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LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 1, 2006

New York Grill and Les Saisons: two of our best

Change and entropy, as the philosophers might say, are the only constants. Nowhere is that more evident than in this mighty metropolis and its ever-evolving restaurant scene. New places open, others fade away, but the very best understand how to keep moving with the times.
EDITORIALS
Nov 28, 2006

National security council

A special panel last week started discussions on setting up a Japanese version of the National Security Council of the United States. The White House-style organization is a pet idea of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. In his first policy speech before the Diet, Mr. Abe expressed his resolve to "strengthen...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Nov 28, 2006

Cheap travel in Japan?

Full Moon Green Pass Jim writes that he and his wife (based near Sasebo in Kyushu) have heard about a special JR ticket that is a great deal.
BASKETBALL
Nov 27, 2006

Goya excellent for Grouses in setback

With the versatile skills, strong leadership, and most importantly, the concrete will to win, Takanori Goya certainly plays like the No. 1 overall draft pick.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Nov 22, 2006

Three-spined stickleback

* Japanese name: Hario * Scientific name: Gasterosteus aculeatus leiurus * Description: Small, perky fish, as adults sticklebacks are typically between 6- and 10-cm long. They have 30 to 40 lateral armor plates along their sides, and also three long dorsal spines that can be raised. * Where to find...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 19, 2006

Looking for the right kind of love for fragile teens

Some people may react to the current bullying issue with an acute feeling of deja vu. Didn't we go through this back in the 1980s? And didn't we address it in the '90s when teachers and administrators rejected the old thinking that kids were bullied for a reason and instead acknowledged them as victims...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Nov 12, 2006

NHK's "Ashita wo Tsukame," Fuji's "Tokyo Tower" and more

Every week, NHK's "Ashita wo Tsukame (Grasp Tomorrow)" (NHK-E, Monday, 7 p.m.) profiles a specific occupation as a way of inspiring young people toward career choices.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 9, 2006

Tokyo National Museum shows Buddhist masterpieces

Living in a land still largely covered with forest, it is not surprising that Japanese have a special reverence toward wood. We see this particularly in traditional architecture, where wood is not only chosen to reveal its best qualities, but is largely left unpainted so that its beauty improves with...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Nov 5, 2006

NHK's "Tsurube no Kazoku ni Kanpai," "Chikyu Dramatic" and more

This week, NHK's travel show "Tsurube no Kazoku ni Kanpai" (Tsurube Toasts Families; NHK-G, Monday, 8 p.m.) begins a two-part series on a trip to Ishikawa prefecture.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Nov 4, 2006

MVP Washington set to lead champ Evessa's bid for repeat

Want the primer for winning the hearts of fans and a prominent spot in a sport's history books at the same time?
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 22, 2006

Something 'beautiful' that leaders may not see from on high

Sometimes a very significant event in the life of a country passes largely unnoticed, particularly if it occurs away from the center of power. Just such a thing happened on the 11th of this month.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Oct 20, 2006

On a trail out of the real world

The fellow passengers on the weekend "holiday special express" from Shinjuku to Okutama or Musashi-Itsukaichi -- an hour northwest of Tokyo -- are a strange melange: There are lots of young men -- often much the worse for wear -- going home after a night of heavy drinking; there are young girls heading...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Oct 8, 2006

TBS's "The World's Super Doctors" and more

Japanese boys' interest in insects goes beyond the universal male childhood fascination with creepy-crawlies. Often, this obsession continues into adulthood and explains the hugely profitable trade in giant beetles.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 8, 2006

Getting real in the way you dress with grass-roots fashion in Japan

In the movie "The Devil Wears Prada," which opens in Japan next month, an imperious fashion magazine editor played by Meryl Streep upbraids her new assistant, who has dared to snicker at a cerulean belt that the editor is considering for an ensemble. With withering condenscension, the editor somehow...
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Oct 7, 2006

PL playoffs offer many questions

This time last year, a heck of a brew was being whipped up east of Tokyo.
BUSINESS
Oct 7, 2006

Forex reserves again hit record

Kyodo News
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Oct 3, 2006

What's the most useful thing you've ever bought abroad?

JAPAN
Sep 27, 2006

Hawkishness is watchword for Abe team

The Cabinet and special advisers named Tuesday by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe share one dominant trait: conservatism.
JAPAN
Sep 27, 2006

New lineup a good indicator where policy emphasis will be

The new Cabinet lineup announced Tuesday shows where Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is placing his emphasis, such as the North Korean abductions, education and various reforms, and he wants his closest allies working in those areas.
EDITORIALS
Sep 27, 2006

Aum leader's trial finally ends

The long trial of Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara ended Sept. 15 when the Supreme Court rejected a special appeal by lawyers for Asahara. The top court's decision affirmed the February 2004 ruling of the Tokyo District Court, which found the cult leader guilty of 13 criminal counts, the most serious...
JAPAN
Sep 26, 2006

Abe to keep bureaucrat out of key post

In a bid to beef up the power of politicians, Shinzo Abe will not appoint an active bureaucrat to a key position in the prime minister's office that has been considered the top bureaucratic position in the entire country, a close aide to Abe said Monday night.
COMMENTARY
Sep 25, 2006

Sticky bureaucratic fingers

It used to be said that Japanese bureaucrats were first rate while politicians were third rate. That's no longer true, as evidenced by an appalling spate of scandals involving slush funds in the central and local governments.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Sep 24, 2006

NHK's "Ongaku Idenshi," Nihon TV's "Diet Combat" and more

One of the most common questions asked of pop musicians is, Who are your influences? This question is the premise behind a new series on NHK, "Ongaku Idenshi" (NHK-G, Mon., 11 p.m.), which literally means "The Genes of Music." According to the show's producers, a musician's particular sensibility is...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 13, 2006

If 9/11 hadn't happened, where would the world be?

LONDON -- Five years since 9/11, and we are still being told that the world has changed forever. But the attack on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, was a low-probability event that could just as easily not have happened. The often careless and sometimes incompetent hijackers might have been caught...
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2006

Trouble looms as foreign labor floods in

OSAKA -- It's 2030, and Japan is facing an unprecedented social problem. For the past quarter-century, ever since the population began declining, the government has encouraged the hiring of foreign laborers. But measures to control immigration have failed, and in some towns and villages foreigners now...
EDITORIALS
Sep 6, 2006

Kurds put the fear in Turkey

Kurdish militants have launched a campaign to "turn Turkey into hell." A series of bombings by the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (KFF) is part of a larger campaign to secure more autonomy from the Turkish government and the eventual creation of an independent Kurdish state. That ambition is not only opposed...
CULTURE / Music
Sep 1, 2006

Walter Trout and Friends "Full Circle"

Inviting special guests onto albums is almost obligatory these days, but on his new one, "Full Circle," bluesman Walter Trout wants sizzling guitar duels rather than promo plugs. With string bending friends like John Mayall and Joe Bonamassa, the gutbucket blues explodes with dazzling licks and impassioned...
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 1, 2006

Bongout Noh: A sutando where standards are high

The boom in tachi-nomi (drinking while standing) bars continues unabated. At the traditional end of the spectrum are the rough-and-ready sake and shochu pubs. At the other extreme are more genteel establishments that prefer to call themselves sutando bars. The principles are the same -- no chairs; pay...
COMMENTARY
Aug 28, 2006

Slighting the air-raid victims

This summer I saw three Japanese movies -- two documentaries and a feature -- depicting the plight of World War II victims.

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan