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Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Mar 27, 2011

Point guard Sako, 'Japan's Mr. Basketball,' decides to retire

It's always sad when a great player calls it quits. Especially a guy like Kenichi Sako, who was called "Japan's Mr. Basketball" over the years.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Mar 27, 2011

Local media react to the events of March 11

For Japan's vernacular media, the March 11 disaster and its aftermath is the proverbial 800-pound gorilla that engulfed coverage of most other news. The items that follow give some idea of the scope of reporting over the past two weeks.
JAPAN
Mar 26, 2011

Kan breaks silence, vows to help locals rebuild lives

Addressing the public for the first time in a week, Prime Minister Naoto Kan vowed Friday evening to do everything in his power to prevent the crisis at the Fukushima nuclear plant from escalating.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Mar 26, 2011

Handling of captaincy shows Capello's people skills sorely lacking

LONDON — Fabio Capello has achieved what nobody thought possible, he has made supporters lose interest in England.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 26, 2011

Canadian writer draws on creators' support for Tohoku

News stories around the world reveal a deluge of incomprehensible sameness, the debris of aggregate destruction overshadowing an area known for its rugged beauty and strong individuals.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Mar 25, 2011

Comic's tweets tackle specter of fear

These are hard times for entertainers in Japan. In the face of the March 11 Tohoku-Kanto Earthquake and tsunami, which has killed more than 9,000 and left many more missing, and with radiation still leaking from the damaged Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, hard news coverage has taken center stage,...
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Mar 25, 2011

Ramirez to salute disaster victims after HRs

Alex Ramirez's generally jovial, gregarious disposition sometimes makes it easy to forget there's a more serious side to the Yomiuri Giants star.
JAPAN
Mar 24, 2011

Radiation rises in Tokyo water

Radioactive iodine exceeding official levels for infants was detected Wednesday in water in a purification plant in Katsushika Ward, Tokyo, prompting the metropolitan government to advise residents not to let babies younger than 1 year old drink tap water or powdered milk made with it in the 23 wards...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 22, 2011

Judge not, lest you be judged

At this point, a week and a half after the earthquake and tsunami, and with the government and thousands of volunteers rapidly restoring power and water and municipal services to the affected area, Japan — and the world — is anxiously awaiting the resolution of the nuclear crisis in Fukushima.
JAPAN
Mar 21, 2011

Foreign media take flak for fanning fears

OSAKA — Some foreign media coverage of the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant has been so extreme it has fanned fears of a deadly radiation cloud descending on Tokyo and turning residents into walking zombies, before drifting across the oceans to menace the United States and Ireland....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 20, 2011

Disaster analysis you may not hear elsewhere

The seemingly limited information being provided by both the government and the operating company, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), about the ongoing disaster at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is a source of widespread public concern.
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Mar 20, 2011

Actions of Apache, Broncos unacceptable

It's understandable that the Sendai 89ers, whose home region was devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, won't continue play this season. But the Tokyo Apache and Saitama Broncos, Sendai's Eastern Conference rivals in the bj-league, appear to have not thought things through or come up with...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2011

Thousands swamp immigration

Spooked by the radiation leak at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, thousands of people this week have been applying for re-entry permits in preparation for evacuation from Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 16, 2011

Radiation fears grow after blasts

The earthquake-crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant suffered a dangerous radiation leak Tuesday in the wake of two new explosions and a fire as officials on site scrambled to avert a meltdown.
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2011

Reactor fuel rods fully exposed

The radioactive fuel rods at the No. 2 reactor of the Fukushima No. 1 power station were fully exposed at one point Monday, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said, raising the possibility that it suffered a partial core meltdown.
JAPAN
Mar 14, 2011

Rolling blackouts set for nine prefectures

Prime Minister Naoto Kan announced Sunday that he has approved temporary power outages to prevent a massive blackout in the wake of Friday's deadly earthquake that struck northern Japan.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 13, 2011

Cheat tests the exam system

A funny thing happened on the way to jail for the 19-year-old boy who was arrested Mar. 3 for allegedly cheating on a Kyoto University entrance exam: The media suddenly became all reflective of its coverage and sympathetic of his situation. Some may see this turnaround as a defensive reaction to the...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 12, 2011

Antipiracy law rife with hiccups

The enactment of the antipiracy law in June 2009 was a statement by Japan that it was ready to step up to the plate and take part in the global effort against piracy off Somalia.
BUSINESS
Mar 10, 2011

Toyota sets profit goal of ¥1 trillion

Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda said Wednesday the auto giant aims to earn more than ¥1 trillion in group operating profit as soon as possible as it tries to rebound from a record loss two years ago when it was hit by the global economic downturn and massive recalls.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 9, 2011

Japanese women and the art of being alone

One of the biggest changes in Tokyo women over the past five or so years has been their new-found capacity for solitude. Tokyo joshi (女子, young girls, single women or any female who sees herself as being a relatively free-spirited individual) had been notorious — even among themselves — for their...
Reader Mail
Mar 6, 2011

Television listings offer little help

I feel confident that I speak for many readers when I say that the quality of Japanese television programming is, to put it mildly, abominable. I cannot find words to describe the tawdriness and vulgarity of the commercial channels, and NHK is increasingly aping them.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 5, 2011

Harmonia Opera marks milestone

Emiko Iinuma's voice has a distinctive sugared drawl, a sweet residue from her early years as a student at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. It is more than the drawl that attracts — her voice dances, leaps across decades, travels up and down pitch, whispers hardship and rises in forthright determination....
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2011

DPJ member bolts, ties with Nagoya mayor

A rookie Lower House member resigned Thursday from the Democratic Party of Japan to join a small group led by Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura, weakening the ruling DPJ's power in the Lower House by yet another vote.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 3, 2011

Geisha cuts into kimono market

Wearing a kimono can be a daunting task, where one must follow numerous steps and protocols steeped in tradition to prevent making a fool of oneself.

Longform

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Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat