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Japan Times
Events / WHERE IT'S AT
Mar 3, 2009

Authors get up close and personal in monthly bookshop lectures

Stephen Kott describes himself as the "chief coffee maker" at Good Day Books in Tokyo's Ebisu district. He says it with self-deprecating humor, but it's not a bad metaphor for one of his real duties, which is to serve up an engaging brew of knowledge, opinions and humor in the store's monthly author...
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Mar 2, 2009

Zero-rate bonds must be studied but 'invoice system' shows promise

F inance ministers and central bankers from the Group of Seven top economies wrapped up two days of talks last month with the recognition that the global economy will continue to deteriorate this year, and urged governments to act in concert to stabilize their finance sectors and inject stimulus to boost...
Reader Mail
Mar 1, 2009

BOJ road to more economic pain

Regarding the Feb. 20 article "BOJ will buy ¥1 trillion in corporate bonds; rate stands": It's a shame that the action taken by the Bank of Japan with such good intentions will in the long run lead only to more economic pain. This is not just a Japanese mistake; America's stimulus package and Troubled...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 1, 2009

Pope should reflect on his universal mission

HONG KONG — Is the pope Catholic! This, of course, is a fabled American rhetorical expression, usually used sarcastically and meaning, how could you be so stupid as to doubt something?
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 1, 2009

Japan loves wasting food

The Fair Trade Commission's current investigation into whether or not Seven-Eleven Japan Co. bullies its franchise members has been barely covered by commercial TV news, which isn't surprising.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 1, 2009

Memories of Manchuria

Reviewed by Jeff Kingston There is a powerful fascination in Japan about the lives and fates of the Japanese who migrated to Manchuria 1932-45. Some 320,000 rural Japanese were mobilized in this scheme to lessen population pressures in Japan, project Japanese power and promote food production in this...
Reader Mail
Mar 1, 2009

Cabdriver with the big picture

Regarding the Feb. 26 "Words to Live by" column about Jazz Taxi driver Toshiyuki Anzai: What a fantastic article. Now here's a man with wisdom — not some MBA jerk I see in the United States every day who acts like he knows something. This cabdriver will never go hungry because he feeds the heart of...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / GRAND OLD HOTELS
Mar 1, 2009

Following the footsteps of the famed in Nikko

Behind the front desk of the Nikko Kanaya Hotel hang photos of an unlikely trio: James Curtis Hepburn, Isabella Bird and Zenichiro Kanaya. Hotel President Takayasu Akiyama connected the dots over a cup of java in the Maple Leaf Lounge.
LIFE / Travel / GRAND OLD HOTELS
Mar 1, 2009

Following the footsteps of the famed in Nikko

Behind the front desk of the Nikko Kanaya Hotel hang photos of an unlikely trio: James Curtis Hepburn, Isabella Bird and Zenichiro Kanaya. Hotel President Takayasu Akiyama connected the dots over a cup of java in the Maple Leaf Lounge.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 27, 2009

'This is England'

The gang-movie genre tends to follow a fairly predictable arc: Impressionable youth is seduced by gang life, enjoys the wild times and camaraderie that follow, then inevitably winds up disillusioned with the lifestyle. Whether it's the mods and rockers of 1960s London in "Quadrophenia," or the favela...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 27, 2009

One pricey bowl of soup noodles

A bowl of noodles at a typical Tokyo ramen joint is cheap — usually around ¥800 — and served in a convenient location. Fujimaki Gekijo, situated between Nakameguro and Yutenji in Meguro Ward, is neither. And the owner and chef, Shoichi Fujimaki, would have it no other way.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 27, 2009

One pricey bowl of soup noodles

A bowl of noodles at a typical Tokyo ramen joint is cheap — usually around ¥800 — and served in a convenient location. Fujimaki Gekijo, situated between Nakameguro and Yutenji in Meguro Ward, is neither. And the owner and chef, Shoichi Fujimaki, would have it no other way.
BUSINESS
Feb 27, 2009

Deterioration outpacing predictions

Bank of Japan Policy Board member Tadao Noda said the economy is deteriorating more than the central bank forecast last month as the global recession triggers unprecedented drops in exports and output.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 26, 2009

Fall in U.S. Japanese students worrisome

In a bid to stop the dramatic decline in Japanese studying in the United States, representatives of U.S. colleges and universities met Wednesday with education minister Ryu Shionoya to demand that Japan improve efforts to promote study abroad.
EDITORIALS
Feb 26, 2009

Kudos to Japan's Oscar winners

"Okuribito" ("Departures"), a film directed by Mr. Yojiro Takita, has won the Oscar for best foreign-language film, and "Tsumiki no Ie (The House of Small Cubes)," directed by Mr. Kunio Kato, has won the Oscar for best animated short film at the 81st Annual Academy Awards ceremony, marking the first...
EDITORIALS
Feb 25, 2009

Avoid sensationalism in trials

The Tokyo District Court last week sentenced a 34-year-old man to life imprisonment for slaying a 23-year-old woman, mutilating her body and then abandoning it in Tokyo in April 2008. The man admitted to the charge of forcing the woman, who lived two doors down, into his apartment with the aim of sexually...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 25, 2009

The character of a culture resides in its language

Defining people by their ethnicity while virtually ignoring their cultural background has always been both dumb and dangerous, but there is a growing appreciation among business leaders, diplomats and politicians of the importance of understanding other cultures.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 24, 2009

Women forsake frills but spare no expense for skin

When Miwako Taniuchi's income slumped 30 percent last year, out went the expensive dinners and new Gucci and Louis Vuitton handbags. One purchase that didn't get axed: a skin cream worth its weight in gold.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Feb 23, 2009

Grouses coach Ishibashi maintains passion for winning

It's quite easy to locate the 210-cm Takatoshi Ishibashi on the floor during a basketball game, and it won't take too long to see when he's in agony.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS / ICE TIME
Feb 22, 2009

Kim sends shot across bow with victory in Vancouver

Kim Yu Na delivered a strong message to world champion Mao Asada with her victory at the recent Four Continents Championship in Vancouver.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 20, 2009

New art council jumps right into the action

Two years: That's how long it took Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara to set up a new "arts council," extract from it a range of new policy ideas and get his staff to start putting them into action. It's not rocket-paced, but in a country famous for the slowness of its bureaucracy, it passes for commendable....
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 18, 2009

Company housing custom swells homeless ranks

In corporate Japan, losing your job can mean losing your home as well.
COMMENTARY
Feb 18, 2009

Tsvangirai has likely made the wrong choice

On Feb. 11, in Harare, Morgan Tsvangirai drank the poisoned chalice, knowing that it was poisoned. He was sworn in as prime minister of Zimbabwe, in a government that is still controlled by his deadly enemy, President Robert Mugabe. He must know that his chances of success, even of political survival,...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 18, 2009

Are we ready for a new form of capitalism?

MELBOURNE — Is the global financial crisis an opportunity to forge a new form of capitalism based on sound values?

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan