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COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
Apr 7, 2009

Why don't my parents count as members of the family?

Dear Ministry of Justice,
COMMENTARY
Apr 6, 2009

Infrastructure shortcomings throttling India

CHENNAI, India — India's infrastructure presents a frightening scenario, and some feel it is at the breaking point. One reason for this is that the world's cheapest car is about to hit Indian roads. The Nano's most basic model is pegged at $2,600 — only a little more expensive than a motorcycle....
CULTURE / Books
Apr 5, 2009

Looking at history: the argument for facts over theory

Positivism in historiography means an emphasis on facts over theory, documentary evidence over deductions from premises. It may also be called "nitty-gritticism," George Akita suggests in "Evaluating Evidence," a book that recounts the author's dealing with primary sources and the problems he has come...
COMMENTARY
Apr 5, 2009

NATO at 60 faces growing pains that could threaten its survival

LONDON — The questions that nobody will ask out loud about the North Atlantic Treaty Organization: How much is enough?
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / INSIDE LOOK
Apr 5, 2009

Dreaming of a hoop career back in Japan

NEW YORK — Editor's note: After appearing in 105 games for Columbia University and ending his college career third on the school's all-time 3-pointers made list (173), shooting guard K.J. Matsui took time away from his busy academic workload to reflect on his playing days and look ahead to the future....
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Apr 5, 2009

Deciphering 'A Page of Madness'

Teinosuke Kinugasa's "A Page of Madness" ("Kurutta Ichipeiji," 1926) was long thought lost. Only some 75 years later did the discovery of the missing negative allow the picture to be finally viewed by the present generation. At the same time there emerged a critical need to evaluate it because it seemed...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Apr 5, 2009

Swapping snow for a rain forest

Although there was very little snow this winter here where I live in the Nagano Prefecture hills, it was still good to have an excuse to get away from the cold, and the excuse this time was to present a prize for the writer and illustrator of a book for little children.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Apr 5, 2009

Porn actresses pick up prizes

You've come a long way, baby, and in such a short time.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Apr 4, 2009

Fencer Ota keen to compete in France, raise interest in sport

Japanese fencing phenom Yuki Ota, who won the silver medal in the men's foil in last summer's Beijing Olympics, has entered a new challenging chapter in his fencing career.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Apr 4, 2009

Seabol, Carp beat Giants in opener

After more than a decade of disappointing finishes, the Hiroshima Carp feel they're ready to compete with the Central League's best.
CULTURE / Art
Apr 3, 2009

Going postcolonial, seeking 'altermodern'

Born in Calabar, Nigeria, in 1963 and now dean of academic affairs at the San Francisco Art Institute, Okwui Enwezor has organized a number of seminal exhibitions of contemporary art. In 2001, the internationally touring exhibition "The Short Century: Independence and Liberation Movements in Africa,...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Apr 3, 2009

Classic cars in a modern setting

At Tokyo Concours d' Elegance 2009, some 30 classic European automobiles owned by Japanese collectors are on show. Meaning "competition of elegance" in French, the title is used for occasions on which the owners of classic cars display their immaculately maintained, beautiful vehicles and compete for...
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Apr 3, 2009

Bookstore offers a place for political debating

"You have to fight your way in with a knife every time you want to talk," said Good Day Books manager Stephen Kott. "A bookstore is a natural venue for something like this."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 3, 2009

'The Duchess'

I'm not sure if "The Duchess" was as good a film as my enjoyment of it would indicate, but after a mere five minutes of trailers for "Monsters vs. Aliens" and (shudder) "Transformers 2," I was ready to embrace any film that offered actual dialogue and acting, not head-splitting volume and an endless...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / 2009 PACIFIC LEAGUE PREVIEW
Apr 3, 2009

Lions poised to continue reign in Pacific League

The following is last of a two-part preview for the upcoming Nippon Professional Baseball season. Team-by-team previews of the six Pacific League clubs are listed in order of predicted finish.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 3, 2009

Busting boundaries with a pioneer of magical music

Hearing Ryuichi Sakamoto talk softly about his 30 years in music, which have elevated him to the status of an officially designated National Treasure, is to witness a perfect exercise in Japanese modesty.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 3, 2009

Lost & Found

The discovery in a German archive of documents and photographs related to the Prussian mission to Japan in 1860-61 has shed new light on the early history of photography in Japan. In particular, newly uncovered letters and records help explain the mystery of why so few images from the well-equipped mission...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 3, 2009

Pachinko bucks recession trend

In the smoky Maruhan gambling parlor near Shinjuku Station in Tokyo, Shunichiro Nagasawa feeds a ¥1,000 bill into a pachinko machine, helping Japan's biggest gaming industry beat the recession and Las Vegas.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 2, 2009

Rabbits forced to fold amid economic crisis

The Seibu Prince Rabbits, an ice hockey team with a 37-year history, is the latest casualty of Japan's economic crises.
Reader Mail
Apr 2, 2009

Generalizations invite challenge

Debito Arudou does paint a bleak picture of the travails of many foreigners at the hands of the Japanese legal system. I do have issues with a couple of his points, though. First, he asserts that "bail [is] impossible for non-Japanese to get." Yet, simply typing "foreigner bail" into The Japan Times'...
JAPAN
Apr 2, 2009

Axed Brazilians, Peruvians to be paid to leave Japan

The government began offering money Wednesday for unemployed foreigners of Japanese ancestry to go home, mostly to Brazil and Peru, to stave off what officials say poses a serious unemployment problem.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / 2009 CENTRAL LEAGUE PREVIEW
Apr 2, 2009

Giants aiming for third straight Central League title

The following is first of a two-part preview for the upcoming Nippon Professional Baseball season. Team-by-team previews of the six Central League clubs are listed in order of predicted finish.
EDITORIALS
Apr 2, 2009

Shutting out a past truth

The Yokohama District Court on Monday ended a retrial of the late Yasuhito Ono, a journalist who had been convicted in the Yokohama Incident — the worst example of Japan's wartime repression of freedom of speech — without determining his guilt or innocence. Regrettably the court failed to deal with...
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Apr 1, 2009

LeBron committed to winning title with Cavs

CLEVELAND — The entire course of Cavaliers history was altered by the 2003 lottery when they won LeBron James in a game of chance.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 1, 2009

Lost and now found at the Imperial proves a celeb trove

Once asked by a reporter what she wore in bed, the late actress Marilyn Monroe was said to have replied, "Why, Chanel No. 5, of course."
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Apr 1, 2009

TomoToday can broaden your social-media circles

The Web has been praised for taking publishing to new heights, but it's also pioneered new ways for people to connect and reconnect. In Facebook, Mixi, MySpace and hundreds of other large and small online communities, we're learning new modes of socialization.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Mar 31, 2009

Hakuho remains on course to challenge the all-time greats

In the month he turned 24 years of age, Yokozuna Hakuho Sho will leave the city of Osaka, site of the March Haru Basho, an Emperor's Cup winner for the 10th time.

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