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CULTURE / Japan Pulse
Feb 21, 2012

Plenty of room for passions to grow

Don't have enough space at home to pursue your hobby? That's no longer a viable excuse.
EDITORIALS
Feb 21, 2012

Rethink national ID plan

The government has submitted to the Diet a bill to introduce a "common number system" under which the government would issue each citizen with an electronic chip-equipped ID card that contains the cardholder's personal information for taxation and social welfare purposes.
EDITORIALS
Feb 20, 2012

Mr. Xi goes to Washington

Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping has completed his second visit to the United States. Mr. Xi's trip reciprocated last year's visit to China by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden. That trip launched a "get acquainted" effort with Mr. Xi, the man set to become China's president next year.
Reader Mail
Feb 19, 2012

Where the right to smoke stops

As a doctor in Tokyo, I have a strong objection to Joseph Jaworski's Feb. 16 letter. Last week, a 58-year-old male patient came into my clinic. He has never smoked, but many people do in his restaurant. In 2009 he was diagnosed with lung cancer and was operated on. After that, various anti-cancer agents...
Reader Mail
Feb 19, 2012

We can't choose not to breathe

I agree with everything Joseph Jaworski says in his Feb. 16 letter, "Let consumers rule on smoking," but I think he misses one very important point — the right of employees to work in a healthy environment. This was, at least ostensibly, why New York banned smoking in all workplaces in 2003.
Reader Mail
Feb 19, 2012

Enough government lip service

I agree with Patricia Yarrow's Feb. 12 letter, "Shaky will to reduce smoking" — about lowering cigarette consumption in Japan, which has an obscenely high smoking rate, especially among men.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Feb 19, 2012

A voyage of discovery from Tokyo to Naha

On the Autumnal Equinox of 2011 I finished teaching a monthlong summer intensive course at a university in Tokyo, and had six days before I had to be back in my new hometown of Naha, Okinawa, for a meeting at my new university in the nearby town of Nishihara. Since I was in no particular hurry to return,...
Reader Mail
Feb 19, 2012

Explaining things to Okinawans

I write in response to a Japanese newspaper's editorial view that the outcome of last Sunday's Ginowan mayoral election in Okinawa Prefecture should serve as a springboard to ensure that U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma is relocated to the Henoko district of Nago in the same prefecture.
EDITORIALS
Feb 19, 2012

Costly price of expensive education

A recent report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has found a few positives in Japan's educational situation. Japan has generally improved its educational conditions relative to other OECD countries, but the costs of education remain extremely high with little financial...
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Feb 18, 2012

Fiscal ills not DPJ's doing but it's holding the bag

The tax and social security reform outline adopted by the Cabinet on Friday indicate the government has run out of options and must finally address welfare costs and public finances that have been spiralling out of control for years.
BASKETBALL
Feb 18, 2012

Search on for new coach after JBA drops Wisman

After less than two years in charge, Thomas Wisman's ouster on Wednesday by the Japan Basketball Association was expected by those who pay attention.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 17, 2012

America's pivot to Asia is not just about countering China

"All right China, come out with your hands up; we've got you surrounded!"
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Feb 17, 2012

Wake refreshed at the Pan Pacific

The cold, dry winter can be utterly exhausting, so the Pan Pacific Yokohama Bay Hotel Tokyu is offering special accommodation packages for women to have a relaxing time, through March 15.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 16, 2012

The photographic cartographer

Tomoki Imai remembers well the turning point in his life when he decided to become a professional photographer. Already an aspiring film director at the Tokyo University of the Arts, the Hiroshima-native was turned onto the raw and trigger-happy cityscape and portrait snapshots of self-styled photo "genius"...
CULTURE / Art
Feb 16, 2012

The photographic cartographer

Tomoki Imai remembers well the turning point in his life when he decided to become a professional photographer. Already an aspiring film director at the Tokyo University of the Arts, the Hiroshima-native was turned onto the raw and trigger-happy cityscape and portrait snapshots of self-styled photo "genius"...
Reader Mail
Feb 16, 2012

A worrisome Facebook future

Regarding Kevin Rafferty's Feb. 11 article, "Facebook moves from the virtual world to the real one": Good article. While Facebook has done some good, such as participating in the Arab Spring and the like, for others it is an addiction whose social value is questionable.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 16, 2012

Snow Revolution's orange shadow

Vladimir Putin's regime is warning Russians that their budding "Snow Revolution" will be as big a mistake as Ukraine's Orange Revolution of 2004. But, while the similarities between these two popular movements are palpable, their differences are essential, so comparing them might help the Russian opposition...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 16, 2012

In the garden of Shigemori's mind

The Zen gardens of Kyoto have attracted countless admirers and served as inspiration to many artists, designers and other creative people. Steve Jobs, for whom Zen Buddhism was an inspiration, praised Kyoto's gardens, and the minimalism of Zen aesthetics became a strong inspiration behind the design...
CULTURE / Art
Feb 16, 2012

In the garden of Shigemori's mind

The Zen gardens of Kyoto have attracted countless admirers and served as inspiration to many artists, designers and other creative people. Steve Jobs, for whom Zen Buddhism was an inspiration, praised Kyoto's gardens, and the minimalism of Zen aesthetics became a strong inspiration behind the design...
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Feb 15, 2012

Nets squandered chance to draft Kobe

Kobe Bryant's annual Garden variety visit last Friday triggered me to re-examine the draft of 1996. Many people have gone straight from high school to Hollywood and become overnight sensations . . . after countless years of dejection and rejection. Kobe actually morphed into a Lakers' legend almost on...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 15, 2012

Fukushima farming hard row to hoe

When Takahiro Nagakura set off for distant Okayama two years ago, his plan was to complete his degree at the prefecture's agricultural university and then return to Fukushima and work his family's peach orchard.
LIFE / Digital / TECH_JAPAN
Feb 15, 2012

Cosmetics review website goes public with IPO

Tokyo-based Internet company Istyle Inc. announced on Feb. 3 its intention to list itself on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Mothers Market (Tosho Mothers). The planned date of the IPO is March 8, 2012.

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?