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Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 12, 2011

Chinese take to Tokyo property market

Mao Yishu, a 28-year-old student, persuaded his parents in Shanghai to buy a roughly 20-sq.-meter condominium in Kichijoji, a popular part of the western Tokyo suburb of Musashino, because it will be more economical than renting if he stays in Japan for a long time.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Mar 12, 2011

Aichi firm unmasks its potential

A venture firm in Kasugai, Aichi Prefecture, has developed technology to produce a mask bearing a shocking resemblance to the person ordering it, and they're taking off as gifts and for stage performances.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 11, 2011

'The Fighter'

"The Fighter" doesn't bring anything new to the boxing picture genre — but it's packed to the gills with all that reminds us why such movies enthrall.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 11, 2011

Cuban singer teams with Japanese pianist

A Cuban singer and a Japanese pianist are teaming up to bring salsa music to Yokohama.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 10, 2011

Zen psychology: Daisetz Suzuki remembered

Despite the gloomy global economy, the field of positive psychology is booming. Often described simplistically by journalists as "the science of happiness," it's actually a broad focus on our strengths and talents, virtues and peak experiences in daily living. The name for this specialty originated with...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Japan Pulse
Mar 9, 2011

Taro Okamoto towers above 2011

An NHK drama rekindled interest in Sakamoto Ryoma in 2010; will a new series do the same for artist Taro Okamoto in 2011?
COMMENTARY
Mar 7, 2011

U.S. foreign aid hinders more than it helps

SEATTLE — The United States will run up a record $1.65 trillion deficit in 2011. Yet Washington keeps subsidizing foreign governments. House Republicans have targeted foreign aid. This year the State Department would lose 16 percent of its budget; humanitarian aid would drop by 41 percent.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Mar 6, 2011

Winter's end and the coming spring

I've just finished packing my bag for a visit to the Ogasawara Islands, a boat trip down, a boat trip back, and I seriously doubt if there will be any snow. It will be my first time to those rather remote islands 1,000 km due south of Tokyo (though administratively part of the capital), and I am looking...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Mar 6, 2011

Tadao Sato: 'Japan's single finest film critic'

Tadao Sato laughed an embarrassed laugh as he recalled that three years ago, in London, he had been referred to as a "legend." Though adding to his discomfort, I had to admit that in my university days I had thought of him in the same way. And I still do.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 5, 2011

Harmonia Opera marks milestone

Emiko Iinuma's voice has a distinctive sugared drawl, a sweet residue from her early years as a student at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. It is more than the drawl that attracts — her voice dances, leaps across decades, travels up and down pitch, whispers hardship and rises in forthright determination....
EDITORIALS
Mar 5, 2011

Half-baked reform won't cut it

The Supreme Public Prosecutors Office (SPPO) on Feb. 23 said that the special investigation squads at the Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya district public prosecutors offices will start partial electronic recording of interrogations of suspects from March 18. At present, public prosecutors are recording a process...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 4, 2011

Osaka film fest goes global

Osaka may be known to connoisseurs and gluttons alike as the "kitchen of Japan," however a film festival in the third-largest city of the nation is doing all it can to portray a different picture.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Mar 3, 2011

The busy lives of Japan's super furry creatures

When first-time visitors arrive in Japan, a few things they may notice right off the bat include the juxtaposition of the high-tech and the ancient, the unfailing politeness of locals, and a curious fixation with cuteness — to wit, all the cute mascots that promote regions, historic sites, local specialties...
JAPAN
Mar 2, 2011

Budget passed but 16 in DPJ skip vote

The Democratic Party of Japan's executive council said Tuesday it will suspend the party membership of the leader of 16 DPJ rebels who refused to attend a Lower House plenary vote on the fiscal 2011 budget, which cleared the chamber anyway in a session the opposition camp prolonged into the early morning...
JAPAN
Mar 1, 2011

Budget near passage as DPJ abstentions loom

The Lower House was set to enact the fiscal 2011 budget early Tuesday morning, but the fate of related bills critical to financing the government's massive debt remained up in the air with the divided Diet.
EDITORIALS
Feb 27, 2011

Japan in Cambodia

As Japan seeks good relations with Southeast Asian countries, one positive development of late is its continued aid to Cambodia. A recent news report noted that Japan is the largest donor to the Cambodian court seeking to try members of the Khmer Rouge for crimes committed during its reign. Support for...
Japan Times
Features
Feb 27, 2011

Nationalism and its discontents

In this wide-ranging feature following a recent visit to Chengdu, China, Jeff Kingston examines Sino-Japanese relations and challenges facing the government in Beijing
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 27, 2011

Nintendo's pioneering 3-D hand-held debuts

Nintendo's latest game machine, offering glasses-free 3-D images, went on sale Saturday ahead of a global rollout, and analysts say it promises to be the world's first 3-D mass-market product.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 26, 2011

Maehara sorry for quake flight flub

The government said Friday it will provide $500,000 in emergency grant aid to the New Zealand Red Cross to support disaster-relief activities in Christchurch, where dozens of Japanese students remain missing after a devastating earthquake.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 26, 2011

Conscripted prisoners of the Russian Army

MOSCOW — Some of the most interesting artifacts of the Soviet Union in Russia are the holidays that continue to be celebrated, almost two decades after the fall of communism. On Feb. 23, Russians celebrated the "Day of the Defender of the Fatherland," a rough equivalent of Father's Day but with a militaristic...
EDITORIALS
Feb 26, 2011

A troubling trend on roads

Although the annual traffic fatality rate has dropped from a peak of 16,765 in 1970 to 4,863 in 2010, the number of fatalities involving people aged 65 and over has been rising. In 2010, 2,450 people in this age category were killed in traffic accidents, accounting for 50.4 percent of all traffic accident...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Feb 25, 2011

Western Union charges into the money transfer breach

After a new law governing foreign currency exchange takes effect in Japan, Western Union is first through the door.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Feb 25, 2011

Hill's strategic use of Eaton paying off

For Tokyo Apache coach Bob Hill, the decision to move point guard Byron Eaton to a reserve role may turn out to be the smartest move he'll make this season.

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