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JAPAN
Jul 6, 2009

Aso unlikely to make much of a splash at G8

Birds of a feather will flock to L'Aquila, Italy, for the Group of Eight summit beginning Wednesday, with premiers in attendance including embattled British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the scandal-ridden Italian leader Silvio Berlusconi.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 6, 2009

Price of centralized power

MOSCOW — The emergence of a Kremlin leader, President Dmitry Medvedev, without a KGB background, combined with the economic crisis, has inspired talk that when Barack Obama visits Moscow this week, America's president will be seeing a country on the verge of a new political thaw, a revived perestroika....
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jul 5, 2009

Double standards fly high when it comes to bombing of civilians

Sad to say, every generation for the past century has known its own war — wars that have touched so many millions through the loss or traumatization of relatives, friends or fellow citizens.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jul 5, 2009

Teen vampire drama, Kusanagi's return and a vengeful spirit

Because supernatural adolescents are staple features of manga and anime, it's unlikely that the new Fuji TV drama series, "Koishite Akuma" ("The Loving Demon"; Tues., 10 p.m.), was directly inspired by the worldwide success of the teen vampire saga, "Twilight," but that success certainly won't hurt its...
Reader Mail
Jul 5, 2009

Don't make whales the scapegoat

According to the anonymous writer of the June 28 letter "Whaling subsidies are not wasted," whales are consuming a large majority of the fish in the oceans. Unfortunately, the author seems to have the facts wrong. There are innumerable accounts of oceans, bays and rivers teeming with fish before the...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 5, 2009

The Shanxi trilogy: films that never made it back home

Sometimes called the most significant of the current generation of Chinese film directors, Jia Zhangke (b. 1970) enjoys the distinction of never having had some of his finest work commercially shown in his own country.
Reader Mail
Jul 5, 2009

More sympathetic than Americans

Regarding Eric Hilton's June 25 letter, "Japanese is just a language": Hilton's point is well made and his observations are in line with my experiences at a college in Japan, where I have taught for four years. I think the issue he raises of the importance of respecting a target language is overlooked....
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jul 4, 2009

A look into the secrets of the Kanji family

Japanese is comprised of three syllable alphabets: kanji, hiragana and katakana. Yeah, you've heard this before. But do you know the history behind the three?
BUSINESS
Jul 4, 2009

Iraq oil minister may visit for investment talks

Iraq's oil minister may visit Tokyo next week and discuss the prospect of Japanese investment as the Middle Eastern nation plans to increase petroleum production.
EDITORIALS
Jul 3, 2009

O Canada

The Emperor and the Empress are visiting Canada and Hawaii from Friday through July 17. Their visit to Canada takes place at a good time, as Japan and Canada are celebrating the 80th anniversary of diplomatic relations. It is hoped that the visit will further strengthen the friendly and cooperative relationship...
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jul 3, 2009

A new way of experiencing Japan's old city

In a city that rightly boasts of its numerous monuments to its glorious and illustrious past, the Kaleidoscope Museum of Kyoto provides a counterpoint to the ancient capital's architectural and religious treasures.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 3, 2009

ART iT transforms into digital forum

When Tokyo-based quarterly magazine ART iT announced the discontinuation of its print edition and that all content would move online following the publishing of its June 2009 issue, it seemed like yet another example of how the popularity of the Internet had combined with a global economic recession...
CULTURE / Music
Jul 3, 2009

The world of J-pop pays tribute to the King of Pop

Michael Jackson's musical influence reached all corners of the globe — and Japan too. Artists across genres and generations have all spoken about the loss of one of the music industry's all-time greats:
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jul 3, 2009

Sometimes taboos make for good shows

Artist, curator and performer Viviennne U.H. Doan is presenting the second edition of her multifaceted event "Beautified Taboo" on July 9 at Super Deluxe, and if this version is anything like the distinctive experience that greeted patrons of the first event last July, art lovers in Tokyo are in for...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 3, 2009

'MW'

Japanese live-action films based on manga take various forms, from the silly to the serious, though few are anything like Hollywood comic-book movies, whose superheroes, with their CG-assisted superpowers, are pure wish fulfillment. It's not that the Japanese films are always less fantastic, but their...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK
Jul 3, 2009

Passed over by MLB, Inaba shines at home

Funny as it seems, being passed over for the major leagues might have been the best thing that could have happened to Atsunori Inaba.
BUSINESS
Jul 3, 2009

New economy minister vows careful approach

Although Japan has stopped sinking into its deepest recession since World War II, the economy still is shaky and must be handled with care, Yoshimasa Hayashi, the new economic and fiscal policy minister, said Thursday.
Reader Mail
Jul 2, 2009

Give the students some slack

I agree with several points made in the June 25 letter "Japanese is just a language." Specifically, I think the author is right to point out that the Japanese language is incorrectly characterized as "vague," and that it seems implausible to consider any particular human emotion as unique to a group...
Reader Mail
Jul 2, 2009

How to deal with a rising China

I respectfully disagree with Brahma Chellaney in his June 25 article, "Dancing with the dragon." As a center-left American, I agree with President Barack Obama's approach to China and would prefer that he go further. If any country is likely to become the next superpower, it is China. It is ahead of...
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Jul 2, 2009

Enigma Takahara too talented to be written off for good

A striker finally scoring his first league goal 15 games into a season wouldn't normally be greeted with murmurs of excitement, but then Naohiro Takahara's track record has earned him the benefit of the doubt.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes