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JAPAN
Sep 16, 2011

Noda accepts blame for Hachiro

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on Thursday acknowledged his responsibility for appointing Yoshio Hachiro, who stepped down within days of becoming trade minister to atone for a verbal gaffe, and vowed to strive to regain public trust.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 15, 2011

March 11 disasters a turning point for Japanese civil society

When the earthquake and tsunami hit the coast of Japan on March 11, it was clear the scale of this disaster, compounded by the nuclear crisis in Fukushima, was unprecedented — even for natural disaster-prone Japan, where some 20 percent of the world's earthquakes occur.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 14, 2011

Fukushima man opts to be guinea pig

Nobuyoshi Ito is skeptical of the reported effects of radiation from the leaking Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant. So skeptical, in fact, that he decided to put himself on the front line of radiation research.
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Sep 14, 2011

No rush to turn to renewables

Since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami severely damaged the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, faith in renewable energy sources has spread fast in many corners of the world as an emissions-free means of generating electricity. But placing excessive expectations on renewable energy sources could...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Sep 13, 2011

Swede on mission to help Japan seniors

Gustav Strandell believes that if there is something good about his home country, Sweden, that he can bring to Japan, it's the concept and some of the technical skills of its social welfare system developed over its 100-year-plus history as an aging society.
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2011

Japan may create nuclear safety training institute

Japan will consider setting up a nuclear safety training institute to improve the quality of human resources involved in nuclear safety, according to an updated government report on the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 11, 2011

Plugging leaks will end crisis, not cold shutdown: analysts

Ever since the nuclear crisis erupted six months ago, the public has been clamoring to know when the damaged reactors at the Fu ku shi ma No. 1 power plant will be brought under control and when the nightmare will end.
Reader Mail
Sep 11, 2011

Tokyo doesn't get enough respect

According to the Global Livability Survey's ranking of 140 cities worldwide — the subject of the Sept. 1 AFP-JIJI article "Melbourne replaces Vancouver as the world's 'most-livable city'" — Tokyo came in 18th while Osaka was 12th! This annual survey by The Economist Intelligence Unit tends to rank...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 11, 2011

Not enough whole body counters to go around

The health department in Kashiwa, a city in Chiba Prefecture with multiple radiation hot spots, has received numerous inquiries from worried residents wanting to find out their internal radiation levels.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 9, 2011

Retailers around Japan with plenty of bottle

Aching for an antique aperitif, but Kyoto's not your neighborhood? Here are some other outlets around Japan specializing in vintage wines and spirits.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 9, 2011

Threat of nuclear tests hasn't died

Much of the world marked the 50th anniversary in early August of the Berlin Wall's construction. But while that Cold War abomination has truly been consigned to history's dustbin, Sept. 1 marked another 50th anniversary, one that resonates far more directly today.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 8, 2011

(M)otocompo's theater challenges stale indie scene

Shuffling onto the stage in a flurry of robotic jerks come three men wearing glazed expressions and identical striped tops. In time with the retro-futurist synthesizer chirps and bleeps, they then lurch into a kind of clockwork dance routine, while a fourth man, wearing a construction helmet and mask,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 8, 2011

Seifuku Kojo Iinkai ditch the idol prattle for an antinuke message

It's the kind of protest song you'd expect from hardened punks or political rappers — not seven high school girls in synchronized dance.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 7, 2011

Is China's economic miracle a mirage?

Doubts are beginning to be heard about how sustainable is China's economic miracle, particularly the relentless emphasis on exports and investment spending by hundreds of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and local governments. Beijing, of course, has its supporters, including banker turned academic Stephen...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 6, 2011

Yen intervention failure may spur more BOJ easing

The yen's third monthly gain against the dollar means the Bank of Japan may decide this week to boost injections of funds into the financial system as Policy Board members seek ways to stem the currency's strength and spur growth.
COMMENTARY
Sep 5, 2011

Revolution no boon to the Copts

Ugly reality has dashed the high hopes of the "Arab Spring." In Egypt the fall of Hosni Mubarak has encouraged religious intolerance and persecution, especially against the Coptic Christian community.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Sep 4, 2011

As 9/11 nears, morality dictates we recall victims of America, too

In the lead-up this week to the 10th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, it is important to keep in mind this: Dates take on a mythical significance that may mask reality.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Sep 3, 2011

Foreign, defense picks disappoint analysts

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's choice of ministers for foreign diplomacy and security reflects an emphasis on fence-mending in his party rather than plans to address imminent diplomatic challenges, analysts said Friday.
COMMENTARY
Sep 3, 2011

Safe choice, but wrong choice?

Former Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda is the new prime minister of Japan. Noda is something of an anomaly: one of those self-deprecating politicians — he likens himself to a "loach," a scavenger that is kin to the catfish — who commands respect for having a steady hand and even temperament. Some...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 2, 2011

'Hanezu no Tsuki (Hanezu)'

Naomi Kawase is the most lyrical of Japanese directors now working. As both a documentarian and a feature filmmaker, she discovers in the common materials of everyday existence — sun, wind, water, trees, insects, people — a beauty and transcendence that is always present, seldom noticed. Set mostly...
Reader Mail
Sep 1, 2011

Don't send debris elsewhere

Regarding the Aug. 29 Kyodo article "Cesium in incinerator dust across East Japan": I would like to draw readers' attention to a related problem. The Environment Ministry is said to be planning to ship radioactive debris from Iwate and Miyagi prefectures to incineration plants in western Japan and Hokkaido...
JAPAN
Sep 1, 2011

Noda's key first task: filling Edano's shoes

Prime Minister-elect Yoshihiko Noda is looking to form an administrative team that satisfies loyalists of disgraced Democratic Party of Japan kingpin Ichiro Ozawa and his own allies, and one main task will be picking a right-hand man to fill the shoes of Yukio Edano, the departing chief Cabinet secretary....

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