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Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Mar 15, 2009

Sniffle, sneeze — and why's all that cedar pollen still in the air?

For more than 3 million Tokyo residents who seasonally suffer from sniffly, sneezy kafunsho (pollen allergy), the sight of Gov. Shintaro Ishihara applying an ax to the trunk of a pollen-producing cedar back in 2006 was enough to bring tears of joy to their already itchy eyes.
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
Mar 15, 2009

Fire devastates Hakodate, Dalai Lama on the run, leftists protest Narita airport expansion

YEARS AGO
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WEEK 3
Mar 15, 2009

Slow Life ambassador tickets hasty hordes

At a busy crossing in front of Tokyo Station, Bruno Contigiani, president of L'Arte del Vivere con Lentezza (The Art of Slow Living), an organization he founded in his native Italy, approached office workers one after another urging "Yuru yuru, shiawase" ("Go slowly, be happy").
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 15, 2009

Unnerving trip to stellar deficits

BALI, Indonesia — With stock markets around the world having beaten a hasty retreat recently, a cautionary tale might be found by looking at the United States, since it is ground zero for current economic and financial upheavals.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Mar 15, 2009

JBA's archaic ways suffocating basketball's development in Japan

The status quo's got to go.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 14, 2009

New Narita-Tokyo copter service targets rich, famous

For foreigners visiting Japan or Japanese returning from holidays abroad, it takes an hour or more to get from Narita International Airport in Chiba Prefecture to central Tokyo.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 14, 2009

From the New York streets to the king of Japanese pop

Joey Carbone has been bugging me for the last 20 years. In fact, he was bugging me even before I met him. Like a constant itch, he gets inside your head and stays there.
CULTURE / Art
Mar 13, 2009

Bourgeois cinema

Since the recent meltdown of the global capitalist system, it wouldn't be surprising if many people have flirted with the idea of Marxism. Perhaps not that they would go the whole hog and attempt to storm the bastions of corporate Japan, but they might be inclined to cast a few wistful glances at the...
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Mar 13, 2009

Addition of Peppers could boost Sendai

The bj-league's version of interleague play returns this week as all six weekend series pit Eastern Conference clubs against their Western Conference foes.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 13, 2009

A Riesling revival

Riesling, the sweet Germanic wine thought to have been consigned to the trash can of 1980s bad taste along with home perms and pastel-colored leg warmers, is making a comeback.
Reader Mail
Mar 12, 2009

Illegal under the Constitution

Regarding Debito Arudou's March 3 article, " Of toadies, vultures and zombie debates": In his latest bout of calling anyone who disagrees with him everything but an "Uncle Tom," Arudou once again shows how he does not let facts get in the way of a good tirade. He writes: "Racial discrimination should...
JAPAN
Mar 12, 2009

'Curse of Colonel Sanders' statue returns minus hand, feet, glasses

After recovering its legs and right hand Wednesday, construction workers reassembled the long-lost statue of Kentucky Fried Chicken founder and mascot Colonel Sanders, which was tossed into the Dotonbori River in central Osaka 24 years ago, city officials said.
BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2009

Yosano sets aside fiscal discipline

Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano said Tuesday he will put on hold the quest to restore the nation's fiscal health and pull out all stops to revive the economy, which continues to dive.
Japan Times
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Mar 11, 2009

Catwalks for the King, a shot at glory for his underlings

With the Spring Basho less than two weeks away now, sumo fans might be forgiven for thinking something is amiss given the lack of any real news coming out of Osaka.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 11, 2009

An A-to-O guide to Japan's obsession with blood types

The Japanese have a passion for filing and categorization that reaches fever pitch when it comes to the always-popular system of classifying people by their A, B, AB or O blood group — "ketsuekigata" (血液型, blood type)." Women, especially, will ask about the blood type of anyone we feel friendly...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Mar 10, 2009

Nintendo secret: It's all in the game

It's a common belief that the video game industry is recession-proof.
Japan Times
Events / WHERE IT'S AT
Mar 10, 2009

Litter sparks Akihabara cleanup

It was unusually warm and windy that particular Friday afternoon last month on which blew haru ichiban, the first strong, warm wind of the spring.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / ONE-ON-ONE WITH ...
Mar 10, 2009

Tennichi searching for key to keeping defending champions on top

The Japan Times will be featuring periodic interviews with individuals in the bj-league — Japan's first professional basketball circuit — which began its fourth season in October. Head coach Kensaku Tennichi of the three-time defending champion Osaka Evessa is the subject of this week's profile....
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 10, 2009

Mexico's fight against organized crime

The international media have recently placed increased attention on the actions carried out by Mexican President Felipe Calderon to combat organized crime and strengthen the rule of law in Mexico.
Reader Mail
Mar 8, 2009

An attitude that spells disaster

Roger Pulvers' comment about America's failure to reflect on its interventionist blunders in his March 1 Counterpoint article ("Obama please note: Those who fail to master the past are guilty, too") gets right to the point. I have heard it many times myself from the mouth of Americans: They agree that...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 8, 2009

Tokyo city: living in constant flux

John Milton was of the opinion that "towered cities please us then, and the busy hum of men." Tokyo would have delighted him. Largest city in the world, it has long busily hummed. Home of the first tower (dungeon-keep of the earliest Edo castle) it now has enough towering skyscrapers for everyone.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Mar 8, 2009

As prospects darken, Japan's voters need that vision thing again

When James Carville, a political consultant to Bill Clinton, coined the phrase "It's the economy, stupid" for the candidate's 1992 presidential campaign, little did he know that he was speaking for the general election in Japan in 2009 as well.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / INSIDE LOOK
Mar 8, 2009

Matsui aims to finish career on a high note

NEW YORK — Team update: Entering the final week of the regular season, the Columbia Lions, were 11-15 overall and 6-6 in the Ivy League, and had a chance to finish above .500 in conference play for the first time since the 1992-93 season. Matsui scored a career-high 19 points, including 5-for-8 on...
CULTURE / Books
Mar 8, 2009

Japanese directors in detail

Reviewed by Mark Schilling What used to be an obscure publishing niche — filmographies in English of Japanese filmmakers — is now a task to which a small army — OK, platoon — of volunteers is now dedicated on Wikipedia, the Internet Movie Database and elsewhere on the Web.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 8, 2009

Economic meltdown has a woman's face

MANILA — The current economic crisis is deepening faster than even the most pessimistic of experts predicted just a few months ago. The effects are already trickling down to ordinary working people.
Japan Times
LIFE
Mar 8, 2009

When scandal strikes a firm

Japanese culture and its scapegoat-seeking media often make bad times far worse for companies compromised by events. But for foreign firms less familiar with the country's societal norms, such problems can easily spiral completely out of control.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Mar 8, 2009

Looking forward to a 200-year-old human

If you believe everything you read about the health-giving properties of the traditional Japanese diet — and if you were to eat traditionally every day — you might expect to live to at least 150, in rude health.
LIFE
Mar 8, 2009

U.S. shows way to medical apologies

So you think apologizing is the norm in Japan? Well, think again — especially with regard to its venerable medical profession.

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