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Reader Mail
Nov 24, 2011

The myth of an aesthetic sense

Jevon Allen's Nov. 17 letter "Cleaning up after the natives" exposes at least two things about Japanese culture. First, the in-group/out-group thing, which might explain a lax attitude toward littering the beaches, the countryside, woods and mountains — places for which people feel responsibility in...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 24, 2011

Lack of leadership hobbles Egypt's revolution

The man who taught me to sacrifice my heart for Egypt is dead," said Vivian Magdi, mourning her fiancé. Michael Mosad was killed in the Maspiro area Oct. 9, when an armored vehicle hit him during a protest called to condemn an attack on an Egyptian Church in the southern Aswan region. The protest left...
COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
Nov 22, 2011

Universities risk getting what they pay for with English tutors

To the Ministry of Education,
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 22, 2011

MacArthur, identity theory and Japan's lingering eigo woes

Some years ago I was teaching an advanced English class in San Francisco that featured a hodgepodge of students from all over the world. Just as the range of cultures and accents extended from Europe to the Middle East to Asia and South America, so did the array of communication styles. Yet while the...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Nov 22, 2011

More on carrying your gaijin card, and where to find Indian temples

In our Oct. 25 column,
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 22, 2011

POWs, young expats struggle to reconcile Japan of then, now

"It cost three cigarettes if you wanted someone to break your arm for you. So you could have a few days off." The shaky voice of an American POW from a World War II Japanese internment camp.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Nov 22, 2011

Sapporo: What's so great about winter in Hokkaido?

Charles HarrisonCompany director, 28 (Australian)Aside from the amazing snow, the variety of people in Hokkaido is great. I've been in and out of Hokkaido now for four years but I love it so much I'd like to base myself here.
Reader Mail
Nov 20, 2011

For whom the student toils

This is an open letter to education minister Masaharu Nakagawa:
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Nov 20, 2011

French researchers seek raison d'etre of hikikomori

Is the hikikomori phenomenon unique to Japan — or does it exist in other societies, too?
CULTURE / Books
Nov 20, 2011

'1Q84': What I write about when I write about writing

1Q84: Books One and Two, by Haruki Murakami. Translated by Jay Rubin. Harvill Secker, 2011, 624 pp., £20.00 (hardcover). 1Q84: Book Three, by Haruki Murakami. Translated by Philip Gabriel, Harvill Secker, 2011, 368 pp., £14.99 (hardcover) Haruki Murakami's new novel may triangulate three pieces of...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Nov 20, 2011

Smiles return to Tohoku as the circus comes to town

At Nakamura Daiichi Elementary School in Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, a theater company named La Tatan Sha recently staged a musical for the students that featured live painting.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 19, 2011

TPP commitment hinged to interests

Despite Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's recent declaration that Japan will join the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, heated debate continues over the pros and cons of participating in the free-trade initiative.
COMMENTARY
Nov 18, 2011

Partnership in the Asia-Pacific

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting in Hawaii underscored once again the importance of wide-ranging cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. This concept of cooperation was first advocated by Japan and Australia several decades ago.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 18, 2011

Holiday season starts with market in Osaka

With Halloween finished it's now, according to the business community, time to start making Christmas preparations.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Nov 18, 2011

Proud love pervades NHK's 'Madame Butterfly'

"Well, little Chrysanthème, let us part good friends; one last kiss even, if you like. I took you to amuse me; you have not perhaps succeeded very well, but after all you have done what you could: given me your little face, your little curtseys, your little music; in short, you have been pleasant enough...
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Nov 15, 2011

Tatemae as truth, culture clashes and Arudou's dangerous myth

Some responses to Debito Arudou's Nov. 1 Just Be Cause column, headlined "The costly fallout of tatemae and Japan's culture of deceit":
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Nov 15, 2011

If you could meet any living Japanese person, who would it be?

JAPAN
Nov 14, 2011

Noda calls for early resumption of gas treaty talks with China

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on Saturday called for an early resumption of stalled talks with China toward signing a treaty on a joint gas development project in the East China Sea.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 13, 2011

Will trickle-down class discrimination rob Britain of what's so great?

Britain may be broken, but London is hot. A recent trip to the city exhilarated me.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 12, 2011

The eurozone's turmoil is bound to continue

Italy and Greece are not Germany. Until recently, Germany did not want them to be. They were lands of the sunny south, of less work-driven, more pleasure-oriented cultures. To Germans, they smelled of sex (see Thomas Mann) and good food.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 11, 2011

Noda postpones decision on TPP

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on Thursday postponed his widely expected announcement that Japan will join the U.S. and other countries in negotiations over the Trans-Pacific Partnership, saying he wanted to sleep on the issue for a day before making his final decision.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Nov 11, 2011

Local brewery brings sake to Toronto

Toronto's Distillery District, located on the site of the now defunct Gooderham & Worts Distillery (which was once the largest whisky producer in the world), is a charming enclave of restored brick buildings housing upscale boutiques, cafes and galleries. When Ontario Spring Water Sake Co. opened in...
COMMENTARY
Nov 11, 2011

Two days that shook the CIS

On Oct. 18-19, eight of 11 members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) — gathering in St. Petersburg for its annual session — accepted a proposal from Russian Prime Minister and returning President Vladimir Putin to establish a free trade zone, thus taking a decisive step toward a Eurasian...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 10, 2011

How the West can keep Russia from turning back

Vladimir Putin is back, and with him are the most primitive foreign policy initiatives. At the beginning of his first term as Russia's president, Putin sought contacts with Cuba, Libya and North Korea.

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