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Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Mar 9, 2015

Tohoku pins rebound hopes to atom smasher

As the disaster-hit Tohoku region struggles to recover from the deadly tsunami four years ago, many residents have hopes for what is considered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to galvanize the area's resurrection.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 8, 2015

Computers ousting human traders at TSE

The rise of high-frequency trading drew widespread attention in the United States, but the shift in Japan has gone largely unnoticed outside the financial community.
WORLD / Society
Mar 8, 2015

Small Washington town becomes first to open government-run pot shop

A small town in southern Washington on Saturday opened the state's first recreational marijuana store that is both owned and operated by the local government, officials said.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
Mar 7, 2015

Battle scars: Okinawa and the Vietnam War

On March 8, 1965, the first U.S. combat troops landed in Da Nang, South Vietnam. Their arrival significantly escalated American intervention in the war which, by its end a decade later, left more than 1 million dead and countless others suffering from the legacy of post-traumatic stress disorder, unexploded...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Mar 7, 2015

Rikuzentakata looks to future with new tourism ventures

The coastal town of Rikuzentakata in southeastern Iwate Prefecture became an international symbol of the devastation wreaked by the tsunami that followed the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011. Lashed by waves up to 13 meters high in places, the sections of the town closest to the sea were...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Mar 7, 2015

Centennial lessons for Abe from the '21 Demands'

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and fellow revisionists prefer to think that Japan's 20th century imperialist aggression has been misunderstood. But on this score they are isolated not only from the international community, but also within Japan.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN
Mar 7, 2015

Tigers' Fujinami may be ready to roar

Shintaro Fujinami was included on Samurai Japan's roster for next week's games against Europe probably because the Hanshin Tigers can give the ball to Randy Messenger, coming off an excellent 2014, or stalwart Atsushi Nomi on opening day. Fujinami is probably the biggest name on the Japan pitching staff,...
Reader Mail
Mar 7, 2015

New aid charter upholds policy

The Feb. 20 editorial "Aid that could foment conflict" misrepresents Japan's new Development Cooperation Charter and does not accurately reflect the position of the government of Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 5, 2015

Cartoon worlds collide as 'The Simpsons' meet 'Akira' in 'Barkira'

Last year, animated TV show "The Simpsons" spoofed the films of director Hayao Miyazaki. This spring, bootleg Bart Simpson T-shirts line the boutiques of Harajuku.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Mar 5, 2015

Roberts, Obamacare savior in 2012, seems inscrutable this time

U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts, who cast the decisive vote in 2012 to beat back the first major challenge to President Barack Obama's health care law, kept his cards close on Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 4, 2015

In the cinematic wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster

In January 2013 Eiga Geijutsu magazine released its annual "Best 10 and Worst 10" lists. The two worst films of 2012, as chosen by the magazine's panel of critics, were Sion Sono's "Himizu" and "Kibo no Kuni (Land of Hope)." The former is about a teenage boy (Shota Sometani) driven to violence by his...
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Mar 4, 2015

Netanyahu's U.S. speech draws mixed response in Israel

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may have made an argument that many Israelis support when he warned Congress Tuesday about a potential nuclear deal with Iran, but critics are asking whether it was worth the widening rift with the White House.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Mar 4, 2015

U.S. author recounts 'lecture' he got about 'comfort women' from uninvited Japanese guests

The American historian whose book has been slammed by the Japanese government for its content on WWII sex slaves speaks out.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 3, 2015

On global stage, North Korea's top diplomat is man of mystery

The young Kim Jong Un may be the public face of isolated North Korea, but the man who represents Pyongyang on the international stage is an urbane 75-year-old who lived under an assumed name for decades and survived a vicious purge over a year ago.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Mar 2, 2015

Yokohama: If you could live anywhere in Japan, where would it be?

Tyler Parr asks passers-by where they would choose to live on this archipelago if money and jobs were not an issue.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 2, 2015

LEDs fuel drive to cut energy use

Japan's push to keep power flowing after it shuttered its nuclear program may best be illustrated by 73 million light bulbs.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 28, 2015

Shibuya's same-sex move kicks off debate

On Feb. 13, Asahi Shimbun's daily Vox Populi, Vox Dei column mentioned Morizo and Kiccoro, the official mascots of the 2005 World Expo held in Aichi Prefecture. These two "woodland fairies" supposedly hailed from Seto, which issued them the same resident cards (jūminhyō) held by everyone who lives...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Feb 28, 2015

Omotenashi — Japanese hospitality?

As the Tokyo 2020 Bid Committee's appointed "Cool Tokyo" ambassador, multilingual television journalist Christel Takigawa set media buzzing worldwide with her Sept. 7, 2013, speech to the International Olympic Committee in Buenos Aires in which she made great play of the word "motenashi" by attaching...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Feb 27, 2015

Most Tokyo wards less keen on recognizing same-sex unions

Most of Tokyo's wards are hesitant to propose or consider certificates that would declare same-sex unions as equivalent to marriage, The Japan Times finds.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 27, 2015

Bunkyo plans measures to aid sexual minorities

Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward will consider measures relating to sexual minorities by March 2016, a ward official said, following a recent proposal by Shibuya Ward to issue certificates recognizing same-sex unions.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 26, 2015

Korean-American activist raps Suga's response to failed lawsuit against 'comfort woman' statue

A Korean-American leader in California criticizes Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga's regret after a lawsuit failed to remove Glendale's 'comfort women' war memorial.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Feb 25, 2015

Under Japanese law, breaks are sacred and standby counts as work

If your employer is keeping you waiting long hours on standby without paying you and calling it 'break time,' they are breaking the law.
EDITORIALS
Feb 25, 2015

Risky expansion of SDF missions

New Abe administration policies in the works appear to expand the scope of of SDF activities abroad to almost anything short of direct use of force.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 24, 2015

Brazilians, Japanese and the virtues of integration

Japan can strengthen its future by integrating foreigners and rejecting voices that call for separation.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Feb 23, 2015

Repucom touts importance of Olympic sponsorship

There's no doubt sponsorships have played a huge role in helping the Olympic Games become the biggest sporting extravaganza in the world today. And when Tokyo hosts its second Summer Games in 2020, it will receive a substantial amount of financial backing from corporate funds, while the companies should...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Feb 23, 2015

Tokyo: Why did you decide to run the Tokyo Marathon?

Mark Buckton caught up with some of the runners in a sweaty state after Sunday's big race.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat