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Japan Times
JAPAN / FUKUSHIMA FILE
May 18, 2014

Seeds of change in rice-growing country

A group of farmers in Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture, is exploring ways to market biodiesel fuel made from sunflower seeds, which many consumers are shunning over radiation fears.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
May 18, 2014

Monster hits continue to survive the Internet age

A monster lays waste to America's cities, smashing skyscrapers and tearing up passenger trains. It's the familiar tale of Godzilla, a mutant lizard last seen rampaging through cinemas in 1998 and now back on the big screen.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
May 18, 2014

Japan home electronics makers play dumb on smart TVs

One company dominates Japan's smart TV market, and it isn't Japanese.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
May 18, 2014

Silk mill endorsed for World Heritage site

A UNESCO advisory panel has recommended giving World Heritage status to the Tomioka Silk Mill, a historic factory building in Gunma Prefecture symbolizing Japan's industrialization from the 19th century, the Agency for Cultural Affairs announced April 26.
COMMENTARY
May 17, 2014

Democrats can't get traction on inequality

President Barack Obama has made any number of speeches about the rich who don't pay their fair share, but nationwide this has not translated into big gains for the Democrats who are pushing it.
Reader Mail
May 17, 2014

Remarks smack of church-bashing

Regarding Hugh Cortazzi's May 14 article, "Human rights and religion": It's pretty obvious that, with regard to Roman Catholicism's all-male clergy, Cortazzi has not bothered to at least give a fair hearing to the church's side of the issue. If he had bothered, he wouldn't have been so quick to lump...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
May 16, 2014

Abe's man in Cabinet law office steps down

Prime Minister Abe suffers a potential setback as Ichiro Komatsu, the first unilaterally appointed chief of the Cabinet Legislation Bureau, which interprets the Constitution, resigns.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 16, 2014

North Korea denies deploying drones, derides Park as a 'political whore'

North Korea has accused Washington and Seoul of fabricating the results of a probe that concluded Pyongyang sent small surveillance drones to spy on key South Korean installations in March.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
May 16, 2014

Circus troupe takes anti-nuclear act on road

A circus troupe led by Keiichi Nishida, founder of a street performance and circus training institution in Midori, Gunma Prefecture, has embarked on a tour to call for a nuclear-free Japan.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
May 14, 2014

Haitian orphan gets 3-D printed prosthesis

A 12-year-old orphan boy handicapped from birth became the first recipient of a prosthesis made with a 3-D printer in Haiti last month, thanks to a British software engineer in California and a South African amputee.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
May 14, 2014

From NHK, an offer you can't refuse

The state broadcaster's approach to separating the Japanese public from its money is legally and ethically troublesome, writes Colin P.A. Jones.
Reader Mail
May 14, 2014

Imagination as a force for peace

We should welcome the hibakusha mind, as proposed by Peruvian diplomat Enrique Roman-Morey in the May 11 Kyodo article "Citizens need hibakusha 'minds.' " As an exercise in diplomacy, it beats tweeting about dolphin kills. (In January, U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy tweeted: "Deeply concerned...
Reader Mail
May 14, 2014

Effects of bullying as bad as ever

Regarding the May 9 article "LGBT bullying rife in schools": Bullying is something that many people who are reading this can relate to. It's not limited only to children in schools, because it can easily transition into the workplace.
JAPAN
May 13, 2014

Abe to get Article 9 proposals Thursday

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Article 9 panel will propose its conditions for using collective self-defense under a reinterpreted Constitution on Thursday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 13, 2014

Diet surrounded in human-chain protest

Combating what they call an effort to turn Japan into "a pro-war country," 2,500 people formed a human chain around the Diet building at noon Tuesday to protest the Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's drive to reinterpret the pacifist Constitution.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 13, 2014

Macmanaman step up to bat for the live show

"Instrumental post-rock" is probably the worst way to introduce a band, and by this point 90 percent of this article's readers will have probably fled to the sports section.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 12, 2014

'Gourmet' comic stokes Fukushima ire

The popular manga series "Oishinbo" came under fire again Monday after a character based on a real-life former mayor refers to Fukushima Prefecture in its latest issue as unlivable because of the radiation leaking from the ruined power plant there.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 11, 2014

U.S. first lady uses bully pulpit to push concerns about girls

Michelle Obama has taken the unique step of delivering her husband's weekly presidential address to express outrage at the recent kidnapping of Nigerian schoolgirls.
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
May 11, 2014

Kinō, Aria-to-iu resutoran-ni itta-n-da.

Today, we will introduce the proper use of Xu3068u3044u3046Y and Xu3068u304bu3044u3046Y. X(noun)u3068u3044u3046 Y (noun) means that Y is known as X, and is used when the speaker thinks that the listener doesn't know about X or when both the speaker and the listener don't know it very well. X is the topic word, and Y is the category of X.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
May 11, 2014

Sherpas begin boycott after disaster

Almost all Sherpa mountain guides have decided to leave Mount Everest, a guide said A pril 22, a day after Buddhist monks cremated the remains of those guides killed in the deadliest avalanche to ever hit Everest.
COMMENTARY / World
May 11, 2014

Bring back 40-hour week as a matter of life and death

A small but impassioned group of psychologists and business academics are making a plea for changing the daily working routine away from the ethics of the nerds and geeks of Silicon Valley and back toward the 40-hour working week.
BUSINESS / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
May 10, 2014

Industry 4.0: Germany rethinks manufacturing

Last month, the chief executive officer of one of the country's largest manufacturers spoke in a closed-door meeting to a group of Japanese executives on his company's global strategy. Remarkably, he spend 20 percent of his time praising German companies, from traditional heavyweights such as Siemens...
JAPAN
May 9, 2014

Women's group launches bid to deny sex to men who are pro-war

A women's group campaigns against Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's push to reinterpret the Constitution by urging women not to have sex with any man deemed pro-war.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
May 9, 2014

Housing bank matches empty properties, renters

Since the city of Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, merged with six towns and villages 10 years ago, the population has grown by 3.4 percent to more than 421,000 people.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
May 9, 2014

Labor shortage cutting across all industries

Reliance on part-timers has left many companies struggling to fill positions.
Japan Times
WORLD / EU SPECIAL 2014
May 9, 2014

EU logos aim to ensure food quality

The European Union participated in the 39th International Food and Beverage Exhibition, known as Foodex Japan, at Makuhari Messe in Chiba Prefecture, from March 4 to 7. The European contingent was there to introduce and promote a variety of high-quality European food and beverage products carrying special...

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