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Reader Mail
Apr 2, 2014

Rebirth of a devastated area

The other day I had the opportunity to visit the vicinity of Sendai Airport, an area devastated by the 3/11 earthquake and tsunami. Two things that came to my attention immediately were the Hill and the new cemetery.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 2, 2014

Obsessions bared over a dead dog in the night

"It's f-cking amazing! I don't know what else to say. I'm really happy and really moved and I'm so humble about that."
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / A TASTE OF HOME
Apr 1, 2014

Pining for the communal flavor of Israeli cuisine

I thought I missed hummus. By which I mean: I missed being able to pick up a tub at the supermarket. But to hear an Israeli acquaintance talk of it is to learn that there is so much more to miss.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Apr 1, 2014

Ostü: Great Italian across the way from Yoyogi Park

The only drawback to the sakura season is that no matter how beautiful the blossoms, the celebrations can get very chilly. You need somewhere you can repair to for warmth and sustenance. If you're anywhere near Yoyogi Park, you won't do better than Ostu00fc.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 1, 2014

'Scent alerts' for train stations set to cue JR's distracted commuters

When all 30 stations on Tokyo's Yamanote Line have unique 'scent alerts' functioning much like the current platform melodies, your nose will tell you where to get off.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 31, 2014

Shoppers flock to stores ahead of sales tax hike

Consumers flock to stores to make last-minute purchases of luxury and sundry goods ahead of the first sales tax hike in 17 years.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 31, 2014

MH370 not the work of terrorists, U.S. says

Senior U.S. lawmakers on Sunday said that investigators have found no evidence thus far pointing to terrorism in the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 three weeks ago, and that it is critical to find the plane to understand what happened on board.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 31, 2014

Gulf widens between Qatar and its neighbors

Saudi Arabia's recent decision to withdraw its ambassador from Qatar has revealed the gravity of the crisis in the Gulf Cooperation Council, composed of Saudia Arabia's most immediate neighbors. Gulf politics is shifting.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Mar 31, 2014

Whether Starbucks mugs or traditional Shigaraki ceramics, interior design is about the detail

A special Trip for the ardent cyclists
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 30, 2014

Finding MH370 may take years: U.S. Navy

The search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 could take years, a U.S. Naval Officer suggested on Sunday, as search and rescue officials raced to locate the plane's black box recorder days before its batteries are set to die.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Mar 30, 2014

Fight over oil puts Libya on path to partition

No one paid much attention to the 21,000-ton oil tanker Morning Glory as it churned back and forth along the north African coast earlier this month. Tankers are a common sight, carrying Libya's oil exports around the world. But on March 1 it switched off its satellite transponder and vanished from world...
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Mar 30, 2014

Afghanistan at crossroads as Karzai era ends

Amid the dust and traffic of today's Kabul, three things remain almost as they were a decade or so ago. In winter, and when the wind clears the smog that is a side effect of years of economic boom, the blue sky above the snowcapped peaks that ring the city is as impressive as ever. Then there is the...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Mar 29, 2014

Fashion Week Tokyo: open season

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tokyo, held March 17-22, once again brings the hautest of the haute out of the woodwork.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Mar 29, 2014

Chishaku-in: a Kyoto garden of deep repose

As a garden, Chishaku-in has many of the attributes of Japanese landscape design that should attract a good number of visitors. The fact that the temple in Kyoto's southeastern Higashikawara-cho district is rarely crowded, and that scant attention is paid to it in guidebooks, is therefore somewhat surprising....
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Mar 29, 2014

Putin calls Obama to discuss U.S. diplomatic proposal on Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin called U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday to discuss a U.S. diplomatic proposal for Ukraine, the White House said, adding that Obama told him that Russia must pull back its troops and not move deeper into Ukraine.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Mar 29, 2014

'Anne of Green Gables' translator's life dramatized; celeb sports feats; CM of the Week: Hotto Motto

L.M. Montgomery's "Anne of Green Gables" is the most popular young-adult novel in Japan, at least among girls. The original was published in Canada in 1908, and was translated into Japanese by Hanako Muraoka. NHK's new morning drama, "Hanako and Anne" (NHK-G, M-F, 8 a.m.; NHK Premium, M-F, 7:30 a.m.)...
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Mar 28, 2014

Anniversary of NATO's Kosovo airstrikes fuels Russian cries of hypocrisy

Russian television this past week has blasted viewers with 15-year-old footage of NATO bombing raids, burning buildings and wounded people in the Balkans to step up a media campaign against the West over the Crimea crisis.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 28, 2014

Malaysian jet search resumes, U.S. sends second Poseidon plane

An air search of the remote southern Indian Ocean resumed Friday, seeking to confirm if hundreds of objects spotted by satellites are debris from a Malaysian jetliner presumed to have crashed almost three weeks ago with the loss of all on board.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Mar 27, 2014

Abe ready for full-on military drive

With the launch next Monday of a special intraparty panel directly under his lead, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his ruling Liberal Democratic Party are ready to kick off their full-fledged drive to reinterpret the Constitution to allow Japan to help defend its allies.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 27, 2014

U.N. Security Council to meet Thursday on N. Korea missile launch

The U.N. Security Council will hold closed-door consultations on Thursday to discuss a possible condemnation of North Korea's latest ballistic missile launches, U.N. diplomats said.
JAPAN
Mar 26, 2014

Families with young kids eligible for one-time handouts

The government will give out a special child benefit of ¥10,000 to households nationwide with children aged 15 or younger to help offset the consumption tax hike to 8 percent.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Mar 26, 2014

Holding on to resignation letters may be common but it's neither right nor valid

NHK President Katsuto Momii's move to force board members to submit undated resignations for him to hold over them while he submits no such letter to them is tantamount to a declaration of dictatorship at the public broadcaster.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Mar 26, 2014

Japan's Constitution: never amended but all too often undermined

If Japan's unwritten constitution is already so flexible, why are Abe and his party so bent on amending the written one?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 26, 2014

A torturer speaks — about the pain and pleasures of Pinter

"Some years ago at Black Stripe Theatre in Tokyo, we did a reading of Harold Pinter's one-act play 'One for the Road,' and I have ever since wanted to put it on.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 26, 2014

There's lots to do down by the river in Kitakyushu

During World War II, Kokura, which is now part of Kitakyushu in Fukuoka Prefecture, is said to have been selected as a potential target of the atomic bomb, an alternative to Nagasaki.

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