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EDITORIALS
Jun 15, 2011

Get donations to the victims

People donated a total of ¥251.3 billion as of June 2 to the Japan Red Cross and the Central Community Chest of Japan as relief money for victims of the March 11 quake and tsunami. The two organizations have distributed ¥82.2 billion to 15 prefectures.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 9, 2011

Video-sharing website sparks Net revolution

When you get down to it, the Nico Nico Douga website is just a combination of videos and text comments about them.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 21, 2011

Fusing aikido and language studies a potent combination

Literally across the globe, martial arts fans flock to their favorite dojos and disciplines, thanks to the fluid strength and cool demeanor of the activity's many superstars. Equally as important to fans are the philosophies behind the physical aspects of martial arts.
OLYMPICS
May 5, 2011

The least that East Asians can do to cooperate

As China continues its unremitting rise, people throughout East Asia are wondering whether their states will ever be able to achieve the peaceful, stable relations that now characterize Europe. Given the regularity of serious diplomatic spats — over everything from tiny atolls in the South China Sea...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
May 3, 2011

Better to be branded a 'flyjin' than a man of the 'sheeple'

The past two months have been uncomfortable for Japan, and for the country's foreign residents. Non-Japanese (NJ) have been bashed in the media, unreservedly and undeservedly, as deserters in the face of disaster.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 16, 2011

Quest to gain, impart knowledge drives expat

The importance of education informs Aileen Kawagoe's life view, although early on she turned down the chance to become an educator like her father.
COMMENTARY
Apr 10, 2011

Realigned values help global order evolve

CANBERRA — On March 17, Security Council Resolution 1973 authorized the use of "all necessary measures," short of an invasion and occupation, "to protect civilians and civilian-populated areas": the first United Nations-sanctioned combat operations since the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Mar 24, 2011

Koganecho transformed: from sleaze to teas

On a cherry-blossom blessed curve of Yokohama's Ooka River lies Koganecho — the town of gold. For the past 60 years, however, this alluring name has felt like a bad joke to local residents.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 4, 2011

Justifying an intervention in Libya for justice' sake

MELBOURNE — The world has watched in horror as Libya's Colonel Moammar Gadhafi uses his military to attack protesters opposed to his rule, killing hundreds or possibly thousands of unarmed civilians.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 16, 2011

Japan's tribe of lonely people continues to grow

Results from Japan's national census last year are dribbling in and the reaction in the media often focuses on one pair of statistics: The number of households is increasing while population is declining, which means that there are a lot more single-person households than there were 10 years ago and...
LIFE / Travel
Dec 26, 2010

Exploring historic Nagasaki

The gate in front of me once opened to the world. Steps — now long gone — formerly led down from there to a quay in Nagasaki's sheltered harbor where, in centuries past, visiting trading ships tied up.
LIFE / WEEK 3
Dec 19, 2010

'Nitten' is no mere Braille library

Regular bookstores or libraries might not be much use to blind people, but there's one place in Tokyo where they can not only read and borrow books and meet others in similar situations, but also get advice on improving their quality of life — and even buy a range of everyday goods.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 7, 2010

Getting alcoholic beverage makers aboard the wagon

WASHINGTON — This year the World Health Organization adopted the historic Global Strategy to Reduce the Harmful Use of Alcohol. Governments around the world are now taking stock of the toll of harmful drinking on public health, communities and economies, and beginning the important work of implementing...
LIFE
Nov 14, 2010

Bali beckons 'literary tourists'

Ubud, an enchanting town in tropical Bali's undulating hills, has arrived with panache on the global literary scene.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 9, 2010

Muslims in shock over police 'terror' leak

This time last month, Mohamed Salmi says he was just another anonymous foreigner living and working in Japan. Today he fears his life here may be over, and receives phone calls from reporters asking him if he is an al-Qaida "terrorist."
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 4, 2010

CrossFit pushes exercise buffs to their limits

The grunting gets louder the further I walk down the path. It's somewhat synchronized, and suddenly I hear a buzzer and everything is quiet — for 10 seconds.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 19, 2010

The return of Musharraf

LAHORE, Pakistan — Pakistan's former president, Pervez Musharraf, has decided to return to Pakistani politics, if not quite to Pakistan. He announced his decision at London's National Liberal Club, an institution founded in the 19th century by William Gladstone and other stalwarts of Britain's parliamentary...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Oct 17, 2010

Okitsuru: An island in the middle of Yokohama

At a 2009 concert, Seijin Noborikawa, the grand-daddy of Okinawan folk music, told the audience about where he felt most at home when he visited mainland Japan. He described a neighborhood where passersby chatted in uchinaaguchi language, where shops served pig-trotter noodles and island songs seeped...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 7, 2010

Burma's democratic charade fools no one

PRAGUE — On Nov. 7, when Burma's first general election in almost two decades is to be held, a well-rehearsed script will play out. The country's ruling generals will twist what is meant to be a democratic process, whereby the people get to express their will, into a mockery of free expression in which...
COMMENTARY
Oct 5, 2010

Mr. Kan, stop wasting time

It has taken the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) two long months to settle on the continuation of Kan Naoto as prime minister. Whatever past grudges or future intricacies might exist, the Kan Cabinet must get down to work without further delay.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 3, 2010

Grooming a new approach to North Korea

SEOUL — The long-delayed meeting of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party came at a time of severe tension between North Korea and the international community. As widely expected, Kim Jong Il's third son, Kim Jong Un, was appointed to a high position to justify his becoming his father's successor. A...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / ONE-ON-ONE WITH ...
Oct 1, 2010

Rookie coach Toyama confident first time out

The Japan Times will be featuring periodic interviews with individuals in the bj-league, which begins its sixth season on Oct. 16. Coach Koto Toyama of the expansion Miyazaki Shining Suns is the subject of this week's profile.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Sep 28, 2010

Building a world without barriers, borders

One afternoon in the mid-1980s, Hiroko Kimura was taking a rest from sightseeing on a park bench in Adelaide, southern Australia. As she was enjoying the warm sunshine, she spotted the words "Japs go home" carved into the wood. This was the height of the bubble years and Kimura was aware that some people...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 24, 2010

Kanagawa to open language center

The Kanagawa Prefectural Government is opening a language and cultural institute in Yokohama in January to help foreign residents learn basic Japanese, while assisting schoolteachers and local government officials as they try to deal with foreign residents.
COMMENTARY
Aug 22, 2010

Flying the humanitarian flag among Muslims

NEW YORK — What's the one major issue the West absolutely and totally must get right in the years ahead? If the obvious answer is not peaceful international relations with an increasingly assertive China, then it has to be the West's ever-more complicated relationship with the world's Muslims.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 20, 2010

In search of society's true affluence

"When I was 40, my father died. When he died, he was working on a project for a children's campground on the island of Naoshima. When I returned from Tokyo to Okayama to lead the family company, I inherited the project. As I lived and worked with the locals, my thinking went through a 180-degree reversal....
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Aug 6, 2010

Murry, Takeno give Fukuoka firepower

Since joining the Rizing Fukuoka during their first season, Michael Parker has been one of the league's premier players.
JAPAN / GROWING OLD ALONE
Jul 21, 2010

Neighbors, more than kin, face onus of keeping tabs on seniors

Retired cabby Juzo Omata, 65, was depressed and lonely when he tried to hang himself. His suicide attempt failed only because the tree he selected couldn't take his weight.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?