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COMMENTARY / World
Mar 28, 2007

From out of the shadows steps France's 'third man'

WARSAW -- The French presidential election is a great "show" with all the ingredients of a Hollywood blockbuster, including a surprising plot twist: the emergence of a "third man," Francois Bayrou.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Mar 28, 2007

Hail to the '3-alarm' Chief

It must be tough being Al Gore.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Mar 28, 2007

Good vibrations: Turning your skull into a speaker and manga electric guitars

VIBRATING BONES: Call me old-fashioned, but I feel attached to speakers. Innate pieces of metal and plastic vibrate in harmony to produce sound waves to caress the ear. The idea of substituting my body parts to carry out the vibrating bit of the business just doesn't hit the right note for me. But hey,...
SUMO
Mar 27, 2007

The good, the bad and the sometimes ugly

Had he been alive today, Japan's legendary kabuki and bunraku playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1724) could not have written a better script for the recently completed Haru Basho in Osaka.
BASKETBALL
Mar 26, 2007

Five Arrows wrap up excellent weekend with win

The Takamatsu Five Arrows gave an impressive two-day primer on hoops over the weekend at Ariake Colosseum.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Mar 26, 2007

Jury system doesn't guarantee justice

NEW YORK -- My U.S.-Japanese business consultant friend John Gillespie dropped by and, upon hearing that my wife Nancy had been summoned to jury duty, said Japan should introduce a similar system.
Reader Mail
Mar 25, 2007

Hey, gaijin, give it a break!

I partially agree with Hidesato Sakakibara's Feb. 28 letter, "Term 'gaijin' has run its course," and Donald Seekins' March 7 letter, "Use 'expatriates,' not 'foreigner' " -- both of which decry use of the word "gaijin." As a Westerner, I have never had much desire to be addressed with this word by ethnic...
Japan Times
LIFE
Mar 25, 2007

JFW: An outsider looks in

With 39 shows, the fourth Japan Fashion Week, from March 12 to 16, was the biggest to date. And, with several top brands announcing their imminent emigration to the runways of Paris,the cosmopolitan cachet was further enhanced by the presence of foreign journalists invited as official guests -- among...
MORE SPORTS
Mar 25, 2007

Kitajima poised to regain glory

Can Kosuke Kitajima return to the top?
BASKETBALL / ONE-ON-ONE WITH ...
Mar 24, 2007

Baker has learned nuances of game from 'Jellybean'

The Japan Times will be featuring periodic interviews with players in the bj-league -- Japan's first professional basketball circuit -- which is in its second season. Dameion Baker of the Tokyo Apache is the subject of this week's profile.
JAPAN
Mar 24, 2007

Nakasone claims his 'ian-jo' was for R&R

Former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone on Friday denied he set up a military brothel during World War II when he was a naval officer, claiming the facility he built was only for "rest and recreation" for the engineering corps he led.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 24, 2007

Metal, sweat and fire come together in elegant art

In a cavernous brick warehouse on a quiet block in Brooklyn, N.Y., a woman kneels near a row of furnaces that heave with glowing orange flames.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Mar 24, 2007

Chandru G. Advani

This is the India Year in Japan 2007 and the Japan Year in India 2007. It is a significant time for every enterprise interested in the flow of information, goods and people between the two countries.
COMMENTARY
Mar 24, 2007

Baseless threats of cold war

HONOLULU -- U.S. plans to deploy an antiballistic missile defense system in Europe have raised fears of a new Cold War. Russian responses to the proposal have been fierce: Moscow has warned countries that hosting interceptors would make them targets in the event of conflict. In fact, the planned deployments...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 23, 2007

Two-edged sword of values

WASHINGTON -- Japan's recent decision to develop a foreign policy based on support for universal values is a step forward in the development of a more coherent, strategic vision to pursue its national interests. The new policy is likely to make coordination with the United States easier and allow Tokyo...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 23, 2007

B-girl boppers

'Maybe they can smell something on us!" says Halca, 18, one half of hip-hop- meets-J-pop duo HalCali.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 23, 2007

'Step Up'

If nothing else, "Step Up" is a great inducement to hit the gym. Or the barre. And the yoga mat. Anything in fact, to tighten those upper body muscles and get those abs to pop out.
MORE SPORTS
Mar 22, 2007

Oda struggled

NHK Trophy runnerup Nobunari Oda struggled in the men's short program and was in 8th place behind leader Jeffrey Buttle with six left to skate Wednesday afternoon at the World Figure Skating Championships.
JAPAN
Mar 22, 2007

Substance, not usual campaign noise

and Yoshito Hori, head of the Globis Group, look on at a March 2 event in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward promoting use of platforms known as manifestos in politics. PHOTO COURTESY OF WASEDA UNIVERSITY
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 22, 2007

After Horie's fall, Nikko case seen smacking of favoritism

Japan has been abuzz with the unusually harsh prison term handed to former Internet mogul Takafumi Horie -- and the slap on the wrist given to scandal-tainted brokerage Nikko Cordial in another high-profile case of accounting fraud that, in monetary terms, was some eight times greater than Horie's firm....
MORE SPORTS
Mar 22, 2007

Chinese stars earn third world trophy

Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo became pairs champions for the third time Wednesday at the World Figure Skating Championships.
EDITORIALS
Mar 22, 2007

Looking forward to the future

When The Japan Times was launched 110 years ago today, its first editorial, titled "Our Raison d'Etre," said, "His Majesty's subjects and the foreign residents remain to this day virtually strangers to each other." This was partly because of the system of extraterritoriality the great powers imposed...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 22, 2007

When Godot finally arrives

Minoru Betsuyaku wanted to be a painter, but his father died when he was 7, leaving him as the oldest of five sons. Everyone around him said that he would never be able to support his family as an artist, so he entered Tokyo's Waseda University, resolved instead to become a newspaper journalist.
MORE SPORTS
Mar 21, 2007

Chinese champions steal on-ice spotlight

China's two-times world champions Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao stole the show in the second-to-last skate to lead after the pairs' short program on the opening day of the World Figure Skating Championships.
JAPAN / INNOCENT VICTIMS
Mar 21, 2007

Foster-care group aims to change the way Japan treats its children

When Kazuko Sakamoto found herself unable to conceive a child, she and her husband figured there was more than one way to start a family.
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Mar 21, 2007

King James: Saitama's Gordon relies on effort to rule boards

TOKOROZAWA, Saitama Pref. -- Catch a glimpse of any Saitama Broncos game and this is something you'll see time after time:
Japan Times
JAPAN / INNOCENT VICTIMS
Mar 20, 2007

Kids' group home a safe respite

Despite the understaffing and overcrowding, the atmosphere at the Kibo no Ie (House of Hope) residential home for children lives up to its name: It is a place of optimism, a place of warmth.
JAPAN / INNOCENT VICTIMS
Mar 19, 2007

Rising child-abuse deaths draw national scrutiny

It is a routine feature on television news: Another child has been strangled, starved, beaten or otherwise fatally abused-- at the hands of the parents.

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