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Japan Times
LIFE
Dec 9, 2012

Our deepest fears fuel the booming business of doomsday scenarios

Apocalypse 2012 was born in 1996.
EDITORIALS
Dec 9, 2012

The politics of pop music

South Korean pop singers and groups will not be part of the yearend NHK music show, "Kohaku Uta Gassen," this year. When NHK announced its 50 performers for the singing extravaganza broadcast every New Year's Eve, Korean performers were conspicuously absent.
CULTURE / Books
Dec 9, 2012

Globe-trotting acrobat left a mark on Japan

PROFESSOR RISLEY AND THE IMPERIAL JAPANESE TROUPE: How an American Acrobat Introduced Circus to Japan — and Japan to the West, by Frederik L. Schodt. Stone Bridge Press, 2012, 336 pp., $35 (hardcover) When a storyteller wields a scholar's pen, history truly comes alive. When that history crosses the...
Reader Mail
Dec 9, 2012

Responsibility for self-protection

Regarding the Dec. 5 editorial "Dangerous moves on supreme law": It is a testament to just how far to the left political discourse is in Japan when the idea that Japan should take responsibility for protecting itself is labeled "dangerous."
EDITORIALS
Dec 8, 2012

Bridging the pension gap

Because the government is gradually raising the age at which retirees can start receiving the kosei nenkin pension — a pension for corporate workers — it is requiring companies by law from April 2013 to re-employ in principle employees who are age 60 or older and want to continue working, until they...
Events / KANSAI: WHO & WHAT
Dec 8, 2012

Tour Suita library's foreign-language collection

A library tour will be offered for foreigners in the city of Suita, Osaka Prefecture, on Monday. The event will run from noon to 1 p.m. at Senri Library, which has the biggest selection of foreign-language books, CDs and DVDs in among the many libraries in the city.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 7, 2012

Monna Lisa: Michelin-starred food you can afford

As the dust settles from the annual pronouncement of Michelin stars — and, yes, Tokyo remains the tire company's gastronomic capital of the world — it's timely to remember that stellar dining does not have to mean stratospheric prices, even in the most rarefied of surroundings. A case in point: Monna...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Dec 7, 2012

Short-stay spa plan in Hakone; oyster bar in Aoyama; New Year's buffet with Skytree views

Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Dec 7, 2012

Celebrate an underdog military commander at a festival in Uzumasa

Military commander Sengoku Hidehisa (1552−1614) will forever be remembered as a Japanese warrior who messed up the worst but redeemed himself the most. Sengoku was quick to be promoted to the role of daimyo (feudal lord), but due to his lack of chivalry and perceived depravity, historical records harshly...
JAPAN / ELECTION 2012
Dec 7, 2012

Many voices but no clear messages

With so many parties — and their seemingly mix-and-match policy positions — vying in the Dec. 16 Lower House election, voters are facing a difficult choice. Even so, all the sudden mergers and policy rejiggering suggest the new parties would be no better than their predecessors at breaking the tradition...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Dec 7, 2012

Xi attempts communist makeover to repair image

Just three weeks after taking over as his country's top leader, Xi Jinping is trying to give Chinese communism a more common touch.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 7, 2012

'MIS: Human Secret Weapon' / 'Santa Kurosu wo Tsukamaete (Chasing Santa Claus)'

Following Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, thousands of Japanese-Americans, including those born and raised in the United States, were shipped to internment camps, while others joined the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which fought with great bravery in the European theater.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 7, 2012

'Frankenweenie'

Director Tim Burton started out as an animator at Disney, and after working on such milquetoast projects as "The Fox and The Hound" and "The Black Cauldron" he was greenlighted to develop some of his own stuff. After a few animated shorts, he made his first live-action film at age 25 in 1984, "Frankenweenie."...
JAPAN / ELECTION 2012
Dec 7, 2012

Hashimoto tweets challenge to election law

Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) founder and deputy leader Toru Hashimoto continued his personal Twitter feed Thursday, two days after campaigning officially began and a day after Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said the legality of his actions would be left up to the police.
EDITORIALS
Dec 7, 2012

Addressing the nuclear power issue

The Dec. 16 Lower House election will be the first national-level election held since the 3/11 disasters, including the crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. As if to show their concern over the plight of people whose lives have been disrupted by the nuclear catastrophe...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 7, 2012

'Salmon Fishing in the Yemen'

What with the recent misery in Gaza and Israel, it's hard to wrap your mind around a feel-good story coming out of the Middle East, but here it is, "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen," opening at Japanese theaters over a year after its premiere at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival.
Reader Mail
Dec 6, 2012

Reasons that sound like excuses

I had difficulty agreeing with Dipak Basu's Dec. 2 letter, "Good reasons to stay at home," about why Japanese youth tend not to study abroad. He mentions costs and the fear of racism.
Reader Mail
Dec 6, 2012

Details from scientific sources

I thank Richard Wilcox for his Nov. 25 letter, "Secrecy feeds nuclear skepticism" (which was a reply to my Nov. 11 letter, "Scientific fact vs. unfounded fear"). I agree that interpretation of data is a key skill. Unfortunately Wilcox makes a few errors in his letter.
Reader Mail
Dec 6, 2012

What hostility toward Japanese?

I would like to comment on Dipak Basu's Dec. 2 letter, "Good reasons to stay at home."
JAPAN / ELECTION 2012
Dec 6, 2012

The undecided to play key role in poll

Terue Ishimura has yet to decide which party she will vote for in the Dec. 16 general election. But one thing is clear — she won't be supporting the ruling Democratic Party of Japan again.
Reader Mail
Dec 6, 2012

No shortcut to the master level

A thank you to Amy Chavez for her Dec. 1 column, "The best-ever tips on learning Japanese." I am pleased that Chavez knows how to write the truth with heart. Her article is the stake in the heart of those that whine about Japanese being difficult to learn.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 6, 2012

Patriots bound for Turkey could aid future NATO action in Syria

NATO agreed Tuesday to send new American-made air defenses to Turkey's volatile southern border with Syria, a boost to an alliance member on the front lines of the civil war and a potential backstop for wider U.S. or NATO air operations if Syria deteriorates further.
EDITORIALS
Dec 6, 2012

What's in a name?

Palestinians moved one step closer to statehood last week when the United Nations General Assembly voted to upgrade the status of the Palestinian Authority from "nonmember observer entity" to "nonmember observer state." There was little time for them to savor the diplomatic victory, however: Israel responded...

Longform

Eme-Ima Kitchen is one of over 10,000 kodomo shokudō in Japan. A term first used in 2012 to describe makeshift eateries offering free or cheap meals to disadvantaged kids, it now refers to a diverse range of individuals, groups and organizations working to provide not only food but a sense of belonging to both children and adults.
Japan’s ‘children’s cafeterias’ are booming — but is that a good thing?