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Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Aug 14, 2012

Did hearings on Japan's energy future let public send clear nuclear signal?

The 11 government-sponsored hearings on what the public thinks the nation's future energy mix should be in light of the Fukushima nuclear crisis ended earlier this month to mixed reviews.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Aug 7, 2012

Curbs afoot as narcotic quasi-legal herbs slip through regulatory cracks

The use of "dappo habu" (quasi-legal herbs) that are dried and mixed with stimulants to make narcotics is spreading, and many people are ending up in hospitals for drug poisoning.
BUSINESS
Aug 7, 2012

Share rout cues record margin trades

Sharp Corp.'s biggest one-day stock slide in 37 years sent its shares sold short in Japanese margin-trading accounts surging to a daily record as investors bet volatility will continue.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 6, 2012

School bullies need to take responsibility for their actions

He left no isho (遺書, suicide note), so his deepest feelings can only be guessed — first from his jisatsu (自殺, suicide) at age 13, and secondly from the testimony of dōkyūsei (同級生, classmates) elicited in a tardy and grudging school and police investigation into the case.
JAPAN
Aug 4, 2012

Noda to meet protesters, to hear from both sides of nuclear divide

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said Friday he plans to meet soon with organizers of the huge antinuclear protests staged weekly outside his office to hear their views against restarting idled reactors.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 31, 2012

SOFA a source of sovereign conflicts

The July 23 arrival of MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft at U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Yamaguchi Prefecture and plans to deploy them this fall to Okinawa have fueled stiff opposition from local governments nationwide.
OLYMPICS / LONDON POSTCARD
Jul 29, 2012

Sports pub provides for a delightful night

There are — believe it or not — a few instances of non-Olympic routines on display in England.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jul 29, 2012

Who can we vote for to avoid the worst-case scenario?

"Japan's Worst-Case Scenarios" — that's the title of the lead feature in the July issue of the monthly Takarajima. No one writing on such a theme need fear a shortage of material. The magazine easily fills 40 pages analyzing catastrophes and catastrophes-in-waiting: Tokyo leveled by a magnitude 9 quake;...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jul 28, 2012

Small lives changed through the power of a photo

For over five years now, The Japan Times has run a weekly photo box featuring a cat or dog in need of a home, as well as success stories of animals that have been adopted.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 24, 2012

100 years of Summer Games

When the 293 Japanese athletes compete in the London Games that start Friday, they will represent a century of the participation in the Summer Olympics, starting with marathoner Shiso Kanakuri and sprinter Yahiko Mishima in Stockholm in 1912.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jul 22, 2012

A century of Tokyo taxis

The year 1912 is recorded in Japan both as the 45th year of Meiji Era and the first year of the Taisho Era. After a protracted illness, Emperor Mutsuhito expired, age 61, on the night of July 29 (although the official announcement came the next day). Through the remainder of the summer, the front pages...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 17, 2012

Should Tepco customers foot bill for nuclear fiasco?

Tokyo Electric Power Co. is desperately trying to raise prices to cover the drastic rise in thermal fuel costs caused by its triple-meltdown disaster at the poorly protected Fukushima No. 1 power plant.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 15, 2012

Better a ban on work drinks than a ban on workers drinking

On July 6, the president of Fuji TV, Ko Toyoda, held a press conference and apologized for a June 9 segment of the variety show "Mecha Mecha Iketeru!" in which a group of celebrities had a drinking contest. Three citizens organizations, including a group of parents of children killed in drunk-driving...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jul 15, 2012

Aging Village shows the way with switch to solar

Eighty kilometers from Oi, Fukui Prefecture, is the village of Sanno, Hyogo Prefecture — 11 households, population 42, average age 60 plus.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 10, 2012

Osprey deployment heightens safety worry

The United States last month announced that the MV-22 Osprey transport aircraft will be deployed to U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa as scheduled in October.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jul 8, 2012

Attitudes hardening toward the welfare state

Last March, the number of individuals receiving seikatsu hogo (financial assistance from the government) exceeded 2.1 million people, the first time the record had been surpassed since 1951. Payouts this year are likely to exceed ¥3.7 trillion.
Reader Mail
Jul 5, 2012

Immigration issue gets covered

Regarding Philip Brasor's Medix Mix column July 1, titled "Often-ignored immigration issue raised in new film": Immigrant labor and the education of the children of immigrants have NOT been ignored. There was substantial television and newspaper coverage of the issue following the 2008 financial crisis....
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 3, 2012

Health: It's in 'tokuho' label

Kirin Beverage Co.'s hit beverage Mets Cola has gained Consumer Affairs Agency recognition as "tokuho," which is short for "tokutei hokenyou shokuhin," or foods with special healthy qualities.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 28, 2012

Tattoos are forever, which is why they cost so much to remove

It costs 10 times more to remove a tattoo than it cost to apply it.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 26, 2012

Cremation finds favor even with royal clan

Cremation has been the norm for dealing with the deceased in modern-day Japan — where communities are crowded and land is scarce.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jun 24, 2012

Giants get back to basics in victory over Swallows

Tatsunori Hara's first game back at home since his scandal broke was uneventful.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 19, 2012

Net shopping means unending flow of counterfeit brand-name goods

Luxury-brand bags, watches and shoes can easily be purchased on the Internet along with their cheaper counterfeit counterparts, which are illegal but nonetheless widespread.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jun 17, 2012

Watanabe working to steer Lions in right directions

The Saitama Seibu Lions, often seen in the Pacific League Climax Series in recent years, are currently struggling to move out of the second division in the PL.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2012

Wife writes of divorcing radiation-scared Ozawa

The wife of Democratic Party of Japan kingpin Ichiro Ozawa has divorced him, saying he fled Tokyo soon after the Fukushima nuclear crisis started last March out of fear of radiation, according to the weekly Shukan Bunshun, citing a letter it says she wrote to his supporters in November.
EDITORIALS
Jun 14, 2012

Bottom line of welfare

A weekly magazine in April reported that the mother of an entertainer earning an annual income of ¥50 million has been receiving public livelihood assistance known as seikatsu hogo (literally livelihood protection). Through a blog of a Diet member and other media, the entertainer was identified as TV...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 13, 2012

The fax of life: Japan refuses to part with aging device

In Japan's businesses and bureaucracies, in home offices and hulking companies, the fax machine is thriving.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 12, 2012

Dormant accounts eyed for Tohoku

The government began in February looking into ways to make good use of billions of yen in so-called dormant bank accounts, particularly to help fund reconstruction of areas in the Tohoku region devastated by the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 10, 2012

The public shame of crying poor

Public acts of contrition don't get any more dramatic than comedian Junichi Komoto's May 25 press conference, where he apologized for allowing his mother to collect government welfare payments even though he's made good money himself as a TV personality. Josei Seven, the women's weekly that broke the...

Longform

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