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JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Sep 5, 2010

Take it slow — but only if it suits you

Slow Life Japan is a sort of movement, or rather an antimovement, that sprouted here and there in the 1990s, little islands of quietude amid the ultra-fast life that had come to seem as unquestionable as modernity itself. Production, consumption, growth, activity, exhaustion — all very well, but what...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 4, 2010

Judgment draws near in whale-meat trial

In 2008, two officials of Greenpeace Japan presented to prosecutors what they described as evidence of a Japanese whaler's embezzlement of whale meat and asked them to investigate.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 2, 2010

A shift in strategy needed to revive Japanese industry

Against the backdrop of intensifying Japan-U.S. trade frictions in the 1980s, it was considered for some time that Japan's economic power was a threat to the United States. This country's high rating has since declined, however, giving way to comments like "Japan has disappeared from the world's radar...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 31, 2010

Fingerprint all Japanese, for safety's sake

If you're a noncitizen and have entered or re-entered Japan in the last couple of years, you've undoubtedly been invited to participate in the wonderful, fun-filled world of biometrics. It's safe to say that many of you felt as though you were being treated like criminals — not to mention the humiliation...
CULTURE / Books
Aug 29, 2010

New look at old Edo's window to the West

Japan's seclusion policy (sakoku) from the early 17th to the mid-19th century is commonly studied from the point of view of the bakufu, the Tokugawa government in Edo that exercised central control over the other domains of the realm.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2010

Relax arms export ban so firms can profit: panel

Japan should consider relaxing its ban on arms exports so defense companies can participate in international projects, a special advisory panel to Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Friday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 28, 2010

Putting true community back in theater

Throughout the Western world, community theater spices the dramatic arts.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 27, 2010

Downside of a yen haven

HONG KONG — Is the world economy about to enter the second part of a double dip, or is it merely bumping along the extended bottom of what will eventually be a U-shaped recovery, or is it a long L with no real upturn in sight? Or is there no clear pattern of who's up and who's down?
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 27, 2010

U.S. sake lovers spread some joy

For the first time ever, The Joy of Sake, the biggest sake tasting soiree outside of Japan, will bring its American brand of culture-crossing conviviality to Japan. On Nov. 2, the event, which originated in Hawaii, will be celebrating its anniversary in Tokyo.
LIFE / Digital
Aug 25, 2010

Twitter delivers creative way for ad agencies to play

While Twitter itself is still struggling to find a profitable business plan, Japanese ad agencies have quickly embraced the micro-blogging service to create innovative campaigns.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 24, 2010

A new generation's search for ground zero

An estimated 140,000 were killed in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, another 70,000 in Nagasaki, with thousands more succumbing to radiation-related illnesses in the months and years that followed. Shocking statistics like these are supposedly etched in history, taught in classrooms across Japan and...
BUSINESS
Aug 24, 2010

Rival to offer iPhone SIM options

Softbank Corp., Japan's only provider of Apple Inc.'s iPhone, is losing part of that exclusivity as Japan Communications Inc. starts offering chips that will allow the smart phone to access another network.
JAPAN / JAPANESE LANGUAGE EDUCATION
Aug 20, 2010

Educators fret fate of nation's language

Last year, more than 10,000 people spoke out against the government's apparent disregard for Japanese-language education when it submitted a bill to effectively abolish the National Institute for Japanese Language.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / ASIA SEMINARS
Aug 19, 2010

Growing Asia should still engage U.S.

The post-crisis geoeconomic trend threatens to create a division between Asia and the United States as Asian economies led by China continue to grow strong while the U.S. becomes more domestically focused, said Simon Tay, chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs.
JAPAN / MIXED MATCHES
Aug 17, 2010

Himalayan love story peaks in Chiba

"People say it's like a love story in a Bollywood movie," says Paul Rajesh, 34, who was born in Manali, a town in northern India's Himachal Pradesh state.
JAPAN
Aug 16, 2010

Shrine decision draws both praise and protest

Peace activists rejoiced Sunday over the fact that Prime Minister Naoto Kan and his Cabinet didn't visit Yasukuni Shrine this year, while conservatives slammed the decision.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Aug 15, 2010

Does cost of peace consign the Japanese to frailty or strength?

A series of articles in the Aug. 1 edition of The Big Issue Japan, a biweekly magazine sold by homeless people, is addressed "to adults who have never known war." Few major powers, past or present, can equal Japan in that regard. Sixty-five years of peace in a bellicose world have turned war in this...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 13, 2010

Radical director of porn and politics delivers yet again

Koji Wakamatsu is living proof that a lifelong rebel can thrive in Japan's go-along-to-get-along film industry. Today he is celebrated as not just another '60s survivor — he helped pioneer the pinku (pink, or soft porn) genre in that era, mixing in radical politics and experimental aesthetics with...
EDITORIALS
Aug 12, 2010

An apology to South Korea

In a statement aimed at South Korea, Prime Minister Naoto Kan apologized Tuesday for Japan's past colonial rule of Korea. The statement, endorsed by the Cabinet, is a positive step in Japan's efforts to build a solid relationship with South Korea.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 12, 2010

Age of stunted expectations

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — As the United States and European economies continue to struggle, there is rising concern that they face a Japanese-style "lost decade." Unfortunately, far too much discussion has centered on what governments can do to stimulate demand through budget deficits and monetary policy....
JAPAN
Aug 11, 2010

Budget cutters target JET

Every year for the past two decades, legions of young Americans have descended on Japan to teach English. This government-sponsored charm offensive was launched to counter anti-Japan sentiment in the United States and has since grown into one of the country's most successful displays of soft power.
EDITORIALS
Aug 8, 2010

Russia's new war anniversary

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on July 25 signed into law a bill designating Sept. 2 as "the anniversary of the end of World War II." The bill had been approved by the State Duma (lower house) on July 8 and by the Federation Council (upper house) on July 14.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Aug 8, 2010

Rash of MLB no-hitters recalls NPB gems from past

Much has been reported and written about the year of the no-hitter in Major League Baseball this season, with no less than five thrown in the American and National Leagues in 2010.
JAPAN
Aug 7, 2010

Rhetoric belies atomic policy

HIROSHIMA — At Friday's ceremony to mark the 65th anniversary of Hiroshima's atomic bombing, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and the city's mayor, Tadatoshi Akiba, urged Japan to do its bit to realize a nuclear weapons-free world.

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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