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SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Nov 27, 2010

England unlikely to win 2018 bid

LONDON — Next Thursday at FIFA House in Zurich the host for the 2018 World Cup will be chosen. The best bid — England's — will probably not win.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 26, 2010

For a fairer, more unwieldy Security Council

UNITED NATIONS — Reform and redesign of the U.N. Security Council has long been on the diplomatic drawing boards. Few countries will argue against the necessity for that, but most balk at the specific details.
CULTURE / Film
Nov 26, 2010

'The White Ribbon'

As a critic, there's a very particular kind of mid-life crisis that creeps up on you: One day you wake up in a cold sweat and realize that despite having been inspired to write about cinema by such masters as Hitchcock, Truffaut, Scorsese, Kurosawa, Kubrick, et al., you now spend most of your time watching...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 26, 2010

Looking beyond art's boundaries

Art, it is often said, is a lens through which to see the world differently. "Differently" could mean more intensely, or more clearly, or in a new and unfamiliar way. This inevitably requires a separation between the artwork and the world. Art so understood thus sets up territories and borders, the lines...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Nov 25, 2010

Tourist spots averse to foreign exchange

If Japan really wants to say 'Yososo' at tourist destinations, it's going to have to work on its acceptance of credit cards and foreign exchange.
SOCCER / J. League
Nov 24, 2010

Ishihara's late strike gives Omiya Ardija draw against Vissel Kobe

SAITAMA — Naoki Ishihara salvaged an 85th-minute equalizer to all-but secure Omiya Ardija's first-division survival and edge Vissel Kobe closer to the relegation trapdoor with a 2-2 draw on Tuesday.
LIFE / WEEK 3
Nov 21, 2010

Those at the sharp end act out plight of their small firms

An old man storms into an office, looking furious. He spots a younger man in a pale-blue worker's uniform — actually, the new president of a small auto-parts factory in Tokyo's Ota Ward — and confronts him.
LIFE / WEEK 3
Nov 21, 2010

Heading for the hills — in style

One sunny Saturday a couple of weeks ago, this writer joined five women and three men who met up at Ikusabata Station on the JR Ome Line in the mountains of western Tokyo.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Nov 21, 2010

Children chasing their dreams; falconry with Tamori; CM of the week: Solmac

The two-hour travel documentary special "Chikyu Show Gakko" ("World Elementary School"; TBS, Mon., 9 p.m.) presents children living under difficult circumstances while "working toward their dreams" in various places throughout the world.
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Nov 21, 2010

The explosion of life: uprising

First of two parts
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Nov 21, 2010

Tossing our leaders to the lions

In Tokugawa days (1603-1867), criticizing the government was a capital offense. Rulers, not only in Japan but the world over, expected to be — and generally were — not only obeyed but revered, sometimes as gods, sometimes as beings only slightly less exalted. "God," wrote the French bishop and political...
CULTURE / Music
Nov 19, 2010

Envy take 'Recitation' out on the road again

Tokyo-based Envy issued their fifth full-length album, "Recitation," in September. To celebrate its release, the quintet embarked on their first North American tour in four years. On this, their longest international trek, the postrock and hardcore hybrid act played 25 shows in the span of a month. ...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Nov 17, 2010

Kindergartens, day care centers may merge

When it comes to finding a place to park the kiddies for the day, working parents generally have two options: kindergartens and day care facilities.
EDITORIALS
Nov 16, 2010

Tax reform needs vision

The government and the Democratic Party of Japan have started discussions on tax reform for fiscal 2011 and beyond. Both should learn a lesson from their experience just after the DPJ came to power in September 2009. At that time discussions at the government's Tax Commission did not go smoothly. The...
COMMUNITY / LIFELINES
Nov 16, 2010

How to do Japan — in a VW camper van

Reader M.T. has lived in Japan for over 20 years and his brother is planning a visit, with a twist: The brother, his wife and two children are hoping to travel around the country living out of their Volkswagen camper van.
LIFE
Nov 14, 2010

Bali beckons 'literary tourists'

Ubud, an enchanting town in tropical Bali's undulating hills, has arrived with panache on the global literary scene.
CULTURE / Stage
Nov 12, 2010

Theater with a hint of human truth

Yumi Suzuki co-founded the Jitensha Kinqureat theater company with friends at Nihon Joshi Daigaku (Japan Women's University) in 1982, and it was not long before the Tokyo troupe gained a prominent reputation and a keen following for its true-to-life plays in colloquial language about the lives of young...
CULTURE / Film
Nov 12, 2010

'Ricky'

When Katie (Alexandra Lamy) meets Paco (Sergi Lopez) during a cigarette break at the cosmetics factory where they both work, her life is about a step shy of being in the dumps. The job is hard, she's underpaid, and her husband walked out on her years ago — leaving Katie to pay the bills and look after...
JAPAN
Nov 10, 2010

Hotels find profit in catering to families

One autumn afternoon in Kobuchizawa, Yamanashi Prefecture, a group of children and their parents were driving to a field to pick fresh vegetables for pizzas they planned to make there.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Nov 7, 2010

The secret story of Minako Honda; Japan vs. the world; CM of the week: Asahi's Wonda

Singer Minako Honda, who died in 2005 at the age of 38, was not your average idol singer. As a girl she dreamed of becoming an enka (Japanese ballad) star, but her agency didn't have any connection to enka. Since she was cute they sold her as a pop singer, and for a while she was successful as a saucy...
COMMENTARY
Nov 7, 2010

Erosion of Argentina's wealth and work ethic

BUENOS AIRES — Perhaps there is no better observation of the government of Argentine President Cristina Kirchner than the one given by Mario Vargas Llosa, the latest Nobel laureate in literature. Vargas Llosa said Kirchner was leading a corruption-riddled government.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Nov 7, 2010

Freedom, friendship and love: a recipe for true happiness

The challenge to which this installment of "Big in Japan" seeks to rise is that of happiness. Is it possible, in these grim, sad, threatening times, to write a happy story without doing violence to journalistic relevance?
Japan Times
SOCCER
Nov 6, 2010

Zenit, CSKA advance from Europa groups

LONDON (AP) Zenit St. Petersburg and CSKA Moscow were among four teams to clinch their places in the knockout stages of the Europa League on Thursday, continuing Russia's strong recent showings in Europe's second-tier club competition.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami