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JAPAN
Aug 11, 2006

Advanced star projector is life's work for creator

head from the Southern Hemisphere. You can't see it that high up in Japan," he said. At the time, Ohira never dreamed he would re-create that spectacle with his own high-tech projector, but that's what happened. Soon after starting college, he began making star projectors and his enthusiasm for his hobby...
JAPAN
Aug 10, 2006

Volunteer group's play tells refugee's harrowing tale

A Tokyo-based group working to raise awareness of the plight of people seeking asylum in Japan is performing a play that depicts the struggle of a refugee who lives under constant fear of deportation.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 10, 2006

Will polluters pay for climate change?

PRINCETON, New Jersey -- I am writing this in New York in early August, when the mayor declared a "heat emergency" to prevent widespread electricity outages from the expected high use of air conditioners. City employees could face criminal charges if they set their thermostats below 25.5 C. Nevertheless,...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 9, 2006

Revolution's gains yet to be measured

PRINCETON, New Jersey -- In August 1981, IBM introduced the 5150 personal computer. It was not really the first personal computer, but it turned out to be "The Personal Computer," and it revolutionized not just business life, but also the way people thought about the world.
JAPAN
Aug 9, 2006

Low-paying jobs holding down birthrate: report

The steady increase in low-wage, part-time workers and those in temporary jobs is contributing to the low birthrate as people become reluctant to marry because of financial insecurity, according to a government report on the labor market released Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 8, 2006

Big, fat American shopper to the rescue

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts -- It is appalling that the world has decided to blame the United States for the crushing end to five years of global trade talks last month (the so-called Doha Round).
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Aug 8, 2006

What is the most serious issue facing Japan?

Katy Abud Teacher, 44 Teachers in elementary schools and junior high schools don't teach children life values. They only teach what's outlined in the curriculum and don't know how to answer children who ask "Why is something like this or that?"
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Aug 8, 2006

Keep cool while on the go this summer

Summer is the time for diving into the great outdoors, whether it be at a music festival, the beach, hiking or just a barbecue with friends.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 5, 2006

Commentator advises savers to stay cautious

With the Bank of Japan lifting its nearly six-year-old "zero-interest-rate policy," the days of rock-bottom interest rates are finally over.
COMMENTARY
Aug 4, 2006

Disaster in the Middle East

LONDON -- This time Israel has surely gone too far.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / WALKING THE WARDS
Aug 4, 2006

Shibuya's got glamour, and more

Anyone with more than a week in Tokyo has spent some time with Shibuya's mascot, Hachiko, waiting and watching thousands of individuals merge on cue into a tsunami of mass determination and consumerism, a scramble of humanity.
COMMENTARY
Aug 3, 2006

Blair is wrong on Lebanon

LONDON -- Opinion polls show that a large majority of Britons believe that the British government should have sided with the U.N. secretary general and other countries in demanding an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon. There is also increasing disquiet in Britain at the way Prime Minister Tony Blair publicly...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 2, 2006

Perfect storm brewing in Horn of Africa

LONDON -- It has the makings of a perfect storm extending right across the Horn of Africa. The 15-year war of all against all in Somalia is threatening to morph into an international war bringing chaos and disaster to the rest of the region, and the al-Qaida-obsessed "securocrats" in Washington are the...
JAPAN
Aug 1, 2006

Safety tweaks led to nine of 28 poisonings: Paloma

Nine of 28 carbon monoxide poisoning accidents that resulted from defective gas water heaters were caused by improperly altered safety devices coupled with dirty heat exchangers and deterioration of parts, Paloma Industries Ltd. reported Monday.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Aug 1, 2006

Parting is such sweet sorrow: and sometimes amusement

Job-hopping is on the rise in Japan as more and more companies bid farewell to the lifetime employment system. But some managers are still so unprepared for the departure of a subordinate that they often behave irrationally -- sometimes to the point of being downright silly.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jul 30, 2006

No mountain too high for oldest man ever to scale Everest

This story is part of a package on "Growing old healthily." The introduction is here
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 29, 2006

'Koizumi's children' no longer

"Koizumi's children" are making their ways out of the nest and into the factionalized world of the Liberal Democratic Party.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jul 29, 2006

When Crete meets NEET

An unholy union with an unholy result -- a monster!
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jul 28, 2006

Celebrate jazz, hip-hop near Fuji

Amid the deluge of high-profile rock festivals this summer are some more idiosyncratic events boasting eclectic lineups in unusual settings. So for every "Summer Sonic" featuring big-selling rock acts from abroad in an urban setting, there is a festival like "True People's Celebration 2006," organized...
BUSINESS / U.S. BUSINESS SCHOOL SYMPOSIUM
Jul 27, 2006

Is Japan about to ride an M&A wave, or flounder in just a ripple?

See related story: U.S. experts urge Japan to embrace transition to postindustrial economy
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jul 26, 2006

Will commons sense dawn again in time?

These days we can be forgiven for wondering if Homo sapiens have gone completely mad. From just a glance at the headlines, it is easy to conclude that humans are hellbent on destroying themselves and their environment, with little concern for which goes first.
LIFE / Language
Jul 25, 2006

When muzukashii means more than 'difficult'

I wish I had a share of Google stock for every time I have heard a Japanese person tell me that their language is "aimai na gengo (an ambiguous language)." How did this bizarre notion originate, and why do many Japanese entertain it? And what's more, can a language itself be ambiguous, apart from the...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jul 25, 2006

Lesbian mothers' twin tasks

Motherhood can be daunting under even the best of circumstances, but, as a lesbian, considering starting a family brings with it a whole new set of difficulties.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jul 23, 2006

Faces of terrorism

The Richman's Cafe seemed an unlikely place to meet a terrorist, but at least it was well lit and public.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 23, 2006

Ordinary is illuminated

OZU YASUJIRO: TWO POSTWAR FILMS -- Late Spring & Early Summer, translated, by D.A. Rajakaruna. Colombo (Sri Lanka): Godage International Publishers (PVT) Ltd., 178 pp., $15 (paper). In Japan, in distinction from other countries, film scripts are sometimes read as literature. Those written by Yasunari...
JAPAN
Jul 22, 2006

Activists worry free speech being eroded

fliers on my days off for more than 30 years. "I was told when I became a central government employee in 1972 that engaging in political activities may result in punishment," he admitted.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 21, 2006

Magic touch in East Timor

Dr. Jose Ramos-Horta, 56, is the $14 billion man. During 2005, while serving as foreign minister, he is credited with playing a crucial behind-the-scenes role in rescuing Timor Sea resource negotiations between Australia and East Timor. Talks had hit an impasse, partly owing to the abrasive style of...

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’