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COMMENTARY
Jul 6, 2007

Low-cost investments to save children

NEW YORK — In the world today there are over 600 million children under 5 years old. They represent the best hopes for the planet, yet more than 5 million of them die every year as a result of environment-related diseases. Their deaths could be prevented by using low-cost and sustainable tools and...
BUSINESS
Jul 6, 2007

France deadline set for GFI: Fujitsu

Fujitsu Ltd., Japan's biggest computer-services provider, said France's financial regulator imposed an Aug. 8 deadline for its bid to take over GFI Informatique SA.
CULTURE / Music
Jul 6, 2007

Live Earth

"Eco-cute!" was 24-year-old J-pop superidol Kumi Koda's response, according to organizers, when asked to perform at the Tokyo leg of Live Earth, a series of concerts taking place at nine cities around the world on July 7 to encourage music fans to take action against global warming. As a rallying cry,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / WALKING THE WARDS
Jul 6, 2007

A very red-light district

You won't find many red lights larger than the enormous paper lantern at Taito Ward's Sensoji, or Asakusa Kannon Temple.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 6, 2007

'Confession of Pain'

There are some things at which the Asian male excels and that includes looking exceptionally fatigued. Not attractively or glamorously so but plain, I-just-got-off-a-16-hour-shift fatigue enhanced by the discomfort of public transportation and too much nicotine.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jul 6, 2007

An American Idol takes direct action for charity

Taking place this weekend in Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture, International Heart Expo 2007 is a charity event that aims to take "direct action" to support children in developing countries. Volunteers from Japan and abroad will participate.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 5, 2007

Exposing our tacky selves

Walking through an exhibition of Martin Parr's photography is an emotional experience. The Englishman's works make you laugh, snicker, cringe; they prompt self- and societal reflection; but most of all they make you marvel at the dry wit and superior eye that Parr has for things simultaneously insipid...
JAPAN
Jul 4, 2007

Kyuma exits over A-bomb gaffe

made a grave decision as a politician and a Cabinet minister," Abe told reporters. "I respect his decision." Kyuma's resignation comes as the already beleaguered Abe prepares to lead his Liberal Democratic Party into the July 29 House of Councilors election.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jul 3, 2007

Eight-year ordeal nears end for Kurdish family

Visitors to the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau can't miss a giant banner strung over the main hall of Shinagawa JR Station. Sponsored by the bureau, the sign implores those who pass under it to obey the rules as Japan globalizes. In the household of Erdal Dogan, it provokes hollow laughs.
Reader Mail
Jul 1, 2007

A concrete or a conceptual road?

The June 24 editorial, "The new Silk Road," is very interesting, but it has many flaws. First of all, for new readers and people with little knowledge of the Silk Road, the editorial does not give much information about the history of the Silk Road. It does not explain how the idea for a new Silk Road...
Reader Mail
Jul 1, 2007

Getting closer to the truth

The Rev. Peter Milward's view in his June 24 letter ("Cute description of creation") that "The scientist merely looks at what he sees and verifies it in the material universe" caught me by surprise. I had always thought that scientists interpret data, make provisional hypotheses and then test them....
COMMENTARY
Jun 30, 2007

Hong Kong media thrive under China

LOS ANGELES — Not every place in the world takes its news media seriously, to say the least. Some governments view it as a nuisance, if not a menace; others as an arm of public instruction, if not propaganda. But this is not the view taken here in what (since the 1997 handover from Britain) is officially...
BUSINESS
Jun 30, 2007

U.S. beef back on Ito-Yokado shelves

Major supermarket chain Ito-Yokado Co. brought American beef back to its shelves Friday, about 3 1/2 years after sales were halted in the wake of the first U.S. case of mad cow disease, a parent company spokesman said.
EDITORIALS
Jun 29, 2007

Insult to meat consumers

The product mislabeling scandal at Meat Hope Co. in Tomakomai, Hokkaido, will deepen consumer distrust of food manufacturers. Police must carry out a thorough investigation. The company not only misled consumers about product content but also carried out practices that compromised product safety. Both...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 28, 2007

Russia as it wanted to be

Sir Winston Churchill, one of history's most quotable characters, once described Russia as "a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma." The Anglo-Polish novelist Joseph Conrad summed it up as "an Asiatic monster with a European veneer," while the English writer Rudyard Kipling had a slightly more...
BUSINESS
Jun 27, 2007

Investors slam JAL's surprise '06 share issue

Japan Airlines Corp. shareholders Tuesday slammed the carrier's top executives, saying they had deceived them by issuing new shares last July without consulting them at their 2006 meeting and for failing to restore profitability in the last business year.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jun 27, 2007

Is this a poisons coverup?

Mariners say the oceans reveal their secrets only grudgingly. Shelly Parulis would say the same of the U.S. Navy.
COMMENTARY
Jun 26, 2007

China aims for bigger share of South Asia's water lifeline

NEW DELHI — Sharpening Asian competition over energy resources, driven in part by high growth rates in gross domestic product and in part by mercantilist attempts to lock up supplies, has obscured another danger: Water shortages in much of Asia are beginning to threaten rapid economic modernization,...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jun 26, 2007

Cyber-abuse and paying local dues

Reader J wants to know what can be done about harassment by e-mail or regular mail.
EDITORIALS
Jun 26, 2007

Living as if there were no risks

The government's fiscal 2007 white paper on disaster prevention notes recent changes in patterns of natural disasters. It cites the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's prediction that global warming will lead to more episodes of heavy rain and more intense tropical cyclones. In 1997-2006, Japan...
COMMENTARY
Jun 25, 2007

Ways to steer public opinion

Since last year, moves by the government to sway public opinion in favor of its policies have come to the fore one after another. On June 6, the Japan Communist Party revealed that the Ground Self-Defense Force's intelligence security unit had gathered information on the activities of organizations and...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 25, 2007

Tobacco watch on public health policy

BANGKOK — A powerful consensus is emerging among health advocates and public officials around the world that the tobacco industry should not have any influence on public health policies.

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