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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 12, 2006

Bon -- the spirit of ancestor worship

The Bon holiday is here, when everyone returns to their hometown to visit family and pay homage to their ancestors. It's a built-in way of forcing your grown children to come back to visit you, even if you're dead.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 3, 2006

Transience in art and life

One reason the Sistine Chapel in Rome is so venerated is that it represents one of the occasions when art did not lose out to religion when the two came together. Though religious constraints sometimes force artists to rise to the occasion -- as with Islamic art in which rich Arabesque patterns replace...
JAPAN
Aug 2, 2006

Paper hits North's missiles, China buildup

nuclear (arms) issue, are a destabilizing factor for the entire international community," the report reads. "The range of North Korean missiles is expected to be extended (farther), including possible derivatives of Taepodong-2 missiles," the paper, released Tuesday, says in reference to Pyongyang's...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jul 29, 2006

When Crete meets NEET

An unholy union with an unholy result -- a monster!
JAPAN
Jul 26, 2006

Abe defends Japan's denial of entry to North Korean group

Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe on Tuesday defended Japan's rejection of requests by five North Koreans to enter the country, saying the action was appropriate in view of stricter regulations imposed following Pyongyang's July 5 missile launches.
EDITORIALS
Jul 26, 2006

Words carrying weight

Last week's discovery of a memorandum recording the words of the Emperor Showa explaining why he stopped visiting Yasukuni Shrine will exert considerable influence on the debate over Japanese publicly remembering Japan's war dead, while praying for peace, in a manner acceptable both to Japanese and to...
BUSINESS
Jul 22, 2006

47 trillion yen core '07 budget cap OK'd

The Cabinet on Friday approved a 46.8 trillion yen cap on core policy-related outlays in the fiscal 2007 budget, down from 47.5 trillion yen in the fiscal 2006 budget request guidelines and the lowest level in nine years.
JAPAN
Jul 21, 2006

Hirohito visits to Yasukuni stopped over war criminals

Emperor Hirohito expressed strong displeasure in 1988 over Yasukuni Shrine's decision in the late 1970s to include Class-A war criminals on the list of people honored there, sources said Thursday, citing a memorandum by a former Imperial Household Agency official.
EDITORIALS
Jul 20, 2006

Warning North Korea

The United Nations Security Council resolution condemning North Korea's July 5 multiple missile test-firings may lack strong teeth, but it serves as a stern warning from the international community to the reclusive country. While the contents of the resolution fell short of what Japan originally wanted...
BASKETBALL
Jul 15, 2006

Japan to face Iran at Kirin Cup

announced Thursday that the Japan national team's opponent has fallen changed from Lebanon to Iran in the Kirin Cup Basketball 2006 from July 19-22. Lebanon pulled out of the tournament because its team activities have been behind. Beirut, Lebanon's capital city, has been under attack by Israeli forces...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Jul 13, 2006

Soaking up the 'male gaze'

What to make of photographs of blue tarpaulins, mobiles of cigarette butts and bathroom sponges folded to suggest a woman's derriere?
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2006

Porn 'anime' boasts big U.S. beachhead

recognizable among anime fans worldwide. Hentai is now used overseas to describe anime with strong sexual content. While Mandarake capitalizes on the kinky boom, other retailers are reluctant to export such products.
JAPAN
Jul 7, 2006

Heart attack? Defibrillator may be nearby

Defibrillators increasingly are being found outside hospitals, used to resuscitate people who have heart attacks in public places.
LIFE
Jul 2, 2006

Showdown at Budokan

The rightwing reactionaries were arriving in their menacing black-and-white trucks, blasting military music. The politicians were shaking their fists and telling people to go to a garbage dump. The police had locked down all entrances to the Imperial Palace grounds. Riot police lined the road leading...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 29, 2006

Posies blossom as fans continue to pop up

Shonen Knife didn't make much of an impression overseas until the release of a 1989 tribute album that included versions of their songs by the likes of Sonic Youth and Red Kross. Coincidentally, the whole Seattle rock scene went global shortly thereafter, pulling into the spotlight bands that happened...
BUSINESS
Jun 20, 2006

Trust banks should handle assets, new BOJ member says

Newly appointed Bank of Japan Policy Board member Tadao Noda said Monday that entrusting stockholdings with trust banks is one way to boost the transparency of senior BOJ officials' financial assets.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Jun 18, 2006

Retro's where the future's at

Japan's talking heads of a liberal persuasion are clearly troubled by a rising nationalistic sentiment they detect throughout the land. But while speculation on the geopolitical consequences of any such shift may be an absorbing topic, trends in the world of culture -- and the changing tastes of consumers...
BUSINESS
Jun 15, 2006

LDP finance chief tells BOJ to think twice about hiking rates in summer

The chairman of a Liberal Democratic Party panel on monetary policy said Wednesday the economy was not ready for higher interest rates and called on the Bank of Japan to delay any move to push them higher.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 11, 2006

Explore the beauty of stoneware

JAPANESE WOOD-FIRED CERAMICS by Masakazu Kusakabe & Marc Lancet. Iola, Wisconsin: Krause publications, 2005, 320 pp., $44.99 (paper) The art of making ceramics originated in Japan during prehistoric times, and over recent centuries has evolved to rank higher even than painting in the eyes of this country's...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 5, 2006

Dousing flames in East Timor

SYDNEY -- The need for closer links between Tokyo and Canberra has never been clearer than in recent days: Bloody fighting in East Timor, humanitarian rescue near the Java volcano site, economic basket cases in the South Pacific . . . The case for regional cooperation grows more urgent daily.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 1, 2006

"Vu Dan Tan -- Tanorigami: Suitcases of a Pilgrim"

Art-U Room Closes in 11 days
JAPAN
May 28, 2006

Plan on Futenma base move remains vague

The government will draw up a concrete plan on relocating the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station within Okinawa Prefecture "in a prompt manner," according to the final draft of an upcoming Cabinet decision.
Japan Times
LIFE
May 28, 2006

Manga by any other name is . . .

With the video-game business now outgrossing Hollywood's box office, and anime being distributed to destinations as diverse as Patagonia and Phuket, the influence of Japan's entertainment industry on young people worldwide has never been as powerful.
BUSINESS
May 23, 2006

Government, ruling parties talk tax reform

The government and the ruling bloc held their first meeting Monday aiming to overhaul the tax system and government spending in an effort to shore up public finances.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
May 14, 2006

Letting history speak for itself

TRADITIONAL JAPANESE ARTS AND CULTURE: An Illustrated Sourcebook, edited by Stephen Addiss, Gerald Groemer and J. Thomas Rimer. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2006, 254 pp., 64 color plates, $29 (paper). For nearly half a century, an important text for learning about Japanese culture in general...
BUSINESS
May 10, 2006

Tanigaki displeased with yen's rise

Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki said Tuesday "excessive volatility and disorderly movements" in exchange rates are undesirable for economic growth, in reference to the dollar's sharp fall against the yen.
BUSINESS
May 9, 2006

Hanshin board fight seen heating up

The tug of war between Hanshin Electric Railway Co. and its largest shareholder, the Murakami fund, is expected to heat up this week over the selection of Hanshin board members, with a Murakami candidate for the board demanding an explanation from Hanshin for its objection to his candidacy.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji