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JAPAN / ALSO OUT THERE
Dec 21, 2007

To survive a corporate scandal or to crumble

Reflecting a year that was jam-packed with food makers' scandals, including false labeling, the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation announced earlier this month that "nise," meaning "fake," best symbolized 2008 in a single character.
Reader Mail
Dec 20, 2007

Don't target licensed owners

Regarding the Dec. 16 article "Suspect in gym shootings found dead at church": I hope the media will not use this horrible incident to begin another witch hunt against gun owners. I know there are some 300,000 rifles in Japan, which means that up to 100,000, maybe 150,000 people, own rifles legally....
Reader Mail
Dec 20, 2007

Stupid waste of helicopter fuel

Last Friday (Dec. 14) all train services to and from Sapporo station were suspended for several hours; the exact cause could not be identified. In my opinion it was big news since it was the first time in the 17 years that I've lived here that all lines had been...
COMMENTARY
Dec 20, 2007

'Supping with the devil' to sign a deal

LONDON — Prime Minister Gordon Brown's decision to boycott the EU-African Summit held recently in Lisbon won general approval in Britain. He did not attend because Robert Mugabe, the president of Zimbabwe, was going to be at the meeting.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 20, 2007

Hokusai's 'Dutch' courage

It might sound a corny to say that artists live through their works, but in the case of Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), whose lengthy life story is mired in muddles, myths and myriad name changes, it is his art that speaks with the clearest voice and that provides the scale with which to weigh the words...
COMMENTARY
Dec 20, 2007

Bali inspired hope in coping

LONDON — Do not be downhearted about the outcome of the Bali talks. They did not deliver the binding commitments to cuts in greenhouse gas emissions that are desperately needed, and as a result millions may die who might have lived. But they did show us something remarkable. They showed us the human...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 20, 2007

Human conditions

Like Picasso at his most mythologically cubist or a dark dream from the subconscious, the Dairakudakan butoh dance troupe took its audience back to the primordial for its 35th anniversary performances last week — and then brought it right back to the present.
CULTURE / Art
Dec 20, 2007

"SALON — Art Lounge"

Mado Lounge, Mori Hills 52F
EDITORIALS
Dec 19, 2007

Shocking attack with a licensed gun

The shooting rampage last week in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, is shocking. A gunman in camouflage gear entered a sports club and fired a shotgun more than a dozen times, killing two people and injuring six others, including two children. Later, the gunman killed himself with the same gun on the grounds...
Japan Times
SOCCER
Dec 18, 2007

Milanese hail Kaka as 'best in the world'

YOKOHAMA — AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti and captain Paolo Maldini were united in their praise of Kaka after the Brazilian's virtuoso display in the Club World Cup final.
JAPAN
Dec 18, 2007

Death penalty foes await U.N. moratorium vote

Human rights activists renewed on Monday their call to abolish capital punishment as the United Nations gets ready to vote on a resolution calling on member states to declare a moratorium on executions.
Reader Mail
Dec 18, 2007

U.S. doesn't own blacklists

The Dec. 9 Kyodo article "Japan-U.S. alliance seen entering period of drift" spills a lot of ink over Japan's reaction to U.S. plans to remove North Korea from the U.S. list of states sponsoring terrorism. That topic has caused considerable stir among Japanese people since such action by the United...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 17, 2007

The voter rebellion in Japan

NEW YORK — On Nov. 25, Australian voters replaced Prime Minister John Howard of the Liberal Party with Kevin Rudd of the Labor Party, who promised to withdraw Australian troops from Iraq. The new prime minister is preparing Australia for post-Bush America.
Reader Mail
Dec 16, 2007

Whales as a food resource

Regarding Jennie Kern's Dec. 9 letter, "Whales don't cause fish shortages": Whale meat used to be a staple food for Japanese just as beef is for Americans. It's true that Japanese people don't have to eat whale meat to live, just as Americans don't have to eat beef to survive, since there are so many...
EDITORIALS
Dec 16, 2007

Stars in their guides

Last month, Tokyo's restaurants received their stars. For the first time, the famed Michelin Guide, the most respected and feared guidebook in Europe, published a volume outside the Western world. Noted for its make-or-break effects on European hotels and restaurants, the publication was greeted in Tokyo...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 16, 2007

Fascist currents in the EU mainstream

LONDON — On a cold wet November evening the dreamy spires of Oxford University became the unlikely setting for a new front line between the organization Unite Against Fascism and the far-right British National Party (BNP).
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Dec 16, 2007

Tunnel visions

I don't know about you, but when I'm walking along train tracks and I hear a train approaching, my instincts tell me to get out of the way, fast. So, last month, when I was strolling along the sleepers of one of Tokyo's underground lines and I detected a distant rumbling, that's exactly what I did.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 15, 2007

Bulging tome only scratches surface

In the end, it was only appropriate that George Mitchell gave baseball a report on steroids that looked like it was on steroids.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 15, 2007

Coming alive with gospel music

Orren Tanabe stands tall above the rest of the crowd in front of Shinjuku's ALTA sign. Having not made this a meeting place for years, the experience is proving more than a little nostalgic. Knowing the way central Tokyo changes at the tip of a hat, he leads the way to a favorite pizza dive with some...

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight