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Reader Mail
Jul 1, 2007

A concrete or a conceptual road?

The June 24 editorial, "The new Silk Road," is very interesting, but it has many flaws. First of all, for new readers and people with little knowledge of the Silk Road, the editorial does not give much information about the history of the Silk Road. It does not explain how the idea for a new Silk Road...
Reader Mail
Jul 1, 2007

More than a mother's life

Regarding the June 21 article "Jehovah's Witness shuns blood, dies": The medical establishment has a duty to protect life. When a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses sect gave birth in May by Caesarean section and then refused a blood transfusion to save her life, the Osaka hospital's decision to allow...
Reader Mail
Jul 1, 2007

Unwelcome candidate in Japan

Regarding the June 20 article "Fugitive Fujimori is asked to run for Diet": It is completely unbelievable to me that a man like Alberto Fujimori is given the chance to participate in Japanese politics after all the stealing and twisted politics he is alleged to have taken part in as the president of...
JAPAN
Jun 30, 2007

New nursing-care plan already struggling

system is not designed for providers to earn profits," Hattori said. However, she said the way Comsn tried to expand its business was particularly despicable. Before the fraud scandal mushroomed, if Comsn got caught inflating the number of employees at a nursing-care facility, it would shut the facility...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jun 30, 2007

The trouble with foreigners — wayward ways amid the regiment

Renting rooms to foreigners can be a sensitive subject for many minshuku owners in Japan. It's not that the owners can't speak English, nor that they don't like foreigners. Through the years, I've gotten to know some minshuku owners and have learned that foreigners can indeed be a bit mendokusai (troublesome)...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Jun 30, 2007

Jorge Ferreras

Those who know him well agree that Jorge Ferreras is unusually talented and highly original. With his whimsies, his art and piano he has a gift for lighting up the space he occupies. He is an architect and artist, NHK radio man and university lecturer who came from Argentina to study and live in Japan....
BUSINESS
Jun 29, 2007

Doutor investors OK tieup with restaurant operator

Doutor Coffee Co. shareholders voted in favor of the company's proposed integration with Nippon Restaurant System Inc. on Thursday, undeterred by opposition from investment fund Harbinger Capital Partners, the largest outside shareholder in Doutor.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2007

The Dutch trick: flextime and shorter workweek

AMSTERDAM — Trying to figure out a Dutch work schedule is a little like solving a Sudoku puzzle: You bog down in numbers.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 29, 2007

'Sidecar ni Inu'

Kichitaro Negishi has a typical resume for a Japanese baby boomer director: Graduation from an elite university (Waseda), apprenticeship in the porno industry (Nikkatsu), awards for his first straight feature ("Enrai," 1981), followed by success as a maker of TV commercials and music videos. Meanwhile,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Jun 29, 2007

Taste receptors bow to flavor god

It used to be said that the human tongue perceived flavor in the form of four basic tastes: sweet, sour, salty and bitter. Then a Japanese scientist, Ikeda Kikunae (1864-1936), detected a rich, satisfying taste common to meat, cheese and Japanese dashi (stock) — among other things — which couldn't...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 28, 2007

Just who is Gordon Brown?

BRUSSELS — At long last, Gordon Brown is taking over from Tony Blair as Britain's prime minister, thus attaining his lifelong ambition, as if by right. That is his first problem. He has not been elected by anyone — not by the Labour Party, and not by Britain's voters; he has merely come into an inheritance...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 28, 2007

Einsteins of anime

Headquartered in a nondescript office building in Kichijoji, a Tokyo suburb with a bohemian flavor, Studio 4°C hardly looks, from the outside, like the epicenter of anything. Yet this animation production house, founded in 1986 by Eiko Tanaka, Koji Morimoto and Yoshiharu Sato, has made some of the most...
BUSINESS
Jun 27, 2007

Pressure building for transparency in mobile fees

A government panel Tuesday urged mobile phone operators to introduce a new fee system by 2010 that clearly separates communications charges from the cost of handsets so consumers know what they're paying for.
EDITORIALS
Jun 27, 2007

Spas need safety regulations

The explosion at an annex of a women-only spa located 500 meters from Tokyo's Shibuya Station, which killed three women and injured eight people, has taught many Tokyoites something: Drill deep enough underground in Tokyo and you'll likely strike hot water containing methane gas. That's because the city...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jun 27, 2007

Soft-shelled turtle

* Japanese name: Suppon * Scientific name: Pelodiscus sinensis * Description: This is a medium-sized turtle whose carapace (the upper part of the shell) grows up to 25-cm long, and is colored olive, gray, or mottled pale green/brown. It has a long head with a pointed snout and bulging eyes, giving it...
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jun 27, 2007

Is this a poisons coverup?

Mariners say the oceans reveal their secrets only grudgingly. Shelly Parulis would say the same of the U.S. Navy.
JAPAN
Jun 26, 2007

Abe, two of his ministers to forgo bonus

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki and Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa will forgo their summer bonuses as Cabinet ministers to take responsibility for the pension record fiasco, it was announced Monday.
EDITORIALS
Jun 25, 2007

Hazy fiscal reform plan

The government has approved an economic and fiscal reform plan for 2007 that will serve as the basis for compiling the fiscal 2008 budget. It encompasses a variety of policy measures that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration thinks are necessary to ensure both economic growth and financial reconstruction....
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 25, 2007

Tobacco watch on public health policy

BANGKOK — A powerful consensus is emerging among health advocates and public officials around the world that the tobacco industry should not have any influence on public health policies.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 24, 2007

Big breasts, funny hair, anything dumb — the way to go on TV

Last spring, TV tarento Rei Kikukawa made news when she appeared in a bra commercial. TV commercials are the bread-and-butter of most tarento (media stars), and Kikukawa has done her fair share, but since gaining stardom she's managed to avoid overt exploitation of her sex appeal. That's because she...
JAPAN
Jun 24, 2007

Agency disposed of data on 830,000 pension accounts

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Saturday he plans to forgo part of his summer bonus to take responsibility for the pension record fiasco involving the Social Insurance Agency. "I have caused worries among people over the pension records issue. I bear a grave responsibility for causing such a problem,"...
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2007

Afghan vice president seeks support, open to SDF

Japanese people should decide on, but our friend Japan's support is very important for Afghanistan's reconstruction, development, disbandment of illegal armed groups and other areas," the 57-year-old vice president told reporters at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo. "We would very much like to...

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji