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Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 24, 2006

Watch this MySpace

W ith sites already running in Europe and Australia, U.S. social networking site MySpace finally landed in Japan last week, squaring up against the all-conquering homegrown service Mixi.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 24, 2006

Foo Fighters

Seriously, what's left for Dave Grohl to do in the world of rock 'n' roll? After playing in tiny, dilapidated clubs with hardcore punk act Scream in the late 1980s, he kicked off the '90s by drumming for one of the decade's most influential groups, Nirvana. Then, in the mid-'90s, Grohl formed his current...
BUSINESS
Nov 23, 2006

Trade surplus down on weaker U.S. economy

Japan's trade surplus in October shrank 24.8 percent to 614.7 billion yen from the same month last year due to weaker growth in exports to the United States, the Finance Ministry said Wednesday. The decline in the surplus was the first in three months.
BASKETBALL
Nov 22, 2006

'Samurai' unleashes excitement on court

Nobody was quite sure about the final score, or about who scored how many points, how many assists they had or how many rebounds they grabbed. Because after all, those were probably the least important things the fans cared about.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 21, 2006

Label not enough for a healthy diet

Next time you go grocery shopping, take a closer look at the beverages, yogurt and other packaged foods on display in the store you're visiting. You'll most likely find a number of products bearing a special logo and a carefully worded sentence touting their health benefits.
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2006

Woman last seen in '77 finally listed as abductee

The government on Monday formally added Kyoko Matsumoto, who disappeared in Yonago, Tottori Prefecture, at age 29 in 1977, to the official list of Japanese abducted by North Korea.
COMMENTARY
Nov 20, 2006

Know the goals of military intervention

In a Washington Post article reprinted in these pages on Oct. 10, "The humanitarian war myth," Eric Posner writes: "If the United Nations were to have its way, the Iraqi debacle would be just the first in a series of such wars -- the effect of a well-meaning but ill-considered effort to make humanitarian...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Nov 19, 2006

Scourge of skinnies stands firm on fleshiness

A third of the models who appeared in Madrid's civic-sponsored Cibeles collections last year were banned from the same fashion event this September. The move -- which triggered debate in and beyond fashion circles around the world -- came after city officials declared that the women's extremely underweight...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Nov 19, 2006

Russian dolls warble in concert

On a recent Saturday evening in Tokyo's Shibuya district, I had the privilege of being the audience at a concert by 12 students from Tokyu Seminar BE school of continuing education.
LIFE / Travel
Nov 17, 2006

Hirafu-Niseko's powder melts hearts

There are many international-class skiing resorts in Hokkaido, but perhaps none to rival Hirafu-Niseko. Located roughly 100 km west of Sapporo, the area, which is especially popular among ski-loving Australians and expats, is home to three skiing areas: Niseko Annupuri, Niseko Higashiyama and Niseko...
EDITORIALS
Nov 17, 2006

Dip in personal spending

Japan's economy in the July-September period grew at an annualized 2.0 percent in real terms from the previous quarter, roughly twice as vigorously as the average growth forecast by private-sector economists. While the economy expanded for the seventh straight quarter and financial markets, including...
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2006

Defense talks with China on the way

Japan and China will lay the groundwork later this month for resuming discussions between their defense chiefs after a three-year hiatus, officials in Tokyo said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Nov 15, 2006

Economy logs 2% annualized growth

The economy grew at an annualized 2.0 percent in the July-September period -- roughly twice as fast as the average forecast -- as strong corporate spending and exports offset weak private consumption, the Cabinet Office said Tuesday.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Nov 14, 2006

Decision time for Ogasawara

Winning the inaugural World Baseball Classic, Pacific League championship, Japan Series, and Asia Series, means the 2006 season has been the best year in Michihiro Ogasawara's baseball career without any doubt.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 12, 2006

Slugger Lee's four-year contract with Giants a big surprise

The news about Korean slugger Lee Seung Yeop signing a four-year contract with the Yomiuri Giants, announced Nov. 5, seemingly came out of the blue and is rather surprising, considering the first baseman's longtime aspirations to play in the major leagues.
COMMENTARY
Nov 12, 2006

Time-warp fantasies about Nicaragua

LONDON -- "Ortega is a tiger who has not changed his stripes," warned U.S. ambassador Paul Trivelli before the former revolutionary leader won back the presidency of Nicaragua in Monday's election. Retired U.S. Marine Col. Oliver North, who took the fall for President Ronald Reagan's administration in...
Japan Times
JAPAN / ACCORD STILL IN LIMBO
Nov 10, 2006

Back to square one after Okinawa poll?

OSAKA -- In early 2005, senior U.S. officials had become fed up with Okinawa.
JAPAN
Nov 10, 2006

Government had plants in five town meetings on education bill

The Cabinet Office admitted Thursday that it and the education ministry planted people at five out of eight town meetings on education reform to give government-authored statements supporting the controversial bill to revise the education law.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / COUNTER CULTURE
Nov 10, 2006

Gucci hits Ginza

Gucci's new home in Tokyo is the first store built specifically to house the Italian superbrand. Last week, Gucci opened the doors of an eight-story glass-and-steel flagship store in Ginza.
BUSINESS
Nov 10, 2006

Doyukai chief gets Zaikai Prize

Kakutaro Kitashiro, chairman of the Japan Association of Corporate Executives (Keizai Doyukai), has received the annual Zaikai Prize, awarded by the publisher of business magazine Zaikai.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 9, 2006

Going out on a limb

When Katsura Funakoshi started working in wood more than 30 years ago, it was a highly unfashionable artistic material. It didn't have the mercurial properties of paint or video, nor the modern gleam and sheen of steel or other manmade materials.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?