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COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Jan 9, 2012

China's Un-relenting watch

The entire world was shocked by the news of the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, who was as vicious a dictator as Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin or Mao Zedong.
JAPAN
Jan 7, 2012

U.S. simulated nuke test doesn't draw flak

Japan will not lodge a complaint against the U.S. government for conducting a third experiment using plutonium to test the capabilities of its nuclear arsenal last summer, Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said Friday.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Jan 5, 2012

Levanga cruises past Jets

If anything, Wednesday afternoon's Chiba Jets-Levanga Hokkaido contest was a small step forward for Japanese basketball.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 4, 2012

Going to war, U.S. missed its opportunity to combat WMD

Now that U.S. troops have left Iraq, Americans are taking stock of the staggering price of this nine-year war of choice, in blood (nearly 4,500 Americans dead, 33,000 wounded), in fractured relations worldwide and in monetary terms (nearly $1 trillion in direct spending; several times that when counting...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 3, 2012

Solid alliances key as diplomatic challenges loom

2012 is shaping up to be full of diplomatic challenges for Japan and the world.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 3, 2012

Japanese must tap their 'inner Israeli'

Aimless, Japan has been struggling to find a suitable vision, or model, for its future. Should it strive to be like Finland, small but prosperous? Should it de-emphasize economic growth and focus on sustainability and lifestyle? Should it look to the go-go '80s for inspiration? Or should it withdraw...
Japan Times
JAPAN / NUCLEAR AWAKENING
Jan 1, 2012

DIY cesium scanning store may be 'new normal'

Kashiwa, about 30 km northeast of Tokyo, is known for its humble beginnings as a 1970s bedroom community for Tokyo workers.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 2011

Things the telly didn't tell you about Thatcher

Britain in the early 1970s was decayed, ungovernable and globally irrelevant, done in by the cumulative effect of postwar socialist reforms.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 30, 2011

The year of tough guys worth swooning over

Cinematically speaking, 2011 was the Year of the Guy. By this I mean the genuine article, the "you can't kill 'em, you can't live without 'em" variety. Here are the 10 films of the year that feature the most distinctly provocative males in the most appropriate vehicles. All are handsome in suits or cargo...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2011

Few options for left-behind parents even if Hague OK'd

In July 2003, Paul Toland arrived to an empty home at the U.S. Navy's family housing facility in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture. Gone were his Japanese wife and baby daughter. What was left was a note: "Contact my lawyers."
Japan Times
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Dec 28, 2011

Futenma plan once again thorn in side of DPJ

The submission of the environmental assessment on Henoko in Okinawa sparked polarized reactions from the governments in Tokyo and Washington and the people of Okinawa, underscoring the gap in awareness over the contentious relocation of the Futenma air base.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Dec 27, 2011

Kamakura: What word for you sums up 2011?

Mattia CimolaiStudent, 23 (Italian)Change. I'm from Italy and this year a lot of things have changed there, like the government and so on.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Dec 27, 2011

Readers' views: Do foreigners deserve a fairer shake in Japan?

Some responses to the Nov. 6 Just Be Cause column by Debito Arudou headlined "For the sake of Japan's future, foreigners deserve a fair shake":
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / LIGHT GIST
Dec 27, 2011

2011: a year of disaster in quotes

This year produced more than its share of memorable quotes, many of which were inspired by the March 11 disaster and its aftermath. But figures from other fields, from sports to entertainment, also said things worth repeating. Here is a sampling, in chronological order:
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 27, 2011

Quake workers bolstered by training

Following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Tohoku, staff members of the Tokyo-based nonprofit organization Tokyo English Life Line felt they needed to help not only the survivors, but also the volunteers, NGO and welfare workers who supported the hard-hit people in the affected areas.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 25, 2011

It's time to turn over a new leaf in the sheaf of identities we carry with us

Far be it from me to put soot in Santa's chimney, but there is a pet peeve I've just got to get off my chest.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Dec 24, 2011

Terry's future with England in doubt

The season of goodwill? I don't think so. Happy New Year? I doubt it.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 22, 2011

Seeking solace in artistic responses to March 11

What can art do? What role can it play when the whole world seems suddenly unstable, unsure?
Japan Times
JAPAN / READERS' FUND
Dec 22, 2011

NPOs give needy hope for future

Many women and children in developing countries still have very few opportunities to receive an education and training, but Japanese nonprofit groups are working in nations such as Afghanistan and Cambodia to give them hope for the future.
EDITORIALS
Dec 21, 2011

North Korea at a crossroads

The death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il on Saturday, reported by Pyongyang's special broadcast from noon Monday, could destabilize the isolated communist country as well as all of the Korean Peninsula. Events unfolding in the North Korean leadership must be watched carefully to prepare for possible...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 20, 2011

Hashimoto takes office, visits Tokyo

Toru Hashimoto began his term as Osaka mayor Monday with a promise to radically reform the municipal bureaucracy and then took off for Tokyo to meet senior Diet members and long-time supporters like Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Dec 20, 2011

Cultural relativism, Meiji, phonetics and eigo woes

Some readers' responses to Nicolas Gattig's Nov. 22 Zeit Gist column, headlined "MacArthur, identity theory and Japan's lingering eigo woes":
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 20, 2011

Gaba 'contractor' status under fire from staff, courts

As an 8-year-old in Indiana, William first became curious about Japan when he made friends with a Japanese guy called Hideki who introduced him to Super Mario and the magical world of Japanese video games.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Dec 20, 2011

Yokohama: What are your all-time best and worst Christmas tunes?

Jerri HarperHousewife, 46 (American)My favorite is "Silent Night." My least favorite is "Jingle Bells" — it's annoying.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Dec 18, 2011

There's more to Christmas colors than meets the eye

The rotenburo (outdoor hot spring) that I most regularly frequent creates an excellent illusion of there always being a full moon bathing in its glow those soaking beneath.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Dec 18, 2011

Fumio Yamashita: May his epitaph be tendenko

When a tsunami is coming, don't try to look for your relatives. Don't try to help the elderly, your grandparents or your parents. Don't try to call your wife or your husband. Don't think about your children or your grandchildren. Run. Save yourself.
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Dec 18, 2011

Don't expect Japanese basketball to embrace a real, workable plan

Every few months a false sense of hope surfaces on the blogosphere and in the mainstream media, where optimists peddle the message that Japan's basketball "leaders" finally have their act together, that a new men's pro league will, ahem, finally replace the outdated, increasingly irrelevant JBL and the...

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