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EDITORIALS
Nov 9, 2007

Difficult path for Mr. Ozawa

A fter a few days of fussing in the Democratic Party of Japan, Mr. Ichiro Ozawa on Tuesday withdrew his offer to resign as head of the No. 1 opposition party. Mr. Ozawa had announced his resignation over the weekend to express a sense of responsibility for causing a rift in the party over his handling...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Nov 9, 2007

Maizuru, Kyoto: For those with an interest in Cold War spy novels

Located less than two hours from central Kyoto city, the port town of Maizuru is a world away from ancient capital of Japan.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 9, 2007

Acid-house pioneer shakes Tokyo

The death of music impresario Tony Wilson in August this year led to tributes from across the world, and recently the movie "Control," a biopic of late Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis, was released to critical acclaim. What do these two events have in common? Manchester's music scene of the late 1980s....
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 9, 2007

Falltime wines

Autumn brings the brilliant colors of the fall leaves, and the harvest of mushrooms and root vegetables as hearty stews find a home on the dinner table. It also signifies a time to finish the last few bottles of rose you picked up during the heat of the summer. Fall is the time to explore brawny wines...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 8, 2007

New MOT curator aims to do a lot with a little

Yuko Hasegawa delivers instructions to her staff in an even, polite manner that often belies the burden they impose. It's a style perhaps more suited to a corporate boardroom than an art museum. But, since she took over as chief curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo (MOT), in April last year,...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Nov 7, 2007

Pride towers amid ongoing woes

In 1669, the Ainu leader Shakushain, who rose up and united the Ainu in rebellion against Japanese invaders, was called on to observe a truce, and invited to a banquet in his honor. The Matsumae clan, who had established a foothold on the island then called Ezo, now Hokkaido, by building a castle in...
Reader Mail
Nov 6, 2007

Fingerprinting not so stupid

In his Nov. 1 article, "Not so welcome to Japan any longer", Kevin Rafferty dwells on the fingerprinting and photographing of most aliens when entering or returning to Japan, to begin later this month, as "tedious" and "discriminatory." He wonders if Immigration Bureau officials are "so shallow and...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Nov 6, 2007

Design turns over a greener leaf

With climate change a tangible reality, environmental issues are climbing to the top of everyone's agenda. Design is no exception. After a decade-long party accompanying their rising popular profile and commercial success, designers have begun to sober up.
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Nov 6, 2007

"The Bomb," "Bunker 10"

"The Bomb" Theodore Taylor, Harcourt; 2007; 195pp.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 6, 2007

Nova's crash: readers respond

Following are responses from readers on the collapse of language school chain Nova Corp. and last week's Zeit Gist article, "Nova crash adds to 'eikaiwa' wage woes":
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 5, 2007

Ban expansion of agrofuels

NEW YORK — With biofuels being touted as our best great hope to undo climate change, it would be easy to ask yourself, "What's not to like?"
CULTURE / Books
Nov 4, 2007

The Showa Emperor in modern perspective

Hirohito: The Showa Emperor in War and Peace, by Ikuhiko Hata, edited by Marius B. Jansen. Global Oriental, 2007, 272 pp., £55 (cloth) So much has been written about the Showa Emperor that some readers may ask whether there is anything more to be said about a man who would hardly have left much lasting...
SOCCER / J. League
Nov 4, 2007

Gamba earns Nabisco title

Teenage defender Michihiro Yasuda proved the hero with a second-half winner as Gamba Osaka edged Kawasaki Frontale 1-0 on Saturday to claim their first Nabisco Cup.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 4, 2007

It's where you live, and not where you're at, for those bureaucrats

Last week, the Cabinet rejected a recommendation from the National Personnel Authority to raise bonuses and special allowances for some government employees, believing that the public, disillusioned by a constant stream of money scandals involving politicians and bureaucrats, wouldn't stand for it. But...
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Nov 4, 2007

New Broncos coach Benoit is eager to guide basketball team to successful season

TOKOROZAWA, Saitama Pref. — A big smile flashes across David Benoit's face as he takes a break from running the Saitama Broncos' evening practice.
BASKETBALL
Nov 3, 2007

Two-time champion Evessa, Five Arrows anchor Western Conference power base

The 2007-08 bj-league season tipped off on Tuesday night. It was the first game for the expansion Rizing Fukuoka. A crowd of 2,475 watched the Osaka Evessa post a 91-71 victory.
COMMENTARY
Nov 3, 2007

End of the United Kingdom?

LONDON — Is Scotland on the way to separating from England, turning the United Kingdom of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland into something different, maybe a federal kingdom?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Nov 3, 2007

International group helps shed light on shadows of injustice

Monday to Friday, 9 to 5, you can pretty much expect to find Akiko Mera in the second-floor Oxfam office in a gray, nondescript building in Ueno, Tokyo, surrounded by a half-dozen desks piled high with papers, pamphlets and books. It looks very much like many other decades-old offices, where the daily...
COMMENTARY
Nov 3, 2007

A blow to the budding India-U.S. alliance

LONDON — Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's response made perfectly good sense. If his allies in Parliament were willing to bring the government down to block the nuclear deal with the United States that he had spent two years negotiating, he would drop the deal. "One has to live with certain disappointments,"...
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Nov 2, 2007

Pistons in position to deal for Kobe

NEW YORK — Since the NBA last played games that counted, we've had a rogue referee plead guilty, an oafish organization found guilty and the league's principal point producer/insubordinate is within a hair ball of leveraging himself off the Lakers' lot.
CULTURE / Film / SHORT TAKES
Nov 2, 2007

Venus

Venus © 2006 Venus Pictures Ltd./UK Film Council/Channel 4 Television Corporation
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 2, 2007

'F**k'

There's a great scene in "The Big Lebowski" where Sam Elliott leans over a bar counter next to Jeff Bridges and asks: "Just one thing, Dude. Do you have to use s'many cuss words?" To which The Dude replies, "What the f**k are you talkin' about, man?" That was but one of 281 times the F-word was used...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 2, 2007

Soul goes Hi-Tek with Derrick May

"Basically I'm trying to save the world from bad . . . soulless music in whatever form that may be," 44-year-old DJ Derrick May says on his Web site. So its pretty safe to say there will be no remixes of Spice Girls songs in his set at the Hi-Tek Soul events to be held Nov. 3 and 11.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 2, 2007

Amerie

Amerie leaped to fame in 2005 with the platinum-selling smash single "1 Thing," a masterful piece of dance-floor R&B cowritten and produced by Beyonce cohort Rich Harrison. The song was a perfect pop platter, offering a taste of the times while somehow sounding one step ahead of the competition. Better...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 2, 2007

All plays are not equal

At around 100 pages long, "Animal Farm" is a sliver of a publication. But what the book lacks in length, it makes up for in content. For the International Theatre Company London's (ITCL) 29th Japan Tour, the troupe will perform a stage adaptation of this satirical classic.
COMMENTARY
Nov 2, 2007

Dealing with the Iran threat

LONDON — The imposition by the United States of sanctions against Iranian banks and the revolutionary guards, combined with discussion about the "big blue" bomb, has led to an increase in tension in the Middle East, a rise in the oil price and fears that the U.S. is preparing an attack on Iranian nuclear...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / WALKING THE WARDS
Nov 2, 2007

Well-heeled in Chuo Ward

From the opulence of world-renown Ginza emporiums, to the glittering scales on the fish auctioned from slick palettes in Tsukiji market, Chuo Ward wheels and deals precious commodities.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 2, 2007

'Once'

The characters in "Once" don't even have names; it's just the Guy (Glen Hansard) and the Girl (Marketa Irglova), and the story spans about 10 days in their lives one autumn in Dublin. "Once" was a sleeper hit at the Sundance Film Festival — and it's like a small, shining halo of brightness that recalls...
Reader Mail
Nov 1, 2007

Loss of trust in employers

Regarding the Oct. 28 letter "Bureaucratic disaster all around": The author is most correct in predicting the ramifications stemming from the Nova scandal. The economic impacts as a result of this fiasco will be felt for some time, and at a time when the last thing the economy needs is a financial...

Longform

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