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ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Mar 24, 2005

Power answers blowing in the wind

There is no doubt our dependence on fossil fuels will end. We will wean ourselves off oil and coal because they pose unacceptable environmental and security risks, or we will be forced to stop using them as reserves dwindle and climate change intensifies.
EDITORIALS
Mar 22, 2005

Iraq's Parliament convenes

Two years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, and two and a half months after that country's historic elections, Iraq's Parliament held its inaugural session last week. Although the legislative session was more symbolic than substantive, the symbolism was important nonetheless. The convening of the...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 22, 2005

Fresh foreign angles

Japan has been a magnet for foreign writers and journalists since opening to the West.
EDITORIALS
Mar 21, 2005

Decade after Aum's crimes

For many Japanese, the March 20, 1995, sarin attack on Tokyo's subways -- which killed 12 people and sickened more than 5,000 -- is still fresh in their memory. The passage of 10 years seems hardly enough to heal the sorrow of the families of the deceased and the suffering of the surviving victims.
COMMENTARY
Mar 21, 2005

Antisecession law may have opposite effect

HONG KONG -- The impact of the adoption by China of the antisecession law, widely criticized in Taiwan and in the West even before it was unveiled last Monday, may well be the opposite of what the drafters of the controversial legislation intended.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 20, 2005

The undeniable legacy left after Japan wreaked havoc

RACE WAR! White Supremacy and the Japanese Attack on the British Empire, by Gerald Horne. New York and London: New York University Press, 2004, 407 pp., 4,478 yen (cloth). Racism is a particularly dirty issue of World War II in Asia that is often swept under the carpet. Tokyo's claim that Japan stood...
Japan Times
Features / WEEK 3
Mar 20, 2005

Can machines can care

Whether selling Scarab beetles for kids or punctuating the path up Mount Fuji, vending machines are one of Japan's most idiosyncratic features. Although some question the "waste" of energy involved in the ubiquitous mechanized retail outlets -- about 2.6 million alone are hawking beverages -- their onward...
Features / WEEK 3
Mar 20, 2005

Quake amateurs shake skeptical pros

With surprisingly little fanfare, the Japan Meteorological Agency, which keeps tabs on tens of thousands of earthquakes a year, has been setting up a network of ultra-sensitive electronic motion detectors that will pick up on the kind of minute seismic quivering that heralds a major quake.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Mar 20, 2005

Artwork unfurled without a destination

MOSCOW -- To be popular with art historians, you have to be a dead Italian male. Everyone else is suspect to tenured professors and critics, particularly if the work is going to last for just 16 days and is made of nylon and steel. Such was the case with a revolutionary project by Christo and Jeanne-Claude,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 19, 2005

FIND gives hope to lost, depressed and suicidal

Yukio Saito pats the main staircase banister rail of the building that houses the Tokyo Lutheran Church in Iidabashi, explaining, "We are the same age, 68."
EDITORIALS
Mar 15, 2005

New leadership in Hong Kong

Hong Kong's chief executive, Mr. Tung Chee-hwa, resigned last week. His departure was in keeping with his entire term as chief executive: confused, messy and ultimately damaging to his office and Hong Kong itself. His replacement must break that tradition and restore the luster to Hong Kong's image....
COMMENTARY
Mar 13, 2005

Bad time to take a chance on arms sales

WASHINGTON -- When China's National People's Congress convened in Beijing early this month, Premier Wen Jiabao highlighted his nation's military modernization campaign and breathed threats against Taiwan. It would be hard to find a worse time for Europe to offer China military aid.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Mar 13, 2005

Fuji's "Dead Age" tries to bridge babyboomers and youngsters' culture gap and more

Though baby boomers control the creative side of the television industry, a huge part of their audience is a lot younger, a divide that often results in stilted programming.
COMMENTARY
Mar 12, 2005

Opium again driving Afghan economy

ISLAMABAD -- This month's warning by the United Nations' main drug-monitoring watchdog that Afghanistan is in danger of becoming a narcotics-driven state should hardly come as a surprise.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Mar 9, 2005

Legal action gives new definition to 'The Meaning of Ichiro'

Well, I must say, this one really takes the cake.
COMMENTARY
Mar 6, 2005

Trashing liberties we die for

LONDON -- At the end of last year, 69 men, it is thought, were being held in British prisons as terrorist suspects. Only 11 of these had been convicted of any offense. Twelve were being held in Belmarsh prison without trial (since then, one has been moved to Broadmoor, a high security mental hospital)....
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 5, 2005

Get! Strunk & White's punctuation soup

The Japanese have some unique ways of learning English. Did you know, for example, that you can learn English from animal crackers? Yes, animal crackers in Japan have English names on them, presumably to provide an educational aspect to snacks. Talk about forcing the language down our throats! Perhaps...
EDITORIALS
Mar 4, 2005

Ailment needs a national response

For sufferers of kafunshou (pollen allergy) or hay fever, this is shaping up into a really bad year. Because of last summer's sweltering heat, the amount of cedar pollen in the air is forecast to rise two or three times above average, possibly exceeding the worst-ever level of 1995. Reports say that,...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 3, 2005

Australia's rising Iraqi stake

SYDNEY -- Is Australia's decision to send troops to guard Japanese reconstruction workers in Iraq reasonable? Not if you believe Australians who are still fighting World War II or are angry at our armed presence in Iraq.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 2, 2005

Goya brought to life in flamenco

La Yoko, as she is known by those in the flamenco world, is the woman responsible for not only bringing this ethnic gypsy-rooted form of dance into Japan but also establishing the first flamenco dance company on this far eastern island 36 years ago. In 1959, Yoko Komatsubara, after having seen the spectacular...
EDITORIALS
Mar 1, 2005

Slow response to AIDS

One of the world's worst disasters is under way in Africa. AIDS is devastating sub-Saharan Africa, and South Africa has been especially hard hit. The government in Pretoria, however, has played down the scale of the crisis and, consequently, has been slow to respond to it.
Rugby
Feb 24, 2005

IRB chairman points the way forward for Japanese rugby

When Dr. Syd Millar talks rugby, people generally stop and listen.
BUSINESS
Feb 17, 2005

Tax offices start accepting '04 returns

Regional tax offices nationwide began accepting 2004 income tax returns Wednesday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 17, 2005

Centrair chief brimming with confidence

Central Japan International Airport, opening today near Nagoya, will serve as a key center for the exchange of people, commodities and information between Japan and the rest of the world, said Yukihisa Hirano, president of the new airport's operating company.
BUSINESS
Feb 16, 2005

Prospective home owners warming to made-to-order condos

Made-to-order condominiums are gaining popularity in Japan as people seek more distinct housing.
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 16, 2005

Tale of the spy who loved Brandt

"Democracy" is an iconic buzzword of our times. What Webster's dictionary defines as "government in which the people hold the ruling power either directly or through elected representatives" is routinely held out, particularly by the current leader of the world's foremost military-industrial complex,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 13, 2005

A brass band perfect for any occasion

One of the enduring images of New Orleans is the jazz funeral, a long procession of mourners walking toward the cemetery with a full-piece brass band playing along behind. On their most recent release, "Funeral for a Friend," the Dirty Dozen Brass Band re-creates this jazz funeral with gusto. Perhaps...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 13, 2005

Little progress on Japanese gender equality

Last weekend the Cabinet Office released the results of its latest gender-roles survey, which it has been carrying out irregularly since 1979. About 3,500 adult men and women offered their opinions about who should be in charge of the home and who should do the breadwinning. The results were reported...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Feb 11, 2005

Brr -- diving in Atami in winter

As any scuba diver knows, when the diving itch hits, you just gotta scratch. But what if the itch strikes in midwinter when you have neither the time nor funds to fly to a tropical resort? Not to worry. Not only is it possible to dive around mainland Japan in the winter months, it can even be done on...

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’