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BUSINESS / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
Aug 11, 2008

Beijing squeezed by Olympic ideals, populist distortions

When the Olympic games were awarded to Beijing in 2001, more than a few questions were raised about the host country. It was clear from the start that China was not just making a bid to host a sporting event — it was claiming a place in the developed world.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 3, 2008

The commodification of bodies of both sexes

LONDON — In the 1960s, feminists coined the slogan, "Our bodies, our selves." But that liberating sentiment has recently undergone an ironic twist. As an anonymous American woman, justifying her decision to undergo cosmetic surgery, put it, "All we have in life is ourselves, and what we can put out...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jul 19, 2008

A well-armed goddess

On July 2, at the lowest tide of the year, my neighbors and I prayed to the goddess of the sea. The islanders call her Benten (also known as Benzaiten), and she lives on her own special island, just off the coast of Shiraishi Island. Here she convenes with the sea and brings us luck, prosperity (well,...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 19, 2008

The rising middle classes want their wheels

BEIJING — W hat becomes immediately apparent on entering the 10th annual Beijing car show is the emotional intensity with which China has thrown itself into its greatest consumerist passion to date: the first throes of an affair with the car. The entire nation, it turns out, is in love with them, is...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Jul 16, 2008

Lives and a death

CHUKOTKA, Russia — This month, instead of writing this column as usual at my desk in Hokkaido, I am writing from a desk on board the Clipper Odyssey as we cross the Gulf of Anadyr in Russia's far northeastern Chukotka region. Our voyage began at Otaru, Hokkaido, and we have taken in southern Sakhalin,...
Japan Times
SOCCER
Jul 16, 2008

Uncertain future awaits as Ronaldo mulls options

LONDON (AP) While resting his injured ankle, Cristiano Ronaldo has had plenty of time to think about his future.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 12, 2008

Paparazzi invasion of Malibu leads to brutal beach battles

MALIBU, Calif. — The beaches of Malibu are famed for their beauty and their surfers. So when Diana Lundin needed some nature shots recently for a photography evening course, a trip to Malibu seemed like a good choice. But when Lundin arrived at sunset with camera gear, she was surrounded by angry young...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jul 12, 2008

Climbing Mount Misen

I recently took a group of tourists on a sail through the Seto Inland Sea for three days. Our destination was Miyajima, home of the Great Torii Gate and Itsukushima Shrine (built in A.D. 593), a World Heritage site since 1996.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 10, 2008

Confucianism makes a comeback in China

BEIJING (Daniel A. Bell is professor of political theory at Tsinghua University (Beijing). His latest book is "China's New Confucianism: Politics and Everyday Life in a Changing Society."
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jul 9, 2008

Ice goby

Japanese name: Shiro-uo
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 8, 2008

Mugabe averts collapse with Chinese help

WATERLOO, Canada — Disillusioned Zimbabweans are facing a new wave of price increases that will put the most basic of food essentials even further out of their reach.
BUSINESS / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
Jul 7, 2008

As Europe's barriers rise, Japan's decline

The eyes of the world will be focused on Japan this week as the Group of Eight Summit finally kicks off at Toyako, Hokkaido. The agenda is long and topped by how to deal with climate change. But there is one item that will not be highlighted, although it is of crucial importance to every G8 member —...
JAPAN / G8 SUMMIT 2008
Jul 7, 2008

NGOs call on G8 to take action on tough issues

SAPPORO — After years of broken promises and ignoring problems until they turn into crises, it is time for the Group of Eight leaders to stop talking the talk and start walking the walk when it comes to climate change, poverty and human rights issues.
JAPAN
Jul 6, 2008

Creation of low-carbon societies demands wholesale changes on national, global level

"In pursuit of Japan as a low-carbon society" was the theme of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's speech at the Japan Press Club on June 9. The following is an abridged excerpt from a translation of his remarks.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 3, 2008

Soccer nationalism mirrors European society

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, New York — The late Arthur Koestler, born in Budapest, resident of many countries, and writer in several languages, once said there is nationalism, and there is soccer nationalism. The feelings inspired by the latter are by far the stronger. Koestler himself, a proud and loyal...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Jul 1, 2008

"The Roar," "Waves"

"The Roar," Emma Clayton, Chickenhouse; 2008; 473 pp. 'The sun was setting over the Atlantic and as it ran like molten gold into the waves, a girl in a Pod Fighter ripped through the scene, like graffiti sprayed across a landscape painting, and for a few startled moments, the sun and the sea trembled."...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 27, 2008

'Aruitemo Aruitemo'

Family drama is the default setting of serious Japanese cinema. No matter what genre first brings Japanese directors fame or fortune, be it Sci Fi/fantasy, yakuza epics or horror, they often end up making a family drama, especially if they want to establish their auteurist credentials. The Western used...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 20, 2008

Robot startups join forces against South Korea competition

Four of Japan's leading robot startups have joined forces, brought together by a common concern that neighboring South Korea could pull ahead in the race to transform robots from science fiction fantasy to commercial success.
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Jun 18, 2008

A kiss closer to obsolescence

Kiss me: Canon Inc. sparked a revolution in digital photography five years ago when it created the EOS Kiss Digital, justly acclaimed as the first digital SLR camera priced for the average consumer.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 4, 2008

Japan's media plays nursemaid to nation's immature democracy

A major Japanese newspaper publishes an article denouncing the prime minister. Reporters hold a rally to criticize his Cabinet. The government responds by banning sales of the edition of the newspaper that carried the article, indicting its author for violation of the Newspaper Law. Rightwing agitators...
Japan Times
LIFE
Apr 27, 2008

Deadly weapons forged as art

The slow, rhythmic thrust of a piston covered in tanuki (raccoon dog) skin blasted air from box bellows onto the searing-hot charcoal. A casual glance at his forge was, however, all that Yoshindo Yoshihara needed to know the fire's exact temperature.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 25, 2008

It's hands-on in Kyoto

The standard visit to Kyoto is a test of endurance: you stay until you are sick of temples. This comes as a shock to first-time visitors, for while the city is rich in beautiful tourist spots, a true understanding of the nation's cultural heartland remains as elusive as a maiko (apprentice geisha) scurrying...
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Apr 22, 2008

Yellow dust storms getting worse

Each year, most of Japan's prefectures are affected by what is known as yellow dust, which appears as a yellow fog in the atmosphere for a few days, often in late winter and early spring. A mixture of des ert sand, arid topsoil and man-made pollutants from Central Asia, China and Mongolia, the annual...
JAPAN
Apr 12, 2008

Hospital doctors feeling the strain

Whenever Naoshi Tamura is on a night shift at Ota Hospital in Tokyo, the surgeon works 36 consecutive hours with little sleep, seeing patients during the daytime and treating those transported to the emergency room at night.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 10, 2008

Is Tibetan culture slated for extinction?

NEW YORK — Are the Tibetans doomed to go the way of the American Indians? Will they be reduced to nothing more than a tourist attraction, peddling cheap mementos of what was a once-great culture? That sad fate is looking more and more likely, and the Olympic year already has been soured by the Chinese...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Apr 9, 2008

Pike gudgeon

Japanese name: Kamatsuka
COMMENTARY
Apr 6, 2008

Voice of Taiwanese heard around Asia

HO CHI MINH CITY — Sure, the election of the next president of the United States will be the most closely watched election in Asia or anywhere else this year. America, for all its stumbles, is still the No. 1 superpower: So whomever the American voter picks, the world is stuck with.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ROAD
Apr 6, 2008

Japan's most jam-packed year at the track

Atitan in the field of car manufacturing, Japan has also long been a magnet for international-level motor racing.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Apr 2, 2008

Revisit the pleasure of penmanship

The writing is on the electron: Writing by hand is a human endeavor that technology has not yet spelled the end of, but it is working at it. Ever since the humble typewriter changed the office, the art of penmanship has been in retreat. In recent times, a slew of gadgets have tried to turn the rivals...

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami