Search - 2005

 
 
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 17, 2006

Struggling to put the brakes on the culture of drunk driving

What makes a crime more heinous than another? We usually think it has to do with intention. Murder, which implies pre-meditation, is more seriously punished than manslaughter, which implies lack of premeditation.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 17, 2006

Take a wild ride on the Orient Express

THE OTTOMAN CAGE by Barbara Nadel. New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2005, 312 pp., $23.95 (cloth). DRAGON FIRE by William S. Cohen. New York: Tom Doherty Associates, 2006, 383 pp., $24.95 (cloth). "One of the most frequently asked questions that I get as a British author," Barbara Nadel tells the e-zine...
JAPAN
Sep 16, 2006

Japanese centenarians to reach a record 28,395

, of Fukuchi, Fukuoka Prefecture, is the oldest person in Japan at 113, and Tomoji Tanabe from Miyakonojo, Miyazaki Prefecture, who turns 111 on Monday, is the oldest man. KYODO PHOTOS
JAPAN
Sep 16, 2006

Asahara's execution finalized

The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a special appeal by lawyers for Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara, finalizing the death sentence for the man who masterminded the cult's horrific nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system in 1995.
COMMUNITY
Sep 16, 2006

Sun and Moon Yoga: 'Within my body, a city'

Trying to find the way in and out of the Sun and Moon Yoga studio in Meguro, Tokyo, is a bit like trying to negotiate an Escher drawing. Do you take the clean way, the dirty way, the back way or the other way? No worry, says owner-director Leza Lowitz, there is no right or wrong way, only the space that...
BUSINESS
Sep 16, 2006

Government says deflation still not beaten

The government on Friday stopped short of declaring the death of deflation in its September economic report, but dropped the dreaded word for the first time since April 2001.
JAPAN
Sep 15, 2006

Abe, LDP sued over history text approval

A group of people Thursday filed a lawsuit against Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe and the Liberal Democratic Party with the Tokyo District Court, claiming they broke the law by intervening in the approval process for a revisionist history text.
CULTURE / Music
Sep 15, 2006

Yuki "Wave"

With her Minnie-Mouse-on-helium voice and overt Bjorkisms, there's no denying that Yuki is one of J-pop's most colorful stars. But after her success fronting Judy And Mary, Yuki's solo sound was far from consistent until, after two dodgy albums, she hit her stride with 2005's "Joy," an out-and-out pop...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 15, 2006

No Use For A Name

Formed in California by guitarist Tony Sly and drummer Rory Koff, No Use For A Name have been entertaining punks old and new with their infectious, fast-paced anthems since 1987. After releasing two albums on New Red Archives, the band inked a deal with punk heavyweight Fat Wreck Chords in 1993. Owned...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 15, 2006

Bossa nova forever young

The music may be ageless, but bossa nova's founding generation are aging. Forthcoming tours to Japan this month and next by Joao Gilberto, who, along with Antonio Carlos Jobim, was credited with creating bossa nova in the late 1950s, and Sergio Mendes, bossa nova's great popularizer, may well be their...
BUSINESS
Sep 15, 2006

Mixi skyrockets in stock market debut

Shares of Mixi Inc., Japan's most popular social networking site, shot up during the company's stock market debut Thursday as buy orders swamped sell orders and more than doubled its initially offered price.
JAPAN
Sep 15, 2006

Fertilized human eggs not damaged by storage: study

The quality of human eggs fertilized in vitro and frozen is not affected by how long they are stored, as long as it is less than nine years, according to the results of a survey released Thursday by a hospital in Hokkaido.
EDITORIALS
Sep 14, 2006

Beware the dangers of drunk driving

The recent deaths of three young children in Fukuoka in a car accident caused by a drunk driver has highlighted Japanese society's misplaced tolerance toward driving under the influence of alcohol and the lack of awareness among drivers that it is illegal to drive after ingesting alcohol. Even worse,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 14, 2006

Allegations of plagiarism raised by kaleidoscope installation in Echigo-Tsumari

Picasso once said, "good artists copy, great artists steal." Of course, it has never been as simple as that. Questions concerning artistic authenticity, honest or dishonest intentions and outright plagiarism have been around ever since societies began to consider artistic expression the unique product...
BUSINESS
Sep 14, 2006

Mitsubishi Motors launches new eK minivehicles

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. launched fully remodeled eK Wagon and eK Sport minivehicles Wednesday in hopes of meeting its domestic sales target of 302,000 units for this business year.
BUSINESS
Sep 13, 2006

Fibrous plants are helping cars go green on the outside

You might think bamboo, corn and kenaf -- a plant similar to jute -- would make poor materials for building modern cars, but you would be wrong. These plants are helping make auto parts that are green in more ways than one.
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2006

Trouble looms as foreign labor floods in

OSAKA -- It's 2030, and Japan is facing an unprecedented social problem. For the past quarter-century, ever since the population began declining, the government has encouraged the hiring of foreign laborers. But measures to control immigration have failed, and in some towns and villages foreigners now...
BASKETBALL
Sep 12, 2006

Ex-Lions hurler Higashio named Tokyo Apache president

To make teams better and attract fans' attention, bj-league clubs would ask anyone for help -- even if it is a former baseball player.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 10, 2006

What's love got to do with it? Holding on for a while

Many modern people have probably formed their idea of romantic love through the popular arts. We know from Jane Austen novels that marrying for love is an idea that preceded Hollywood, but people still wed for many other reasons, including simple companionship, convenience and money. Nevertheless, love...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Sep 10, 2006

TBS's "The Truth Five Years After the New York Terror Attacks" and more

The fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks in America will not go unobserved on Sept. 11. TBS has been putting together a very ambitious two-hour memorial special with the equally ambitious title "A Complete and Exclusive Visualization -- The Truth Five Years After the New York Terror Attacks" (Monday,...
EDITORIALS
Sep 9, 2006

Mr. Horie gets his day in court

Mr. Takafumi Horie, once the high-flying president of the Internet service firm Livedoor Co., who was known for his T-shirt-and-slacks attire, appeared in public this week in a suit and tie. This time he was in Tokyo District Court charged with violating the securities law. Reflecting not only public...
JAPAN
Sep 9, 2006

Abe, Aso, Tanigaki file for LDP election

to build Japan into a country which (we) can be proud of. The president of the LDP is chosen by a vote among LDP members -- LDP Diet lawmakers and more than 1 million party members who have a paid party membership for two consecutive years.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 8, 2006

Taking J-rock values stateside

On the eve of the longest and perhaps most important tour of their almost decade-long career, Dir en grey were putting on a brave face.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight