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Japan Times
JAPAN / ALSO OUT THERE
Feb 6, 2009

Getting a glimpse behind the mask

It happens in Japanese cities every winter and spring — the mask attack.
JAPAN
Feb 6, 2009

NPA probes 19 over slander on comedian's blog

In a rare Internet crackdown, police have turned over to prosecutors their case against a 29-year-old woman and plan to hand another 18 suspects over for abusive comments posted on the blog of a 37-year-old Japanese comedian, police sources said Thursday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 6, 2009

'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button'

Director David Fincher is probably best known for his films "Seven" and "Fight Club." His star in both was Brad Pitt, whose iconic turn as an anticonsumerism terrorist in "Fight Club" was so sensational that it inspired an entire generation of men to go out and by maroon faux-leather jackets.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 6, 2009

Cujorl: Artistic cooking in an American style

The Food File has a new favorite restaurant — with the emphasis firmly on "new." Cujorl has been open barely a month now, and already we've been back three times.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 5, 2009

Why can't Japanese kids get into Harvard?

Makoto Kobayashi, Toshihide Masakawa, Osamu Shimomura and Japan-born U.S. citizen Yoichiro Nambu won the 2008 Nobel Prize for their work in physics and chemistry. At first glance, Japan's place as a global knowledge center is secure, but these individuals are the exception, rather than the rule. Indeed,...
BUSINESS
Feb 5, 2009

Fujitsu allows workers to moonlight to make ends meet

In a sign of the times, major electronics firm Fujitsu Ltd. is allowing some of its factory workers to hold second jobs to compensate for shorter working hours and lower wages amid the deepening recession, the company said Wednesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 5, 2009

International Red Cross returns to Japan

It all began with one man's eyewitness account of the atrocities committed in the aftermath of the Battle of Solferino in present-day Italy in 1859. What Swiss businessman Henry Dunant saw was the horror of war — thousands of dead and severely wounded soldiers lying on the battlefield without proper...
BUSINESS / Q&A
Feb 4, 2009

Postal hotel 'fire sale' draws flak

Orix Corp.'s purchase of 70 Kampo no Yado hotels from Japan Post Holdings Co. for the fire sale price of ¥10.9 billion has been making headlines for the past month and drawing the scorn of internal affairs minister Kunio Hatoyama.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2009

Moving Tsukiji to new site raises fears of toxic seafood

Tokyo's Tsukiji, dubbed "the fish market at the center of the world" for its influence on the global seafood trade, is being forced to move to a site laced with benzene and cancer-causing chemicals.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / TAKING A CHANCE
Feb 3, 2009

Globe maker president on top of the world

Terrestrial globes of various sizes fill the third floor of Watanabe Kyogu Co., manufacturer of globes and astronomy education materials in Soka, Saitama Prefecture.
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Feb 3, 2009

2channel: the bullies' forum

Bullying in Japan is a big problem. The victims have limited recourse. Too often they are told to suck it up and self-reflect. Or if they fight back, they get criticized for lashing out. It's a destructive dynamic, causing much misery and many a suicide.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Feb 3, 2009

Finding the silver lining

The difficulties encountered as a foreigner can be sources of ideas for business opportunities. This belief is demonstrated by Park Tae Moon's 18 years in Japan — and his successful transition from a newspaper delivery worker to the owner of a 20-staff magazine publishing/consulting business.
BASKETBALL
Feb 2, 2009

Apache frustrated by bogey team Phoenix

Psychologically and mathematically, the Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix have the Tokyo Apache's number.
MORE SPORTS
Feb 1, 2009

JT's Ikezawa to call Super Bowl

Veteran Japan Times sports writer Hiroshi Ikezawa has been tapped to provide color analysis on NHK television's satellite channel for Sunday's Super Bowl XLIII between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals.
Reader Mail
Feb 1, 2009

Japanese skill underestimated

I tried finding language exchange partners through another publication, but quickly ended the online ad because I kept getting Japanese people who expected me to travel over an hour to get to them, even when they had to travel only five minutes.
EDITORIALS
Feb 1, 2009

The Macintosh at 25

Twenty-five years ago, Apple unveiled the Macintosh computer, a machine that would change the world. The Macintosh transformed the encounter between the computer and its user, making it easier for the ordinary person to understand and control the computing process.
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Feb 1, 2009

Mucking about with horses

In Britain when I was a lad in the 1940s and '50s, horses were still a common sight in the streets. Although horse-drawn carriages had pretty well vanished except for those used for ceremonial purposes, delivery wagons ladened with milk, coal and beer were commonly pulled by horses.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Feb 1, 2009

Chizu Saeki: Beauty's more than skin deep

Skincare guru Chizu Saeki's expertise is such that her abilities have been compared to those of a fortuneteller. She can, for example, determine people's physical and mental health condition, the key experiences that have influenced them, and even their outlook on life, merely by running her fingers...
JAPAN
Jan 31, 2009

Beijing not coveting Japan's role as top U.S. ally: China expert

China has no intention of replacing Japan as Washington's principal Asian ally, a Chinese expert on foreign policy said Friday in Tokyo.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 30, 2009

Who says an art work must exist?

Like precious gems, Aiko Miyanaga's crystalline sculptures reflect light and shine with a brilliance that beguiles the viewer. But while diamonds are forever, Miyanaga's carefully crafted forms are not long for this world. In fact, some of her pieces are gone before her exhibitions even come to a close....
Reader Mail
Jan 29, 2009

Israel showed forbearance

The Jan. 22 front-page photo caption of the Hamas militant (titled "Youth Movement") — about U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon's visit and the sympathy toward fallen Palestinians — has broken new moral ground in the show of unbalanced reporting regarding the situation between Israel and Gaza.
Reader Mail
Jan 29, 2009

A shocking lack of sleep

Regarding the Jan. 22 article "Train driver who overslept prompts cancellation of early-morning runs": I began to read this article with empathetic amusement, but my smile disappeared when my jaw dropped in disbelief. According to the article, the motorman decided to sleep at the Kintetsu Ikoma Station,...
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS / ICE TIME
Jan 28, 2009

Tokyo confirmed as host of 2009 Grand Prix Final

World champion Mao Asada's last international competition before heading to Vancouver for the 2010 Olympic Games should be in Tokyo at the Grand Prix Final next December, according to the schedule recently released by the International Skating Union for next season.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 28, 2009

Fight prostitution by punishing the solicitors

AMSTERDAM — Prostitution is virtually the only part of the personal services industry in the Netherlands that works. One can't get a manicure in Amsterdam without booking an appointment two weeks in advance, but men can buy sex anytime — and at an attractive price. The legalization of prostitution...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 28, 2009

Tamogami out of ASDF, not out of range

Based on his controversial essay that blamed Franklin D. Roosevelt for Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, one would expect retired Gen. Toshio Tamogami to be a hardcore rightist unwilling to allow a counterargument in edgewise.
EDITORIALS
Jan 28, 2009

China's ambitious defense plan

China has made public a white paper titled "China's National Defense in 2008." For the first time, China has acknowledged its policy of improving the operational capabilities of its navy on the open seas, although its move in this direction has been obvious in recent years. Recent examples of this move...

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