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JAPAN
May 8, 2007

Large-scale ADB projects draw criticism

KYOTO — The Asian Development Bank talks about spending trillions of dollars to eliminate poverty, promote sustainable economic development and reduce the global threat of greenhouse gases.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
May 5, 2007

Liverpool, Milan prove worthy Champions League finalists

LONDON — The Athens police, sponsors, television companies and millions of fans around the world can relax. The Champions League final will not be between Liverpool and Manchester United, a matchup that would virtually have guaranteed nasty scenes in the Greek capital between two sets of fans whose...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 1, 2007

Mixi vs. MySpace -- a fight for your bytes

Since she started using the mixi Web site last summer, Yuki Nikitaki has linked up with a network of friends all over the world, including in Japan, and in Greece where she grew up.
COMMENTARY
Apr 30, 2007

Crucial role for trade barriers

Latin America's textile industries are in trouble. They cannot compete with cheaper imports from China.
Reader Mail
Apr 29, 2007

U.S. squarely faces its history

In regard to the letter submitted by Setsuko Tokita, although it is true that there was a long history of African slavery in the United States, the U.S. government finally put an end to slavery once and for all during the bloodiest conflict in American history, the Civil War. However, the institution...
CULTURE / Books
Apr 29, 2007

The problem with Pan Asianism

PAN-ASIANISM IN MODERN JAPANESE HISTORY: Colonialism, Regionalism and Borders, edited by Sven Saaler and J Victor Koschmann. London: Routledge, 2007, 288 pp., £21.99 (paper) Pan Asianism, the notion of creating a fraternity of Asians, provides insights on how transnational perceptions and policies...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 27, 2007

'Flandres'

In "Flandres," the region referred to in the film's title (located in northern France) is breathtaking in its untarnished beauty. The light -- golden and buttery -- drenches the landscape in an intricately magical, Vermeer-like way. There is, however, nothing remotely idyllic about the film itself; the...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2007

Tesco opens first supermarket in Japan

British retail giant Tesco PLC opened its first supermarket in Japan in Nerima Ward, Tokyo, on Wednesday, looking to challenge the notion that foreign retailers cannot win the hearts of consumers in the world's second-largest retail market.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 26, 2007

Take a peak inside Henry Darger's mind

Outsider artists often present a pathetic spectacle to the world: forgotten inmates of mental institutions; shuffling, muttering loners; or misfits, like Henry Darger, who spent his workdays as a low-paid janitor and his free time writing and illustrating an unpublishable 15,145-page novel about a vast...
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Apr 25, 2007

Ponder awhile the wisdom of Bhutan

If nations had laws requiring that we all went about our business wisely and with respect for the planet, those laws would prioritize precaution and force polluters to clean up their mess.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 20, 2007

France's identity politics

PRAGUE -- One big surprise of the current presidential campaign in France is how "national identity" has surged to the forefront of the political debate. During the 1995 presidential campaign, the main issues were unemployment and social divisions. In 2002, the priority was security. But the three main...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 20, 2007

Adventures in folk

'At a festival like this, where you're collaborating with highly talented, colorful artists during a short, intense time period, there is always a risk. But the wonderful thing about 'La Folle Journee' is that the artists are given the opportunities to work with partners who they would not have otherwise...
SUMO
Apr 17, 2007

Springtime sumo: giving it back to the people

Sumo in late March and throughout April each year is about pressing the flesh -- literally.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 17, 2007

Stalking: readers respond

Japan Times readers wrote in to express their opinions about the Zeit Gist column headlind "Reported stalking cases likely just tip of iceberg" by Thomasina Larkin published on April 10. Here's what they had to say:
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 9, 2007

A way forward for global financial policy

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Financial globalization is exploding. Yet, as the world's leading finance ministers and central bankers convene in Washington this month for the semiannual International Monetary Fund board meetings, policy paralysis continues.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 8, 2007

Big plans for hockey during centennial year in Japan

Those who follow the sport of hockey in Japan will be as enthusiastic as ever from now on.
Japan Times
LIFE
Apr 8, 2007

Japan's way of judicial killing

Japan's application of the death penalty is cruel, secretive and out of step with much of the developed world, say its opponents. As a record 102 inmates now wait on death row for the hangman's noose, in this JT review of the capital-punishment system, the one man alive and free who knows the true horrors...
MORE SPORTS
Apr 7, 2007

Mao plans for gold at 2010 Olympics

Three years may seem like a very long time for someone so young, but teen figure skating sensation Mao Asada already knows what she wants to be doing in 2010 -- winning Olympic gold.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 7, 2007

'Don of Roppongi' seeks peace in East Asia

It's a rum kind of shop. But then Takeshi Maki -- who, while regarding himself as a member of Japan's silent majority, is nicknamed the Don of Roppongi -- is a rum kind of bloke.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Apr 5, 2007

The rewards of hardship

One of Japan's most influential 20th-century ceramic artists, Mineo Okabe, was relatively unknown -- and certainly under-appreciated -- during his lifetime. Today, though, potters take great inspiration from, and collectors go gaga over, the bold new forms and styles he created.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 30, 2007

The monster behind the mask

With their explosive metal sound and monstrous good looks, Lordi have become Finland's prime music export over the last year. Following a decade of grueling efforts, Lordi broke through internationally with their fourth album "The Arockalypse" after winning the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, marking Finland's...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 29, 2007

Third point of Roppongi

With the opening of Tokyo Midtown on Friday, the Art Triangle Roppongi concept is now complete. Comprised of the Mori Art Museum, the new National Art Center (NAC) and the elegant new Suntory Museum of Art -- part of the Midtown project -- the idea of a new precinct for art in Tokyo is ready to be tested....
EDITORIALS
Mar 27, 2007

U.N. steps up pressure on Iran

The United Nations Security Council agreed last weekend to sanction Iran for refusing to suspend its uranium enrichment program. The unanimous vote is designed to encourage Tehran to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and eliminate suspicions about its nuclear intentions. The...
COMMENTARY
Mar 26, 2007

Strengthen U.S. trade ties

Japan is gearing up to conclude more free trade or economic partnership agreements with foreign governments. So far, Japan has been less enthusiastic about FTAs and EPAs than Western countries but is changing its tack due to difficulties expected in the new round of multilateral trade talks under the...
BUSINESS / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
Mar 26, 2007

From steel and coal deal to integration: EU fetes 50 years of history

On Sunday, Europe marked the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome, the historic agreement that established such bodies as the European Parliament and the Court of Justice.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Mar 24, 2007

Nugent call up underlines England's problems

LONDON -- When England announced that a Preston North End player had been called up for the squad to play Israel in Saturday's Euro 2008 qualifying tie it was further proof that the current batch of players available to the national team is hardly vintage.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Mar 21, 2007

Viewing nature in the best possible way

Ibegan writing natural history notes back in 1968; the immature handwriting in my first dogeared notebook is a reminder that then I was just a lad of 13. I was growing up in semi-rural Worcestershire in central England, and that was the year when, asked by my parents what I would like for my birthday,...
COMMENTARY
Mar 20, 2007

China is sidelined and upset

LONDON -- Just before the beginning of this year's meeting of the National People's Congress, Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao sent a message to NPC members about to arrive in Beijing: Chi- na is still a socialist country led by a communist party and will remain so for at least another hundred years....

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past