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EDITORIALS
Jul 20, 2008

Science fact or fiction?

Later this year, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is scheduled to go into operation outside Geneva, Switzerland. Scientists hope the LHC will enable them to better understand what happened when the universe was born. Some critics fear that the machine could trigger a catastrophe that ends life on Earth...
Reader Mail
Jul 20, 2008

Crime statistics seem skewed

USFJ Commander Lt. Gen. Edward Rice states in the July 16 article that the rate of off-base crimes committed by members of the U.S. military in Japan is much lower than that for Japanese in general: "We are able to keep the off-base serious crime rate for the U.S. service members to approximately half...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jul 20, 2008

Lemon-picking prof prompts reflection on strange twists of fate

Lately I have been thinking about some wonderful teachers I was blessed with at university. Three, in particular, shaped my life. Had I not encountered them, I doubt that I myself would have become an author of fiction, a translator and a teacher.
EDITORIALS
Jul 19, 2008

Niigata earthquake anniversary

The first anniversary of the earthquake off Niigata Prefecture came Wednesday, reviving sad memories for residents in Kashiawazaki, Niigata Prefecture, and other places. The quake resulted in the deaths of 15 people, and more than 2,300 were injured. Some 40,000 homes sustained damage, including 1,330...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jul 19, 2008

Stubborn Lions fend off Marines' late broadside

CHIBA — The Seibu Lions weren't exactly roaring on Friday night but they did enough to get the job done.
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
LIFE / Digital / JAPAN TIMES BLOGROLL
Jul 19, 2008

My Life as a Gaijin, Kimono Reincarnate

My Life as a Gaijin and Kimono Reincarnate are two different blogs written by Melanie Gray Augustin. The former centers around the experiences of an Australian native living and teaching English in a foreign land, while the latter offers a taste of her artistic interests and entrepreneurial efforts...
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Jul 18, 2008

Tomita revels in veteran status ahead of second Olympics

Editor's note: As the countdown to the Summer Olympics draws closer, The Japan Times will provide more coverage of Japan's top medal hopefuls, as well as expanded coverage of international Olympians in the print and online editions.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 18, 2008

'Starship Troopers 3: Marauder'

The "Starship Troopers" franchise keeps scrabbling on, less due to public acclaim than the immutable logic that any science-fiction movie worth doing once is worth doing three times. There's something about trilogies — from Asimov or Tolkien perhaps — that just makes nerds feel complete. Fortunately...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jul 18, 2008

Suntory Hall hosts concert for children

Tokyo Symphony Orchestra will perform a concert for children on July 26 at Suntory Hall in Minato Ward, Tokyo, that focuses on contemporary Japanese composers.
COMMENTARY
Jul 17, 2008

Let's hope it's over soon

The world is now in the grip of a first-class financial crisis. Some will be hit harder than others, but no one is going to escape. Final confirmation of this has arrived with the news that the two giant mortgage companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, pillars of American life that underwrite, or insure,...
EDITORIALS
Jul 17, 2008

Fishermen fed up

The one-day stoppage of fishing operations on Tuesday proves that current high oil prices are acutely affecting economic activities. Most of Japan's 200,000 fishing boats took part in the fishermen's strike throughout the country, the first and largest of its kind.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 16, 2008

Al Gore and the green inquisition

COPENHAGEN — When it comes to global warming, extreme scare stories abound. Al Gore, for example, famously claimed that a whopping 6 meters of sea-level rise would flood major cities around the world.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 16, 2008

Are young people ready, willing to be adults at 18?

Kids just don't wanna grow up.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 16, 2008

High crime rate a 'misperception': U.S. commander

The rate of off-base crimes committed by members of the United States military in Japan is much lower than the rate for Japanese in general, but a "misperception" that the opposite is true still persists, the commander of U.S. Forces Japan said Tuesday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Jul 16, 2008

Glasses make movies a personal experience

Eyes front: Video may have killed the radio star, as the song says, but television has only bruised the movie screen, despite 70 years of trying to offer an experience to rival the cinema experience. Now cell phones and other mobile devices are competing with television.
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Jul 15, 2008

Tanuki genitals

Dear Alice,
COMMENTARY
Jul 13, 2008

Cigarettes, lies and impressionable film fans

MADRAS, India — Humphrey Bogart used to seduce women through his smoke rings. In a movie like "Casablanca," much of this Hollywood star's playboy persona came from the cigarette he held between his fingers. That the tobacco stick finally finished him is something that all his fans, especially female,...
Reader Mail
Jul 13, 2008

Treated better than the natives

I don't get it. Do I live in a different part of the galaxy from professional victims like Debito Arudou and others who whine about alleged discrimination in Japan? Certainly, Japanese suffer from narrow perspectives, stereotypes and ethnocentrism -- like people the world over, but no worse.
Japan Times
Features
Jul 13, 2008

Japan's culture policy lingers in limbo

It's a fact that has long puzzled devotees and plain old tourists alike. Japan's manga and anime arts have been wowing the world for more than a decade, and yet the national government still hasn't got around to setting up a proper museum for their enjoyment, preservation and study.
JAPAN
Jul 13, 2008

Colombia minister urges FTA with Japan

Colombian Foreign Minister Fernando Araujo Perdomo on Saturday said the South American country was interested in forming an economic partnership agreement with Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jul 12, 2008

Leaving the Beijing bird's nest behind

BEIJING — Ai Weiwei, China's most famous living artist, lives and works in Caochangdi, which used to be a village to the east of Beijing but is now, thanks to the city's endless creep — locals call it Beijing Tan Da Bing, or spreading pancake — just another crowded suburb. It takes a long time...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 12, 2008

Relationship coaching over the phone

It is easy to spot Jack Ito and his wife Toshie. They're walking hand in hand around the lobby of the Prince Hotel in Shinagawa, looking as much culture-shocked as in love.

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