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Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Jul 18, 2008

I ain't afraid of those ghosts

There are lots of yureizaka (phantom slopes) in Tokyo, and at least seven of them have been spooking lily-livered pedestrians since the Edo Period (1603-1867). The slope I head for, in broad daylight, slants through the somnolent graveyards of old temples from the early 1600s. It's a beastly summer day,...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 18, 2008

Can iPhone infiltrate Japan's mobile tribes?

Kentaro Tohyama is proud of his new iPhone. He stood overnight in line to get it when the device became available in Japan for the first time. But the 29-year-old computer engineer isn't about to part with his made-in-Japan cell phone either.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2008

Master tells public to draw on karate

Tadanori Nobetsu hands a letter to his karate students every month containing a warning of deteriorating Japanese morality and encouraging them to maintain their discipline. At his dojo, he requires "rei" (civility) and "aisatsu" (greeting.)
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 18, 2008

Rei Harakami and Kahimi Karie

During the 3rd-anniversary events at Liquidroom in Ebisu, Tokyo last August, Rei Harakami played with jazz-pop vocalist and pianist Akiko Yano in their group Yanokami. This August, the idiosyncratic, Kyoto-based electronic musician plays with multilingual singer Kahimi Karie at the same venue.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 18, 2008

Pop Levi goes slightly wrong

"It was a very obsessive thing," says Jonathan Pop Levi about the recording of his new album of warped pop music, "Never Never Love." "It took six days a week for 12 hours a day for four months to get it to sound that way. Especially in the vocals; if a computer could do a perfect impression of a human,...
SOCCER
Jul 17, 2008

AC Milan completes deal for Ronaldinho

MILAN, Italy (AP) Ronaldinho was transferred to AC Milan late Tuesday, leaving FC Barcelona after the club's new coach declared the team would plan for next season without the Brazilian playmaker.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 17, 2008

Aoi Miyazaki: from TV princess to rescuer of trafficked children

Reader Mail
Jul 17, 2008

Water hardly the worst option

The July 13 editorial "Real cost of bottled water" makes the well-worn argument that bottled water exacts a heavy toll on the planet and seems to suggest that vending machines run 24 hours a day to deliver a liquid that we could get from our taps.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 16, 2008

Al Gore and the green inquisition

COPENHAGEN — When it comes to global warming, extreme scare stories abound. Al Gore, for example, famously claimed that a whopping 6 meters of sea-level rise would flood major cities around the world.
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Jul 15, 2008

Tanuki genitals

Dear Alice,
COMMENTARY
Jul 15, 2008

Guantanamo ruling may end the nightmare

NEW YORK — The recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that recognizes the rights of Guantanamo detainees to challenge their detention in U.S. civilian courts is a serious rebuke of the controversial detention policies of the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush. It also may pave the way for the...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 13, 2008

Ukraine's path will set the course for Russia

MOSCOW — Russia and the West are losing each other yet again. The magnetic attraction and repulsion between the two has been going on for centuries. Indeed, historians have counted as many as 25 such cycles since the reign of Czar Ivan III.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jul 13, 2008

Self-praise abounds in the pages of wheeler-dealers' own obituaries

Japanese politicians are known for their perseverance and ingenuity, and the Diet may well be the last place in the country still offering lifetime employment.
Reader Mail
Jul 13, 2008

Treated better than the natives

I don't get it. Do I live in a different part of the galaxy from professional victims like Debito Arudou and others who whine about alleged discrimination in Japan? Certainly, Japanese suffer from narrow perspectives, stereotypes and ethnocentrism -- like people the world over, but no worse.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ROAD
Jul 13, 2008

Honda makes more than a scooter, with not enough scoot

With gasoline prices skyrocketing, car drivers are increasingly turning to two wheels to lower their fuel bills. New riders often start out on scooters because, unlike motorcycles, they have automatic transmissions, making them a cinch to operate. The DN-01 is a bold attempt by Honda to bridge the gap...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 12, 2008

Toyota to idle U.S. pickup, SUV lines

Facing surging gasoline prices and strong demand for fuel-efficient cars, Toyota Motor Corp. will suspend production of large pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles in the United States from early August to November.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jul 12, 2008

Aoki makes big impact

For the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, who have made substantial changes to their roster over the past year or two, Norichika Aoki serves as a stabilizer on and off the field.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jul 12, 2008

Leaving the Beijing bird's nest behind

BEIJING — Ai Weiwei, China's most famous living artist, lives and works in Caochangdi, which used to be a village to the east of Beijing but is now, thanks to the city's endless creep — locals call it Beijing Tan Da Bing, or spreading pancake — just another crowded suburb. It takes a long time...
BUSINESS
Jul 12, 2008

Consumer gloom hits record level

Higher gasoline prices and food costs have eroded the spending power of Japanese consumers and sent them to their most pessimistic level ever, according to records that have been kept for the past 26 years.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight