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Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 4, 2008

Beijing: punk paradise in waiting

As Beijing enters its Olympic year, The Japan Times meets the Japanese mogul who's hoping to put the city on the musical map
COMMENTARY
Dec 31, 2007

Censorship serves to flag our own limits

LOS ANGELES — It appears that many mainland Chinese moviegoers are traipsing over to Hong Kong in droves to view the uncensored version of Ang Lee's latest blockbuster, "Lust, Caution." With their feet, in effect, they are voting for lust — and as if wishing for official Beijing caution to be gone...
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Dec 31, 2007

Fukuda keeps thaw with China on track

JINAN, China — Shinzo Abe's trip to China as prime minister in October 2006 was dubbed "the ice-breaking trip" to mend diplomatic relations damaged by predecessor Junichiro Koizumi. Then came Premier Wen Jiabao's "thawing-ice visit" to Japan last April.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 30, 2007

Forum upbeat on Japan-ASEAN FTA but hit closed farm sector

Japan's recent conclusion of free-trade talks with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations signals Tokyo's continued engagement with the region, four journalists from ASEAN member states told a recent symposium in the capital.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2007

Hepatitis plaintiffs, state come to terms

, the chief lawyer representing plaintiffs in a case against the government over hepatitis C infection through tainted blood products, smiles during a news conference with ruling coalition lawmakers at a Diet members' office compound Friday in Tokyo. KYODO PHOTO
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2007

Beijing embraces Fukuda

to take unilateral action to change the status quo" in cross-strait relations. Fukuda's visit follows the "ice-breaking trip" to China by his predecessor, Shinzo Abe, in October 2006 and Wen's "ice-thawing visit" to Japan in April.
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 6, 2007

Tired of the same old commentary

There are too many "multi-commentators" on Japanese TV programs. I'm talking about people who comment on various subjects. Are they experts on all of these subjects?
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 4, 2007

Digital terrestrial TV coming but work remains

More than half a century has passed since commercial television debuted in Japan, and now TVs are a main component of the mass culture.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 27, 2007

Prints rejected, scribe accepted

T he center of the little monitor — I'd guess about 20 cm from the looks of it — flashed the word "Yokoso" (welcome). Its colored border was festooned with a collage of images near and dear to visiting tourists' hearts: "torii" gates, the shinkansen, Zen gardens, Mount Fuji . . .
JAPAN
Nov 22, 2007

Taiwan opposition candidate Ma pushes stronger Japan ties

Taiwan should establish a free-trade pact with Japan to boost bilateral economic and cultural ties, a Taiwanese presidential candidate said Wednesday during a trip aimed at bolstering his relations with Tokyo.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Nov 20, 2007

World's suicide capital — tough image to shake

Japan has attained a reputation as the suicide capital of the world. A 2007 international comparison of suicide rates (per 100,000 people) by the World Health Organization ranked Japan sixth for females, at 12.8, behind Sri Lanka, South Korea and Lithuania, and 11th for males, at 35.6, well below Lithuania,...
LIFE / Style & Design
Nov 20, 2007

Breast-cancer treatment is not always the same

Getting tested or treated for a life-threatening disease is nerve-racking for anyone, but it can be all the more so when outside of your home country.
MORE SPORTS
Nov 17, 2007

Noguchi eyes breakthrough performance in return

More than three years have passed since the most significant day in Mizuki Noguchi's life.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Nov 13, 2007

Dialect-rife Japan can be tongue-twisting

The islands of Japan have many dialects, and students of the language often realize these variations are not taught in classrooms.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 13, 2007

Thanks, Michelin, but we already knew Tokyo is top

So it's official: Tokyo is the gourmet capital of the planet. That is the incontrovertible message of the new Michelin guide published Thursday, which awards the city a total of 191 of its coveted stars — compared with 98 in Paris and just 54 in New York.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Nov 11, 2007

Employment issues special, weight loss special, Vermeer art special

Japan's employment situation is discussed in depth on "Nippon no Shukuzu: Sennin ni Kiku Haken no Honne (Japan in a Nutshell: A Thousand People Tell Their Real Feelings About Contract Work)" (NHK-G, Monday, 10 p.m.). About one-third of all workers in Japan are either part-timers, contract employees or...
JAPAN
Nov 9, 2007

Gates hears Komura vow to get MSDF bill passed

Japan will make "utmost efforts" to resume its logistic support for the U.S.-led antiterrorism operations in and around Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura told visiting U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates Thursday.
JAPAN
Nov 9, 2007

Group: Media inflated rally ranks

A group was formed Thursday in Tokyo by 16 people, including journalists, academics and legal experts, to monitor the media in the wake of what it claims was a highly inflated head count at a Sept. 29 Okinawa rally against textbook censorship.
Reader Mail
Nov 8, 2007

Review of NHK's offerings

Encouraged by timely letters Oct. 30, may this resident of over 50 years register his rage at some of the recent behavior of NHK with the hope of some kind of rectification?

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb