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Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2007

Pending retirees suddenly find, dote on wives

Mitsutoshi Fukatsu has been with his wife for three decades, but their lives have grown apart.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 1, 2007

Chamber doors that shimmer with gold

Uuntil the Meiji Restoration in 1868, Kyoto's Gosho Palace, a rectangular compound of approximately 110,000 sq. meters, housed Japan's Imperial Family for more than 1,000 years. The buildings have been destroyed by fire on a number of occasions, but were rebuilt each time exactly in the original ancient...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 1, 2007

Tokyo's dark side

Welshman John Williams first came to Japan in 1988, intending to stay two years, write a script and return to Britain to make a movie. He ended up making eight shorts, a documentary and finally a feature film -- the drama "Firefly Dreams" -- all in Japan and with Japanese casts and crews. Released in...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 1, 2007

Treasures from out of the tombs

A monstrous face spans an entire ax blade, with protruding eyes, uplifted eyebrows, and a gaping mouth with serrated teeth. Weighing 5 kg, this imposing blade from a Shang Dynasty (16th-11th century B.C.) royal tomb site in Shandong Province, China, was used in sacrificial rituals to slaughter prisoners...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jan 31, 2007

England's white Africans cast ironic new light on reality TV's racism row

Reality TV shows, genetic research papers, politics, Hollywood and Bollywood rarely get mentioned in the same article. This week, though, in a maneuver akin to an astronomical alignment that only comes around once in a generation, I will attempt to achieve just that.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jan 30, 2007

Press clubs: Exclusive access to, pipelines for info

Because "kisha" press clubs provide easy access to information provided by the central and local governments and business associations, membership is considered essential for mainstream news organizations.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 30, 2007

Welcome to Misery Park

Shinjuku's Kabukicho is among the world's largest adult entertainment districts, with thousands of bars and sex clubs providing a cornucopia of nighttime entertainment options.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jan 30, 2007

Lend an ear to an ancient practice

The tools and rules of hygiene are generally cut and dry: Brush your teeth at least twice a day, floss once, remember to bathe, and clip your nails to meet your own taste. But what about cleaning your ears? For some people, once every couple of weeks is enough, but others like to do it every day.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Jan 30, 2007

Yoko Yamada

Yoko Yamada, 27, nicknamed Iron Beauty, is the 2005 women's arm wrestling world champion in the 45-kg weight class and has won more than 35 gold medals, in both the Left- and Right-Handed Divisions. Yamada failed to qualify for the 2006 world championship because the minimum weight was raised to 50 kg,...
MORE SPORTS
Jan 29, 2007

Yoshida keeps streak going

Athens Olympic gold medalist Saori Yoshida dominated Hitomi Sakamoto to win the final of the women's 55-kg class, claiming her fifth straight crown at the national championships on Sunday.
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Jan 28, 2007

Sparks plugs hoop with windmill dunk

GINOWAN, Okinawa Pref. -- Rasheed Sparks is having a sensational season for the Takamatsu Five Arrows.
Reader Mail
Jan 28, 2007

Seeing 'liberation' for what it was

Jeff Kingston's review was simply one of the best essays published recently in The Japan Times. It addresses some of the issues facing Japan over its World War II-era atrocities. For nearly 20 years the public has been told by various Japanese leaders (mainly of the Liberal Democratic Party) that the...
CULTURE / Books
Jan 28, 2007

What evil lurks in the hearts of men?

The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril: A Novel, by Paul Malmont. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2006, 371 pp., $24 (cloth) DISCO FOR THE DEPARTED by Colin Cotterill. New York: Soho Press Inc, 2006, 247 pp., $23 (cloth) I must confess a pronounced weakness for well-crafted mysteries spun around real historical...
CULTURE / Books
Jan 28, 2007

From the truth comes some strange fiction

Homunculus by Hugh Paxton. Macmillan New Writing, 2005, 256 pp., £12.99 (paper). The grotesquely fanged monster armed with a spear and an assault rifle that comes hurtling out of a rising sun on the cover of "Homunculus" should be fair warning to readers that something a tad disturbing is to be found...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 28, 2007

Natto nonsense lands television show in sticky mess

Unless you're a big fan of natto, those sticky fermented soybeans, you probably didn't pay much attention to Kansai Telecasting Corporation's (KTV) sudden apology Jan. 20 for misinformation that was given on one of its variety shows. Anyone who watches TV regularly has probably developed the ability...
EDITORIALS
Jan 27, 2007

State of the Union? Divided

President George W. Bush's State of the Union speeches will be seen as critical moments in his presidency. In 2002, he identified an "axis of evil" that threatened the United States and the world. A year later, he used 16 words alleged to be proof of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's efforts to...
BASKETBALL
Jan 26, 2007

Diminutive Aoki no pushover at point

Even at only 167 cm, Kohei Aoki stands tall.
EDITORIALS
Jan 26, 2007

Mr. Abe's real test

The regular Diet session, which started Thursday, will be an important test for both Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the Democratic Party of Japan leader Ichiro Ozawa. It is a prelude to local elections set for many parts of the country in April and to a watershed Upper House election in July.
EDITORIALS
Jan 25, 2007

Latin America makes a left turn

Upon winning a third term in office, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez made a sharp left turn in his policies. Pledging to "devote my days, nights and entire life to the construction of socialism in Venezuela," the fiery nationalist has called on the legislature to give him authority to rule by decree,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 25, 2007

Dairakudakan dancers play with Josef Nadj

Speaking in Tokyo a year ago, Josef Nadj, one of the most respected choreographers in the contemporary dance world, said that for his next project in Japan he wanted to create something playful for the audiences in collaboration with Japanese dancers and Japanese culture. The 49-year-old Yugoslav-born...
Reader Mail
Jan 24, 2007

Plunder of Philippines continues

Japan has one of the strongest economies in the world. Obviously Japan can afford to build nursing colleges and train nurses. But it has chosen to drastically cut spending on health and other social services and instead spend the money on the military. And it has decided to import nurses from the...
EDITORIALS
Jan 23, 2007

Halting drunk drivers

The National Police Agency's proposal to stiffen penalties for drunk driving reflects recent public demand for severer punishment of drunk drivers. At the same time, the proposal prods the public to drastically change its own attitude toward drinking and driving.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jan 23, 2007

'Listen' to your nose: sniff out a calming custom

Swing by any variety store and you will notice how popular aromatherapy has become. There you will find a wide variety of shiny little bottles containing oil extracts of rose, lavender or sandalwood. Along with foot massage, onsen (hot springs) and the music of Mozart, inhaling aromas has in recent years...
BASKETBALL
Jan 22, 2007

Albirex BB strong against 89ers

In Sunday's bj-league action, the visiting Niigata Albirex BB topped the Sendai 89ers 87-70. A strong start sparked the victory for Niigata, which led 51-28 after two quarters.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 22, 2007

Right-to-die issue need not be incoherent

PRINCETON, New Jersey -- On Dec. 21, an Italian doctor, Mario Riccio, disconnected a respirator that was keeping Piergiorgio Welby alive. Welby, who suffered from muscular dystrophy and was paralyzed, had battled unsuccessfully in the Italian courts for the right to die.
COMMENTARY
Jan 22, 2007

Unshackling Japan's defense

On Jan. 9 the Defense Agency was upgraded to full ministry status. At a ceremony marking the change, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said it was a major step from the "postwar regime" toward a foundation for national rebuilding.

Longform

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