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Reader Mail
Apr 24, 2008

How to promote Japanese

The April 17 article "Tenfold boost in overseas Japanese language centers planned" unfortunately makes the Japanese government look rather childish and pathetic as it continues to try to one-up China in areas that are beyond its control. A 10-fold increase in language schools is a good thing, but one...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 24, 2008

Yet to have peaked?

Japanese artists, as they age, often benefit from the "Hokusai Effect." This is the notion, based on a famous quote from the great ukiyo-e (genre painting) artist, that they only attain real greatness well beyond the normal retirement age for other professions.
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2008

Mainstream embraces street dance

Jumping to a heavy rap music soundtrack, Taisuke Nonaka kicked out his legs and launched into a one-handed helicopterlike body spin that had the crowd and the judges whooping and waving their fists in appreciation.
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2008

NGOs tell Japan to show leadership at G8 summit

KYOTO — This year's Group of Eight summit in Toyako, Hokkaido, could end up a failure unless Japan demonstrates strong leadership and the political will to forge agreements among the members on issues ranging from climate change to African development, international NGOs warned Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Apr 24, 2008

Exports grow 2.3%, worst pace since '05

Japan's exports rose in March at their slowest pace in almost three years as shipments to Asia lost momentum and the U.S. slowdown deepened.
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2008

Lawmakers visit Yasukuni festival

A group of lawmakers from the ruling and opposition parties paid a visit to Yasukuni Shrine on Tuesday for its annual spring festival, just one day after South Korean President Lee Myung Bak said in Tokyo he would focus on building friendly ties with Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Apr 23, 2008

Tech to get people talking

Say what you want: Why use a tiny keypad to communicate when the human voice can do the job? NTT DoCoMo last week launched a new mobile phone from Fujitsu, the F884i, that will put the joy back into talking to your e-mail contacts. Employing the new FOMA Raku Raku Phone Premium system, users enter their...
OLYMPICS
Apr 22, 2008

Kitajima headlines 31-member Olympic team

Kosuke Kitajima was nearly speechless on the podium. He will give all the answers in Beijing.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 22, 2008

Veteran Nomo designated for assignment by Royals

The Kansas City Royals designated veteran right-hander Hideo Nomo for assignment Sunday while recalling right-hander Luke Hochevar from Triple-A Omaha to be the day's starter against the Oakland Athletics.
JAPAN
Apr 22, 2008

Nonproliferation essential to future of nuclear power: experts

Full-fledged reinforcement of the international nuclear nonproliferation framework is of vital importance for facilitating peaceful use of nuclear power and thereby for addressing the pressing global challenges of energy supply and global warming, according to a private policy study group.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Apr 22, 2008

Do you expect the Nagano leg of the Olympic torch relay to go smoothly?

COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Apr 21, 2008

Is Japan's bureaucracy still living in the 17th century?

The roots of both the Japanese and French bureaucratic systems can be traced to Jean-Baptiste Colbert, who as controller general under "the sun king" Louis XIV was instrumental in ushering in mercantilism to Europe and exerted great influence over the government control of the private sector.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Apr 21, 2008

Squabbling ruined chance for private-sector BOJ chief

The dispute over replacing the Bank of Japan governor, whose seat was left vacant when Toshihiko Fukui's five-year term ended March 19, was finally settled April 9 when Deputy Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa was officially promoted to chief of the central bank.
Reader Mail
Apr 20, 2008

Greasing the wrong wheels

In "Leviathan" Thomas Hobbes wrote, "Unnecessary laws are not good laws, but traps for money." These words apply to the tentative law of road construction included in the gasoline tax. The word "temporary" means "semi-permanent" in the crooked world of politics, and this huge budget has snowballed to...
Reader Mail
Apr 20, 2008

Lunatic fringe runs rampant

Regarding the controversy over the "Yasukuni" documentary by Li Ying, why must the theaters cancel screenings of the film -- and their freedom of speech rights -- because rightwing sound trucks will "inconvenience" their neighbors? Surely it is the responsibility of the police to prevent this inconvenience....
Reader Mail
Apr 20, 2008

Pets deserve better food

Regarding the April 4 article "Be wary: It's a dog-eat-dog food world out there:" This article on pet food indicated that in previous years pets such as dogs and cats were fed on scrap food. As a result of being fed on remnant food, pets live relatively short lives. But scientists have since developed...
Reader Mail
Apr 20, 2008

Loosen Net restrictions in China

The April 6 article "China allows access to English Wikipedia" mentions that the Chinese government has finally allowed people to access the English version of Wikipedia. On the other hand, there are still great numbers of Web sites that remain blocked.
CULTURE / Books
Apr 20, 2008

A Tibetan terror rules the waves

THE WHEEL OF DARKNESS by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child. New York: Warner Books, 2007, 388 pp., $25.99 (cloth) Tales of suspense that incorporate obscure aspects of the supernatural from ancient civilizations have long enjoyed a popular following. Take William Peter Blatty's "The Exorcist" (1971), a...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Apr 20, 2008

Belly-laughs boffin puts mirth to the test

When people laugh, it is often their cheery sounds or the wrinkles around their eyes that mark out their mirth. Yoji Kimura believes, however, that the key to determining the nature of laughter lies in the diaphragm.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 20, 2008

Notes on 'Later Term Elderly People Medical Treatment' joke

Stop me if you've heard this one. A bunch of elderly people are sitting in the waiting room of a doctor's office, catching up on neighborhood gossip and their own health woes. As Mrs. Sato goes on about her lumbago, Mr. Kobayashi interrupts. "Where's Suzuki-san?" he says. "He's usually here by now."...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Apr 19, 2008

Liverpool perseveres as owners air dirty laundry in public

LONDON — It says much about the new wave of Premier League owners that a hugely popular manager who feels his position is being undermined is considering his future despite continued success, while one jeered by the club's fans seems set to remain in charge.

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