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EDITORIALS
Feb 3, 2010

Sending more help to Haiti

The government will dispatch some 300 Self-Defense Forces members to join the U.N. peacekeeping mission in quake-devastated Haiti. This is a substantial addition to the 39 SDF members currently engaged in U.N. peacekeeping operations (PKO). Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said that the expanded mission...
COMMENTARY
Feb 2, 2010

Cities robbing their people

NEW YORK — When observing the chaotic growth of the modern city, the more erudite of urban planners will reminisce wistfully on how different it is from its ancient Greek counterpart, the polis, which Italian architectural historian Leonardo Benevolo once described as "dynamic but stable, in balance...
BUSINESS
Feb 2, 2010

JAL's new bosses neutral on tieup pick

Japan Airlines Corp.'s new management team said Monday they will examine from scratch alliance talks with U.S. carriers American Airlines Inc. and Delta Air Lines Inc.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jan 31, 2010

Notes on the end of the department store (as we know it)

Seibu department store has called it quits in Yurakucho. Should we be surprised?
EDITORIALS
Jan 30, 2010

Our duty to remember Auschwitz

"Let us remember that we are on the site of the most gigantic cemetery in the world, a cemetery where there are no graves, no stones, but where the ashes of more than one million people lie."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 30, 2010

The culinary art of feeding the soul, with zest of Zen

Soothing sunlight fills the peaceful living space; arrayed atop a bamboo leaf, a slice of yuzu and mikan tart beckons, complemented by a steaming cup of herbal tea. In the Spartan abode of Valerie Duvauchelle, a French cooking teacher and zazen practitioner, nothing indicates her former life as an executive...
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2010

Guiding hand for Indonesian nurses

Cultural barriers faced by Indonesian nurses who come to this country to work are gradually being lowered, but the government has yet to help the Japanese hospital staff adapt, according to Keio University professors who recently launched an in-house training program to teach the employees how best to...
JAPAN
Jan 27, 2010

Akihabara gets bank of security cameras

A year and a half after a vicious attack left seven people dead in Tokyo's Akihabara district, a neighborhood association activated 16 outdoor surveillance cameras Tuesday in an effort to restore the neighborhood's reputation.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Jan 27, 2010

Japan's techies strive to bridge culture gap

In November, more than 100 people met in Yokohama for a daylong "unconference" on technology and the Internet. Attendees addressed each other on topics of their choosing — the roster of speakers determined solely by whoever signed up fastest for time slots on a whiteboard.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 24, 2010

A 'stable' life for Ozawa, yakuza, sumo stars

In the Jan. 25 issue of Aera, show-business reporter Yoshiko Matsumoto, writing about the persistence of image, related an anecdote about Seiji Maehara. The land minister was traveling coach on a domestic JAL flight and after the airplane landed he helped other passengers remove their belongings from...
Japan Times
BASEBALL
Jan 24, 2010

Valentine's philosophy brought Marines glory, money

Second in a four-part series
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jan 24, 2010

Saving the planet through its trees

Negotiators at the COP15 conference in Copenhagen didn't see eye to eye on much last month, but almost everyone agreed on one thing: To protect the planet we need to save its forests.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / TAKING A CHANCE
Jan 23, 2010

Bookoff chief guides firm out of attitude bind

Hiroshi Sato took the helm of Bookoff Corp., the nation's largest secondhand book store chain, in 2007, when the company's corporate survival was in doubt after weekly magazines broke news that the firm had rigged its accounts.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 22, 2010

Depp the magical mystery man

HOLLYWOOD — It's no surprise Johnny Depp is starring in a fantastical new movie titled "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," which opens in Japan on Saturday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 22, 2010

Hunting for strength

Quentin Tarantino pushed for "Frozen River" as the winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival two years back and was effusive in his praise. At first glance the film is as far from Tarantino turf as Alaska is from Tahiti, but rumors had it that the struggling single-mom factor got to...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / ART BRIEF
Jan 22, 2010

'108 Heroes of the Suikoden'

Tokyo Vanilla Gallery
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jan 20, 2010

Imperial Palace resides in otherworldly expanse

Like a nature reserve surrounded by Tokyo's concrete jungle, the Imperial Palace, or Kokyo, home to the Emperor and Empress, is a moated, otherworldly forested expanse where once stood a castle.
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Jan 20, 2010

Path ahead unclear as carrier enters into new chapter

Now that it has filed for bankruptcy under the Corporate Rehabilitation Law, Japan Airlines Corp. closes a chapter in its history and opens a new one — a mission to turn itself around under court-led rehabilitation.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Jan 19, 2010

'Hybrids' thrive in Japan, Aussie says

Robert Gumley, general manager of Elanex Japan KK, a translation service, has learned that Japan is an easy country for foreigners to live in — if they choose to be bicultural.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 19, 2010

Resolve to get involved this new year

It's that time of year when a lot of us make resolutions — many of which last only a few days. 2010 offers you the opportunity to do something new and get more involved in the community.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Jan 17, 2010

Tokyo prof strives to rescue an Aboriginal language from oblivion

"Every language is a cultural asset of humanity," is how Tasaku Tsunoda expressed his motivation for costarting a project in 2002 to teach the extinct Warrongo language to the Aboriginal people of the Warrongo tribe of northeastern Australia.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 17, 2010

Seeking exactitude can sometimes exact a high cultural price

I freely admit a prejudice. It is against the concept of "national character," or kokuminsei in Japanese. Is there really such a thing or is it merely a jumble of stereotypes, whichever is the country or culture in question?
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 15, 2010

Islam's place in politics

BEPPU, Oita Prefecture — The dynamics of Islam and politics in Indonesia are always worth following. Conventional wisdom says that moderates rule the game. In reality, this is not always true.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BY THE GLASS
Jan 15, 2010

Reinventing the classics

"In Italy I already had a job and family. If I had come to Japan and everything finished, I could have easily gone back to Italy because I had a place there. Coming here was a bit like a game and it still is for me," says TV celebrity Girolamo Panzetta.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 15, 2010

Abingdon Boys School of rock is now in session

"Songs these days have become a lot shorter because people don't seem to have time to listen to whole songs anymore," laments Takanori Nishikawa, vocalist of Abingdon Boys School. "They just (listen to) their favorite part and then skip to another song."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 15, 2010

Habsburg treasures celebrate art history

It seems anachronistic and a little too culturally remote to call Rudolf II (1552-1612) a culture otaku, but that's how the catalog for the "Treasures of the Habsburg Monarchy," now in its second staging at Kyoto National Museum until March 14, describes him. The reclusive Rudolf had diverse interests...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jan 9, 2010

You know you've been in Japan way too long when . . .

We've all heard the "You know you've been in Japan too long when . . ." jokes followed by a list of tired expressions, such as "when you start bowing while you're on the phone." Ha-ha-ha. It was probably funny the first 100 times you heard it but can't someone come up with something new?!

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