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Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 17, 2009

'Slumdog' Boyle celebrates beating the odds

At first glance, you could hardly find a more unlikely candidate for a Best Picture Oscar than "Slumdog Millionaire." With no stars and a cast of mostly Indian unknowns, a director best known for a controversially hip film about junkies, and — God forbid — subtitles, that would normally be three...
EDITORIALS
Apr 14, 2009

Record-breaking stimulus

The government has compiled the largest-ever economic stimulus package in the form of a fiscal 2009 supplementary budget, involving actual spending of ¥15 trillion. This is much larger than the past biggest stimulus package of ¥7.6 trillion, which the Obuchi administration compiled as a third supplementary...
COMMENTARY
Apr 11, 2009

The peacemaking process has a cultural dimension

Peace is not simply an absence of military conflict. It is a long process in which potential or actual opponents can deepen their understanding of each other and correct misperceptions or misunderstandings. If this aspect is lacking, military conflict can easily break out again.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 11, 2009

Ranks of homeless swell in Osaka

OSAKA (Bloomberg) Within two months of losing his job packing shelves at a cold-storage company in Osaka, Toshiyuki Miki said, he was homeless. He counts himself among the many people worldwide whose life has been turned upside down in the wake of the "Lehman Shock."
BUSINESS
Apr 10, 2009

Nintendo aims to turn DS device into learning tool, guide

Nintendo Co. said Thursday it will soon introduce a service that teachers can use to send quizzes and other school assignments from their personal computers to students who have the game giant's DS hand-held console.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Apr 10, 2009

Age knows no boundaries for flutist

He celebrated his 80th birthday in January, but Swiss flutist Peter- Lukas Graf — who is still active as a performer, conductor and teacher — is touring Japan.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Apr 10, 2009

Age knows no boundaries for flutist

He celebrated his 80th birthday in January, but Swiss flutist Peter- Lukas Graf — who is still active as a performer, conductor and teacher — is touring Japan.
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Apr 7, 2009

Korean wave adds weight to J. League's Asian ambitions

When the J. League allowed clubs to add an extra Asian player to their foreigner quotas at the end of last season, fans were probably hoping for a little more diversity than the influx of Koreans that materialized.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Apr 7, 2009

'Golden parachutes' mark failure of race-based policy

Japan's employment situation has gotten pretty dire, especially for non-Japanese workers. The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry reports that between last November and January, more than 9,000 foreigners asked the Hello Work unemployment agency for assistance — 11 times the figure for the same period...
Reader Mail
Apr 5, 2009

Global language question open

Don't believe that English is, or will be, the international language. I live in London and if anyone says to me that everyone speaks English, my answer is, listen and look around. So, if everyone in London is not speaking English, then the whole question of a global language is completely open.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Apr 5, 2009

Swapping snow for a rain forest

Although there was very little snow this winter here where I live in the Nagano Prefecture hills, it was still good to have an excuse to get away from the cold, and the excuse this time was to present a prize for the writer and illustrator of a book for little children.
LIFE / CLOSE-UP
Apr 5, 2009

Hiroshi Mikitani: Retail revolutionary

On a bitterly cold mid-February day, in the midst of an even harsher economic climate, Hiroshi Mikitani — founder, president and CEO of one of Japan's largest online retailers, Rakuten Inc. — shook off a slight cold to announce at a concise news conference that in fiscal 2008 his company had achieved...
CULTURE / Art
Apr 3, 2009

Going postcolonial, seeking 'altermodern'

Born in Calabar, Nigeria, in 1963 and now dean of academic affairs at the San Francisco Art Institute, Okwui Enwezor has organized a number of seminal exhibitions of contemporary art. In 2001, the internationally touring exhibition "The Short Century: Independence and Liberation Movements in Africa,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Apr 3, 2009

Fleeting beauty, timeless dining

Impatient to see the first sakura of the season, we followed the crowds into Ueno Park. It's been a good while since we last joined in the revelry at Tokyo's largest, most boisterous cherry blossom-viewing party — and never before have we done it in such gourmet style.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 3, 2009

Lost & Found

The discovery in a German archive of documents and photographs related to the Prussian mission to Japan in 1860-61 has shed new light on the early history of photography in Japan. In particular, newly uncovered letters and records help explain the mystery of why so few images from the well-equipped mission...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Apr 3, 2009

Innsyoutei: Fleeting beauty, timeless dining

Impatient to see the first sakura of the season, we followed the crowds into Ueno Park. It's been a good while since we last joined in the revelry at Tokyo's largest, most boisterous cherry blossom-viewing party — and never before have we done it in such gourmet style.
Reader Mail
Apr 2, 2009

Assembly members flunked class

Regarding the March 23 editorial " Stay out of the classroom": I remember hearing about this incident six years ago, and although it struck me at the time as odd, it wasn't until an example of the kind of sex-education class involved was broadcast on television recently that I realized how ridiculous...
BUSINESS
Apr 2, 2009

Tokyo law firm is top-ranked M&A adviser

Nishimura & Asahi, which helped Mitsubishi Estate Co. convert Towa Real Estate Development Co. into a wholly owned subsidiary, was the nation's top-ranked legal adviser on mergers and acquisitions last quarter.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Apr 1, 2009

Ota regains focus to win

After earning a silver medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, foil fencer Yuki Ota said he struggled to elevate his motivation level.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 1, 2009

Group of 20 too diverse to succeed

HONG KONG — Amid great fanfare, pestered by a rainbow alliance of protesters, and protected by almost blanket security costing $30 million for a mere seven hours of meetings and making London a virtual no-go area, the leaders of the Group of 20 (G20) countries meet this week, promising to restore hope...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 31, 2009

Water, water everywhere but . . .

ISTANBUL, CITIZEN NEWS SERVICE — Water constitutes about three-fourths of Earth's surface, but only less than 1 percent of it can be used by its inhabitants. Most of it consists of saltwater oceans (about 97 percent), and 2 percent of that is contained in glaciers. With every country seeking to satisfy...
SOCCER / World cup
Mar 30, 2009

Okada unruffled by missed chances

SAITAMA — National team manager Takeshi Okada has defended his side's goalscoring record after watching Japan miss a slew of chances in Saturday's 1-0 win over Bahrain.
Reader Mail
Mar 29, 2009

Japan's bureaucrats do the same

As a fellow Japanese citizen and a graduate of the University of Manchester who was deeply impressed by the warmth of British people, I'd like to kindly ask Mikako Hayashi if she has taken the time to reflect on how visa applicants from places outside "agreeable" countries such as the United Kingdom...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Mar 28, 2009

Big man in the middle Sun helping Phoenix's ascent

Any professional basketball team would welcome the option of having a 236-cm center. In a sport that places a premium on height, an inside tower gives a team power.

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan