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SOCCER
Jul 17, 2007

Man Utd arrive in Tokyo for tour

Manchester United arrived in Tokyo on Monday for the first leg of its Asian tour, boasting a roster packed with the biggest names in world soccer.
EDITORIALS
Jul 15, 2007

The wonder of wonders

The votes, 100 million of them, are all in. The most wondrous human constructions in the history of the world have been determined by an elaborate and multilingual online voting system. The results for these new Seven Wonders of the World, splashed across newspaper headlines worldwide, reveal a great...
JAPAN
Jul 14, 2007

U.S. sex slave resolution about human rights, not Japan-bashing: Honda

and Rep. Jim Costa talk as they wait for a markup session on the sex slave resolution to start in the House Foreign Affairs Committee on June 26 on Capitol Hill. AP PHOTO
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 13, 2007

Nervous Branagh and his operatic dream

As one of Britain's most iconic actor/directors, Kenneth Branagh has a special relationship with theater. Throughout his career he has often worked to merge the stage with celluloid, delivering such memorable films as "Much Ado About Nothing," which he directed, wrote and starred in.
COMMENTARY
Jul 9, 2007

Next stage of emission cuts

Speaking at the 13th International "Future of Asia" conference in Tokyo May 24, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced a set of comprehensive strategies for cutting greenhouse-gas emissions.
Japan Times
LIFE / REFUGEES AND JAPAN
Jul 8, 2007

Sit-ins win new home, in Canada!

All Kurdish asylum-seeker Erdal Dogan wanted was a peaceful home for himself and his family.
Japan Times
LIFE / REFUGEES AND JAPAN
Jul 8, 2007

Screenings on behalf of 33 million

From July 18-26, the U.N. High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) will sponsor the 2nd International Refugee Film Festival in Japan. The program of 30 movies over nine days at four theaters includes feature and documentary films that focus on the lives, trials and triumphs of people forced to leave their...
JAPAN
Jul 4, 2007

Kyuma exits over A-bomb gaffe

made a grave decision as a politician and a Cabinet minister," Abe told reporters. "I respect his decision." Kyuma's resignation comes as the already beleaguered Abe prepares to lead his Liberal Democratic Party into the July 29 House of Councilors election.
JAPAN
Jul 4, 2007

Kyuma's gaffe sure to hurt Abe's bid to woo voters, experts say

Already facing a tough Upper House election, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's recent attempts to woo voters will almost certainly come to naught amid the uproar over Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma's controversial statement, experts say.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jul 3, 2007

Eight-year ordeal nears end for Kurdish family

Visitors to the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau can't miss a giant banner strung over the main hall of Shinagawa JR Station. Sponsored by the bureau, the sign implores those who pass under it to obey the rules as Japan globalizes. In the household of Erdal Dogan, it provokes hollow laughs.
BUSINESS
Jul 3, 2007

'Tankan' shows big makers still optimistic

Business sentiment for big manufacturers remained optimistic in the Bank of Japan's latest "tankan" survey released Monday, fueling market speculation the central bank will raise the interest rate as early as next month.
BUSINESS / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
Jul 2, 2007

'Cool Earth' efforts with Merkel could help Abe change climate in Japan

You don't have to read gossip columns to know that German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have been seeing a lot of each other lately.
COMMENTARY
Jun 30, 2007

Britain's future tied to Europe

LONDON — The recent European summit in Brussels reached a compromise on a treaty that would replace the proposed European constitution rejected by voters in France and the Netherlands.
EDITORIALS
Jun 30, 2007

A new era for Britain

In physical terms, Mr. Gordon Brown has not gone far this week: He moved his office one door down, from No. 11 to No. 10 on Downing Street in London. He did not even have to move his family, which already lives at the private quarters at No. 10. But the change in jobs from chancellor of the Exchequer...
MORE SPORTS
Jun 29, 2007

Sad tale for former NFL players, but who's really at fault?

By the time former NFL players got done telling their stories of pain and poverty to Congress, there was barely a dry eye in the House.
CULTURE / Film
Jun 29, 2007

Steel sells hard story

Eric Steel is a Yale graduate who's been active in publishing and producing for some 20 years now, but has only just made his own feature debut as director with "The Bridge." Inspired by an article in The New Yorker ("Jumpers," by Tad Friend), Steel set out to record the phenomenon of suicide at the...
EDITORIALS
Jun 28, 2007

A bid to shake up U.S. politics

There is still a year and a half before the next U.S. presidential election, but campaigning is already intense. Even though there is no shortage of candidates from the two main parties, attention is now focusing on an as-yet undeclared candidate who may run as an independent. His denials notwithstanding,...
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.
COMMENTARY
Jun 26, 2007

China aims for bigger share of South Asia's water lifeline

NEW DELHI — Sharpening Asian competition over energy resources, driven in part by high growth rates in gross domestic product and in part by mercantilist attempts to lock up supplies, has obscured another danger: Water shortages in much of Asia are beginning to threaten rapid economic modernization,...
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 26, 2007

Prison reforms seen as too little, and way too late

In May 2006, the government revised the prison law in the first attempt at broad reform since 1908. The Law Concerning Penal Institutions and the Treatment of Sentenced Inmates, as the legislation is formally known, went into effect June 7.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 26, 2007

The war according to Aso Co.

'Japan the Tremendous,' the new book by Foreign Minister Taro Aso, highlights the peaceful nature of postwar Japan and calls the country a "fount of moral lessons" for Asia. It might even help Aso become Japan's next prime minister.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jun 23, 2007

Tuffy gives fans delight on, off field

As he walked back from the outfield after wrapping up his pre-game fielding practice, fans found him, ran down to the first row of the stands and yelled, "Tuffy! Give me your autograph!"
JAPAN
Jun 21, 2007

Nuclear industry gears up for global push

KYOTO — Japan's nuclear power industry is pushing to get atomic energy on next year's agenda when this nation hosts the Group of Eight summit meetings, saying it is time world leaders recognize the power source as a practical way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Jun 20, 2007

Gone are the geysers of Kamchatka

If a trip to the Valley of the Geysers on the Kamchatka Peninsula of Siberia had been figuring among your long-term travel plans, then I have sad news to impart.
Reader Mail
Jun 17, 2007

Distortion of Canberra's policies

Once again, Owen Eather, in his June 6 letter "Principled stand helped East Asia," manages to distort my remarks completely. In my May 28 Opinion page article, "More compelling than common sense," I say nothing about Australia's economic progress. I say nothing about the merits, or otherwise, of U.S....
JAPAN
Jun 16, 2007

Author Inose agrees to become Ishihara's deputy

Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara announced Friday that writer Naoki Inose has agreed to serve as a vice governor for the capital.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?