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Japan Times
BUSINESS / TAKING A CHANCE
Oct 17, 2007

Florist brings affordable flowers to the masses

Hideaki Inoue, president of the company that runs the Aoyama Flower Market chain, earlier in life had no particular interest in flowers. But today, the former accountant cannot live without them.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 14, 2007

To embrace political renewal or cling to continuity

Every four years Americans want to believe they can reinvent themselves. Elections for the presidency offer them the opportunity, as they faithfully see it, to renounce the past and "get this country moving again."
EDITORIALS
Oct 13, 2007

Empty gestures on climate change

U.S. President George W. Bush has been hailed for a decisive change in his thinking about climate change. After rejecting the Kyoto treaty early in his presidency, he no longer questions the fact of "climate change" and has attempted to claim a leading role in the international fight to combat this problem....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 12, 2007

'0093 Jo Heika no Kusakari Masao'

The Japanese film industry makes many comedies, but few parodies of the "Airplane," "Naked Gun" or "Austin Powers" variety. This is puzzling, since Japanese comedy directors have been borrowing freely from Hollywood for generations, including Koki Mitani ("Uchoten Hotel"), who worships at the altar of...
COMMENTARY
Oct 11, 2007

'Silly summit' produced serious results

LOS ANGELES — It sure opened up as one big oddball of a summit.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Oct 9, 2007

ODA shrinking but still key tool

Official development assistance is an important diplomatic tool for Japan, which relies heavily on other countries for resources, food and many other economic necessities.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 5, 2007

A globalist rapper pauses for breath

Having delivered one of the defining albums of 2007, M.I.A is one of the most talked-about artists in pop today. Stuffed with politically informed dancefloor bangers, "Kala" is an album that simultaneously appeals to the cerebral and primal.
JAPAN
Oct 3, 2007

Komura favors flexibility, patience in Japan's response to foreign crises

," the new foreign minister said in an interview. At the same time, Komura stressed that the government will decide how it reacts to the Myanmar situation only after Deputy Foreign Minister Mitoji Yabunaka returns from Myanmar and reports to the Cabinet.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Sep 30, 2007

Asashoryu fiasco illustrates incompetence of sumo's leaders

Enough already.
COMMENTARY
Sep 28, 2007

The politics of assassination

LONDON — The assassination of Lebanese politician Antoine Ghanem on Sept. 19 is likely to be used, predictably, to further U.S. and Israeli interests in the region. Most Western and some Arab media have argued that Syria is the greatest beneficiary from the death of Ghanem, a member of the Phalange...
JAPAN
Sep 26, 2007

Safe picks mark new Cabinet lineup

and Shigeru Ishiba enter the Prime Minister's Official Residence on Tuesday evening after being tapped to serve as foreign minister and defense minister, respectively, by Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda. KYODO PHOTOS
JAPAN
Sep 26, 2007

'Last samurai' still has support in thankful Japan

The stage may be set for former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori to be tried for human rights violations and corruption charges in Peru, but many Japanese still see him as a hero.
EDITORIALS
Sep 26, 2007

Rise of urban populations

The 2006 revision of U.N. population estimates and projections made public earlier this year showed that the world's population, now 6.67 billion, will reach 9.19 billion in 2050. Calling attention to the aging of the world population, the United Nations said that in the more developed regions, the percentage...
JAPAN
Sep 25, 2007

Fukuda's pragmatism to prevail

will surely mean a step back from constitutional revision," said political analyst Takao Toshikawa, editor of the newsletter TokyoInsideline. That is as much due to timing as any personal convictions Fukuda may hold. Following the setback to Abe's LDP in the July election, the LDP-New Komeito ruling...
JAPAN
Sep 24, 2007

LDP bets on dour political blue blood to lead its recovery

Yasuo Fukuda is hardly the most dynamic politician in Japan. Saggy-jowled and owlish in his trademark glasses, the 71-year-old son of a former prime minister prefers gray suits, classical music and moderate, pro-U.S. policies.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language
Sep 23, 2007

Linguists gutted by body-talk blight

Imagine a nation of people who no longer know where their center lies. That's what Japan has become in recent decades.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 21, 2007

'The Good German'

Director Steven Soderbergh has a habit of confounding expectations. After his win at Cannes and subsequent commercial success with "Sex, Lies, and Videotape" in 1989, Soderbergh released a series of increasingly opaque films, culminating in 1996's crackpot "Schizopolis." This nearly ended his career,...
JAPAN
Sep 20, 2007

Mugen guilty of tax evasion

had little awareness that (his company) had to pay taxes," Tanaka said, dismissing the acquittal issued by the Saitama District Court in May. "His motive was to secure funds for inheritance tax that he would have to pay in the future." The high court ruled that Hirokawa, 64, took the lead in the tax...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 18, 2007

Looking on the bright side

Last in a two-part series
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 14, 2007

LDP factions huddle to choose new leader

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party scrambled to find a successor to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday as former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda and Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga expressed their intention to vie for the LDP presidency and thus the prime ministership.

Longform

Growing families are being priced out of Tokyo’s condo market, forced to choose between downtown convenience and suburban space.
Is living in central Tokyo still affordable?