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COMMENTARY
Mar 10, 2008

Get set for emissions trading

The year 2007 marked the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Kyoto Protocol; the 20th anniversary of the release of the report "Our Common Future" by the World Commission on Environment and Development, headed by former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland (the expression "sustainable development"...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 10, 2008

Freedom and music go hand in hand

NEW YORK — North Korea, officially known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, is one of the world's most oppressive, closed and vicious dictatorships. It is perhaps the last living example of pure totalitarianism — control of the state over every aspect of human life. Is such a place the...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 9, 2008

Crown Prince could lead the way in effort for mutt emancipation

Next month, the environment ministry and the health ministry will jointly implement a new law that provides subsidies to local government health centers for the feeding of abandoned or captured dogs and cats. The money is designed to make it possible for these centers to take care of the animals an extra...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 9, 2008

The art of Frances Blakemore: a love affair with Japan

AN AMERICAN ARTIST IN TOKYO: Frances Blakemore — 1906-1997, by Michiyo Morioka. Seattle: The Blakemore Foundation/University of Washington Press, 2007, 200 pp., profusely illustrated, $35 (cloth) Living more than 50 years of her life in Japan, artist Frances Blakemore was a close and sympathetic observer...
Reader Mail
Mar 9, 2008

Where is the 'Japanese Dream'?

With regard to the article from Sentaku magazine that ran in The Japan Times on Feb. 27, "Wanted: world's best minds": It seems that only foreigners who work for Japanese branches of foreign companies can make a good life in Japan. Those working directly for Japanese organizations and businesses face...
Reader Mail
Mar 9, 2008

The money issue with surrogacy

Regarding the article about a surrogate mother who gave birth to "her own grandchild": This is painful to read. Why didn't the family just choose adoption instead of a surrogate birth? I can't figure out why a couple gets so obsessed with the idea that a baby must have their own DNA. Isn't it possible...
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Mar 8, 2008

Who can steal the limelight from the Mongolian princes of sumo?

A little over a week ago, the Nihon Sumo Kyokai announced its rankings for the upcoming Haru Basho in Osaka.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 8, 2008

European or Putin expansion?

WARSAW — The merit of the Berlin Wall was that it made obvious where Europe ended. But now the question of Europe's borders has become a staple of debate in the European Union. Russian President Vladimir Putin's recent threat to aim missiles at Ukraine highlights what is at stake in that debate's outcome....
BUSINESS
Mar 8, 2008

Muto nominated as BOJ chief; DPJ unsure

With Bank of Japan Gov. Toshihiko Fukui's term expiring in 11 days, the government and ruling bloc on Friday finally nominated one of his deputies, Toshiro Muto, to replace him at the central bank.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Mar 7, 2008

Diouf gives Broncos hope

Mamadou "Madou" Diouf is strong, swift and agile on the basketball court.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 7, 2008

Disney to work with two local animators

Animation fans will soon be treated to two new cartoons sprung from collaborations between Walt Disney Co. Japan and two Japanese animation companies, the local unit of the U.S. entertainment giant said Thursday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / SHORT TAKES
Mar 7, 2008

"Penelope"

Director: Mark Palansky
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 7, 2008

'Jumper'

"Jumper" is one of those films that feels like it was a marketing strategy before it was a script. Or maybe it was one of those films where they had a cool new special effect and just needed to throw together something resembling a story to showcase it in. Or maybe it was both: create one shot of star...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 7, 2008

Booker pioneer Maschler to share publishing passions

Tom Maschler, a legendary British editor who put 13 Nobel Prize-winning authors into print, will address audiences at two events set for March 18 and 20 in Tokyo.
BUSINESS
Mar 7, 2008

Amgen buys Kyowa drug rights

Amgen Inc., the world's largest biotechnology company, will pay Japan's Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Co. as much as $520 million for the rights to a medicine that is being developed for inflammation and cancer, the two firms said Thursday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 7, 2008

Spain Iberico Bar Mon-Naka: Iberico comes to Monzen-Nakacho

It took a puzzlingly long time for Japan to catch on to the pleasures of the taperia. It should be a perfect fit since, after all, the exquisite Iberian custom of slowly whiling away the evening with tapas and drinks, one dish and one glass at a time, is so close in spirit to the izakaya tradition.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 6, 2008

New times require a new NATO strategy

BERLIN — We, former defense chiefs of staff for five countries, recently published a booklet containing proposals for a new strategy, as well as a comprehensive agenda for change.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 6, 2008

The mathematics of music

So forward-looking that it's hard to categorize him — Is he an artist? A musician? A conceptualist? — Ryoji Ikeda makes the music that we'll lull the robots to sleep with when they ultimately try to take over. Or that we'll use to convince ourselves that we are the robots.
Reader Mail
Mar 6, 2008

Shades of Orwell over Okinawa

After reading the March 1 article "U.S. anticrime steps little comfort in Okinawa," I fear I am living in an Orwellian nightmare. Charges have been dropped against U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Tyrone Hadnott and he has been remanded to U.S. authorities, but the "fear" is still out there and will be fueled...
BUSINESS / SOUTH KOREAN JOURNALIST SYMPOSIUM
Mar 6, 2008

New leader's pragmatism to define policies

New South Korean President Lee Myung Bak will pursue a "pragmatic" foreign policy that will seek to rebuild ties with the United States and Japan while taking a "carrot-and-stick" approach to North Korea, journalists from South Korea told a symposium held in Tokyo just before his inauguration.
JAPAN
Mar 6, 2008

Hu's visit faces delay until May

Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to Tokyo may have to wait until May instead of mid-April because of the increasingly bitter dispute over pesticide-tainted meat-and-vegetable 'gyoza" dumplings from China, government sources said Wednesday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / SOUTH KOREAN JOURNALIST SYMPOSIUM
Mar 6, 2008

Lee promises to look to future in his relationship with Japan

President Lee Myung Bak will seek a "mature" relationship with Japan that prioritizes economic ties and diplomatic cooperation, rather than focus on emotional issues linked to the past Japanese colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, the South Korean journalists told the Feb. 22 symposium.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League / 2008 J. LEAGUE PREVIEW
Mar 5, 2008

JEF boss Kuze optimistic despite player exodus

Many soccer teams around the world recover from losing their captain and midfield inspiration between seasons, and many would even shrug off the departure of their best defender soon after.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2008

Robots in all walks of life? Matter of time

At the Meiji University lab in a Tokyo suburb, engineering students are wiring a rubbery robot face to simulate six basic expressions: anger, fear, sadness, happiness, surprise and disgust.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 3, 2008

Keynes and the end of economic history

PARIS — Some academic works, for reasons that are at least partly obscure, leave a persistent trace in intellectual history. Such is the case with John Maynard Keynes' paper "Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren."

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji