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CULTURE / Books
Feb 7, 2010

Different folks, different strokes

Can Japan's corporate system withstand globalization? Once considered the source of the nation's competitive strength, traditional practices such as lifetime employment and seniority-based pay have in recent years been increasingly attacked as contributors to poor performance. The postbubble slump eroded...
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Feb 7, 2010

Clutch shooters create excitement in bj-league

Basketball aficionados and casual fans alike remember Michael Jordan's clutch shots in the closing seconds of games. Other clutch shooters, such as Jerry West and Reggie Miller, have buried dozens of shots that separate them from the NBA's ordinary scorers.
JAPAN
Feb 6, 2010

Sumo failed to keep champ in check

Yokozuna Asashoryu, who announced his retirement Thursday, is one of the strongest sumo wrestlers of modern times.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Feb 6, 2010

The ABCs of living in Japan

"A is for apple." Every Japanese person learns this when they learn the E nglish alphabet. But couldn't it be, just for once, "A is for antelope?" Or how about "A is for anarchy," "adult" or "aspirin?" Wouldn't that be more helpful? We could also use our own alphabet to teach Japanese culture and language...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 6, 2010

Prius problems put spotlight on car electronics

NEW YORK — Your most expensive piece of electronics probably is not your flat-panel TV or computer. More likely, it's your car, which can pack 50 microprocessors to control everything from the fuel mix to the rearview mirrors.
JAPAN
Feb 5, 2010

Valentine's chocolate defies recession

As many businesses continue to shake their heads over how tough it is to make sales in these financially difficult times, "cheaper is better" is the strategy of the day, with shops slicing prices for everything from "gyudon" (beef on rice) to jeans.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Feb 5, 2010

Shrine offers up rare porridge

If you are in the Kyoto or Kansai area and missed the chance to have nanakusagayu (seven-herb porridge) on the seventh day of the new year, Jonangu Shrine should be your main destination on Japan's National Foundation holiday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 5, 2010

Kamikozawa-tei: Shabu-shabu in modernist mode

There's no finer way to eat on a chilly winter evening than sitting around a bubbling nabe hot pot. No matter what the ingredients — meat, fish, tofu or vegetables — just cooking and eating from the same communal casserole is nourishment for both body and soul.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 5, 2010

Akademie für Alte Musik

Every year thousands of people visit Hokkaido's largest city in the dead of winter for the Sapporo Snow Festival. Running from Feb. 5-11, the 61st edition offers good times even at night, when the snow and ice sculptures are lit up. Yet those lucky enough to be in Sapporo on Feb. 10 might do well to...
EDITORIALS
Feb 4, 2010

Fishing for false confessions

Audio tapes recorded some 17 years ago of Mr. Toshikazu Sugaya being questioned during a murder investigation reveal how investigators can manipulate suspects into making false confessions. The recordings, which were played over two days (Jan. 21-22) of Mr. Sugaya's retrial in Utsunomiya District Court,...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Feb 3, 2010

Kids are all right at Softbank

If Japan wants to reverse the declining birthrate then maybe more companies should start following the Softbank model of family benefits.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Feb 3, 2010

Win tickets for 'Coach'

With the countdown to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics continuing, The Japan Times is getting in the spirit by offering several readers the chance to win a pair of tickets to the new Japanese skating movie "Coach," which opens at Shinjuku K's Cinema and other venues throughout the country on Saturday....
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL: KEYES' POINT
Feb 3, 2010

Shiya wo hirogeru: Time to broaden our horizons

Your son is a sainō no aru ko (才能のある子, a gifted boy)," Mr. Sawamura says. "His seiseki (成績, marks) are not impressive, and his social skills are perhaps not as developed as . . . "
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 3, 2010

Nomura returns to profit

Nomura Holdings Inc. returned to profit in the third quarter on a ninefold surge in the value of local equity sales as banks issued new stock to bolster capital.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 2, 2010

Smugness at heart of woes for Toyota, JAL

Toyota is the latest Japanese corporate icon making headlines for all the wrong reasons.
BUSINESS
Feb 2, 2010

JAL's new bosses neutral on tieup pick

Japan Airlines Corp.'s new management team said Monday they will examine from scratch alliance talks with U.S. carriers American Airlines Inc. and Delta Air Lines Inc.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Feb 2, 2010

Non-Japanese suffrage and the racist element

On Jan. 17, Takeo Hiranuma made this statement about fellow Diet member Renho:
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Feb 1, 2010

Okada's 4-point intervention sparks West to bj-league All-Star victory

RIFU, Miyagi Pref. — All-Star games are a collection of highlight-reel plays and fan-friendly events — lots of autographs, fans and players posing for pictures, light-hearted competition — and everyone's agenda is required to include one item: plenty of smiles.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 31, 2010

Groping pregnant women shouldn't be what's it about

On Jan. 14, 36-year-old comedian Sayaka Aoki made her last TV appearance before taking some time off to have a baby. The appearance was on Fuji TV's noontime variety show "Waratte Ii to mo" ("It's OK to laugh"), where she was a semiregular. The show's host, Tamori, placed his hands on Aoki's belly as...
JAPAN / Media
Jan 31, 2010

Study finds government support for media is rapidly shrinking

NEW YORK — Government subsidies for the media, which are not widely known but are a long-running source of revenue for publishers, are quietly vanishing just as the industry is struggling to remain commercially viable, according to a new report released Thursday.
CULTURE / Books
Jan 31, 2010

Bright lights, big city, book-loving ninja

In 2008, prolific novelist Andrew Vachss (it rhymes with "tax") brought down the curtain on his series of 18 novels featuring the protagonist Burke, "an ex-con turned avenging angel for hire." Vachss' newest work, "Haiku," lacks the urban mercenary's charismatic presence, but it does return to familiar...
BASEBALL
Jan 31, 2010

Resentment of Valentine's power factored in downfall

Third in a four-part series

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes