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Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 14, 2008

Street players give hoops diplomacy a shot

On one sunny Sunday afternoon this spring, dozens of people of various ages and nationalities converged on the basketball courts at Yoyogi Park in Tokyo. Juking, dunking, shooting and scoring, they played with grit as their competitive juices flowed.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Aug 12, 2008

It's ghost season in Japan — who you gonna call?

If there are eerie goings-on in the neighborhood — and Halloween is still two months off — it could be because Japan's traditional "ghost season" maxes out at this time of the year.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Aug 12, 2008

It's ghost season in Japan — who you gonna call?

If there are eerie goings-on in the neighborhood — and Halloween is still two months off — it could be because Japan's traditional "ghost season" maxes out at this time of the year.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 10, 2008

Celebrity rules as the Olympics strays far from its ideal

The big story this year in competitive swimming is the LZR Racer swimsuit, which was developed by the British sportswear manufacturer Speedo. At least six world records have been set by swimmers wearing the suit. Studies have shown that its drag-diminishing properties lower racing times by 1.9 to 2.2...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Aug 5, 2008

Yasukuni in spotlight as Aug. 15 nears

Aug. 15 marks the 63rd anniversary of the end of World War II. For the people of Japan, including relatives of the war dead, it is a day of remembrance and of peace.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 30, 2008

Ex-captive: Bogota prevailing over FARC

The recent bloodless rescue of 15 hostages in Colombia, including a former presidential candidate who had been held for more than six years, was seen internationally as a signal that the Bogota government was finally prevailing over the nation's leftist guerrillas.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 29, 2008

It came, it saw, and it bowled over Japan

It has slurped its way into becoming Japan's favorite food.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 22, 2008

Nation opens its eyes to audiobooks

Seen as a good way for busy people to catch up on their "reading" during commutes or on-the-job breaks, audiobooks are quickly becoming a fixture among time-pressed Japanese.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Jul 20, 2008

Temporary arrangements

Akio Watanabe knows what a dead end feels like.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 20, 2008

All this fuss over just a little drink at a . . . love hotel

The big tabloid scoop last week was snagged by the woman's weekly Josei Seven, which caught celebrity/announcer Mona Yamamoto and Yomiuri Giants shortstop Tomohiro Nioka in a love-hotel tryst. The reason the incident hit such a big nerve in the media is that the night the tryst took place was also the...
Japan Times
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Jul 19, 2008

Now-retired Nomo made huge impact on baseball

Hideo Nomo's impact on baseball will be felt for decades to come.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / JAPAN TIMES BLOGROLL
Jul 19, 2008

My Life as a Gaijin, Kimono Reincarnate

My Life as a Gaijin and Kimono Reincarnate are two different blogs written by Melanie Gray Augustin. The former centers around the experiences of an Australian native living and teaching English in a foreign land, while the latter offers a taste of her artistic interests and entrepreneurial efforts...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 15, 2008

Famed electronics hub still sparks the curious, bizarre

Tokyo's Akihabara district draws throngs not only with its hundreds of electronics shops but also because it is the mecca for "otaku" computer geeks, and fans of "manga" and "anime" pop culture.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 15, 2008

Japanese-type game show a hit in U.S.

A new Japanese export is luring U.S. consumers: television game shows that inflict pain, suffering and humiliation for a laugh.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 13, 2008

When it's not quite convenient to protect the planet

"They work all day but still can't pay the price of gasoline and meat / Alas! Their lives are incomplete — Warren Zevon.
COMMENTARY
Jul 11, 2008

Life and death of an American editing legend

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — An over-used cliche in the American language is that some man or woman is or was "larger than life." As with most cliches, this one can render a measure of value by capturing the aura of an unusual individual.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 8, 2008

Japan's last frontier took time to tame, cultivate image

Hokkaido, where the Group of Eight summit is taking place in Toyako, is known for its hot springs, ski resorts, seafood and magnificent scenery.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jul 8, 2008

How green are Japan's urbanites?

The Group of Eight summit began Monday at the Windsor Hotel Toya, an exquisite, maximum- security resort in Hokkaido. There, the world's top leaders are holed up in conference rooms, trying to strike last-minute deals on various global issues, the most disputed of all being climate change.
CULTURE / Books
Jul 6, 2008

The shrine of controversy

YASUKUNI: The War Dead and the Struggle for Japan's Past, edited by John Breen. London: Hurst Publishers, 2007, 202 pp., £25 (cloth) Yasukuni Shrine resonates powerfully in contemporary Asia, dividing Japanese and alienating regional neighbors. In April, some conservative Japanese politicians' criticisms...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 1, 2008

Low key, off key, but anyway it's your way

Born in Japan three decades ago, karaoke has evolved into a global fixture.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 29, 2008

Akihabara killer followed plot mapped by the media

After serial killer Tsutomu Miyazaki was hanged on June 17, some death-penalty opponents wondered out loud if Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama had signed the execution order as a response to the indiscriminate murders of seven people on the streets of Akihabara nine days earlier. Of course, Hatoyama didn't...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 24, 2008

Holding management to account

Because public companies are owned by their shareholders, any time they convene is when key corporate decisions are made.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?