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Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 9, 2008

Nature stifling wind power in Japan

CHOSHI, Chiba Pref. — About a 2 1/2-hour drive east of central Tokyo, on the edge of the Kanto plain, stands one of the closest wind farms to the capital, whirring away as it generates up to 25,500 kw of clean electricity.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Jul 8, 2008

Pounds equal prizes

There are several topics of note coming out of the upcoming Grand Sumo Tournament in Nagoya.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / G8 SUMMIT 2008
Jul 8, 2008

Boom time for Hokkaido ski resort area

NISEKO, Hokkaido — Playing golf on a clear summer day in the shadow of Mount Yotei, otherwise known as Ezofuji, or Hokkaido Fuji, may be an ideal way to spend a vacation. But simply walking around the premises of Hilton Niseko Village, which opened July 1 in Hokkaido's resort area of Niseko, seems...
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jul 8, 2008

Beware the foreigner as guinea pig

Anywhere in the world, noncitizens have fewer legal rights than citizens. Japan's Supreme Court would agree: On June 2, in a landmark case granting citizenship to Japanese children of unmarried Philippines mothers, judges ruled that Japanese citizenship is necessary "for the protection of basic human...
Japan Times
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jul 6, 2008

Hillman aims for Sapporo-like success in K.C.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Last November at his sayonara party in Tokyo, I semi-promised outgoing Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters manager Trey Hillman I would travel to Kansas City in 2008 to see him in action as skipper of the American League Royals. Last month, I made good on that promise.
JAPAN / G8 SUMMIT SPECIAL: JAPANESE ECONOMY
Jul 6, 2008

Time for Japan to take technological lead in combating global warming

At the World Economic Forum on East Asia in Kuala Lumpur on June 15 to 16, participants called for a fresh paradigm for dialogue to tackle mounting global risks, particularly climate change that threatens the global environment. They said global risks have reached a point where the advanced countries...
JAPAN
Jul 6, 2008

Toyota leads charge for new 'green' power source

As the world warms and gasoline prices rise, Japanese automakers are gearing up their efforts to develop vehicles that emit less or zero carbon dioxide.
EDITORIALS
Jul 5, 2008

Bleak economic outlook

The Bank of Japan's latest Tankan survey covering the April-June period shows that clouds are hanging over the Japanese economy. Business confidence among large manufacturers, for example, has deteriorated for three consecutive quarters. Their diffusion index — the percentage of firms reporting a favorable...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 5, 2008

Linguistics and lumber strike chord

Checking out of his hotel in Shimbashi, with time to spare before a flight back to Vancouver, Steve Kaufmann stops to read a sign in the lobby, which reads: "I have refused the entrance into a room of these other than the visitor of stay. Please give me a meeting in the lobby. Thank you."
JAPAN
Jul 5, 2008

Only world-record-setting Japanese plane remembered

On the evening of May 15, 1938, the Koken Long Range Monoplane, known as the Kokenki in Japan, landed on a runway in Kisarazu, Chiba Prefecture, to great public acclaim.
COMMENTARY
Jul 3, 2008

Malaysia: deja vu all over again

Reading the first reports of the accusations against Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, I had to check the date at the top of the page. Has there been a time slip? Is this file 10 years old?
MORE SPORTS
Jul 3, 2008

Former Indiana coach Pont dies

John Pont, who guided Indiana to its only Rose Bowl appearance 40 years ago and also coached at Northwestern, Yale and Miami of Ohio, has died. He was 80.
BUSINESS
Jul 2, 2008

Sentiment tanks in latest 'tankan'

Business sentiment among large manufacturers plummeted in June for the third straight quarter, with rising oil and raw material prices gouging into profits, according to the Bank of Japan's "tankan" survey released Tuesday.
COMMENTARY
Jul 1, 2008

Iraqi refugees desperate for a haven nation

NEW YORK — Several recent reports on the situation in Iraq draw attention to the desperate plight of nearly 5 million Iraqi refugees. If the situation is not better addressed, hundreds of thousands of lives, including women and children, will be jeopardized. The world cannot continue to turn deaf ears...
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.
EDITORIALS
Jun 28, 2008

The case against Mr. Sahashi

Mr. Nozomu Sahashi once built Japan's largest English-language chain. But the former president of Nova Corp. and one other former Nova official were arrested Tuesday on suspicion of misusing some ¥320 million deposited by employees into a welfare fund. Their arrests are expected to help unravel what...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jun 27, 2008

Revel in Lock's fusion of dance

For more than 25 years, the Canadian troupe La La La Human Steps has been hailed as one of the world's leading and most radical contemporary dance companies since it was founded by Moroccan-born Edouard Lock in 1980.
EDITORIALS
Jun 27, 2008

Unrelenting suicide toll

The year 2007 saw 33,093 suicides in Japan, with the number of people taking their own lives topping 30,000 for the 10th straight year. This is a sad situation. Some suicides may have been caused by strictly personal problems, but the National Police Agency's statistics hint that social factors also...
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.
CULTURE / Music
Jun 26, 2008

CSS put their crazy show back on the road

It is January, and squeezed away upstairs in their favorite sushi restaurant in downtown Sao Paulo are the six members of CSS plus a stray boyfriend. (Turns out he belongs to producer-cum-drummer Adriano Cintra, the only fella in the group.) After 18 months touring the world, they are back home in Brazil...
BUSINESS
Jun 22, 2008

Sanyo offers to fix 880,000 ovens

Sanyo Electric Co. will offer free repairs for more than 880,000 microwave ovens sold in Japan to fix a wiring flaw that might cause a fire.
Reader Mail
Jun 22, 2008

Deplorable claim about Bhutto

Regarding the June 2 Washington Post article "Bhutto gave key nuclear data to Pyongyang" (which is based on conversations that London-based Indian journalist Shyam Bhatia claims to have had with former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 2003): It is illogical to believe that an international...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK
Jun 21, 2008

Southpaw trio going the distance to help Hawks

Tsuyoshi Wada was pitching a complete game against the Yokohama BayStars on Sunday and there wasn't anything anyone could do about it. Not Fukuoka Softbank Hawks pitching coach Tadashi Sugimoto and not the BayStars.

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’