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COMMENTARY
Jul 19, 2007

'Quad Initiative': an inharmonious concert of democracies

NEW DELHI — The newly launched Australia-India-Japan-U.S. "Quadrilateral Initiative" has raised China's hackles, but its direction is still undecided owing to differing perceptions within the group over what its aims and objectives ought to be.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 19, 2007

Palestinians still paying for past failures

PRAGUE — Every week, it seems, brings another backward step for Palestine. President Mahmoud Abbas' failure to convene the Palestinian Legislative Assembly, due to a Hamas boycott, may lead inexorably to the final breakdown of the political structures created under the Oslo Accords.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 19, 2007

Sounds of smallness

Settling down into Yukio Fujimoto's "Ears with Chair" (1990) and adjusting the two long tubes on either side to your ears, the drone of the electronic organs on the surrounding walls both intensifies and hollows out. The hushed voices of mingling spectators magnify, as do passing footsteps. You cannot...
Reader Mail
Jul 18, 2007

Farcical vision of Olympics

Regarding the July 7 Associated Press article "Youth Olympics set for 2010 debut": I can't imagine a greater travesty than an Olympics "meant to drag kids from computer screens and onto the playing fields." What a crying shame that the minds of men would hold this farcical vision of an Olympics -- some...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 17, 2007

Hinomaru, 'Kimigayo' express conflicts both past and future

To some they are symbols of national pride, to others icons of a militaristic past. "Kimigayo," the national anthem, and the Hinomaru, the national flag, have been perpetual sources of controversy because of their contentious historical backgrounds. Following are some basic questions and answers about...
Rugby
Jul 16, 2007

Japan rugby players benefit from ATQ training

The 2007 Rugby World Cup might only be months away, but behind the scenes tier-two nations are already eyeing the quarterfinals four years from now.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 16, 2007

Winning with opium in Afghanistan

PRAGUE — Despite considerable effort by the international community in Afghanistan since 2001 to eliminate the Taliban and al-Qaida, the insurgency in the south of the country has gathered momentum at breakneck speed in recent months. Our field research shows that we are not winning the campaign for...
MORE SPORTS
Jul 15, 2007

Walker thrilled to play in Japan

In addition to representing his country there has been a bigger reason for Brig Walker's excitement about playing in the World Championships.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jul 15, 2007

Former foes find common ground in court together

The shoot of "Ashita e no Yuigon (Best Wishes for Tomorrow)" that began on June 2 has ended. The film is in the can — as they say — and is now being edited.
EDITORIALS
Jul 14, 2007

Zeal to expand 'defense' missions

The 2007 white paper on defense, the first such government report since the Defense Agency was upgraded to the Defense Ministry, stresses that the Self-Defense Forces must become an organization that can better cope with crises and contribute to world peace, saying the days are gone in which the SDF...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jul 13, 2007

Journeys of self-discovery

While many young Japanese go to Canada to study English and some retirees enjoy holidays there, the number of Canadian theater companies staging performances in Japan are few and far between.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / SHORT TAKES
Jul 13, 2007

Lights in the Dusk

Director: Aki Kaurismaki Language: Finnish and Russian
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 13, 2007

Nervous Branagh and his operatic dream

As one of Britain's most iconic actor/directors, Kenneth Branagh has a special relationship with theater. Throughout his career he has often worked to merge the stage with celluloid, delivering such memorable films as "Much Ado About Nothing," which he directed, wrote and starred in.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jul 13, 2007

Quick, cheap and cheerful

Festa Summer MUZA Kawasaki 2007 advertises classical music as if it were fast food: quick, cheap and cheerful.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / SHORT TAKES
Jul 13, 2007

Emmanuel's Gift

Director: Lisa Lax and Nancy Stern Language: English
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jul 13, 2007

Step into her world

For more than a decade, DJ Mary Anne Hobbs has built a reputation at BBC Radio 1 for having musical tastes that are as cutting edge as they are eclectic.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 13, 2007

'The Magic Flute'

"The Magic Flute" is one of the most familiar and best-loved operas in the world, but barring Mozart and opera enthusiasts, how many can claim to have sat through the whole thing and er, understood it all?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 12, 2007

From a whim to pottery passion

Masayuki Inoue's repertoire includes sky-high monoliths and massive sculptures that span several meters. Many of these monumental works are held together by metal bolts and industrial adhesive, which in itself is not particularly unusual in the world of contemporary art. But here's the twist: Inoue is...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 12, 2007

Speaking up for the 'divine' but undiscussed

Summer is the time of year when the Japanese remember the dead, most notably during the Bon festival, and the end of World War II, though the collective memory of the latter fades with each passing year. The Japanese are probably better at forgetting than other people in the world (indeed, the culture...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 12, 2007

Japan's saucy chameleon of Modernism

Japanese modernist art is often described as being derivative of its Western counterpart, but beneath the surface a real difference between them can be likened to that between religion in Japan and the West.
Reader Mail
Jul 11, 2007

Slow response to toxic pollution

Regarding Stephen Hesse's June 27 article, "Is this a poisons coverup?": Some other questions might be: Who was responsible for building the Jinkanpo incinerator so close to a housing area at the U.S. Naval Air Facility at Atsugi? Why didn't the Japanese government take greater care to safeguard the...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jul 11, 2007

Rock swallow

* Japanese name: Iwa tsubame * Scientific name: Delichon dasypus * Description: The translation of the Chinese name for this bird is smoky-bellied hair-leg swallow. It is also known as the Asian housemartin. It's a small bird, some 12-cm long, and is colored a dark steel-blue above and is white —...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 11, 2007

Palestinians' 'Blair option' needs help

LOS ANGELES — The release of an abducted BBC journalist in Gaza is being seen by some as an attempt by Hamas (which denies any part in the kidnapping) to curry favor with Tony Blair, who on stepping down as Britain's prime minister was appointed international envoy to Israel and Palestine. Blair has...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 10, 2007

Allure of cakes too much for housewives to resist

Twenty years ago, Japanese girls were told that marriage should be the last item on the list of to-dos after college, that hankering after a wedding ring was idiotic and that the first and foremost concern should be work and a career.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight