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BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Feb 5, 2006

How will Valentine, Hillman and Brown fare in 2006?

One-fourth of the 12 Japanese pro baseball teams in 2006 will be led by American managers. Their performances this season may dictate whether the recent trend for the Central and Pacific Leagues to hire foreign kantoku will continue or if the clubs will return to putting native Japanese in charge.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 5, 2006

The louse that halted an army in Russia

NEW YORK -- The disastrous effects of the Russian invasion on Napoleon Bonaparte's army is well known. Less widel known are the reasons for the defeat of the Grand Army. Although Russian resistance, brutal weather and the lack of food and water decimated the French army, new genetic evidence proves that...
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2006

Birds recognize languages: study

An experiment by a group of scientists has shown that Java sparrows can be trained to distinguish between different human languages.
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2006

Pabco truck-scandal toll rises to 10,351 since 1986

Auto body maker Pabco Co. said Friday it illegally modified at least 10,351 trucks -- four times the number it announced in December -- by adding equipment that made them too heavy.
BUSINESS
Feb 3, 2006

Matsushita profits up 39% despite heater fiasco

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. said Thursday robust sales of plasma display panel TVs and digital cameras boosted its earnings for the third quarter of fiscal 2005, raising its net profit by 39 percent to 49.3 billion yen.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 3, 2006

Kuro-hitsuji: Ghengis Khan gets hip

Until recently, the distinctive style of cooking mutton known as jingisukan -- the Japanese transliteration of the name of a well known Mongolian butcher -- was thought far too uncouth to be considered seriously. So how did this coarse, blue-collar dish, so long a staple of smoky grills in the godless...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 2, 2006

PAULA MODERSOHN-BECKER: A Requiem, not a festival

The exhibition of Paula Modersohn-Becker's paintings, and of artists associated with her, at the Museum of Modern Art, Hayama, Kanagawa Prefecture, is titled, "A Short, Intensive Festival." The overall emotional atmosphere generated by these paintings, however, is closer to a wake or a funeral than a...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 2, 2006

GERMAN PHOTOGRAPHY: Reconfiguring your pasts

It is mostly an unremarkable location, except for the fact that it is in a bit of a shambles. Something has obviously taken place here, but the smooth surfaces and sharp edges of the architectural detail simply do not offer up any artistic intention.
MORE SPORTS
Feb 1, 2006

Asada accepts top athlete award from FSAJ

Figure skater Mao Asada smiles after accepting the 2005 Japanese sportsman of the year award, given by the Foreign Sportswriters Association of Japan, from Japan Times sports editor and FSAJ president Jack Gallagher.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 31, 2006

Hospital death exposes 'tip of malpractice iceberg'

Loyd Cummings tried to ignore his headache when it began on Aug. 7, 2003. But the electronic technician, who was working in Japan on U.S. Navy radars, eventually collapsed from an aneurysm -- a bulge in a vein in his head.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jan 31, 2006

Rail passes, donor card, pawnshops

Rail pass wisdom Pam and Jacob's inquiry about the economic sense of buying a 7-day Japan Rail Pass (Lifelines; Jan. 9) when only moving around Kanto brought a flurry of useful information and advice from readers.
EDITORIALS
Jan 30, 2006

Settling labor disputes promptly

I n April, Japan will introduce an "industrial tribunal system" to settle individual labor disputes, such as those involving dismissals, working conditions and reassignments. The purpose of this system is to settle disputes expeditiously by limiting the number of trial sessions to no more than three....
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Jan 30, 2006

Another side to Japanese-Korean history

NEW YORK -- Historian George Akita recently sent me a brief essay that appeared in the December issue of the monthly Nihon Rekishi (Japanese History). He had told me of a full-length article he'd written on alternative views of Japan's rule of Korea between 1910 and 1945. The essay, titled "New Currents...
BASKETBALL
Jan 29, 2006

Hopefuls flock to bj-league tryouts

FUNABASHI, Chiba Pref. -- Although the bj-league is brand new, it is looking for a blend of young talent and seasoned veterans on which to build its future.
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2006

SESC probes Livedoor for shady trading in takeover

The securities watchdog has been probing the possibility of insider trading related to Livedoor Co.'s takeover of a used automobile dealer, sources said Saturday.
Japan Times
Features
Jan 29, 2006

Cultures combined in the mists of time

Adopt "a correct view of history," China and South Korea demand of Japan. Fair enough. We can all agree on the merits of a "correct view" of anything. The difficulty is to define "correct.''
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Jan 28, 2006

Forcing Eriksson out early makes perpetrators look weak

LONDON -- The hypocrisy, double-talk, deceit and lies have plummeted to new depths this week.
JAPAN
Jan 28, 2006

Livedoor overvalued publisher for gains: sources

The Livedoor Co. group deliberately overassessed the value of a publisher owned by an investment union it controlled to increase the gains made from share sales, which were then passed on to it through investor dividends, sources said Friday.
JAPAN
Jan 27, 2006

Russian plane intruded while tracking freighter

A Russian aircraft violated Japanese airspace seven times Wednesday night off northern Hokkaido, government officials said Thursday.
CULTURE / Music
Jan 27, 2006

A band that plays along with the joke

Test Icicles have been in Japan for less than 24 hours, and nearly a quarter of that has been spent talking to journalists. Rory Atwell, the band's eldest member at the ripe old age of 25, is still somewhat game, but his younger bandmates, both just 20 years old, have a different agenda. Devonte Hynes,...
JAPAN
Jan 27, 2006

U.S. no stranger to 'I'm sorry' Japan-style

It's among the most Japanese of traditions: Officials go before the cameras to express deep regret over some alleged wrongdoing and promise to make sure it never happens again.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jan 27, 2006

Visual- kei goes traditional

It isn't only Demon Kogure's appearance -- as extravagantly coiffed and heavily made-up as befits any visual-kei singer -- that makes him an unlikely candidate to be presenting a lecture-style concert on hogaku (traditional Japanese music). Kogure -- or His Excellency Demon Kogure as he prefers to be...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Jan 27, 2006

New blood flows in city's heart

While Shibuya is becoming a boomtown for bars aimed at the young and casual, one small area -- right at its heart -- has been a hot spot for more than half a century.
SOCCER / J. League
Jan 26, 2006

Suzuki ready to join Red Star

Japan and Kashima Antlers striker Takayuki Suzuki is set to join former European champion Red Star Belgrade on a two-year contract, soccer sources said Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Jan 26, 2006

Preventing a flu pandemic

The chances that the avian flu virus will mutate into a form that can be transmitted from human to human is high enough for the World Health Organization (WHO) to classify the present situation as a "pandemic alert." Should a pandemic break out it would likely do so in Asia. Therefore Japan needs to...
BUSINESS
Jan 26, 2006

Toyota expands Belgium R&D base

Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday it has completed the expansion of its research and development center in Belgium, part of its continuing localization of European design and engineering operations to better meet customer needs in Europe.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes