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Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Nov 18, 2012

Roller derby dames get rough and tough on the rink

The whistle blows and Kristina "Ragin' Redhead" Owens Hawkins, a jammer for the Yokosuka Sushi Rollers roller derby team, darts quickly as she approaches an aggressive pack of blockers. She scans for a weak spot between two ladies in the back. She spots a gap. It's not too big, but it's large enough...
Reader Mail
Nov 18, 2012

Option for Senkakus' funds

The Nov. 1 Kyodo article "¥1.4 billion in islet funds in limbo" discusses the question of the use of previously donated funds for the purchase of three of the Senkaku Islands by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government in the wake of Gov. Shintaro Ishihara's resignation and the need to decide on the use of...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Nov 17, 2012

Time running out for Arsenal's Wenger

Can you imagine Barcelona, Real Madrid, Juventus, AC Milan, Inter, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United — in fact any leading club — going seven years without a trophy yet not sacking the manager?
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Nov 17, 2012

Medical interpreters in growing need

As Filipino Anamaria Ogahara can testify, going to a hospital in a country whose language you don't speak fluently can be a highly challenging and unnerving experience.
Events / KANSAI: WHO & WHAT
Nov 17, 2012

Free kimono fitting by professionals in Toyonaka

Offering a slice of traditional Japanese culture, professional fitters will help non-Japanese dress in kimono Nov. 25 in Toyonaka, Osaka Prefecture.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Nov 16, 2012

Pierre Gagnaire dinner accommodation plan; Thanksgiving at Four Seasons; Christmas buffet at Hilton Tokyo

Pierre Gagnaire special dinner plan
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 16, 2012

'Lockout'

Luc Besson is turning out to be this hefty boardroom type who likes to kick back in his private office (no doubt equipped with a bar, high-tech treadmill, elliptical machine and shower) while getting a young, newbie filmmaker (in this case two of them) to sweat through the process of making an action...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 16, 2012

'Fugainai Boku wa Sora wo Mita (The Cowards Who Looked to the Sky)'

What is your worst nightmare? In this Internet age, public shaming by misdirected tweet or surreptitious smartphone snap has come to rank high. Of course, the sex video that just happens to go viral has propelled more than one "victim" to stardom (or at least a reality-show version of it), but far more...
EDITORIALS
Nov 16, 2012

A politically expedient election

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda dissolves the Lower House today for a Lower House election Dec. 16, which will coincide with a Tokyo gubernatorial election. Regrettably, the Lower House election will be held while the vote value between depopulated rural areas and urban areas is unequal to the point of...
Reader Mail
Nov 15, 2012

The inner heart of an ideology

Regarding Catherine Wallace's Nov. 8 letter, "Violence in the name of faith": Wallace is, of course, entirely right in thinking that the existence of God and other religious beliefs cannot be disproved. But that does not make such beliefs rational. Astrology, pyramid power and pothead pixies are equally...
Reader Mail
Nov 15, 2012

The limited right to bear arms

Recent letters concerning gun control may create the impression that the U.S. Constitution guarantees unlimited personal rights to keep and bear firearms for the purposes of armed insurrection.
SOCCER / J. League / J. LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Nov 15, 2012

Sanfrecce, Vegalta prepare for final charge toward title

The 2012 title race has been one of the most open in J. League history, but with only three games of the season left to play, the championship contenders have finally been whittled down to two.
JAPAN
Nov 15, 2012

Noda will schedule election for Dec. 16

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said Wednesday he plans to dissolve the Lower House on Friday and schedule the general election for Dec. 16.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 15, 2012

Kids from Tohoku get some Christmas cheer

Elementary school children from the Tohoku region and Tokyo gathered Wednesday at a Tokyo hotel to decorate Christmas trees with sweets to cheer up young survivors of the March 11, 2011, disasters.
JAPAN
Nov 15, 2012

Ex-aides want to be off the hook like Ozawa

Three former aides to Ichiro Ozawa on Wednesday urged the Tokyo High Court to reverse their guilty verdicts over the political money scandal involving the former Democratic Party of Japan president, saying they had no motive to conduct any wrongdoing.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 15, 2012

"Skillful Artifice in Japan's Old Smoking Paraphernalia"

In the Edo Period (1603-1867), people in Japan used pipes called kiseru to smoke tobacco. Their search for a more comfortable and flexible smoking experience later led to the invention of portable smoking paraphernalia. These items often sported fine designs, each different according to their owners'...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 15, 2012

Yume-Goto shows how Kagawa rocks (literally) on stage

Growing up in a village in Kagawa Prefecture on the island of Shikoku, Masashi Tomikawa never thought twice about the geology of his surroundings. The volcanic rocks that surrounded him, however, are now part of the drummer's arsenal of sound.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 14, 2012

Red-back spider found in Kawasaki

A poisonous red-back spider was found in the garden of a home in Kawasaki, suggesting the invasive alien arachnid is creeping closer to Tokyo.
JAPAN
Nov 14, 2012

Tokyo wary of looming Beijing helm change

China is on the verge of installing a new leader, presumably Vice President Xi Jingping, to lead the nation for the coming decade at a time when its economy and society are showing strains and its growing military expansion and tensions with its neighbors, particularly Japan, are promising turbulence...
MORE SPORTS
Nov 14, 2012

Super bantamweight Nishioka announces retirement

Having gone through some difficult times, Toshiaki Nishioka's boxing career wasn't exactly what he originally thought it would be when he entered the ring at age 11.

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?