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COMMENTARY / World
Nov 23, 2007

It's Taiwan's referendum

For China, the launch of the Fukuda Cabinet in late September was good news, so it must expect many things from the new administration. What concerns me now in this respect is Taiwan's move to hold a national referendum on whether to seek U.N. membership in the name of "Taiwan."
BUSINESS
Nov 23, 2007

Top bullion retailer pitches interest yield on precious metals to investors

Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K., Japan's largest bullion retailer, will pay an annual interest rate of 0.55 percent to investors who buy platinum through a company plan next year as it secures increased access to metal supplies.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Nov 21, 2007

No market for malcontent Marbury

NEW YORK — It's pathetically entertaining to read speculation regarding which teams might take Stephon Marbury and what toxic waste may possibly be dumped in New York.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 21, 2007

Crime and punishment, refugee style

PRAGUE — The horrible murder of Giovanna Reggianni that took place near a Romanian refugee camp in the suburb of Tor di Quinto in Rome shocked both Italy and Romania. The case gained significance by adding fuel to the fiery public debates now under way not only in Italy but across Europe on the status...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 21, 2007

Myth of U.S.-EU economic decoupling

PALO ALTO, Calif. — The fact that America's economy is slowing is bad news for Europeans, regardless of claims that Europe's economy has successfully decoupled itself from the United States. Decoupling is an idea that is based on bad economics — and on some Europeans' reluctance to accept the fact...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Nov 20, 2007

A support service for sufferers

Phones ring off the hook in the office of VOL-NEXT, a Tokyo-based company that offers various goods and services for women battling breast cancer. Chiharu Soga, the demure 42-year-old who runs the three-year-old company, has just fielded a phone call made in desperation by the sister of a recently diagnosed...
BUSINESS
Nov 20, 2007

Finance panel urges more belt-tightening

An advisory panel to the finance minister urged the government Monday to stick to its belt-tightening policy to restore the government's debt-ridden finances as it compiles the budget for fiscal 2008.
EDITORIALS
Nov 18, 2007

New wine in old bottles

Seasons change in Japan in two ways, according to nature and according to marketing. This last week started the season for Beaujolais Nouveau, the freshly harvested wine that has become an annual worldwide phenomenon. Marketing and traditional values, the two major forces on Japanese consumer behavior,...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 18, 2007

Hot hibachi league seems likely to burn all winter long

About this time of year, someone usually asks me, "Are you going to keep writing the column through the winter?" or "What is there to write about during the offseason?"
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Nov 17, 2007

England needs help from Israel to keep Euro hopes alive

LONDON — In August, England head coach Steve McClaren said the media should "judge me on results," so if the results are not good enough the man in charge will have his wish and be judged. The verdict will be guilty and the sentence loss of job.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Nov 17, 2007

No holds barred in fight for dolphins

Within minutes of meeting Allison Lance, one might start to wonder if she was a dolphin in a past life. Her enthusiasm and passion in her drive to protect her animal friends is so strong that it touches just about every area of her life.
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2007

'Sesame Street' creator starts Web site

Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization that created the children's educational TV program "Sesame Street," has launched a Japanese version of its multilingual educational Web site for children around the world.
COMMENTARY
Nov 17, 2007

Is the democracy image losing its glow?

BALI, Indonesia — There's no guarantee that an intellectual counter-revolution will last any longer than a major monsoon. But there is in the works in this region growing disenchantment with the views of what one might call democracy fundamentalists. These are the people who insist that the democratic...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 17, 2007

Soft touch with Myanmar

It was far from a perfect crime and far from a perfect coverup: a shooting in broad daylight, hundreds of witnesses, scores of video cameras recording the crime from many angles, audio recordings of the shots fired, clear photos of a man brandishing a murder weapon, an insignia identifying the suspect's...
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Nov 16, 2007

Evessa, Apache to clash in battle of unbeatens

Chalk up an assist for the schedule makers. They've provided us with an early season treat this weekend: Osaka Evessa vs. Tokyo Apache, teams sitting atop their respective conferences in the bj-league.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 16, 2007

Let's talk about sax

After almost three decades in the music business, jazz saxophonist Kirk Whalum says his sound has remained the same.
COMMENTARY
Nov 16, 2007

Taiwanese scion strains to catch the sun

HONG KONG — Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian's greatest successes were scored in 2000 and again in 2004, when he won two presidential elections. His performance as president in the last seven years, however, has been mediocre.
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2007

Moriya implicates former defense chiefs

Former Vice Defense Minister Takemasa Moriya divulged Thursday that lawmakers Fumio Kyuma and Fukushiro Nukaga were among those wined and dined by a former executive of defense equipment trader Yamada Corp. now at the center of a widening corruption scandal.

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