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BUSINESS
May 9, 2007

Softbank profit jumps thanks to Vodafone buy

Softbank Corp. posted a record high operating profit of 271 billion yen in its business year to last March, up from 62.3 billion yen the year before thanks to its purchase of British cell phone giant Vodafone Group PLC's struggling Japan unit in April 2006.
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
May 9, 2007

BYO cool air and pet stress patches

Climbing Mount Fuji is a right of passage that comes with a price tag. Just breathing at that elevated altitude is a challenge. Technology offers a solution, at a cost, with canned oxygen. An object of some ridicule during the climb's early stages, it is a blessed relief near the top. Now, strutting...
SUMO
May 8, 2007

Hakuho for yokozuna or Asashoryu to block his path?

In the days leading up to the May 5th Yokozuna Soken training session at the Ryogoku Kokugikan the Japanese media was abuzz with things sumo.
COMMENTARY
May 8, 2007

Groom Japan's gifted students

On April 11, the public broadcaster NHK's program "Close-up Gendai (Current Affairs)" took up the issue of the International Science Olympiads (ISOs) for middle- and high-school students. The competition tests knowledge in mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, informatics, astronomy and other areas...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
May 8, 2007

Do people work too hard in Japan?

BUSINESS
May 8, 2007

Aiding middle-income Asia ADB's future role?

KYOTO — The Asian Development Bank wrapped up its 40th annual meeting Monday with a broad agreement that the bank needs to reorganize but continue to financially assist the region.
MORE SPORTS
May 6, 2007

One eye good enough for one brave horse in Kentucky Derby

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Cover your right eye.
Reader Mail
May 6, 2007

World's most dangerous place

Where is the most dangerous place in the world to live? Is it Iraq, or perhaps Sudan? No, it is in the human womb. More people are murdered through abortion than through any other source. A few days ago Mexico became one of last holdouts to fall under the spell of this evil that is gripping the world....
Reader Mail
May 6, 2007

Railway's cruel omission

I noted a rather shocking contrast in the April 26 edition of The Japan Times. On page one was an article about a ceremony marking the second anniversary of the train crash in Amagasaki ("Train-crash dead mourned, except driver"), and on page nine there was an article on memorials at Virginia Tech ("Virginia...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 5, 2007

Initial terror turns into picture-book fascination

The color, excitement and vibrancy of Japanese matsuri festivals leap off the pages of Betty Reynolds' latest book, a welcome commission by Tuttle to fill a niche in children's publishing.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 4, 2007

Constitution turns 60; Abe wants change

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe marked the 60th anniversary of the Constitution on Thursday by calling for a bold review of the document to allow the country to take a larger role in global security and foster a revival of national pride.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 4, 2007

'Ahiru to Kamo no Coin Locker'

Many directors keep returning to the same themes and motifs again and again. Alfred Hitchcock liked to torture ice queens (Grace Kelly, Kim Novak, Tippi Hedren), while Luis Bunuel, the master surrealist, subverted everyday reality with bizarre and disturbing imagery, like a sleeper returning to a familiar...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / WALKING THE WARDS
May 4, 2007

The sun shines in spiritland

Toshima Ward is rife with zombies and familiar spirits. In the wee hours near the stationopolis of Ikebukuro, pale-faced university students, partied-out salarymen and a host of others wander the streets until the first trains arrive. These are Toshima's innocuous shades; there are others more spine...
BUSINESS
May 3, 2007

JAL saw profit, but logs 16 billion yen loss

Japan Airlines Corp. said Wednesday it will log a net loss of 16.2 billion yen for the business year that ended March 31 instead of 3 billion yen in net profit as it earlier pledged, after its auditor required the carrier to apply stricter accounting rules.
Reader Mail
May 2, 2007

Blogger editorial disappoints

I was excited to see an editorial about the ascendancy of blogging in Japan . . . until I actually read all of it ("Japan as number-one blogger," April 22). While it could have been an engaging celebration of this boom in people's media, it ended up being a lame and quite bizarre attempt to downplay...
EDITORIALS
May 1, 2007

The pursuit of decentralization

The decentralization and reform promotion committee, recently set up in the Cabinet Office, has started discussions with the aim of submitting proposals to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe within three years. The committee, inaugurated under a law enacted in December 2006, will work out concrete proposals to...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 1, 2007

Yakuza dealt with my stalker

The Community page received more readers' mail regarding a previous article on stalking. This is the latest one:
COMMENTARY
Apr 30, 2007

Crucial role for trade barriers

Latin America's textile industries are in trouble. They cannot compete with cheaper imports from China.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes