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Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 14, 2009

From the New York streets to the king of Japanese pop

Joey Carbone has been bugging me for the last 20 years. In fact, he was bugging me even before I met him. Like a constant itch, he gets inside your head and stays there.
BUSINESS
Mar 14, 2009

Issuance fears have bondholders favoring Aso

Prime Minister Taro Aso, whose approval rating has slumped, may still have the support of bondholders due to perceptions that the current administration is more reluctant to sell debt than a new government formed by the opposition might be.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 13, 2009

Climate change mitigation by low-income countries

MUMBAI, CITIZENS NEWS NETWORK — The economies and resultant emissions of low-income countries are growing at a rapid pace. China and India are already among the top five greenhouse-gas emitters. The rest of the world may strive to stabilize its emissions at 1990 levels, but if China and India continue...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 13, 2009

Bando Tamasaburo revives tradition of men playing women in China

"The Japanese Mei Lanfang" is what they call Bando Tamasaburo V in the Chinese media, perhaps the highest compliment the actor could wish for. The most accomplished nandan of the 20th century — the Chinese equivalent of a Japanese onnagata, a male who plays female roles — Mei Lanfang was celebrated...
BUSINESS
Mar 13, 2009

Tourists snap up goods in Seoul as yen rally lingers

Yukiko Saito spent three days in Seoul loading up on cosmetics last month because she has little confidence the yen's rally to a record against the South Korean won will continue.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 13, 2009

Morning Musume not ready to graduate yet

Most artists dream of longevity, but few are afforded significant time in the limelight. The paradox of all-girl group Morning Musume, 12 years since they began, is the enforced time-limit its members face in order for the group to remain forever young.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 13, 2009

Going where the grass is bluer

It's a story you could write a song about. It's sometime in the 1960s or '70s. A teenager in Tokyo slips a borrowed cassette into a player and is transfixed by what he hears: the sound of guitars, banjos and mandolins; the call of mountains far, far away. He saves his money and flies to the United States,...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Mar 10, 2009

Antiwar groups, Almond and Michi Aoyama

Nuts! Where's Almond? Julie was with friends on a bus passing through Roppongi and saw from the window that the famed Almond coffee shop on the crossing was no more.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Mar 8, 2009

Father-son poverty showdown, phone-promo office drama, remembering Koki Hirota

The recession has prompted a resurgence in reality shows where people attempt to survive on very little for a fixed length of time. TV personality and mixed martial arts fighter Bobby Ologun once lived a full month on ¥10,000 in front of TV cameras. Bobby will repeat this challenge under different circumstances...
Reader Mail
Mar 8, 2009

Student individuality gone to seed

The Feb. 5 opinion-page article "Why can't Japanese kids get into Harvard?" explains why it is more difficult for Japanese people to get accepted at Harvard University than for Korean people. The article says it is partially because of culture and partially because of education.
Reader Mail
Mar 8, 2009

U.S. can't fix Japan's problems

Regarding the March 4 article "Aegis ships may target missile from North (Korea)": Is there a corridor over the Pacific Ocean into which a missile could fly without being a threat to Japan? Tracking systems could determine the direction of the missile. It would be stupid for a country that is the focus...
LIFE
Mar 8, 2009

U.S. shows way to medical apologies

So you think apologizing is the norm in Japan? Well, think again — especially with regard to its venerable medical profession.
Reader Mail
Mar 8, 2009

An example for Japanese victims

Regarding the March 3 Zeit Gist article, "Rape victim fights for justice against U.S. military, Japan": "Jane" is very brave and has set a good example for Japanese women who were victims but were afraid to tell anyone. But due to the intrinsic cultural attitude in Japan that "men are big, women are...
Japan Times
JAPAN / MIXED MATCHES
Mar 7, 2009

Couple's married life off to auspicious start

When Joyce Lam took Koji Kobayashi to meet her parents in Hong Kong in January 2008, they reminded her that, as the Year of the Golden Pig, 2007 was the most auspicious year to tie the knot in 60 years.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 7, 2009

Tradition, family serve up a hearty fare

T he band members are dressed in traditional German costumes, and your smiling hostess leads you out in a traditional dance. A modest buffet serves up a bounty of simple, home-cooked German fare: cabbage and sauerkraut, potatoes and sausage. And don't forget the German beer. Just say "Mahlzeit," and...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 6, 2009

Afghanistan's drama set for stage

A high-ranking Afghan diplomat and a British dramatist are meeting a lot these days to discuss their common agenda: staging a play about violence-racked Afghanistan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 6, 2009

'Plastic City'

You can take the boy out of Tokyo but you can't take Tokyo out of the boy. Jo^ Odagiri, currently described by the Japanese media as "the most Tokyo-like of actors" stars in "Plastic City," an ambitious, multicultural project by Nelson Yu Lik-Wai (best known as director Jia Zhang-Ke's cinematographer)...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 6, 2009

'Doubt'

A parish priest stands in front of his flock, sets his features sternly, and then launches into his weekly sermon. He tells of a woman who goes to confession, and asks her priest if gossip was a sin. Of course, replies the priest, and for penance, he instructs the woman to go onto the roof of her house...
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 6, 2009

J. League also-rans looking to change gear

The following is the first of a two-part J. League preview for the upcoming season. Team-by-team previews of the nine bottom-ranked teams competing in the first division are listed.
COMMENTARY
Mar 6, 2009

Genteel pastime reaches end of innocence

WATERLOO, Ontario — In recent years, Australia, England and New Zealand have canceled cricketing tours of Pakistan because of concern for the physical safety of their teams. At best, Australia agreed to play Pakistan in the neutral venue of Abu Dhabi next month.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 6, 2009

Dancing to the rhythm of destruction

Listening to echoes of the dead through sound art and experimental dance, the audience at a poignant artistic event on March 10 will experience for themselves something of the infamous Tokyo Fire Bombing of World War II when — at 00:08 on March 10, 1945 — the first waves of U.S. bombers began dumping...
Reader Mail
Mar 5, 2009

Professor a model of generosity

Regarding the The Observer article "Peter Singer: moral arbiter of life and death," published in The Japan Times on Feb. 28: Professor Peter Singer is quoted as saying that "All the arguments to prove man's superiority cannot shatter this hard fact: In suffering, the animals are our equals."
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL: KEYES' POINT
Mar 4, 2009

Mothers-in-law: Our place or an ubasuteyama?

Wonderful, wonderful! Outside, the world as we know it is on the brink of collapse, but here in my study it is snug and warm; my books surround me, the coffee is hot and fresh . . .
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Mar 4, 2009

Nelson needs to give new philosophy a rest

NEW YORK — While many Californians are unemployed, Don Nelson is ordering assorted healthy Warriors to take a night off from work, with pay, while fans pay full price for tickets as their beloved 20-39 sinkhole disappears deeper below the Pacific Rim.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Mar 4, 2009

Top technology comes in small packages

Touch and go: Asus virtually created the burgeoning market for netbook computers with its groundbreaking Eee PC lineup. Whether it can give the demand for touch-screen desktop machines the same sort of boost is open for debate. But the Taiwanese maker is giving it a shot with its Eee Top 1602, due out...

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear