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Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Jul 16, 2009

Ishigaki

Dear Alice, Is it weird to love a wall? I recently visited the Imperial Palace in Tokyo and was totally blown away by a high rock embankment on the far side of the moat. That rugged face! Those elegant lines! I am completely enchanted and want to know anything at all you can tell me. But there's one...
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Jul 16, 2009

Kashima leading by example at halfway point of season

One glance at Kashima Antlers' eight-point lead might suggest JFA president Motoaki Inukai is right to label the J. League "boring." But even if this season's title race is shaping up to be more one-sided than in recent years, an improvement in quality among the leading teams is a worthwhile tradeoff....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 16, 2009

Tokyo doctor refused Jackson stimulants

Dr. Eugene Aksenoff, who treated Michael Jackson on four separate occasions in Tokyo, warned the late "King of Pop" against taking stimulants because they could be life-threatening.
COMMENTARY
Jul 16, 2009

Reflecting on the lessons of Robert McNamara's war

The death of former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara at age 93 has reopened the debate on his role, first as architect for the Vietnam War, and then later in apologizing for it with his 1995 book "In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam." Since a hawk with a conscience is a rare commodity,...
BUSINESS
Jul 16, 2009

Daiichi Sankyo delays stake in India's Zenotech

Daiichi Sankyo Co. said it will delay acquiring 20 percent of India's Zenotech Laboratories Ltd. after the Chennai High Court ordered a halt to the offer.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 15, 2009

Washiya eyes quick climb to majors

Naoya Washiya had to wait a little longer than expected before seeing his name in the MLB Draft.
BUSINESS
Jul 15, 2009

Toyota widens hybrid lineup with new Lexus

Toyota Motor Corp. on Tuesday launched its first Lexus built as a hybrid from the ground up, widening its gasoline-electric lineup amid the recent spike in demand for fuel-efficient vehicles.
COMMENTARY
Jul 15, 2009

China's false monoculture

By blanketing the oil-rich Xinjiang with troops, China's rulers may have subdued the Uighur revolt, which began in Urumqi, the regional capital, and spread to other heavily guarded towns like Hotan and Kashgar, the ancient cultural center whose old city is to be razed and redeveloped to help drain supposed...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 15, 2009

Diet calls shots on taxes: top finance bureaucrat

The Finance Ministry's top bureaucrat, Yasutake Tango, said this week his ministry will prepare to raise the consumption tax as stipulated by law, but it is also ready to change course if the Democratic Party of Japan, which is reportedly against a consumption tax hike over the next four years, takes...
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 14, 2009

For Hatoyamas, politics is considered birthright

Often compared to the Kennedy family for the impressive list of lawmakers and scholars hailing from its ranks, the Hatoyama clan is one of the nation's most prominent political dynasties.
BUSINESS / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
Jul 13, 2009

Japanese choices in aviation market reveal overreliance on U.S.

For decades, Japan's military partner of choice has been the United States. The reasons are well known: The influence of the Occupation after World War II and the adoption of an American-style Constitution that put strong restrictions on Japan's ability to maintain any kind of martial force.
COMMENTARY
Jul 12, 2009

It's up to the five powers to bottle the nuclear genie

LONDON — Speaking in Moscow on July 7, U.S. President Barack Obama was the very soul of reasonableness. The United States and Russia must cooperate to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons, he said, while keeping the goal of a world without nuclear weapons always in sight: "America is committed...
Reader Mail
Jul 12, 2009

Wrong target of quake resistance

The July 5 editorial "Education on earthquakes" doesn't say anything about education. This is yet another example of media hysteria and the lack of a sense of proportion.
Reader Mail
Jul 12, 2009

Japan's 'greatest' gift to the West

Thank you for Damien Okado-Gough's June 27 article, "Zen Buddhist monk aids peace efforts in native Belfast," which is about Paul Haller, my Zen teacher. In addition to visiting Ireland a couple of times a year to lead sesshin, he keeps in touch with students through interviews and classes on Buddhism...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 12, 2009

'Campaign' star no longer life of the party

Takafumi Horie, the former CEO of Livedoor Inc., has nothing to do with the documentary "Campaign," which had a special public screening at the Rise X theater in Shibuya the morning of June 30. However, the subject of the movie, politics, is close to his heart, so he agreed to discuss it with the film's...
BUSINESS
Jul 11, 2009

Recovery could stall if crude price surges

Crude oil prices have nearly doubled since December amid the ultralax monetary policies of central banks and moves by speculators toward riskier assets, and gasoline prices have already started to rise.
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2009

Pulvers lauded by cultural agency

Roger Pulvers, an Australian playwright and contributor to The Japan Times, and four others were recognized Friday by the Cultural Affairs Agency for helping to promote Japanese culture overseas.
Japan Times
JAPAN / MIXED MATCHES
Jul 11, 2009

Religion couple's common ground

Zuzana Koike, a 29-year-old Austrian national of Slovak extraction, never thought she would even visit Japan before meeting and marrying Takeshi Koike, 38, a lecturer at Daito Bunka University in Tokyo.
EDITORIALS
Jul 10, 2009

Another milestone in Iraq

More than six years after invading Iraq and deposing its leader, Saddam Hussein, U.S. combat forces have withdrawn from Iraq's cities. The redeployment is an important step forward in the reclamation of Iraqi sovereignty, and a political victory for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 10, 2009

F-35's superiority in the Japan-U.S. alliance

CANBERRA — I enjoyed reading the newspaper commentary in mid-May by Weston Konishi and Robert Dujarric on the hurdles to Japan's acquisition of F-22 aircraft, and broadly agreed with the thrust of their argument.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 10, 2009

Bleach "Bleach Stone"

Citing the old standby, "artistic differences," on June 10, all-girl Okinawa hard-rock trio Bleach (who used the modified moniker Bleach03 overseas) announced they had disbanded. Formed in 1998, they gigged extensively throughout Japan and toured the United States 11 times, establishing a small cult...
BUSINESS
Jul 10, 2009

Market booming in digital publishing

While the market for print publishing continues to shrink, its digital counterpart is rapidly growing, driven mostly by cell phone users, panelists at a seminar said Thursday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 10, 2009

Gutai installation a winner in Venice

Yoko Ono is not the only historically significant Japanese artist included in biennale director Daniel Birnbaum's exhibition, "Making Worlds." In the newly renamed Palazzo delle Espozioni in the Giardini, Birnbaum has dedicated a room to works by members of the post World War II avant-garde Gutai Art...
COMMENTARY
Jul 10, 2009

Wisdom of an Asia rising

SEOUL — According to conventional wisdom, the global economic crisis is accelerating the transfer of power and influence from the West to Asia. The United States has been particularly hard hit by the downturn and America's loss is China's gain.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 10, 2009

Sabu masterfully helms a floating canning factory

After debuting as a writer/director in 1996 with "D.A.N.G.A.N. Runner," a kinetic comedy of three men chasing each other around, Sabu has been a regular on international film circuits, and is especially liked by the Berlin International Film Festival where he has had six films screened in the past, of...
JAPAN / G8 ITALY SUMMIT
Jul 8, 2009

Japan's earthquake-resistance expertise part of aid on the way to Italy

A friend indeed will answer calls from a friend in need, as Japan readies to provide its earthquake-resistance expertise to Italy at the Group of Eight summit in L'Aquila.

Longform

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How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan