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Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 5, 2013

To communicate in English, TOEFL is vital: LDP panel

English-language education at public schools should shift in emphasis to verbal communications skills, and for that purpose, universities must adopt the Test of English as a Foreign Language for entrance exams, the head of the Liberal Democratic Party's education reform panel said.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Apr 5, 2013

Maryland House passes firearm bill

The Maryland House of Delegates passed what would be among the most restrictive U.S. gun-control measures Wednesday, voting to ratchet up the state's already tough rules by requiring fingerprinting of gun buyers, new limits on firearm purchases by the mentally ill, and bans on assault weapons and magazines...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 5, 2013

'Sakura, Futatabi no Kanako (Orpheus' Lyre)'

I used to think that religion in Japan was for most a matter of custom, not belief. You clap your hands at the shrine because that's what people do, not because you think the resident gods are actually listening.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 5, 2013

'Hitchcock'

A more suitable title to this would be: "Hitch and Alma: The love story." But as Alma — the wife of cinema giant Alfred Hitchcock — complains in this fictional and wildly entertaining account of Hitchcock's private life, no one pays her any attention because "all they can see is the great and glorious...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 5, 2013

'Rentaneko (Rent-a-Cat)'

Director: Naoko Ogigami
JAPAN
Apr 5, 2013

Cool Japan urged to pitch sweets

The government should take the initiative to promote made-in-Japan Western confectionery overseas as a part of its Cool Japan campaign, Kin Bi-leng, a well-known Taiwanese critic based in Japan, said Wednesday during a government-hosted meeting to discuss promotional strategies.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Japan Pulse
Apr 4, 2013

Interest in final resting places never dies

High-rise cemeteries make it possible for the dearly departed to stay in the big city.
JAPAN
Apr 4, 2013

Cool Japan campaign needs to sweeten the pot: Taiwanese critic

The government should take the initiative to promote made-in-Japan Western confectionery overseas as a part of its Cool Japan campaign, Kin Bi-leng, a well-known Taiwanese critic based in Japan, said Wednesday during a government-hosted meeting to discuss promotional strategies.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 4, 2013

Rubens' best work is collaborative

The 17th-century Flemish baroque artist Peter Paul Rubens is a great historical painter, not because of the scenes from ancient Roman history that he sometimes painted, but because, when we encounter his works, we find ourselves trying to understand what kind of society could possibly have produced art...
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 4, 2013

Nippon Ishin, LDP ally on separate paths

As Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) gears up for this summer's Upper House election, its relationship with New Komeito, especially over constitutional revision, has come under increased pressure.
CULTURE / Art
Apr 4, 2013

"A Profusion of Flowers: The Language of Flowers and the Encyclopedia of Flowers"

This exhibition features pieces that highlight a Japanese interpretation of beauty within flowers, and is divided into three sections: flowers and people in narrative tales, flowers and birds as Utopian visions, and flowers of the four seasons. The works will be juxtaposed with waka poetry and quotations...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 4, 2013

"Ainu Crafts: Patterns with a Prayer"

Ainu are the aboriginal people of Hokkaido, who have a history characterized by years of deprivation and forced cultural assimilation. In the face of such hardships, the Ainu believed in the omnipresent existence of God in their everyday life, which long ago led them to worship almost everything around...
EDITORIALS
Apr 4, 2013

Cooperation with Mongolia

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on his visit to Ulan Bator on March 30 agreed with Mongolian Prime Minister Norov Altankhuyag and President Tsakhia Elbegdorj to promote bilateral cooperation in the fields of mineral resources development, trade relations and the environment. They also agreed to launch a trilateral...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 4, 2013

China's Xi looks to Katy Perry for national dream

No other phrase has been given comparable attention in China's state media of late than 'Chinese Dream,' invoked by Xi Jinping as he became president.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 4, 2013

"Showa Memorial: Atae Yuki"

Doll maker Yuki Atae had just turned 8 when World War II ended in 1945. He remembers spending his childhood being surrounded by people with great resilience, and as an artist he began reproducing models of his old neighborhood using dolls. He is especially fond of reminiscing about local children, who,...
Reader Mail
Apr 4, 2013

More reform from the Stone Age

Earth to Abe, Earth to Abe: Requiring the TOEFL test for university entry — or exit — will do diddly squat to enhance Japan's global competitiveness. It's just more harebrained "reform" from the Stone Age: If students need better skills, let's mandate another test!
Reader Mail
Apr 3, 2013

Japanese-Brazilian's amazing feat

Regarding the March 30 article, "Japanese-Brazilian beats the odds to win place at university": Japan should offer more support to bicultural individuals such as this gentleman. (Twenty-year-old Rafael Yukio Kusuki, a third-generation Japanese-Brazilian, is said to be living in an Aichi Prefecture public...
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2013

Universities set to accept Brazilian science majors

Japanese universities are being asked to accept about 1,300 Brazilian science majors over the next three years in a program funded by the South American country aimed at building its industrial development and helping Japanese firms advance into its market, government officials said Tuesday.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 3, 2013

As U.S. wallows in debt, bright ideas to save country billions go to waste

After President Barack Obama set up a national online suggestion box in 2009 asking federal workers for new ways to cut the budget, 86,000 ideas came in. Some, inevitably, were a little odd.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 3, 2013

Hopes ride on Mazda3, soft yen to keep stock up

The slide in the yen has turned Mazda Motor Corp.'s biggest weakness into its biggest strength. All Japan's most export-dependent automaker has to do now is sell more cars.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / TRAVEL INSIDER
Apr 3, 2013

Eurocopter Japan helicopter; Little Red, Virgin's new U.K. domestic service; Korean Air duty free campaign

Helicopter transmissions
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2013

Renovated Kabukiza reopens in Ginza district

The Kabukiza theater, spiritual home of the 410-year-old performing art, reopened Tuesday in Ginza, Tokyo, after a three-year hiatus following extensive renovation work.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 3, 2013

Beijing targets military license plates in antigraft campaign

License plates have become the latest casualty in the highly publicized anticorruption campaign of China's new leaders.

Longform

Tokyo Koon stands at the forefront of tackling the so-called 2025 issue, also known as the “Magnetic Tape Alert.”
The race to save 20th-century history