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JAPAN
Jan 27, 2010

Bluefin ban could put Japan in bind

Seafood-loving Japan — having faced years of international pressure to stop whaling — finds itself with a potentially bigger fight over a highly prized type of tuna that conservation groups say is being fished to extinction.
JAPAN
Jan 27, 2010

Suit fails but tobacco risks noted

A five-year legal battle against Japan Tobacco by two former smokers and a widow has ended with damages demands thrown out, but a court for the first time clearly acknowledged the health risks of cigarettes.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jan 27, 2010

Spouse hunting, politics had us all abuzz in '09

The 2010 edition of the "Encyclopedia of Contemporary Words" was recently put on sale by publisher?Jiyukokuminsha. The bulky paperback's English title doesn't really do justice to the Japanese name, which is "Gendai Yogo no Kiso Chishiki." Broken down by its individual components, it becomes 現代 (gendai,...
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Jan 26, 2010

Late-night frolics mar Asa's 25th yusho

Asashoryu Akinori, to call him by his full Japanese name, remains as divisive as ever in the world of Japanese sumo.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Jan 26, 2010

Artist perseveres to embrace life in Japan, keep tapped to Iran roots

Award-winning Iranian artist Mansour Kordbacheh has lived in Japan for 21 years and feels the weight of it on his shoulders.
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Jan 25, 2010

Japan could pay big price for hurting American pride

Fifty years after the current Japan-U.S. security treaty took effect, 2010 looks to be a watershed year for the bilateral relationship between Japan and the United States.
BASKETBALL
Jan 24, 2010

Abdul-Rauf returns, helps Hannaryz beat Golden Kings

After a nine-game absence due to a calf injury, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf returned to action for the Kyoto Hannaryz on Saturday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 24, 2010

'Fat cats' roaring back at Obama

HONG KONG — U.S. President Barack Obama has used harsh words in denouncing the big bonuses that Wall Street is paying to its bankers and announcing new levies to claw back some of that money. "We want our money back, and we are going to get it," he said, calling the bankers "fat cats" and their payments...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jan 24, 2010

Eschewing the cheerlessness of modern-market memoirs

Those who have read Donald Keene's 1996 memoir "On Familiar Terms" may wonder whether it was necessary for him to bring out another that covers much the same ground. One suspects that Keene published "Chronicles of My Life" simply because he had been asked to write a series of columns about his life...
LIFE
Jan 24, 2010

Secrets and lies

Japan marked the 50th anniversary of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty on Jan. 19 amid calls for an inquiry into the dispatch of Japanese Self-Defence Forces to Iraq, which critics say was illegal. But in contrast to the fierce debates over the origins and legitimacy of the 2003 Iraq invasion in both the...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Jan 24, 2010

Once mighty Apache in complete disarray

First in a two-part series
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2010

'Crossing' bares North defector fate

Every year, poverty-stricken North Koreans risk their lives crossing the border into China to escape the repression and starvation plaguing their hermit homeland.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / TAKING A CHANCE
Jan 23, 2010

Bookoff chief guides firm out of attitude bind

Hiroshi Sato took the helm of Bookoff Corp., the nation's largest secondhand book store chain, in 2007, when the company's corporate survival was in doubt after weekly magazines broke news that the firm had rigged its accounts.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jan 23, 2010

Technical support — how it ought to be

My house is stacked with gadgets — from computers to cameras to game machines to bathroom scales that voice my weight, and more.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 22, 2010

Theater star brings new tricks to the stage

In the summer of 2008, a shockwave hit the world of Japanese theater when Keishi Nagatsuka announced he was taking a yearlong break from the stage to take a government-sponsored sabbatical in London.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 22, 2010

E*A*T: Fast food worth lingering over

The bright yellow sign calls down over the busy, narrow sidewalk like a grandmama from the old country exhorting her brood to come to table. "EAT EAT," it shouts. Do as you're told: Go in and sit down. We did. And we ate. We ate very well indeed.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 21, 2010

The Iranian republic of fear

WASHINGTON — Iran's clerical regime governs by a simple formula: He who is the most frightening wins. "Victory by terrifying" is a trope that is present in many of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's speeches. Indeed, it is a reliable guide to his political philosophy.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 21, 2010

State Bank of India bullish on Japan business

Undaunted by the global financial crisis, State Bank of India is projecting increased growth at its Japanese branches for the financial year to March, according to Japanese regional head Arijit Basu.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 21, 2010

Anxiety fuels the rise of European nativists

PARIS — A referendum in Switzerland forbids the construction of new minarets. Racial violence explodes in the southern Italian region of Calabria. An intense and controversial debate takes place in France on the issue of national identity. These events have little in common, yet they all point to a...
COMMENTARY
Jan 21, 2010

Citizens lose in Google vs. China

The challenge thrown down by Google last week seemed unequivocal: Either China accepts uncensored information on Google.cn or the Internet giant will shut down its operations in the country.
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2010

Hatoyama praises security pact deterrence on 50th anniversary

Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the revised Japanese-U.S. security treaty, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Tuesday praised the pact for maintaining Asia-Pacific peace and stressed that U.S. forces here have been and will continue to be a deterrent amid uncertain times.
JAPAN
Jan 19, 2010

As security pact with U.S. turns 50, Japan looks to redefine relations

The Japanese-U.S. security treaty in its current form turned 50 Tuesday. Throughout the decades, the two nations have had their ups and downs and occasional tension, but together they weathered the Cold War and entered a new era and new century.
EDITORIALS
Jan 19, 2010

Indian Ocean mission ends

The Maritime Self-Defense Force's refueling mission in the Indian Ocean ended Friday, upon the expiration of the relevant law. The mission was in support of U.S.-led antiterrorism operations in and around Afghanistan that began in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.
BASEBALL / SPORTS SCOPE
Jan 19, 2010

Giants need more production from Utsumi

Yomiuri Giants pitcher Tetsuya Utsumi became the team's 17th player rep during the offseason. In 2010, the Giants will be asking him to shoulder a little more of the load on the mound as well.
BUSINESS
Jan 19, 2010

JAL better off without government umbrella

Kiyoshi Watanabe bought Japan Airlines Corp. shares last year at about ¥100 and lost more than 90 percent of his investment on speculation the former flag carrier will file for bankruptcy. Yet he supports the government's decision to forgo a bailout.

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb