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BUSINESS
Sep 5, 2008

Kansai airport still struggling after 14 years

OSAKA — Fourteen years after opening and a year after its second runway was completed, Kansai airport is still struggling to survive as canceled flights and political clashes with local and central government officials leave the airport's future up in the air.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 4, 2008

Devo uphold their duty now for the future

As I sit down opposite the gray-haired man in a black shirt and glasses, someone comes to clear the clutter off the table — a stick-thin, retro-futuristic guitar that has been rigged for its strings to explode at the climax of a solo. His flame-haired partner takes a seat; he's wearing a full suit...
JAPAN
Sep 2, 2008

Ozawa to seek third DPJ term

Ichiro Ozawa of the Democratic Party of Japan announced Monday he will run for a third term as the party's president.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Sep 1, 2008

NBA trailblazer Tabuse signs for JBL's Brex

Yuta Tabuse, the first Japanese-born basketball player ever to appear in the NBA, has signed with the Link Tochigi Brex of the Japan Basketball League, team president Takashi Yamaya revealed on Sunday.
JAPAN
Sep 1, 2008

Tokyo tries to gird for major quake

Every Sept. 1, Tokyo residents are reminded of the tragedy of the Great Kanto Earthquake, which claimed more than 100,000 lives that fateful day in 1923. Now designated Disaster Prevention Day, it is a time for annual quake and fire drills.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 30, 2008

A Welshman's 10,000-km tale of Japan

What on earth would induce anyone to cycle around a country for six months?
SOCCER
Aug 30, 2008

Man United to face Celtic in all-British clash

MONTE CARLO (AP) Defending champion Manchester United will face British rival Celtic in the group stage of the Champions League.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 29, 2008

Wire "Object 47"

U.K. postpunk band Wire always seemed to view their contemporaries in the 1970s music scene with an air of disdain, and while all around we are now treated to the unedifying spectacle of old heroes re-forming and cashing in on their legacies, Wire have been quietly following their own path all along,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 29, 2008

'Youth Without Youth'

Ever since he first hit it big with "The Godfather" way back in 1972, Francis Ford Coppola has made noises about saying goodbye to Hollywood, taking the money and making small, uncompromising independent films. With the exception of "The Conversation" (1974), that never happened, with Coppola seemingly...
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2008

Aid worker found slain in Afghanistan

A Japanese Embassy official in Afghanistan confirmed Wednesday that a body found earlier in the day was that of kidnapped Japanese aid worker Kazuya Ito, the Foreign Ministry said.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 27, 2008

What the West can do to support Georgia

TBILISI — Given the tremendous damage that Russia has inflicted on Georgia, it is easy to conclude that the Kremlin has achieved its objectives. But, so far, Russia has failed in its real goal — getting rid of Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgia's prodemocracy, pro-American president. For three years, Russia...
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2008

Ota downplays flap over funding

A political support group for agriculture minister Seiichi Ota declared more than ¥23 million in office fees in 2005 and 2006 in its annual political funding reports for an office registered at the Tokyo home of his ministerial secretary, even though no rent money was actually paid.
SPORTS / ODDS AND EVENS
Aug 24, 2008

Japan leaves Beijing with nothing but regrets

BEIJING — What went wrong for "Hoshino Japan" at the 2008 Summer Olympics?
CULTURE / Books
Aug 24, 2008

A tensely wrought tale of true believers

PROMENADE OF THE GODS by Koji Suzuki, translated by Takami Nieda. New York: Vertical Inc., 2008, 320 pp., $24.95 (cloth) Late one night, cram school operator Shirow Murakami is awakened by a cryptic phone call from an old school chum, Kunio Matsuoka, requesting that he move Matsuoka's car. Murakami is...
CULTURE / Books
Aug 24, 2008

Some lessons from Japan's burst bubble

HOLY GRAIL OF MACROECONOMICS: Lessons from Japan's Great Recession, by Richard C. Koo. John Wiley & Sons (Asia) Pte. Ltd., 2008, 296 pp., $34.95 (cloth) Hit by a devastating housing slump, billions of dollars of subprime losses and rising oil prices, the U.S. economy appears headed for recession, taking...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 22, 2008

The ambivalent legacy of a would-be savior

NEW YORK — Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's resignation brings to an end one of the more interesting curiosities of subcontinental politics: For more than four years, Pakistan had a president who was born in India, while India had a Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh) who was born in Pakistan.
BUSINESS
Aug 22, 2008

Exports rebound as China outbuys U.S.

Japan's exports rebounded in July as China replaced the United States as the nation's largest customer but couldn't prevent the trade surplus plunging 87 percent to ¥91.10 billion on surging imports due to higher oil prices.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Aug 22, 2008

Get familiar with the 'G Mark' concept

Earlier this month, Toyota wowed technology watchers when it launched its Winglet — a one-person standup motorized transporter similar to, though more compact than, a Segway. The public will get one of their first glimpses of the machine when it features at Tokyo Big Sight this weekend at Japan's biggest...
BUSINESS
Aug 22, 2008

Suzuki to re-enter Brazil market

Suzuki Motor Corp., Japan's second-largest minicar maker, will start selling vehicles in Brazil in October after abandoning the market in 2003.
Japan Times
SPORTS / ODDS AND EVENS
Aug 21, 2008

China taking small steps to baseball success

BEIJING — Baseball is experiencing growing pains in China. In order to take a big step forward, China needs time to establish a foundation for the future.
CULTURE / Film
Aug 21, 2008

Christian Bale: a peek behind the Dark Knight's mask

Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 20, 2008

Redress eludes non-U.S. internees

LIMA — Augusto Kague was only 12 when the U.S. government reached far south to his Peruvian farming town and tore his family apart.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 17, 2008

Indonesians put to the test on the job in Japan

When the first group of potential nurses and caregivers arrived from Indonesia on Aug. 7 as part of a new economic partnership agreement (EPA) with Japan, the numbers were confusing. According to the agreement, Japan would accept 500 workers in the first year and facilities throughout Japan said they...

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’