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COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
Mar 31, 2009

Look overseas to address Japan's lag in English ability

Dear education ministry,
Reader Mail
Mar 29, 2009

Putting the available talent to use

Regarding the March 16 editorial "Key to economic recovery": I agree that the world's No. 1 and 2 economies bear the heaviest responsibility for trying to revive the global economy, but I believe the issue goes beyond government action. It is true that increasing domestic demand is necessary and that...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Mar 29, 2009

Japan shows how a good's no good unless it's a character good

"Novels you can eat" was the title of an article in the Asahi Shimbun on March 16. It drew on the initiative displayed by a confectionery-maker in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, to commemorate this year's 100th anniversary of the birth of bohemian author Osamu Dazai. That initiative involves a box of 18...
EDITORIALS
Mar 28, 2009

Overhaul archaic election law

Even if Prime Minister Taro Aso decides not to dissolve the chamber for a snap election, the current term of Lower House members ends in September. So, an election will be held this year. With the Japanese economy in crisis and the nation facing political stagnation, the upcoming election will be very...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Mar 28, 2009

Big man in the middle Sun helping Phoenix's ascent

Any professional basketball team would welcome the option of having a 236-cm center. In a sport that places a premium on height, an inside tower gives a team power.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 27, 2009

As slump bites deeper, shoppers warm to no-name foreign gadgets

The recession is causing a massive consumer shift: No longer do Japan's famously finicky and brand-conscious shoppers assume imported and no-name electronics are as cheap in quality as they are in price.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2009

Slump hits demand for haute couture

The first model to walk the runway during Japan Fashion Week strutted her stuff in the nude. She was also a robot — a high-tech gimmick in a fashion world struggling to retain attention as the global economy staggers through recession.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 25, 2009

Brush up your Japanese the traditional way

Last week, I suggested that if you're really serious about mastering kanji, you should add brush calligraphy to your study regimen.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC
Mar 25, 2009

Oh, Kato praise Samurai Japan's performances

LOS ANGELES — Even Sadaharu Oh is a little weary of watching Japan face South Korea in the 2009 World Baseball Classic.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Mar 24, 2009

Smokes here cheap, in state's interest

The World Health Organization calls smoking "one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced."
COMMENTARY
Mar 24, 2009

Barring the people needed

The Calderon affair — the expulsion of a Filipino couple who entered Japan illegally but whose Japanese-fluent daughter was born and raised in Japan — is seen as an indictment of Japan's confused immigration policies. And rightly.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 22, 2009

'Arabia Deserta's' fascinating substance and glorious, unconventional style renewed

In 1876 the young Charles Doughty set out to cross the interior of the Arabian Peninsula. His goal was the "lost" city of Madain Saleh and several years were spent in what were later called his "wanderings": explorations of a terrain little known to Europeans, the discovery of the remains of the sought-for...
Reader Mail
Mar 22, 2009

Immigration controls in Britain

Regarding the March 17 article "I am not a Pakistani child bride (but the U.K. can't tell the difference)": While I understand the author's frustration, I welcome the opportunity to clarify U.K. immigration procedures. We actively encourage visitors from Japan to enjoy and experience life in the United...
COMMENTARY
Mar 21, 2009

Are Earth's oceanic 'carbon sinks' filling up?

Russian and South Korean scientists made a disturbing discovery recently in the Sea of Japan. They found that the amount of carbon dioxide, the main global warming gas, being absorbed in the water dropped by half between 1992 and 2007.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 20, 2009

Set to Cruise control in Tokyo

Tom Cuise was in Japan last week with his wife, Katie Holmes, and their 2-year-old daughter, Suri, to promote his new film, "Valkyrie." As always, the star did the best he could to please his Japanese fans, spending over two hours outside a theater in Roppongi shaking hands and signing autographs; and...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 20, 2009

No constrictions on BoA's ambitions

"It has always been my dream to debut in America!" BoA announces gleefully. "Every Asian artist has that dream of Hollywood or the Billboard chart, and this is the perfect time to go to America."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 20, 2009

Key actor tells of plot to kill Hitler

Until almost the end of 2008, British actor Bill Nighy was one of those faces you couldn't put a name to.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 20, 2009

Key actor tells of plot to kill Hitler

Until almost the end of 2008, British actor Bill Nighy was one of those faces you couldn't put a name to.
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Mar 19, 2009

Feral parakeets

Dear Alice, Please settle an argument. I play tennis on the public courts in Arisugawa Park in central Tokyo. On several occasions I have seen bright-green noisy birds flying free around the tall outdoor lights there. I'm convinced these gregarious dandies are wild parrots. My wife says I'm out of...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 18, 2009

Calligraphy still holds the key to mastering kanji

I recently encountered a new term that's a real mouthful: IT依存性漢字健忘症 (IT izonsei kanji kenbōshō, kanji amnesia due to dependence on information technology). The word acknowledges that the proliferation of word processors has weakened people's ability to recall both individual kanji...
MORE SPORTS
Mar 15, 2009

Kitajima plans move to U.S.

Swimmer Kosuke Kitajima, the 100- and 200-meter men's breaststroke gold medalist in the 2004 Athens Games and 2008 Beijing Games, will move to the United States to study English, according to a published report.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 15, 2009

From Japan's heart of darkness

A hundred years ago, a young scholar named Kunio Yanagita traveled to remote Iwate Prefecture in search of stories that reflected people's lives. Yanagita was born at an epochal time when Japan was flinging off its feudal past and embracing modernity. He wanted to capture the vanishing ways in which...
JAPAN
Mar 14, 2009

Aso slams North launch plan but wary of sanctions

Prime Minister Taro Aso on Friday condemned North Korea's plan to send up a rocket that will cross Japan, but stopped short of calling on the United Nations to impose further sanctions on the country.
JAPAN
Mar 12, 2009

Annual language test to turn twice-yearly

The Japanese Language Proficiency Test has long been a recognized way to measure one's Japanese ability.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 10, 2009

Father put in detention ahead of deportation

The Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau placed Filipino Arlan Calderon in detention Monday and extended for one week the provisional release of his wife, Sarah, and Japan-born daughter, Noriko, after the couple held firm to their desire to stay in Japan with the girl and not be deported.

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