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Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Jul 19, 2009

Bowling 'em over

The game of lawn bowls may appear straightforward — players in whites repeatedly roll 1.5-kg rounded plastic "bowls" over finely cut grass — but Japan's male and female singles champions are taking decidedly different approaches to the World Singles Champion of Champions, set to begin in Ayr, Scotland,...
Japan Times
SOCCER
Jul 18, 2009

Galaxy beat Red Bulls in Beckham's return to MLS

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) David Beckham returned to Major League Soccer with a whisper, not a shout.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / JAPAN NATIONAL BASEBALL TEAM
Jul 17, 2009

Top-of-the-class Kato powers Japan to title

Down to the their final out and trailing by three runs, Japan was looking for a miracle in the finale of the USA vs. Japan Collegiate Championships.
COMMENTARY
Jul 17, 2009

Scrutinizing fitness to lead

LONDON — How much importance should we give to the right to privacy? Should politicians and personalities in the public eye be expected to forgo this right because the public need to know the facts about them in order to judge their fitness for office?
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 17, 2009

Tokyo's top toy expo shows what's cooking

The International Tokyo Toy Show kicked off Thursday at Tokyo Big Sight, highlighting the latest trends in Japan's toy industry, including the growing popularity of cooking toys and products for the future, particularly environmentally friendly gadgets.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 17, 2009

East German backs Japan's public theaters

Peter Goesnner was born in Leipzig, in the former communist East Germany, in 1962. His dream was to be a great football player, but 40 years later, the witty, easy-going German is in Tokyo directing "Sekishoku Elegy" ("Red Elegy") by absurdist playwright Minoru Betsuyaku. Staged in 1980 for only one...
BUSINESS
Jul 17, 2009

China market value overtakes Japan's

China overtook Japan as the world's second-largest stock market by value for the first time in 18 months, after government stimulus spending and record bank lending boosted share prices this year.
Reader Mail
Jul 16, 2009

'Spousal hire' par for 21st century

The May 25 reprinting of the Los Angeles Times' article "Support for women takes care of population" couldn't have been timelier. The Japanese Diet is debating an immigration bill that would end spouse visas for people doing "tanshin funin" (working at a post without one's family). Being forced to live...
Reader Mail
Jul 16, 2009

The trashy forests of rural Japan

The July 10 Kyodo article, "Japanese group polishes the Big Apple," states: "In a hygiene-conscious country like Japan, where items like antibacterial calculators and toothbrushes are sold, the volunteers — most of whom are Japanese — do not flinch when they encounter dirty trash. Instead, they enjoy...
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.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years