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Wisteria wanderings in Kameido
Each year, I tell myself I have to make time to enjoy the famed trellises of wisteria blossoms at Kameido Tenjin in Tokyo’s eastern Koto Ward. Then, I blow it. This year, I enlist my mother-in-law, who’s savvy about such things, to get the timing just right. ';It’ll be really crowded,'; she warns. Sure enough, after I alight from a JR Sobu Line train at Kameido ...
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Are we close to understanding bipolar disorder
It may seem perverse to express nostalgia for a category of mental illness, but many sufferers, as well as some psychiatrists, regret the passing of ';manic depression.'; STRICTLY BIPOLAR, by Darian Leader. Penguin, 2013, 112 pp., £5 (paperback) My brother, Archie, was diagnosed with ...
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Infernal prose flows again from Dan Brown’s brain
I used to think that Dan Brown was merely bad. Now, after reading the latest version of the apocalyptic thriller he rewrites every few years, I suspect he might be mad as well. ';Inferno'; begins with the hero suffering from ';head trauma,'; and Brown’s head — a boggy hideout for the craziest superstitions of the so-called Dark Ages — seems to be similarly ...
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Inaction during ‘scandal’ will undo a presidency
LOS ANGELES - During President Barack Obama’s May 16 news conference, reporter Jeff Mason asked as part of his question: ';And, more broadly, how do you feel about comparisons by some of your critics of this week’s scandals to those that happened under the Nixon administration?'; The president responded, ';I’ll let you guys engage in those comparisons, and you ...
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Expect Hague spirit to be abused
Preparing for the Hague Convention ,'; and realizing that ';domestic violence'; is covered as a grave danger to a child, I felt I must comment. Many Japanese women immediately claim domestic violence as a reason for running away from marriages, and many of them go to the police to make these claims — even if the claims are totally unfounded and untrue. The Japanese police ...
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Pattern of denial in leadership
Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto insulted people worldwide with his repeated denials and justifications of the Imperial Japanese Army’s sexual slavery system during World War II. These and many other idiotic statements from Japanese politicians give us real insight into the thinking of much of Japan’s leadership. Psychologists will tell you that patterns of behavior are important to ...
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Language debate goes nowhere
English-language education proposal has French up in arms '; on The Japan Times’ front page May 20 was to stimulate the ongoing debate about English education in Japan. Although ours is the information age, very few people seem to understand the complicated nature of the various issues of modern society, much less the likely future consequences of decisions we make now. For example, ...
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Weighing the costs and benefits
Secondhand smoke is the enemy ,'; it appears that the debate on the socialization of health care costs is off the table. Flynn states: ';The main thrust behind banning smoking in most places is to reduce the harmful effects of secondhand smoke on nonsmokers.'; I couldn’t agree more. My position is based on the idea that people should be free to do whatever they want as long ...
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A pet is a lifelong commitment
Destroying pets at Kochi animal center pains staff ';: Not to mention how much it pains the animals being put down. Sasano Nomura (the Small Animal Management Center staffer quoted in the article) is lucky that she feels depression. It’s a good sign that she still has a conscience and is not a ';brute'; as her neighbors sometimes suggest. Her place of work should be called ...
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Japanese PM Visits Myanmar
Naiyipid, May 25 (Prensa Latina) Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, met a wide range of activities during the first three days of an official visit to Myanmar, highlights the digital website of the NHK Japanese television. Abe and his wife Akie, laid a wreath at the Martyrs' Mausoleum in Yangon, the country's largest city. It is a monument dedicated to General Aung San and his ...
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Sony Microsoft or Nintendo Were In A Console Rut
week's Xbox One announcement . The "best" part of the hour long presentation was near the beginning, when it was demonstrated that the Xbox could flip seamlessly between television and the console with a simple voice or gesture command. The audience cheered as the screen flipped forward between a game and TV, and it did feel vaguely futuristic. But when you stop and think about ...
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‘Abenomics’ boosting Japan’s economy
TOKYO - After years of grinding malaise, Japan suddenly has some of its bling back. A humbled Sony - once a titan of Japan Inc. - recently sprang back into the black for the first time in five years, courtesy of a plunging yen. Honda, another corporate icon, triumphantly announced a return to Formula One racing, rejoining an exclusive club of high-performance carmakers after having slunk away ...
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Japan slump ahead of Wales tour
Venues: Hanazono Stadium, Osaka & Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground, Tokyo Dates: Saturdays 8 & 15 June, 2013 Kick-offs: 06:00 BST Coverage - First-Test: (Osaka) - Live on BBC One Wales, BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru & online Coverage - Second Test : (Tokyo) - Live on S4C, BBC Radio Cymru, BBC Radio Wales & BBC ...
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Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto who caused controversy for Japan sex slaves comments apologises for saying US military should visit brothels
One of Japan's leading politicans has apoligised for suggesting US servicemen should visit brothels in his prefecture - but stopped short of apologising for saying that wartime sex slaves were a necessary ...
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Former sex slave says Japanese mayors comment absurd should resign from politics
South Korean former sex slaves Kim Bok-dong, center left, and Kil Won-ok, center right, arrive for a meeting with supporters in Osaka, western Japan, Saturday, May 25, 2013. Kim Bok-dong was referring Saturday to comment by Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto. He has angered many by saying Japan’s wartime practice of forcing many Asian women into prostitution for its military was considered ...
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Green phoenix rises from the ashes as Japan shifts its focus
The word "Fukushima" may be synonymous with nuclear meltdowns, ghost towns and contaminated rice fields. The north-east region of Japan, however, once famed for its green mountains and fresh vegetables, is in the midst of the most ambitious of rebranding projects: it is attempting to transform itself into a ...
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Tonga see off Japan
Tonga scored four tries on Saturday to beat Japan 27-17 in the opening match of the Pacific Nations Cup at Nippatsu Mitsuzawa Stadium in Yokohama. Two early tries by Fetu'u Vainikolo and a kick by Fangatapu Apikotoa saw Tonga take a 12-0 lead. Takeshi Kizu ran in a try in the 20th minute to give the hosts some life but a try by Will Helu and a penalty and conversion by Apikotoa allowed ...
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Researchers hurt at Ibaraki nuclear facility
At least four researchers suffer internal radiation exposure after an experiment on elementary particles goes awry at a Japan Atomic Energy Agency ...
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Top North envoy gives Xi letter from Kim
BEIJING - A top North Korean envoy has delivered a letter from leader Kim Jong Un to Chinese President Xi Jinping and told him Pyongyang will take steps to rejoin the stalled nuclear disarmament talks, in an apparent victory for Beijing’s efforts to coax its unruly ally into lowering tensions. North Korean Vice Marshal Choe Ryong Hae’s three-day visit was seen as a fence-mending ...
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Hashimoto to retract sex suggestion for U.S. military
Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto said Saturday he will retract his remark that U.S. servicemen in Okinawa should use the prefecture’s adult entertainment industry to avoid committing sex offenses against local residents, and will apologize to the American people and military. ';My choice of words was inappropriate,'; Hashimoto, who coheads Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) ...
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Easter Island statue erected in Japan tsunami town
TOKYO (AFP) - A giant statue from Chile's Easter Island on Saturday found a new home in a small tsunami-devastated Japanese town where it will become a symbol for its recovery.The new statue, with coral eyes and a stone hat, was erected near the town's shopping area, where makeshift stores now operate after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami destroyed almost the entire town.The ...
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Japan mayor to apologise to US over brothels advice
TOKYO (AFP) - A Japanese politician who drew fire for calling "comfort women" a wartime necessity has been forced to apologise for suggesting US soldiers in Okinawa visit brothels to vent their violent frustrations.Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto had suggested that US servicemen in the southern prefecture of Okinawa, where relations are frequently tested by violent crimes including rapes ...
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Japan PM vows all possible help for Myanmar economy
YANGON (AFP) - Japan's premier on Saturday pledged "all possible assistance" to kick-start Myanmar's ailing economy, hailing a major industrial zone near Yangon as a symbol of development for the impoverished nation.Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is touting the potential of Japanese businesses to boost the once junta-ruled nation's economy, visited the Thilawa project -- ...
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Artist creates his own Japan in Switzerland
Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang says a free trade accord with Switzerland should serve as an example for closer relations with other European countries. He believes a deal with the Swiss finance industry will also boost the economy in ...
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Myanmar Japanese firms sign MoU on Thilawa SEZ development
Myanmar and Japanese firms on Saturday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on development of Thilawa Special Economic Zone (SEZ), in Myanmar's Yangon.The MoU on significant cooperation between nine Myanmar public companies and a Japanese consortium including -- Mitsubishi Corp., Marubeni Corp. and Sumitomo Corp which are engaging in the zone development, was signed between U Win ...
Tokyo in Focus
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Tokyo's new international airport making waves
Haneda airport was renamed Haneda International Airport with the opening of the new International Terminal, which will see several million passengers pass through it each year as the airport regains its status as a global airport with connections to major cities across the world.
When Haneda first opened in 1931 it was the largest civilian airport in the whole country and during the Second World War became a major US Air Base after the invasion of Japan and the country’s surrender. Read more
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