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JAPAN
Mar 12, 2008

DPJ officially rejects Muto as BOJ head

The Democratic Party of Japan said Tuesday that it will reject the government's nomination of Toshiro Muto for new Bank of Japan governor, even though Muto pledged to ensure the BOJ's independence during testimony to the Diet.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / TAKING A CHANCE
Mar 12, 2008

Young CEO breaks through corporate age barrier

With a single click, you can view the 3-D image of a sedan or a sports car on a Web site of global automakers like Honda and Nissan. With another click, you can change the color and model, or even rotate the vehicle.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Mar 12, 2008

Cell phones get more playful

Easy listings: Everything about television is changing fast. One old standard for the living room TV set was that you kept a TV listings magazine close by with a listing of programs. These days, even that is changing. Nintendo is helping the process with its new software for the Wii game console the...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Mar 11, 2008

Tying the knot; furry fallout

Cats in Kobe Paul, his wife and children lived for some years in Kobe. They arrived shortly after the devastating earthquake of 1995, before the infrastructure had been rebuilt. Part of the fallout, he writes, was cat colonies living in the local parking lot.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / STYLEWISE,ON: FASHION
Mar 11, 2008

Stella McCartney, Anna Antoniades and more

Anna Antoniades in Nakameguro
BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2008

Steel raises Sapporo offer but drops goal to one-third

U.S. hedge fund Steel Partners said Monday it will raise its offer price for shares in Sapporo Breweries Ltd., the nation's third-largest brewery, to ¥875 per share to gain 33.3 percent of the company.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Mar 9, 2008

Surely it's time for Japanese to stop being so parochial

Second of two parts
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ROAD
Mar 9, 2008

World's carmakers head back to school

International car manufacturers know that the automobile as a symbol has lost some of its gloss for the younger generation. Today's young people want to take transportation in new directions. They have a more ecological, environmentally sustainable vision of transportation, and often it's so idealistic...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 9, 2008

The art of Frances Blakemore: a love affair with Japan

AN AMERICAN ARTIST IN TOKYO: Frances Blakemore — 1906-1997, by Michiyo Morioka. Seattle: The Blakemore Foundation/University of Washington Press, 2007, 200 pp., profusely illustrated, $35 (cloth) Living more than 50 years of her life in Japan, artist Frances Blakemore was a close and sympathetic observer...
Japan Times
LIFE / COSPLAY CULTURE
Mar 9, 2008

Fashion fantasies come to life in cosplay

Silver wig, blue contact lenses, a mock sword and a (kind of) knight's costume.
JAPAN
Mar 8, 2008

Overseas citizens' groups prepare G8 strategy

As the Group of Eight summit approaches in July, leaders of overseas citizens' groups got together Friday in Tokyo to prepare countermeasures for the upcoming annual meeting of the major developed countries near Lake Toya, Hokkaido.
BUSINESS
Mar 8, 2008

Forex reserves pass $1 trillion milestone

Japan's foreign-exchange reserves rose to a record high $1.01 trillion at the end of February, reaching 13 figures for the first time, the Finance Ministry said Friday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 7, 2008

'4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days'

A young woman is about to get an abortion. On the morning of the crucial day, what's on her mind and how does she deal with it?
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Mar 7, 2008

Crossing over to the next world

The ghosts of Oku-no-in, cemetery and spiritual heart of Mount Koya, have a long time to wait: 5,670,000 years, give or take. According to the scriptures of Japan's Shingon sect of Buddhism, that's when the faithful expect the "Buddha of the Future" to arrive in this vibrant mountaintop monastic community....
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 6, 2008

Warm reception may not await iPhone in Japan

Unlike much of the rest of the world, Japan is unlikely to embrace the iPhone, Apple Inc.'s Internet-enabled multimedia mobile phone, said Nahoko Mitsuyama, a telecom analyst at Gartner Japan who attended the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, in February.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 6, 2008

The mathematics of music

So forward-looking that it's hard to categorize him — Is he an artist? A musician? A conceptualist? — Ryoji Ikeda makes the music that we'll lull the robots to sleep with when they ultimately try to take over. Or that we'll use to convince ourselves that we are the robots.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 4, 2008

Remains issue clouds Tokyo-Seoul ties

Historical issues involving Japan and South Korea have entered a new phase with the inauguration in Seoul last week of a conservative president and the return to South Korea last January of the remains of 101 Koreans who died while forcibly serving in the Japanese military during World War II.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 2, 2008

Compartmentalizing Japanese using prefectural stereotypes

At the heart of the current argument over whether or not to continue the special gasoline tax is a question that gets overlooked: Does the central government have too much control over prefectural governments?
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Mar 2, 2008

Shintaro Tsuji: 'Mr. Cute' shares his wisdoms and wit

Shintaro Tsuji isn't joking when he says he wants to make Hello Kitty, his company's best-selling character, into a brand name that rivals Gucci or Hermes.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 1, 2008

Ishiba admits job at risk over Atago accident

Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba indicated Friday he may resign after the investigation into the Feb. 19 collision involving the Aegis destroyer Atago and a trawler is wrapped up and preventive measures are established.
EDITORIALS
Mar 1, 2008

Return to the focus on mutual goals

During her visit to Tokyo this week, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice apologized to Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura for the alleged rape on Feb. 10 of a 14-year-old girl by a U.S. Marine in Chatan, Okinawa Prefecture. Considering the hurt feelings of people, especially...

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji