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SOCCER
Apr 2, 2008

Bhutia refuses to carry torch

NEW DELHI (AP) Bhaichung Bhutia, India's soccer captain, has refused to carry the Beijing Olympics torch during its run through the Indian capital later this month in protest over China's crackdown on recent protests in Tibet, a sports official said Tuesday. The Indian Olympic Association, which is...
JAPAN
Apr 2, 2008

April 1 proves readers no fools

Barack Obama's half brother, Barracuda Obama, is doing well in Japan and wishes the Illinois senator luck in his quest for the U.S. presidency, the Tokyo Shimbun reported Tuesday.
SOCCER
Apr 2, 2008

Capello to face perjury probe

ROME (AP) Prosecutors intend to open proceedings against England manager Fabio Capello for perjury in a case stemming from the Italian match-fixing scandal, Italian news reports said Monday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Apr 1, 2008

BOJ finds itself in 'unpresidented' state

The divided Diet has left the Bank of Japan with a vacant seat at the top for the first time since the war. This came about after Toshihiko Fukui's five-year term ended in mid-March and the government's nominees to succeed him were vetoed.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Mar 31, 2008

Oxymoronic sustenance and sustainability

NEW YORK — Earlier this month there was held, in a midtown hotel, an International Conference on Climate Change. Yet another one? you might ask. But, no, this one was to make the case that Al Gore, with his argument in "An Inconvenient Truth" is a fraud, a swindler. One of the conferees' premises was...
SOCCER
Mar 31, 2008

Becks, Galaxy routed in season opener

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. (AP) Christian Gomez scored on a penalty kick and the Colorado Rapids beat David Beckham and the Los Angeles Galaxy 4-0 on Saturday night in the season opener for both teams.
BASKETBALL
Mar 30, 2008

Takamatsu moves into tie for first with Osaka

With five regular-season games remaining, the Takamatsu Five Arrows now occupy a share of first place in the bj-league's Western Conference.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 30, 2008

Last stand before Russia's next chance

WASHINGTON — On Wednesday through Friday, NATO will hold its biggest summit ever in Bucharest, the capital of its new member, Romania. Incredibly, NATO has invited its fiercest critic, Russian President Vladimir Putin, to attend. For the first time since 2002, he will. His presence is an embarrassment...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ROAD
Mar 30, 2008

General Motors banks on an Aussie invasion

If you were fortunate enough to score an invite to a Hollywood party these days, you'd be hard-pressed to avoid rubbing shoulders with an Australian actor. Tinseltown is awash with them. Academy Award winners Mel Gibson, Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush lead an ever-growing...
Reader Mail
Mar 30, 2008

Speaking of the Japanese people

Brad Glosserman's March 24 article, "Japan peers into the abyss," was interesting and well written, but the enjoyment I derived from reading it was significantly hampered by the repeated misuse of the word "Japanese."
Japan Times
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Mar 30, 2008

Mao a shining example of why sports still matter

Too often in life potential goes unfulfilled.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Mar 30, 2008

Browne lands deal with WJBL's Koalas

Ree Browne, a former California State University-Dominguez Hills center, has signed a contract to play for the Mitsubishi Koalas of the WJBL, The Japan Times has learned.
COMMENTARY
Mar 28, 2008

Bringing in China and India

The rise of China and India is a frequent topic of discussion in the international community. In pondering the global repercussions of this rise and how the world might cope with it, it is instructive to examine how the international community dealt with Japan, and how Japan adapted to the international...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 28, 2008

'Hitman'

Saying that you enjoy watching the film "Hitman" is like admitting to an affinity for consuming spicy chicken wings while chain smoking. Or dating acne-ridden criminals on parole. To say that "Hitman" is bad is way off the mark; it's worthier of adjectives like "god-awful" and "puke-provoking." The truth...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 27, 2008

Music's greatest theme park

In mid-March, as spring began uncoiling anew, the world's music industry once again turned its eyes to Austin, Texas, the self-styled "live-music capital of the world," for the annual South by Southwest industry conference and festival. Planes disgorged thousands of band members, record-label bigwigs,...
Reader Mail
Mar 27, 2008

Afghan children get by with less

In the March 20 Japan Times we learn that "Afghan kids get candles discarded by temples" (headline). How generous! What next, discarded day-old bread? Slightly used clothing? Recycled manga? No, not for reading, but for fuel on cold winter nights.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 27, 2008

Ketchup Mania: Austin's f**king crazy!

With their Green Day-esque stoopid-punk sensibility, Ketchup Mania might be the most American-sounding band on the Japan Nite bill at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, were it not for the clear streak of Judy & Mary- tinged pop that marks them out as Japanese. Ketchup Mania — Hiro (vocals), Dai (guitar),...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 27, 2008

Detroit 7: Playing at SXSW is killer!

Detroit 7 are one of Tokyo's most explosive bands, a tight trio blasting out raw, Iggy Pop-inspired garage punk and dripping with showmanship. At their performance at South by Southwest's Japan Nite on March 14, singer Tomomi Nabana drawled her lyrics in a deep husk, thrashing her left-handed guitar...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 27, 2008

Tokyo's tidal wave of art

L ike a tsunami moving through deep water, the boom in Japan's contemporary art world has been approaching, little detected, for several years. Now, as it readies to peak in a proliferation of events next week — many of them brand new — we can see for the first time just how big it was, and who was...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 26, 2008

Scary signs in BOJ debacle

HONG KONG — Even Google couldn't believe it. Asked to supply its best information about Koji Tanami, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's second "best available" candidate to be governor of the Bank of Japan (BOJ), the search engine instantly responded, "Do you mean Bank of Japan tsunami?"
JAPAN
Mar 26, 2008

Serial rapist Obara's appeal starts

Joji Obara's appeals trial started Tuesday before the Tokyo High Court with his defense team arguing that the life sentence he received for serial rape and for causing the death of one of his victims is too harsh.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 2008

Ministry to hold special courses for handling foreign press

The Foreign Ministry will start giving senior officials special training so they can better handle foreign journalists during interviews and news conferences, the ministry said Monday.
BUSINESS
Mar 25, 2008

Ishihara brainchild Shinginko said doomed from the get-go

When Rikkyo University professor Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi first heard about Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara's plan to set up a new bank in 2003, one thought immediately leaped to mind: This is doomed to fail.
COMMENTARY
Mar 24, 2008

Reliance on aerial bombings

A just-released film and a special program was televised this month on the occasion of the 63rd anniversary of the hellish bombing of Tokyo by the United States, which killed 100,000 residents.
COMMENTARY
Mar 24, 2008

Japan peers into the abyss

HONOLULU — It is an item of faith for many Japanese — and many Japan watchers — that their country will never build or acquire nuclear weapons. Japan's nonnuclear status, a product of both the searing experience of August 1945 and a calculation of the strategic value of nuclear weapons, has been...

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?