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JAPAN
Aug 31, 2009

Victor puts on the glitz, with dash of humble

The Democratic Party of Japan victory was large enough to leave a grin even on the face of "iron-armed" deputy leader Ichiro Ozawa.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 29, 2009

Gasoline stations? Pumping gas is really a physical job

Whenever I go to the mainland, I am reminded of how different life is from our small island in the Seto Inland Sea.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Aug 29, 2009

Omiya's Neretljak makes it clear that compensation comes first

SHIKI, Saitama Pref. — As the European transfer window slams shut for another summer, Omiya Ardija's Croatian defender Mato Neretljak can afford himself a wry smile.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 28, 2009

'Ballad: Namonaki Koi no Uta'

Takashi Yamazaki was known primarily as a computer-graphics whiz when he directed the ensemble drama "Always Sanchome no Yuhi" ("Always: Sunset on Third Street," 2005). True to form, the recreation of 1950s Tokyo by Yamazaki's team at the Shirogumi effects house was hyper-realistically detailed, while...
Japan Times
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Aug 27, 2009

Double Dutch challenge too good an opportunity to waste

Catania striker Takayuki Morimoto looks set for his first national team callup when Takeshi Okada names his squad for next week's tour of the Netherlands on Friday, but don't expect many more new faces.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Aug 23, 2009

On a high road of old

In stark contrast to many of today's passport-toting Japanese, their compatriots of old weren't a well-traveled bunch.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 14, 2009

'Cadillac Records'

After Hollywood's huge success with "Dreamgirls," the thinly fictionalized story of legendary soul/R&B label Motown, along comes "Cadillac Records." This musical biopic goes one step further back in the history of black American music, and comes up with a thinly fictionalized look at legendary blues...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 13, 2009

Berlusconi's scandals are no laughing matter

ROME — Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's political and sexual exploits make headlines around the world, and not just in the tabloid press. These stories would be no more than funny — which they are certainly are — if they were not so damaging to Italy and revelatory of the country's immobile...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 7, 2009

Choosing the slow lane en route to free trade

LONDON, INTERNATIONAL POLICY NETWORK — This week India and South Korea sign an agreement that they say will reduce barriers and boost trade between our two important economies. But the reality of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership (CEPA) is in the fine print.
JAPAN
Aug 1, 2009

Aso unveils LDP policy platform

Prime Minister Taro Aso revealed the campaign platform for his ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Friday, pledging to bring about 2 percent economic growth in the second half of 2010 and boost Japan's per capita income to among the highest in the world within 10 years.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 24, 2009

He can't seem to escape from the museum

Ben Stiller is back in the museum. Specifically, in "Night at the Museum — Battle of the Smithsonian."
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Jul 19, 2009

A different kind of hardball

It's as English as dancing round a Maypole on the village green. But, wedged between a rugby pitch and fields full of practicing Little Leaguers, the University of Tokyo Cricket Club and their counterparts across town from Chuo are doing their best to put this most civilized of pastimes on Japan's sporting...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 16, 2009

More challenges await Hillary Clinton in Asia

SINGAPORE — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is again scheduled to travel to Asia this month to meet foreign ministers at the ASEAN Regional Forum, and to visit India. On her first Asian trip in February, she provided a welcome contrast to the past with her openness to others' views, her willingness...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 15, 2009

Anatomy of an Iranian revolution delayed

YPSILANTI, Mich. — The ongoing conflict between Iran's rulers and the Iranian public is the result of a head-on collision between two contradictory forces. In recent years, public attitudes in Iran have become more liberal. At the same time, power has shifted from conservative pragmatism toward a much...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 10, 2009

'Wallace & Gromit in 'A Matter of Loaf and Death''/'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'

It's summertime, and the livin' is easy; cicadas are chirping and skirts are riding high. And we all know what that means for the cinema: a wave of sequels and franchise movies to last us until there's a chill in the air once again. The "Transformers" sequel is already out there, proving that the fanboy...
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Jul 9, 2009

Indecision over Chamusca can only worsen Oita's plight

After winning the Nabisco Cup and guiding his club to a fourth-place league finish last season, few jobs in the J. League looked as secure as Oita Trinita manager Pericles Chamusca's.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Jul 7, 2009

Hobbs replaced as Japan's basketball coach

The Japanese national basketball team almost seems cursed. Every time it tries to move forward, there is some kind of disturbance.
COMMENTARY
Jul 1, 2009

Tough to thwart North Korean arms exports

The cargo ship Kang Nam 1 has long been on a watch-list of North Korean vessels suspected of illicit trading. But it recently emerged from the shadows at the center of a cat-and-mouse game in Asian waters, tracked by U.S. warships, maritime reconnaissance planes and satellites under a United Nations...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 30, 2009

Older, smaller population to impact Japan's choices

— The next few months will be crucial for Japan's defense and security policies. The National Defense Program Guidelines (NDPG), which outline the framework for national security policy, are due by yearend. This in turn provides the foundation for the Mid-Term Defense Program, which translates that...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 27, 2009

Asia and the climate crisis

MANILA — The latest round of negotiations on a new global climate change agreement that recently concluded in Bonn showed promising signs that governments everywhere realize the urgency of cooperative action to address this global challenge.
Reader Mail
Jun 25, 2009

Good law gets public consensus

Regarding the June 20 editorial "Recognition of brain death": The Lower House's passage of the new bill is a very welcome step in the right direction, and the editorial misses the mark by falling back on a tired, old reason for not supporting this measure — a supposed lack of "public consensus."
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jun 21, 2009

Tokyo spurned in the 'ultra miracle' of new film's linguistic embrace

On June 8, the evening edition of the Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported on a fascinating phenomenon — one that may be a harbinger of a broad cultural and social movement in Japan.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.