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COMMENTARY / World
Mar 17, 2009

French-led amity project for noneuro Europe

KIEV — Since World War II ended, France has consistently risen to the challenge of restructuring Europe in times of crisis. In doing so, France became the catalyst not only for building European unity, but also for creating the prosperity that marked Europe's postwar decades — a prosperity now under...
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Mar 16, 2009

Survival instincts need rethink before killer disease spreads

We used to think that SARS was the killer disease. No doubt it still is. But at least it seems dormant for the moment. In its place we now have a potentially more potent epidemic going around that looks set to engulf the whole world. I hereby christen that disease SLICS. This is short for "So long as...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Mar 15, 2009

Now that the Celtic tiger's turned tail, whither the Emerald Isle?

Irish patriot, poet and eminent surgeon Oliver St. John Gogarty (1878-1957) once played a wily prank on a drunken acquaintance. He stuffed the poor chap, who was catatonic, into a sack and sold him to The Royal College of Surgeons strictly, one would assume, in the interests of medical science. His friend...
Japan Times
Rugby
Mar 1, 2009

Sanyo captures national rugby championship with win over Suntory

The Sanyo Wild Knights made it three in a row against a big rival, winning Saturday's All-Japan Rugby Championship.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 27, 2009

Humans, not cogs

Twenty-six years after it premiered at the Cottlesloe Theatre in London, David Mamet's "Glengarry Glen Ross," which caused a sensation in 1983 with its horrific yet realistic depiction of the dog-eat-dog real-estate business in a recession-hit America, could almost be considered a classic. The play went...
Japan Times
LIFE
Feb 22, 2009

Refuge . . . of a sort

The main character of the one-act play that follows is loosely based on the few known facts concerning a Russian nobleman-refugee named Semyon Nikolaevitch Smirnitsky. Born in St. Petersburg in 1879, Smirnitsky fled the Russian Revolution in 1919 and spent the rest of his life in Japan, mostly in Otaru,...
Japan Times
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Feb 20, 2009

Sumo, a sport of humble respect and grand entrances

Sumo is a physical sport to many, but it is very much a spiritual rite to others. The bouts commence and end with a bow, in much the same way as judo or kendo bouts start with a similar acknowledgment of the opponent. Mutual respect is forever the name of the de facto national game.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 13, 2009

Towa Tei wallows in optimism for art's sake

"In Tokyo, there is too much information," says famed Japanese producer and DJ Towa Tei. "Even if you don't want to listen to music, you are raped into listening to something you don't like at the convenience store. So I try to go somewhere quiet and listen whenever I want to!"
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 11, 2009

Love not an option as the big chill settles in

A phrase heard often this winter is samusa ga mini shimiru (寒さが身に沁みる, the chill settles right into the bones), as everything — from the weather to office temperature to the predicted wintry fukeiki (不景気, bad economy, bad times) of Valentine’s Day chocolate sales — seems...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 8, 2009

In an 'Era of Decline,' let's look to youth to quell 'panic of the mind'

"We are living in extremely hard times. . . . I have been reading news- papers for 60 years, and I can't recall any era when the local news pages have appalled me more."
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 8, 2009

In an 'Era of Decline,' let's look to youth to quell 'panic of the mind'

"We are living in extremely hard times. . . . I have been reading news- papers for 60 years, and I can't recall any era when the local news pages have appalled me more."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 30, 2009

Art Basel codirector sees positive changes

Since its inception in 1970, Art Basel has become one of the world's most prestigious art events. Held every June in Basel, Switzerland, the commercial fair hosts almost 300 galleries dealing in blue-chip Modern and postwar art as well as those with cutting-edge contemporary art.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK
Jan 17, 2009

Fukumoto blazed quite a trail on bases before Rickey came along

Before the self-proclaimed (and arguably rightly so) "greatest of all time" and new MLB Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson was redefining the way leadoff hitters would be viewed, the Hankyu Braves' Yutaka Fukumoto was helping to set the standard.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Jan 17, 2009

Embroidery center gives women fabric for a future

For bank manager Miki Yoshida, her desire to do volunteer work in rural India started from an unlikely inspiration on an American expressway.
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Jan 16, 2009

