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CULTURE / Books
Jan 17, 2010

Mystery made of a rationalist's nightmares

A blood-soaked woman, clutching a child, stands on a barren moor. This is the image of the ubume of the title. This creature, or figment, who may or may not exist, but who haunts the narrative of this novel, is defined as the visible form of the regrets experienced by a woman who has died during childbirth....
CULTURE / Books
Jan 17, 2010

Seen in a Beijing minute

Jonathan Tel, in "The Beijing of Possibilities," reminds us that megalopolises such as Beijing are inexhaustible, and therefore offer endless possibilities. In good ways and bad, they never cease to surprise. One is much more likely to see, for example, a gorilla pedaling a bicycle through urban streets...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Jan 17, 2010

Dangling around with the stars

There is a type of reporting known as burasagari shuzai in Japanese. Literally, it means "hanging reporting," or "dangling reporting," and there can be no better illustration of why it is given this name than the keyed-up backstage zone at "Kohaku Uta Gassen" ("Red and White Song Battle"), NHK's annual...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jan 17, 2010

Okinawa on a plate

"Everywhere in this house and its stone walls you can find the wisdom of our ancestors and how they lived," says Masako Kinjo, as she gazes around Makabe Chinaa, a 110-year-old traditional wooden home in Itoman City in the south of Okinawa Island.
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2010

Metro job fair grads' last chance?

Many prospective college graduates are facing a cold, grim winter in their job hunt.
EDITORIALS
Jan 16, 2010

Mr. Ozawa under closer scrutiny

Tokyo public prosecutors' efforts to unravel suspected irregularities involving Rikuzankai, the political funds management body of Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa, have taken a new turn.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jan 15, 2010

Annals of cheap: Kitchen Dive

If the bento are the barometer of the national economy, then the u00a5250 bento from Kitchen Dive will tell you that times are tight.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 15, 2010

Islam's place in politics

BEPPU, Oita Prefecture — The dynamics of Islam and politics in Indonesia are always worth following. Conventional wisdom says that moderates rule the game. In reality, this is not always true.
EDITORIALS
Jan 15, 2010

Population decline worsening

The population dynamics estimate of the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry indicates that Japan's population decline is accelerating. The report, based on birth and death registers submitted from January 2009 to October 2009, estimates the number of births in Japan in that year at 1,069,000, or 22,000...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 15, 2010

Kan sets his sights on cutting government waste

Given the nation's snowballing deficit and sluggish growth, Deputy Prime Minister and now also Finance Minister Naoto Kan announced Thursday plans to review government spending to reduce waste and come up with policies to expand the economy.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 15, 2010

'Blue Gold: World Water Wars'/'A Perfect Getaway'

In 1855, the Suquamish Chief Seattle was asked to sell his land to the United States government. The chief was puzzled by the request: "The president in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land. But how can you buy or sell the sky? The land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the...
JAPAN
Jan 13, 2010

Club hostesses unionize to fight gray-area abuses

Their sexy outfits and glossy makeup make it easy for "kyabajo" cabaret hostesses to entice flush male patrons into splurging fortunes on drinks.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jan 13, 2010

O-shōgatsu can really test a woman's endurance

Here's my take on the Japanese o-shōgatsu (お正月, New Year's) holiday week: I am, like, so ecstatic the whole thing is over.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Japan Pulse
Jan 12, 2010

Gachapon grows up

Capsule-toy machines attract collectors like moths to a flame and as cheap thrills go, the novelty of gachapon is still burning brightly.
EDITORIALS
Jan 12, 2010

Lay judges' burden of anxiety

In 2009, 138 cases involving 142 defendants went to trial in 50 district courts under the lay judge system introduced that year. Of the defendants — all of whom were found guilty — one received a life sentence and 12 others were given prison terms of 15 years or longer. Seventy-two defendants —...

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