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CULTURE / Books
Sep 17, 2006

Take a wild ride on the Orient Express

THE OTTOMAN CAGE by Barbara Nadel. New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2005, 312 pp., $23.95 (cloth). DRAGON FIRE by William S. Cohen. New York: Tom Doherty Associates, 2006, 383 pp., $24.95 (cloth). "One of the most frequently asked questions that I get as a British author," Barbara Nadel tells the e-zine...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Sep 16, 2006

A train chock full o' nuts

They're not my family, they're not my friends. They're . . . my "famuters" -- those familiar commuters who ride the train with me each and every day.
JAPAN
Sep 15, 2006

Koizumi vague on retirement, but pundits see LDP calling on him again

As the term of Junichiro Koizumi, the nation's third-longest-serving postwar prime minister, comes to a close, political pundits are speculating on his future.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Sep 15, 2006

Fishing around for a piece of history

"Enjoy it while you can," says Professor Theodore Bestor of Harvard University. He's referring partly to Tsukiji's famous fish market and partly to sushi and to the fact that "some species are at risk of becoming commercially extinct."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / JAZZNICITY
Sep 15, 2006

Big-band education

On the sidewalk, in the parking lot and on the entrance stairs outside Fuchu Mori Art Theater Hall in western Tokyo last month, throngs of university students were fingering melody lines in the air, scrunching their faces trying to remember chord changes and counting out tempos in whispered voices. ...
JAPAN
Sep 14, 2006

Birth of prince doesn't resolve succession crisis: agency chief

The head of the Imperial Household Agency has warned that last week's birth of the first male heir to the Chrysanthemum Throne in four decades did not resolve the Imperial family's succession crisis, an official of the agency said Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 14, 2006

People of one voice

Michael Franti seemed to be everywhere at the 2003 Fuji Rock Festival, and since he stands as tall as a volleyball player and sports long dreads, it was impossible to miss him.
JAPAN
Sep 13, 2006

Birth of a male has raised profile of 'second princess'

Princess Kiko can do no wrong these days.
JAPAN
Sep 13, 2006

Newborn prince is named Hisahito

Prince Akishino has named his new son Prince Hisahito, the Imperial Household Agency announced Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Sep 13, 2006

Fibrous plants are helping cars go green on the outside

You might think bamboo, corn and kenaf -- a plant similar to jute -- would make poor materials for building modern cars, but you would be wrong. These plants are helping make auto parts that are green in more ways than one.
SUMO / Basho reports
Sep 12, 2006

Hakuho rebounds on second day, Asa keeps going strong

Ozeki Hakuho toppled Dejima to rebound from a first-day loss while yokuzuna Asashoryu stayed perfect with a demolition of Tamanoshima on the second day of the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament on Monday.
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2006

Ozawa seeks re-election as DPJ chief

Democratic Party of Japan leader Ichiro Ozawa announced Monday he will run for re-election as the party's president.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 12, 2006

Owning the bragging rights to work addiction

The Japanese were once famed for their work ethic. Now, shigoto-chudoku (workaholism) has been franchised out to the rest of the world and become a fact of globalized life.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Sep 12, 2006

Picking a yoga teacher needn't cause a strain

For anyone interested in yoga, the first step is finding the right teacher.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Sep 12, 2006

Style wise

Heart of Harajuku renewed Teeming teen shopping haven LaForet Harajuku opened in 1978 and has been a pivotal part of Japan's youth culture ever since. The complex has had a few subdued periods over the years but is currently experiencing a happier chapter in its history. Earlier this month it underwent...
JAPAN
Sep 10, 2006

LDP candidates launch race for presidency in Akihabara

, Sadakazu Tanigaki (center) and Shinzo Abe -- raise their joined hands Saturday after stumping in Tokyo's Akihabara district. KYODO PHOTO
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 10, 2006

What's love got to do with it? Holding on for a while

Many modern people have probably formed their idea of romantic love through the popular arts. We know from Jane Austen novels that marrying for love is an idea that preceded Hollywood, but people still wed for many other reasons, including simple companionship, convenience and money. Nevertheless, love...
LIFE / CONFUCIUS
Sep 10, 2006

East and West echo the sage: 'The ideal society is like a family'

This story is part of a package on Confucius. The introduction is here.
EDITORIALS
Sep 10, 2006

Tears for the Crocodile Hunter

The curious phrase "crocodile tears" might need redefining in the wake of the death of Australia's famed "Crocodile Hunter," Steve Irwin. Shakespeare coined the term, an allusion to the Romans' belief that crocodiles weep as they eat their prey, to describe an insincere display of grief, false tears....
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Sep 10, 2006

Demon swordplay

THE DEMON'S SERMON ON THE MARTIAL ARTS by Issai Chozanshi, translated by William Scott Wilson. Tokyo/New York: Kodansha International, 222 pp., with b/w illustrations, 2006, 2,000 yen (cloth). Early on, Miyamoto Musashi (1584-1645), perhaps Japan's greatest martial artist, was complaining about the commercialization...
JAPAN
Sep 9, 2006

Ministry sees lack of help for elderly

The public should be engaged more actively in caring for the elderly and child-rearing in their communities by turning their work-oriented lives into family- and community-oriented ones, the labor and welfare ministry said in an annual report released Friday.
BUSINESS
Sep 9, 2006

Dai-ichi Mutual hit again by leak

Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance Co. said Friday a customer list containing personal data on 88 of its policyholders in Asao Ward, Kawasaki, has been leaked.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Sep 8, 2006

Staying mellow about 'malo' wine

T hose who were drinking white wines in the late 1980s and early '90s will remember the virtual tsunami of heavily oaked "butter bomb" style Chardonnays that swept the world. Living in London at the time, I couldn't tell whether sea levels were rising or the entire country was sinking under the weight...
COMMENTARY
Sep 8, 2006

Recovery from failed policy

LONDON -- Some U.S. and British politicians argue that to tackle terrorism effectively human rights must be subject to increasing limitations. In wartime Britain (1939-45), human rights were curtailed and some innocent people were locked up. The British accepted this at the time as necessary to combat...
COMMENTARY
Sep 8, 2006

A faux debate to justify aggressive war

WASHINGTON -- President George W. Bush has faced surprisingly little serious opposition to his disastrous foreign policy. The left was divided over Iraq and many of those who opposed Bush did so for partisan or even personal reasons. Unfortunately, little has changed.
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2006

Abe looking to beef up defense posture

Shinzo Abe, the runaway favorite to succeed Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, has big ambitions for Japan's traditional pacifist diplomacy.

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan