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JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 16, 2005

No point in going if you can't wait in line

The next time you go to Tokyo Disneyland and find yourself waiting an inordinate length of time for five minutes of thrills on Space Mountain, spare a thought for Hung Wah-fung, who is certainly thinking of you -- or, more precisely, your situation.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Oct 16, 2005

Unconventional and unorthodox, but still fun to read

LAST SEEN IN SHANGHAI, by Howard Turk. Hong Kong: Asia 2000 Ltd., 1998, 286 pp., $18 (paper). INSPECTOR MORIMOTO AND THE SUSHI CHEF, by Timothy Hemion. Lincoln, Nebraska: iUniverse, Inc., 2005, 222 pp., $25.95 (cloth). THE TIGER'S GOLD by Donald G. Moore. Lincoln, Nebraska: iUniverse, Inc., 2005, 214...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 15, 2005

Learn to live and love consciously in workshop

Katie (Kathlyn) Hendricks sounds as clear as a bell on a three-way line between California, to which she has just returned from Colorado, and Japan. "I was in Boulder, Colo., facilitating a workshop not dissimilar to the three-day foundation training in conscious living and loving that is being arranged...
EDITORIALS
Oct 15, 2005

Reining in medical expenditures

The Japanese spent 31.4 trillion yen for medical services in fiscal 2004, or about 246,000 yen per person, an increase of 2 percent from the previous year. The figure of 2 percent may be a small and acceptable growth, requiring no stricter lid on the rise of the nation's medical spending. But Japan's...
JAPAN
Oct 15, 2005

Tsunami survivor returns to help Sri Lanka

and TECH Japan members Suvendrini Kakuchi and Akiko Ozaki show off an apron made at a sewing center for tsunami and civil war survivors here in northern Sri Lanka.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 13, 2005

When revolution came to the big screen

1969 was a watershed year for American cinema, with two films in particular heralding significant changes to the movie-making industry. One was "Midnight Cowboy," the story of a hustler and a junkie on the streets of New York City, starring Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman; this became the first X-rated...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Oct 12, 2005

Looking at both sides of the equation

Someone asked me the other day if I wouldn't like to be a woman, just to see what it was like. Sure, I'd love to try it, I said, for a day or two. Imagine seeing the world from the other side, seeing how men assess you and wielding power over them with a glance. Or if you're a woman, imagine being a...
JAPAN
Oct 12, 2005

Older folks getting fitter; kids flabbier: survey

Middle-aged and senior citizens have become more agile while the physical capabilities of younger people are deteriorating, according to results of an annual fitness test.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 10, 2005

Marines sweep Lions, move on to face Hawks

CHIBA -- There are only two K's in Chiba Lotte Marines pitcher Hiroyuki Kobayashi's name, but in his arm, there are many more.
COMMENTARY
Oct 10, 2005

No 'Koizumi power' in Europe

PARIS -- As the London Economist wrote, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's "Revolution" was a "very Japanese" one indeed. What European politician today could dream of calling a general election designed to punish Parliament for having rejected his legislation and being rewarded with an electoral victory?...
MORE SPORTS
Oct 9, 2005

Golovin, Vaidisova storm into Japan Open final

Third-seed Tatiana Golovin of France overpowered India's Sania Mirza on Saturday to set up a meeting with Czech Nicole Vaidisova in the final of the AIG Japan Open women's singles.
Japan Times
Features
Oct 9, 2005

Building a bridge to forgiveness

Takashi Nagase still breaks down when he remembers the young British man he helped torture. "I couldn't bear his pain," he says, choking back tears. "He was crying 'Mother! Mother!' And I thought: What would she feel if she could see her son like this? I still dream about it."
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Oct 9, 2005

Breaking the silence on sexuality in Japan

GENDERS, TRANSGENDERS AND SEXUALITIES IN JAPAN, edited by Mark McLelland and Romit Dasgupta. London: Routledge, 2005, 218 pp., £60 (cloth). Now that the conspiracies of silence have begun to evaporate, scholarly works on gender and transgender have begun to proliferate. This very interesting collection...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Oct 8, 2005

Pressure on Eriksson to lock up World Cup berth for England

LONDON -- There are two ways of looking at the likely inclusion of Peter Crouch in the England team to face Austria in a crucial World Cup qualifying tie on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS
Oct 8, 2005

Sugiyama crashes out at Ariake

Fifth-seed Ai Sugiyama was sent crashing out in the women's quarterfinals by teenager Tatiana Golovin of France as the host saw its final player knocked out of the singles competition at the AIG Japan Open on Friday.
JAPAN
Oct 8, 2005

Jenkins memoirs published

U.S. Army deserter Charles Jenkins recounts his life in North Korea, including his encounters with Japanese nationals, in his memoirs that went on sale Friday.
COMMENTARY
Oct 7, 2005

Why not a nonlawyer on the high court?

WASHINGTON -- For the first time in more than 30 years, an American president has nominated for the U.S. Supreme Court someone without prior judicial experience. It's too bad that President George W. Bush didn't go further and choose a nonlawyer.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 6, 2005

Australia gets tough on terror

SYDNEY -- Tough new laws enforcing preventive detention of suspected terrorists will soon drastically change the laid-back response that Australia has so far allowed to the growing world threat of terrorism. But even before new laws start, the wails of protests from civil-liberty groups are deafening....
JAPAN
Oct 6, 2005

Lump-sum asbestos redress elusive goal

The government agreed Sept. 29 on the outline of a special bill to help asbestos victims, but officials admit the legislation provides no lump sum compensation.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 6, 2005

You cannot force them to sing it in Japan, or to listen in London

"In this 60th anniversary year of the end of the war . . . I thought it was the right time to ask about Japan's current movement toward constitutional revision -- especially the revision of (war-renouncing) Article 9," said 53-year-old Ai Nagai, founder of Nitosha (Two Rabbits) Theater Company, as she...
COMMENTARY
Oct 6, 2005

A lesson from Pakistan on proliferation

ISLAMABAD -- The controversy surrounding North Korea's nuclear program is a reminder of past miscues in Pakistan, whose disgraced nuclear scientist, Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, was accused last year of selling nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Oct 5, 2005

Sad drumbeats in the wilderness

I made several visits to the Aichi Expo this year and met a lot of interesting people. But one person above all left an indelible impression. Soft-spoken, modest, and wearing traditional northern buckskin, his name was Michael Cazon -- a Dene drummer, teacher and healer from Fort Simpson in the Northwest...
BUSINESS
Oct 5, 2005

Nakagawa rips Keizai Doyukai chief over fuel flap

Industry minister Shoichi Nakagawa lashed out Tuesday at recent remarks by a prominent business leader questioning the government's demand that industries assist trucking firms that find it difficult to pass on high oil costs to customers.
BUSINESS
Oct 4, 2005

That new car smell -- a standard, harmful feature

Anyone who's pulled away from the dealer's lot in a shiny, new sedan knows the seductive scent of fresh plastic, paint and upholstery that evokes a rush of pride and consumer satisfaction.
EDITORIALS
Oct 3, 2005

Winning doesn't make him right

The Osaka High Court on Friday found unconstitutional Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's three visits to Yasukuni Shrine from 2001 to 2003. The court said the visits violated Article 20, Section 3, of the Constitution, which prohibits religious education and any other "religious" activity by the state...

Longform

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