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COMMENTARY / World
Nov 9, 2007

EU's moment of decision

BRUSSELS — Is amnesia an integral part of politics? When it comes to the treaty to reform the European Union's institutions, which will be finalized this month, recent events suggest that amnesia does play a central role.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 8, 2007

Will entry checks cross the line?

Despite government claims it is necessary to counter terrorism, a new immigration procedure obliging most foreigners to be fingerprinted and photographed upon entry to Japan has come under fire as an unwarranted invasion of privacy.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 8, 2007

Underworld outside their comfort zone

Call it a midlife crisis. Five years ago, Underworld's Karl Hyde and Rick Smith — then aged 45 and 43, respectively — took stock of their careers and realized a change was due.
SOCCER
Nov 8, 2007

Reds hang on to earn draw

Urawa Reds hung on grimly for a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their AFC Champions League final against Iran's Sepahan on Wednesday evening in Esfahan.
EDITORIALS
Nov 8, 2007

Mr. Putin's faulty history

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ratcheted up rhetoric against U.S. plans to deploy a missile shield in Europe. He recently paralleled Washington's plans with the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, considered to be the closest the world ever came to nuclear war. Although he quickly dismissed the chances...
COMMENTARY
Nov 7, 2007

Three relationships the U.S. must tend to

LOS ANGELES — Three of the largest pieces in the sprawling jigsaw puzzle known as Asia are, of course, China, India and Japan. The first is the most populous country on Earth, the second is the most populous democracy and the third is the world's second-biggest economy — and (theoretically) chief...
JAPAN
Nov 6, 2007

DPJ misses chance to come to the fore

Last Friday when Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and Ichiro Ozawa, leader of the Democratic Party of Japan, entertained a possible grand coalition, this sent shock waves through the political world only to be superseded by the chaos in the wake of Ozawa's abrupt offer Sunday to quit his party's helm.
Reader Mail
Nov 6, 2007

Perhaps the last trip to Japan

I visited Japan for two weeks last month. It had been over 20 years since I last visited. As expected I thoroughly enjoyed my stay and was looking forward to another visit within a few years, but it is extremely unlikely that I will ever step foot in Japan again if I am required to provide fingerprints...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 6, 2007

Nova's crash: readers respond

Following are responses from readers on the collapse of language school chain Nova Corp. and last week's Zeit Gist article, "Nova crash adds to 'eikaiwa' wage woes":
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 6, 2007

Vladimir Putin, part two

LONDON — Opinions about Vladimir Putin run the gamut. In the West, he is regarded as an "authoritarian," an "autocrat," even as a "dictator," while in Russia a huge majority regard him as the most "democratic" of leaders, on the grounds that he has done more than his predecessors to improve the lot...
BUSINESS
Nov 6, 2007

Takeda sees big profit rise via Actos

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., Japan's largest drugmaker, forecast its biggest jump in full-year profit in six years on sales of the best-selling Actos diabetes pill.
COMMENTARY
Nov 5, 2007

Health obstacles to African development

NEW YORK — According to the U.S. Census Bureau, by 2010 sub-Saharan Africa will have suffered 71 million deaths from AIDS. By comparison, the bubonic plague of the Middle Ages killed some 30 million people. These are staggering figures, particularly if one considers that deaths from AIDS are only one...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 5, 2007

PCs getting pushed aside by other, powerful gadgets

Masaya Igarashi wants ¥20,000 headphones for his new iPod Touch, and he's torn between Nintendo Co.'s Wii and Sony's PlayStation 3 game consoles. When he has saved up again, he plans to splurge on a digital camera or flat-screen TV.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ROAD
Nov 4, 2007

A thoroughly modern retro classic

1903 was an amazing year for motorized vehicles in America. Henry Ford started producing his first Model A, the Wright Brothers made the world's first successful powered flight — and Bill Harley and Arthur Davidson began building motorcycles.
COMMENTARY
Nov 4, 2007

Something about a one-party approach

LOS ANGELES — Under the communist system — as history has taught — you get to persecute potential opposition parties, warehouse political prisoners and pervert the country's patriotism with a noxious Orwellian poison of prickly but pervasive paranoia.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Nov 3, 2007

Hillman bids farewell to Fighters

NAGOYA — The Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters have hired a proven winner in Masataka Nashida to manage the team next year. That's good because the Trey Hillman era will be a tough act to follow.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Nov 3, 2007

International group helps shed light on shadows of injustice

Monday to Friday, 9 to 5, you can pretty much expect to find Akiko Mera in the second-floor Oxfam office in a gray, nondescript building in Ueno, Tokyo, surrounded by a half-dozen desks piled high with papers, pamphlets and books. It looks very much like many other decades-old offices, where the daily...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 3, 2007

Winning salsa moves to a Cuban beat

For Japanese women — any woman for that matter — Richard D. Cabrera is a sight for sore eyes. Here in Japan especially he would appear to have all the requisite credentials that make girls swoon: kakkoii (trendy or cool), kanemochi (wealthy), and kashikoi (smart).
BUSINESS
Nov 3, 2007

Housing slump 'threatens growth'

The worst housing slump in four decades and rising oil prices threaten growth in the world's second-largest economy, Cabinet ministers said Friday.

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