School's out

Matilda isn't waltzing. She's sprinting toward me outside Shinsaibashi Station in Osaka with the speed of a Jamaican Olympian chewing cheetah gonads. A meter from me she screams "Simon!" and takes a flying leap, so I instinctively reach out and I'm holding this tiny 18-year-old in my arms like she's...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Jan 16, 2009

School's out

Matilda isn't waltzing. She's sprinting toward me outside Shinsaibashi Station in Osaka with the speed of a Jamaican Olympian chewing cheetah gonads. A meter from me she screams "Simon!" and takes a flying leap, so I instinctively reach out and I'm holding this tiny 18-year-old in my arms like she's...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jan 14, 2009

'Change' is for the better in year's kanji highlights

The most popular kanji in headlines, blurbs and slogans last year had to do with disasters. Hen (変, to change, or metamorphose) was the most used character, according to the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, beating out close second and third choices kin (金 gold) and raku (落, to drop, or...
LIFE
Jan 11, 2009

A meeting of minds

OXFORD ENGLAND — The last leaves were falling and the world was plunging into an economic crisis as journalists from around the world gathered for a meeting in England. The venue, though, was not a conference room in the financial hub of the City of London, but the ancient university city of Oxford,...
JAPAN
Jan 9, 2009

Aso partially bans 'watari' perk for ex-bureaucrats

Under pressure from the opposition camp, Prime Minister Taro Aso said Thursday that he will immediately ban the little-known custom of "watari," in which ministries can arrange new jobs multiple times at related corporations for retiring bureaucrats.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 9, 2009

Otaku star Shokotan offers a little fan service

"I really care about how much proof of my life I can leave behind; how many concerts I can give and how many photos I can have taken," admits Japanese celebrity Shoko Nakagawa, better known to her legion of fans worldwide as Shokotan. "I'm just afraid to have any free time and I'm scared of doing nothing."...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / TAKING A CHANCE
Dec 30, 2008

For hotelier, budget prices at resorts are an easy sell

Naoki Yamanaka, president of hotel operator Shiki Resorts Co., wants more Japanese to appreciate the seasonal changes that bless this country.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan / WEEK 3
Dec 21, 2008

30 Days in the Wilderness

What miracles will the incoming 44th President of the United States perform?
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Dec 20, 2008

Blackburn makes smart decision by naming Allardyce new manager

LONDON — We will probably never know why Sunderland did not consider Sam Allardyce to be the right man to succeed Roy Keane, who resigned (by mobile phone text to chairman Niall Quinn) earlier this month.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 19, 2008

Your last-minute holiday gifts sorted

You can never give too many gifts over the holidays — especially the little ones. Here are some last-minute ideas for stocking-stuffers, courtesy of the regular music writers here at The Japan Times.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Dec 12, 2008

Film project delivers 'live' operas from U.K.

Performances by two acclaimed U.K. opera ensembles — Glyndebourne Festival Opera and the Royal Opera House — will take place in movie theaters nationwide from Dec. 20 as the opening features of U.K. Opera @ Cinema, which is being presented by Sony Corp.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 29, 2008

Festival takes cryptic turn

I was walking home when I saw, up in the distance, four Buddhist priests dressed in purple and gold robes. "Hey, Amy!" they called to me. "We hope you don't mind that we tied our boat up next to yours in front of your house," one said, pointing to their 30-foot (9-meter) motorboat tied to the dock. No...
BASKETBALL / INSIDE LOOK
Nov 22, 2008

Matsui struggles as season begins

NEW YORK — Editor's note: Entering this weekend, Columbia University men's basketball team is 1-1. The Lions defeated Fordham University 65-62 on Nov. 14 and lost a 71-50 contest to Seton Hall University on Nov. 16.)
EDITORIALS
Nov 22, 2008

Disturbing rise in geriatric crime

Despite frequent headlines reporting heinous crimes, the Justice Ministry's 2008 white paper on crime provides somewhat assuring figures. The number of crimes, excluding traffic-related offenses, declined for five consecutive years. But Japanese society faces a new problem. Crimes committed by elderly...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 14, 2008

Oddball summit has limits

HONG KONG — It is the best of times because leaders from developed and developing countries have gathered in one place, Washington, to try to rebuild a broken global system, and China and India are at last at the top table.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami