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Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 9, 2008

'Charlie Wilson's War'

It's hard to imagine a political film, let alone one that deals with events that lead directly to 9/11, as being all that funny. "Charlie Wilson's War" pulls it off though, and manages to make covertly arming the Afghani mujahedeen seem like a zany lark. Until, of course, the last reel.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
May 9, 2008

Festival to serve up tastes, sounds of Thailand

Spicy tom yam kung (spicy shrimp soup) blende with Singha beer, beautiful Thai silk and traditional dancing.
EDITORIALS
May 9, 2008

Smoother path between rivals

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and Chinese President Hu Jintao, in their meeting in Tokyo this week, reconfirmed the importance of the Japan-China relationship and showed their determination to put it on a smooth path through dialogue and cooperation by "looking toward the future." Mr. Hu's visit to Japan,...
BUSINESS
May 8, 2008

Market promising if MHI gets regional jet off ground

Backed by growing global demand for small, energy-efficient aircraft, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. officially decided last month to enter the promising market.
JAPAN
May 8, 2008

Fukuda, Hu put focus on future

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and Chinese President Hu Jintao agreed Wednesday to make 2008 the year for boosting their nations' "mutually beneficial" relationship, as Tokyo hosted the first Chinese leader to visit in 10 years.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 6, 2008

A Finnish way for the Japanese educational system?

Ever since students in Finland emerged as top performers in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), many teachers and policymakers in Japan have turned to this Scandinavian country of 5.2 million for insights on how to educate...
COMMENTARY / World
May 5, 2008

How to intervene militarily

OXFORD, England — Because peacekeeping initiatives in postconflict countries are expensive and complex, and because the war in Iraq has undermined rich nations' belief in their likely success, a dispassionate look at the use of military intervention is timely.
EDITORIALS
May 5, 2008

Raise journalistic ethics

In November 2007, a Kyoto psychiatrist was prosecuted for leaking investigative materials to a journalist concerning a 17-year-old boy who was tried in family court in connection with a fire that killed his stepmother and two siblings. But the freelance journalist, who published a book using the leaked...
JAPAN
May 4, 2008

Referendum law evokes one question: Why?

Now that a law is in place for conducting a national referendum on revising the Constitution, it is important to tell the public why it needs to be amended and start more discussions, a pro-amendment group said Saturday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 4, 2008

Article 9 hailed on Constitution's birthday

Marking the 61st anniversary of the enforcement of the postwar Constitution, hundreds of people gathered Saturday in Tokyo's Hibiya Park to call for keeping Article 9, which renounces war.
Reader Mail
May 4, 2008

What rice riots in the Philippines?

The April 29 editorial "Hunger in a world of plenty" states that there have been food riots in the Philippines as a result of the rising price of rice. I am writing to inform you that this is factually incorrect because, while the rising price of rice and other commodities remains a challenge for many...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
May 4, 2008

Golden Week offers a bonanza for Japanese baseball teams, fans

Japanese baseball would not have any attendance problems if every week was Golden Week.
Reader Mail
May 4, 2008

High Japanese suicide rate mystifies

Web pages with instructions on how to commit suicide should be illegal. Japan is already one of the countries with the worst suicide rate on the face of the Earth (more than 30,000 suicides a year). Allowing Internet sites, books, magazines etc. to show home kits on making hydrogen sulfide gas to commit...
CULTURE / Books
May 4, 2008

Japan as a land of many religions

PROPHET MOTIVE: Deguchi Onisaburo, Oomoto, and the Rise of New Religions in Imperial Japan, by Nancy K. Stalker. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2007, 265 pp., $49 (cloth) Reviewed by Florian Coulmas Japan has sometimes been called an irreligious country, but students of religion know that this...
COMMENTARY
May 4, 2008

A chance for Beijing to take a stand on health

LOS ANGELES — As matters now stand, accredited, professional journalists from Taiwan are once again being denied press passes by U.N. authorities to cover the annual World Health Assembly of the World Health Organization. This year's event takes place in Geneva on May 19. The topic is "A Safer Future:...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ROAD
May 4, 2008

Take a royal ride on the Yamaha Majesty

If scooters could talk, they'd probably spout the late comedian Rodney Dangerfield's line about not getting any respect. No one casts admiring glances their way. In fact, some bikers even seem to sneer at them, but that hasn't stopped sales from rocketing through the roof.
Reader Mail
May 4, 2008

Improve content, including letters

I have been a loyal reader of The Japan Times for the 12 years I have been here. This is my first time to write, but I am driven to address two key points. First, I agree with recent letters that the latest changes of format in this paper were ill-advised and poorly thought out. It seems to be following...
COMMENTARY / World
May 3, 2008

African Union has a role to play in Zimbabwe

JOHANNESBURG — Although the Chinese ship that was carrying arms to Zimbabwe, the An Yue Jiang, has reportedly turned back, we don't know where else President Robert Mugabe's military and paramilitary forces may be acquiring weapons.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
May 3, 2008

English clubs continue to flex muscles in Europe

LONDON — England's national team may not be traveling anywhere in Europe this summer, but the two best teams in the Premier League will meet in an English derby in the Champions League final in Moscow on May 21.

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell