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Japan Times
CULTURE / Japan Pulse
Sep 30, 2009

Where maids get slap happy ... for a price

Now you too can be slapped by an Akiharabara maid in the privacy of your own rented 'cute room.'
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 30, 2009

Irish voters weigh the Lisbon Treaty again

MAYNOOTH, Ireland — On Oct. 2, Irish voters go to the polls for a second time to decide whether to adopt the European Union's Lisbon Treaty. The mood in EU capitals is one of nervousness as polling day looms, with the future of the EU in the hands of Ireland's unpredictable voters. On two of the last...
OLYMPICS
Sep 30, 2009

Igaya says final presentations key

Japan's highest-ranked sports official in the Olympic movement, Chiharu Igaya, believes the four cities bidding for the 2016 Olympic Games are "neck and neck" entering the home straight.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CABINET INTERVIEW
Sep 25, 2009

Kitazawa vague on support options for global antiterror role

Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa on Thursday repeated that Japan will continue to make antiterrorism contributions after the Maritime Self-Defense Force's refueling mission in the Indian Ocean is terminated, but stopped short of outlining possible alternatives.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 25, 2009

There's a new maestro in town

The New York Philharmonic led by conductor Alan Gilbert, who debuted as its new music director at the opening gala concert on Sept. 16, heads off for an Asian tour in October, with Tokyo as the first stop.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Sep 24, 2009

Asahi Breweries advisor Takanori Nakajo

Takanori Nakajo, 82, is the honorary adviser of Asahi Breweries Ltd., one of Japan's leading beer and beverage makers. From "boy Friday" in 1952, Nakajo worked seven days a week until his official retirement as chairman in 1994. He poured all of his energy into beer-making and miraculously dragged the...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Sep 24, 2009

Asahi Breweries advisor Takanori Nakajo

Takanori Nakajo, 82, is the honorary adviser of Asahi Breweries Ltd., one of Japan's leading beer and beverage makers. From "boy Friday" in 1952, Nakajo worked seven days a week until his official retirement as chairman in 1994. He poured all of his energy into beer-making and miraculously dragged the...
EDITORIALS
Sep 21, 2009

Lessons of Lehman Brothers

On Sept. 15, 2008, Lehman Brothers, a venerable international financial firm, went bankrupt. Its collapse set off a chain of events that triggered a global financial crisis that is estimated to have caused more than $1.6 trillion in losses and cost millions of jobs. A year later, we are still assessing...
JAPAN
Sep 20, 2009

Presidential candidates call for LDP makeover

The three candidates for the Liberal Democratic Party presidency on Saturday called for a complete makeover of the party in the wake of last month's devastating general election defeat.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Sep 20, 2009

Chances for Sojourner to play this season look dim

After a decade in Japan, much of it devoted to spreading his love of basketball to the masses, Isaac Sojourner is without a team for the upcoming season.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 18, 2009

Japan's harmonious drift

PARIS — Forget what you have heard about the hardworking Japanese salaryman: Since the early 1990s, the Japanese have slackened their work habits.
Reader Mail
Sep 17, 2009

Universal support for social net

There have been recent newspaper advertisements labeled "opinion" from a group calling itself the Free Choice Foundation. From the name it seems the person listed as founder and chairman is non-Japanese yet wants to tell the Japanese government and people what to do with its social security net.
JAPAN
Sep 17, 2009

Politicians to lead but knowhow of mandarins vital: Hatoyama

New Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama vowed Wednesday to create an administration that will break the strong grip of bureaucrats on policymaking and budgets.
COMMENTARY
Sep 16, 2009

Back to Earth with the DPJ

The wave of hysteria that greeted the victory of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) in parliamentary elections last month has receded. The win doesn't signal the end of the U.S.-Japan alliance, nor does it necessarily imply a rough patch for bilateral ties. In fact, domestic rather than foreign policies...
CULTURE / Books
Sep 13, 2009

Securing the best education for your child

GUIDE TO INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS IN JAPAN: From Anxiety to Opportunity, by Caroline Pover. Alexandra, 2009, 667 pp., ¥4,762 (paper) Expatriates in some countries face a scarcity of options when it comes to educating their children, but in Japan the reverse is true: The array of alternatives and the potential...
JAPAN
Sep 11, 2009

Six years urged for crimes done as minor

SAITAMA — Prosecutors demanded a six-year prison term Thursday for a 20-year-old Filipino man, the first non-Japanese to be tried before a lay judge court since the new criminal trial system began in May.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 11, 2009

The eyes have it in this light show

When you have a venue that provides such ample exhibition space as the National Art Center, Tokyo (NACT), it can be quite a challenge to find a single contemporary artist worthy to fill it. Earlier this year, Hitoshi Nomura, with a long, varied career and many large installations to his name, just about...
JAPAN
Sep 10, 2009

Hatoyama tries to tread line between change, status quo

OSAKA — When Yukio Hatoyama makes his international debut as the new prime minister later this month at the United Nations and in Pittsburgh at the Group of 20 Leaders' Summit, he'll be discussing Japan's new policies on everything from the environment to the global economy with President Barack Obama...
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2009

Do nation's new leaders lack economic vision?

Now that the electorate has overthrown the old guard, worries are growing that the nation's new leaders lack a long-term vision to turn around the hobbled economy.
EDITORIALS
Sep 6, 2009

Plan for warmer oceans

Last July was the hottest month for oceans in 130 years of record-keeping, according to the National Climatic Data Center, the U.S. government agency that keeps track of world weather records and their impact. Part of the mystery of global warming had long been where the heat was going. Scientists are...
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Sep 6, 2009

Murakami says players going to MLB not hurting NPB

Long before Hideo Nomo was making major league hitters look silly with an unorthodox windup and an unhittable forkball, or Ichiro Suzuki began rewriting the record books, pitcher Masanori Murakami was blazing the trail.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 4, 2009

Wonder Stuff give fans an encore

Anyone who knows anything about the U.K. pop scene understands how important the music weeklies are to the success of young artists, and while the Internet has undermined that influence they can still make or break a band. Miles Hunt should know. He and his group, The Wonder Stuff, were darlings of the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 4, 2009

The ins and outs of competitive art shows

Michiyo Yamanaka probably devoted several weeks to creating the three abstract paintings she entered in this year's Nikaten, one of Japan's oldest and largest competitive art exhibitions. Heaven forbid she ever finds out how long it took the judges to condemn her efforts to oblivion: 18 seconds.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?