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EDITORIALS
Sep 9, 2007

Surviving in Net cafes

Over 5,000 people in Japan spend their nights at 24-hour Internet cafes every night, according to the first, but certainly not the last, survey on so-called Net cafe refugees by the labor and welfare ministry. On one hand, it seems that school refusers were first, then job refusers, now "home refusers,"...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Sep 9, 2007

Americans share blame for Bush's 9/11 'devil'

There is no worse tragedy than one transformed into profanity. The profanity is compounded when it is not recognized as such by the mass of people.
Japan Times
LIFE
Sep 9, 2007

Extragalactic androgyny cuts a dash in roster of chic, high-energy shows

While trivial matters such as global warming get blamed for weather going awry, Japan Fashion Week being moved forward this season by more than a month has caused more angst than a whole panorama of melting ice caps.
COMMENTARY
Sep 9, 2007

Extreme events fire up the Greek fringe

LONDON — "How are our children going to survive in a land that is dead?" asked a survivor of the wildfires that seared much of southern Greece during the last week of August.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 9, 2007

From the Beatles concert to royal tattoos in Japan

Britain & Japan: Biographical Portraits, Volume VI, compiled and edited by Hugh Cortazzi, Global Oriental, Kent, 2007, 368 pp., £60 (cloth) This book is the latest (and, sadly, probably the last) of the volumes about Anglo-Japanese relations that have been sponsored by the Japan Society of London since...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Sep 9, 2007

Yamamoto protege debuts stoic new line

While his daughter Limi prepares to present her Limi Feu line at the Paris collections for the first time in October, Yohji Yamamoto has selected another protege to take her place on the Tokyo runways.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Sep 9, 2007

Taking a good look at Tokyo's eclectic fashion

The Tokyo Look Book: Stylish To Spectacular, Goth To Gyaru, Sidewalk To Catwalk by Philomena Keet, photographs by Yuri Manabe. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 2007, 224 pp., profusely illustrated, ¥3,000 (paper). It was the philosopher George Santayana who penned these wise words: "Fashion is something...
Japan Times
LIFE
Sep 9, 2007

Tokyo revival

Taking on the task of reinvigorating Tokyo's beleaguered attempt at producing a world-class fashion week requires a good deal of gumption. In this regard, Nobuyuki Ota, CEO of leading fashion house Issey Miyake, is relishing the task and achieving a measure of success.
Reader Mail
Sep 9, 2007

Image of wasteful planning

The front page of The Japan Times on Sept. 1 shows a picture of a Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missile battery at the Air Self-Defense Force base in Iruma, Saitama Prefecture. The accompanying article says Harumi Pier Park is a prime candidate site for deployment of the missile system in the defense...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Sep 8, 2007

England needs big lift from Heskey against Israel

LONDON — Any suggestion at the end of last season that Emile Heskey should be recalled to the England team would have been met with ridicule. Wigan Athletic was the only club in 2006-07 not to supply a player to the England squad, but now its center forward has gone from international underachiever...
BUSINESS
Sep 8, 2007

GE delays auction of lender Lake

General Electric Co., the world's second-largest company by market value, has delayed an auction of its Japanese consumer lending unit Lake, it was learned Friday.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Sep 7, 2007

Goerne but not forgotten

Matthias Goerne, the world- renowned German baritone, attempts the formidable challenge of singing Schubert's three major song cycles over three days in Tokyo this month. This will be his third appearance at the Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall, following rapturous praise for his performances in 2003 and...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 7, 2007

The king of Kita Kyushu

Shinji Aoyama was in an up mood when The Japan Times met him at the office of his distributor, Style Jam. His new film, "Sad Vacation," opened the Horizons section at the Venice Film Festival last week, and though, when we met, he confessed himself nervous at the prospect of facing a foreign audience,...
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 6, 2007

The magic of noh by firelight

At this time of year — and also in April and May, when it is neither too hot nor too cold for performers or audiences — takigi (firelight) noh is performed throughout Japan. Preferred venues are outdoor noh stages in the precincts of shrines, but as these are rare, special ones are often built in...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 5, 2007

Clock ticking as Councilor Kawada goes after what has long ailed Japan

Newly elected Upper House lawmaker Ryuhei Kawada was diagnosed with hemophilia soon after he was born.
BUSINESS
Sep 4, 2007

Capital spending drops on pullback by services firms

Corporate investment unexpectedly declined in the second quarter after services providers pared back spending, the Finance Ministry said Monday.
SPORTS / ODDS AND EVENS
Sep 2, 2007

A to Z at the world c'ships

OSAKA — I have a good friend named Les Witt.
MORE SPORTS
Sep 2, 2007

Defar races to 5,000m victory

OSAKA — It's better to have a strong finish than a strong start, a wise man once said. This was true Saturday night in the final of the women's 5,000-meter race at the 2007 IAAF World Athletics Championships.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Sep 2, 2007

Danjuro Ichikawa: Destined to act wild

When Danjuro Ichikawa stomps around the stage in flamboyant costumes, his face painted in red-and-white makeup and his voice virtually bellowing, it is kabuki in its rawest, most dramatic form. This actor and his ancestors through 11 previous generations have been wreaking havoc in the elegant world...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Sep 1, 2007

The honorable language

Whenever the work and weariness of life fills my house with gloom, the one sure way to drive away the clouds and ring in the laughter is this:
JAPAN / ATOMIC POWER AT ANY COST
Sep 1, 2007

Nuclear doubts spread in wake of Niigata

Global competition for energy resources and tougher controls on greenhouse gas emissions have made Japan reliant on nuclear power. While the government and regional power utilities are quick to associate the word "safety" with atomic energy, several fatalities, accidents, coverups and earthquake threats...
JAPAN
Sep 1, 2007

Lower House might be dissolved if MSDF duty isn't extended: Ishihara

bin Laden and al-Qaida (are located), and the antiterrorism law is enabling activities to prevent narcotics from Afghanistan to be sold around the world and the money used for international terrorism," Ishihara told reporters in a group interview. "I think that the decision by the Diet (whether to extend...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Aug 31, 2007

Plucking the final string

The Vermeer Quartet, the internationally renowned string ensemble formed in Marlboro, Vermont, will play their final tour of Japan Sept. 24 to Oct. 7, before retirement at the end of the year. They have played in Japan four times since 1996, and this time they will teach talented young students in masterclasses...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 31, 2007

Transformation of Turkey

ISTANBUL — Abdullah Gul's election as Turkey's 11th president marks a watershed in the country's history.

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