take for granted the epic scale of what some scientists are attempting these days. When the news broke a couple of weeks ago that Japanese scientists had turned normal cells from a mouse into eggs, and then fertilized them and seen them develop into baby mice, I thought it was pretty cool....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Oct 13, 2012

Manga artist wields 'fude' brush in samurai epic

Illustrator and comic book artist Mulele Jarvis came to Tokyo just as he reached adulthood. It was five years after he had first discovered manga near his home in San Francisco, at Kinokuniya Bookstore, next door to Japantown: "That's where I found Katsuhiro Otomo's 'Akira.' I was so impressed by it,...
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Oct 3, 2012

Nippon Ishin no Kai: Local but with national outlook

After months of preparation, Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto's new political party, Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party), was formally inaugurated at a mid-September gathering that drew more than 3,000 supporters.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.