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Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 14, 2008

Shock tactics return

"The only thing humans, rats and crows have in common is garbage," announced Ryuta Ushiro, leader of artist unit Chim ↑ Pom, with a mischievous smile.
JAPAN
Aug 13, 2008

Ainu stepping out of social stigma

SAPPORO — For someone who grew up ashamed of her ethnic identity, they are powerful words.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Aug 1, 2008

Rhodes, Sato share All-Star home run derby title

Four of baseball's top sluggers — Tuffy Rhodes of the Orix Buffaloes, Tomoaki Kanemoto of the Hanshin Tigers, G.G. Sato from the Seibu Lions and Yomiuri Giants outfielder Alex Ramirez — competed in a home run derby before the first game of Nippon Professional Baseball's All-Star Series on Thursday....
BUSINESS
Jul 26, 2008

Inflation quickens as core prices rise 1.9%

Japan's consumer prices rose at the fastest pace in a decade in June as higher food and gasoline costs squeezed household budgets, slowing economic growth.
BUSINESS
Jul 25, 2008

No need now for rate hike: BOJ's Mizuno

Atsushi Mizuno, a member of the Bank of Japan's Policy Board, said Thursday the central bank's decision to keep interest rates on hold for now has a "positive meaning," indicating he sees no need for higher borrowing costs anytime soon.
OLYMPICS
Jul 24, 2008

Yoshida, Hoketsu provide compelling story lines

In less than two weeks, the bright lights in Beijing will shine on thousands of athletes.
Reader Mail
Jul 24, 2008

More questions than answers

Regarding the July 20 article "Teenager held in dad's stabbing": How bizarre we can get? A 15-year-old girl "admitted stabbing her father in the chest several times with a knife." She "didn't like to be told to study" by her parents. The police got a call "from the teen's family" saying "the daughter...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jul 22, 2008

Whaling: the meat of the matter

Whales are magnificent creatures I have always dreamt of seeing in the flesh. However, tucking into a slab of whale steak at a restaurant in Tokyo was not what I had in mind. Nevertheless, this was a close encounter with one of the world's largest mammals that I felt I could not duck out of: If I was...
COMMENTARY
Jul 17, 2008

New world order is long overdue

George Herbert Walker Bush, when he was president of the United States, used to talk a lot about a "new world order" emerging after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Seventeen years later, that new order is still not in place as the countries that dominated the old order refuse to make way for...
JAPAN
Jul 17, 2008

Are 24-hour shops a waste of energy?

Are 24-hour convenience stores and other late-night businesses eco-friendly?
COMMUNITY
Jul 15, 2008

Lawmaker takes 9/11 doubts global: readers' responses

A number of readers wrote to the Community Page in response to John Spiri's June 17 Zeit Gist article on Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Yukihisa Fujita. Following is a selection of the responses.
JAPAN
Jul 15, 2008

Campaigners call for dual custody of children

Foreigners who have divorced their Japanese spouses are often denied access to their children.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jul 13, 2008

Self-praise abounds in the pages of wheeler-dealers' own obituaries

Japanese politicians are known for their perseverance and ingenuity, and the Diet may well be the last place in the country still offering lifetime employment.
JAPAN / G8 SUMMIT 2008
Jul 10, 2008

U.S., Britain to seek U.N. action targeting Mugabe, Brown says

TOYAKO, Hokkaido — Britain and the United States are pushing for further sanctions against the regime of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Wednesday.
COMMENTARY
Jul 7, 2008

Light in Iraq won't burn on optimism alone

LOS ANGELES — A measure of self-delusion can be healthy if it deters the outbreak of another round of perhaps even more dangerous and destructive self-delusion. This scenario was on display the other night at a presentation at the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, a traditional major forum for world...
BUSINESS / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
Jul 7, 2008

As Europe's barriers rise, Japan's decline

The eyes of the world will be focused on Japan this week as the Group of Eight Summit finally kicks off at Toyako, Hokkaido. The agenda is long and topped by how to deal with climate change. But there is one item that will not be highlighted, although it is of crucial importance to every G8 member —...
JAPAN
Jul 6, 2008

Still 'efficient' G8 faces new realities

The 19th-century historian and political analyst Walter Bagehot divided affairs of state between what he called the dignified and the efficient. In the dignified category were great formal meetings of state, the pomp and ceremony surrounding heads of state and monarchs, and all the symbolic parades and...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 1, 2008

Toy makers cast their gaze on the future: talking dolls for grannies

Primopuel is a knee-high Japanese doll with soft, apple cheeks and big black button eyes. It comes in green and pink. When you cuddle it or talk to it, it talks back. It is for grandmothers.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 27, 2008

LDP's future as dicey as Humpty Dumpty's

BRUSSELS — Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda has been in office less than 12 months, yet polls show popular support for his administration running around 20 percent. Fukuda and his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) face a bleak future.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 26, 2008

Why should Barack Obama's religion matter?

Whether Barack Obama is or, at one point, was a Muslim should be a trivial matter in any society governed by secular, democratic dictates that apply to all, on equal footage, regardless of race, gender or religion. But in a society that is taking a turn toward the right, the matter is anything but inconsequential....
JAPAN
Jun 18, 2008

Death sentences on the increase

Tuesday's hangings of serial killer Tsutomu Miyazaki and two other inmates come at a time when courts are more inclined to mete out capital punishment.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 11, 2008

With Europe waiting, Ireland votes on treaty

MAYNOOTH, Ireland — On Thursday, Irish voters will vote on the European Union's Lisbon Treaty, the instrument designed to improve the efficiency and legitimacy of the now 27-member bloc.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jun 7, 2008

NPO brings smiles to the Philippines

Yokohama-based dental practitioner Dr. Kimio Miyake defines the turning point in his professional and personal life as taking place in the Philippines in 1983." I was dining at a terrace restaurant above the sea, and there were naked children on the rocks below diving for coins thrown by visitors. One...
Japan Times
Reference / Special Presentations / WITNESS TO WAR
Jun 6, 2008

Women's postwar triumph recalled

19th in a series

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