Tag - explainer

 
 

EXPLAINER

Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 18, 2007
Japan has its Christmas cake and eats it, too
'Tis the jolly holiday season and the streets are filled with bright illumination, sparkling decorations and cheerful Christmas songs to mark the big day next week.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 11, 2007
Hemp OK as rope, not as dope
A Justice Ministry report released last month says the number of Cannabis Control Law violations set a record in 2006, while the amount of marijuana seized dropped to half from the previous year.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 4, 2007
Digital terrestrial TV coming but work remains
More than half a century has passed since commercial television debuted in Japan, and now TVs are a main component of the mass culture.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Nov 27, 2007
Japan zeroes in on homegrown jetliner
On Sept. 30, 2006, Japan retired the last of its only domestically produced airliner, the YS-11.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Nov 20, 2007
World's suicide capital — tough image to shake
Japan has attained a reputation as the suicide capital of the world. A 2007 international comparison of suicide rates (per 100,000 people) by the World Health Organization ranked Japan sixth for females, at 12.8, behind Sri Lanka, South Korea and Lithuania, and 11th for males, at 35.6, well below Lithuania,...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Nov 13, 2007
Dialect-rife Japan can be tongue-twisting
The islands of Japan have many dialects, and students of the language often realize these variations are not taught in classrooms.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Nov 6, 2007
Sales tax hike economic cure or curse?
Policymakers have waged heated debate in recent months over how to reduce Japan's mounting fiscal debt as the yearend deadline for compiling the government's next fiscal year budget nears.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Oct 30, 2007
Textbook screening — not always on same page
The spotlight has fallen again on textbook screening as people in Okinawa denounce the government's March instruction that publishers delete descriptions about the role the Imperial army played in ordering mass civilian suicides during the Battle of Okinawa.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Oct 23, 2007
Ships out at sea or troops in a war zone?
The special antiterrorism law that expires Nov. 1 is the hottest dispute in domestic politics and could even determine the fate of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and his administration.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Oct 16, 2007
No-tell love hotels cash in catering to the carnal
In any town bigger than a hamlet, you are sure to find a patch of gaudy hotels styled after rococo palaces, Grecian temples, even rocket ships. Some sport a miniature Statue of Liberty on the roof, others lurid neon signs.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Oct 9, 2007
ODA shrinking but still key tool
Official development assistance is an important diplomatic tool for Japan, which relies heavily on other countries for resources, food and many other economic necessities.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Oct 2, 2007
Kanji, kana trip search engines
Like the rest of the world, people in Japan rely on search engines every day to tap the ocean of information that is the World Wide Web.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 25, 2007
Pachinko seeks to shed shady image as market shrinks
Filled with noise, bright lights and cigarette smoke, the attraction of the pachinko parlor is hard for many to fathom.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 18, 2007
Typhoons more predictable but still deadly
Most years, the typhoon season peaks in September, as illustrated by the recent Typhoon No. 9, called Fitow, which killed two, and Typhoon No. 11, also known as Nari, which approached Okinawa last week.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 11, 2007
Funds law no match for wily politicians
Almost every day it seems another politician is making headlines over a money scandal. Four members of embattled Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet — administrative reform minister Genichiro Sata, and farm ministers Toshikatsu Matsuoka, Norihiko Akagi and Takehiko Endo — have been forced from their...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 4, 2007
Japan's Shinto-Buddhist religious medley
Most in Japan may know Buddhism has something to do with controlling lust and anger, and is associated with funerals and graves, while Shinto involves venerating nature, and weddings. But many people have trouble making theological distinctions between the two or even telling a Buddhist temple from a...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Aug 21, 2007
'Hanko' fate sealed by test of time
A "hanko" personal seal is a necessary item for most adults in Japan, serving the same role as a signature in the West.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Aug 14, 2007
The impact of Upper House president
For the first time in the postwar period, the House of Councilors has an opposition lawmaker as president, 66-year-old Satsuki Eda.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Aug 7, 2007
Still the king of alcohol in Japan
The unbearably hot and humid summer is peak beer season in Japan. Here are some facts about the nation's beer market and its taxes, as well as regulations related to the alcoholic beverage:
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Aug 1, 2007
E-cash silencing the jingle of change
Since major electronic money services emerged in 2001, it has become common in Tokyo for people to go through ticket gates by just touching a smart card to electronic readers at train stations and to make small purchases without pulling out their wallets at convenience stores. Japan's cash-based tradition...

Longform

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