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EDITORIALS
Feb 11, 2009

Volcano watch on a budget

Two volcanoes — Mount Asama on the Nagano-Gunma border and Mount Sakurajima in Kagoshima — have become active although no large-scale eruptions have occurred. Japan is a volcanic country with 108 active volcanoes. The government should strengthen observation and research on volcanoes, and it is especially...
JAPAN
Feb 11, 2009

Expoland forced into liquidation

The Expoland amusement park in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, will call it quits because it has been unable to revive its business in the wake of a fatal roller coaster accident in 2007, the operator said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 10, 2009

Getting Obama to focus on Pacific diplomacy

MANILA — Unlike his predecessor, U.S. President Barack Obama is popular from the Atlantic to the Pacific. He has reached out to the Muslim world and pledged to address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict without delay. The nations of Asia have a particular affection for him, owing to the years he spent...
Japan Times
Events / WHERE IT'S AT
Feb 10, 2009

Talking around and about art

Trying to understand contemporary art is difficult in the best of times. It is sometimes abstract, obscure or just plain odd. The question of how to enjoy an exhibit is made all the harder to answer if you're in Tokyo and your artistic attachments aren't matched by your Japanese language skills. Japan...
Reader Mail
Feb 8, 2009

Bridging the English learning gap

What's most problematic about Gregory Clark's Feb. 5 article, "What's wrong with the way English is taught in Japan?," is that we've heard it all before: overcrowded classrooms, high school teachers with poor English ability, and the relentless comparisons of Japanese people's English ability with that...
Reader Mail
Feb 8, 2009

A destiny to defend the oceans

Regarding the Feb. 3 article "Protesters, whalers fight over use of illegal weapons": The only way this will ever stop is if Japan itself stops killing whales. We citizens of the world will not stand idly by to watch our beloved whales and dolphins slaughtered for Japanese appetites.
Reader Mail
Feb 8, 2009

Why limit worldwide broadcasts?

Regarding the Feb. 3 article "NHK goes global with all-English broadcasts": As has been the case with all articles concerning this subject, we are told that "The broadcasts will not be aired in Japan." Am I the only one to ask, "Why not?"
Reader Mail
Feb 8, 2009

U.S.-centric view of engagement

Regarding the Feb. 5 article "Why can't Japanese kids get into Harvard?": I agree that the Japanese education system holds back many students with talent, particularly in terms of creativity and in the pursuit of anything outside the normal curriculum. But to suggest that only an education from an Ivy...
Reader Mail
Feb 8, 2009

New Zealand hasn't a president

I would like to point out that Frank Evans — in his Feb. 3 Have Your Say letter, "Whiners disprove stereotype" — is wrong. New Zealand has a prime minister not a president. We are not a republic; New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy. We still like the British monarchy.
LIFE / Travel / FREEWHEELIN' ACROSS JAPAN
Feb 8, 2009

Storming the keep of Himeji Castle

"What are your three favorite things about Himeji Castle," I ask my guide, Ayumi Miyazaki, an elegant middle-aged lady, as we slurp down tempura soba in the dungeons of Himeji Station in Hyogo Prefecture, prior to walking the 15 minutes up the main drag to the town's famous fortress.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / FREEWHEELIN' ACROSS JAPAN
Feb 8, 2009

Storming the keep of Himeji Castle

"What are your three favorite things about Himeji Castle," I ask my guide, Ayumi Miyazaki, an elegant middle-aged lady, as we slurp down tempura soba in the dungeons of Himeji Station in Hyogo Prefecture, prior to walking the 15 minutes up the main drag to the town's famous fortress.
EDITORIALS
Feb 7, 2009

American dream endangered

"The American dream in reverse." That is how U.S. President Barack Obama responded to news about the sinking American economy. His remarks are no exaggeration. One major U.S. company after another has announced job cuts and layoffs. And the evidence is more than anecdotal: According to the Commerce Department,...
JAPAN
Feb 7, 2009

Aso riles LDP over postal stance

Liberal Democratic Party members expressed dismay Friday at Prime Minister Taro Aso's remarks the previous day that he originally opposed postal privatization and was willing to review the splitup of the service.
JAPAN
Feb 6, 2009

'Anime,' 'manga' grab spotlight at major exhibition

At the Japan Media Arts Festival, prepare to jet into the sky like Superman and dance with speakers blasting at your hips, as the nation's largest showcase of cutting-edge "anime," "manga" and high-tech arts gets more interactive.
JAPAN
Feb 6, 2009

NPA probes 19 over slander on comedian's blog

In a rare Internet crackdown, police have turned over to prosecutors their case against a 29-year-old woman and plan to hand another 18 suspects over for abusive comments posted on the blog of a 37-year-old Japanese comedian, police sources said Thursday.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Feb 6, 2009

Myanmarese puppetry comes to Japan

The trials and tribulations of Myanmar — which is run by a junta and often in the headlines for all the wrong reasons — can often take the focus away from the fact that the nation has a rich cultural history.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 6, 2009

Simple beauty

Fashion photographer Aram Dikiciyan recognizes that his work is hard to define. "I can't really decide if I'm a fashion photographer or an artist," he explains over coffee in Tokyo's fashionable Omotesando district.
MULTIMEDIA
Feb 6, 2009

Simple beauty

Fashion photographer Aram Dikiciyan recognizes that his work is hard to define. "I can't really decide if I'm a fashion photographer or an artist," he explains over coffee in Tokyo's fashionable Omotesando district.
Reader Mail
Feb 5, 2009

Caregiving comes from the heart

Regarding the Jan. 30 article "Indonesian caregivers start work at nursing homes": I am a caregiver myself, having taken the "level 2" lessons. I have two grown boys, live with my husband, and have lived in Japan for more than 20 years. I have never learned the language, but can read hiragana and write...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 5, 2009

International Red Cross returns to Japan

It all began with one man's eyewitness account of the atrocities committed in the aftermath of the Battle of Solferino in present-day Italy in 1859. What Swiss businessman Henry Dunant saw was the horror of war — thousands of dead and severely wounded soldiers lying on the battlefield without proper...
JAPAN
Feb 5, 2009

DPJ's Maehara causes uproar by branding Aso a 'con man' and 'tax thief'

Seiji Maehara, vice president of the Democratic Party of Japan, went on the attack Wednesday, calling Prime Minister Taro Aso a "con man" and "tax thief" and stirring up the Lower House Budget Committee.

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?