Search - (2006-01-27)

 
 
EDITORIALS
Jan 25, 2007

Latin America makes a left turn

Upon winning a third term in office, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez made a sharp left turn in his policies. Pledging to "devote my days, nights and entire life to the construction of socialism in Venezuela," the fiery nationalist has called on the legislature to give him authority to rule by decree,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 25, 2007

Dairakudakan dancers play with Josef Nadj

Speaking in Tokyo a year ago, Josef Nadj, one of the most respected choreographers in the contemporary dance world, said that for his next project in Japan he wanted to create something playful for the audiences in collaboration with Japanese dancers and Japanese culture. The 49-year-old Yugoslav-born...
BUSINESS
Jan 24, 2007

TSE to increase trading capacity

The Tokyo Stock Exchange announced Tuesday it will increase its maximum trading volume from the current 14 million transactions a day to 17 million in the fall, following the bourse's conversion into a holding company in October.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jan 24, 2007

One dive at a time

They say time and tide wait for no man, and it's safe to say that few people understand this truism as well as diver and explorer Dr. Greg Stone, one of 12 individuals recently named a National Geographic Adventure Hero of 2006.
COMMENTARY
Jan 23, 2007

U.S. presence vs. the public will

A tense atmosphere prevails in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, during its centennial this year due to the planned deployment of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier at U.S. Yokosuka Naval Base.
BUSINESS
Jan 23, 2007

Economic outlook still rosy: Cabinet

Despite weak indicators for private consumption, the economy continues to recover thanks to brisk business activity and capital investment, the Cabinet Office said Monday in its monthly economic report for January.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 23, 2007

Gender identity transformed from 'freak' into rights issue

'When I was a child, I had a feeling I wasn't satisfied with being a human being. To be a human being didn't seem like a beautiful existence to me," says Otojiro Toriyama.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jan 23, 2007

'Listen' to your nose: sniff out a calming custom

Swing by any variety store and you will notice how popular aromatherapy has become. There you will find a wide variety of shiny little bottles containing oil extracts of rose, lavender or sandalwood. Along with foot massage, onsen (hot springs) and the music of Mozart, inhaling aromas has in recent years...
CULTURE / Books
Jan 21, 2007

Burying the liberation myth

Asian Labor in the Wartime Japanese Empire: Unknown Histories, edited by Paul Kratoksa. Singapore: Singapore University Press, 2006, 440 pp., $35 (paper) The Japanese and Chinese governments have announced plans to come up with a mutually acceptable shared history. Prime Minister Shintaro Abe recognizes...
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Jan 21, 2007

IBL looking to become part of basketball boom in Japan

It's an exciting time for basketball in Japan.
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2007

'Yokohama Incident' appeals dismissed

The Tokyo High Court on Friday dismissed appeals brought by the relatives of five men convicted in the so-called Yokohama Incident, the nation's worst case of repression of journalistic freedom during the war.
JAPAN / Q&A
Jan 20, 2007

How safe is our food? -- Some answers

With the revelations last week that Fujiya Co. had been using expired ingredients in its products, concerns about food safety are growing. Below are answers to some questions about sanitation rules and the Fujiya scandal.
MORE SPORTS
Jan 19, 2007

U.S., Japan gymnasts benefit from exchange

They spin and tumble, twist and turn, and bend their bodies, whipping them into shapes that often look like caricatures of pretzels.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 19, 2007

Isis and Boris

In the age of digital downloading, it's still possible to get people to buy CDs and records. You've just got to be smart about it.
CULTURE / Books
Jan 18, 2007

An unflinching account of a cinema legend

Waiting on the Weather: Making Movies With Akira Kurosawa, by Teruyo Nogami. Stone Bridge Press: Berkeley, University of California Press, 2006, 296pp, $25 (cloth) Great directors, once dead, inevitably attract biographers, memoirists and critics in large numbers who chronicle and critique every aspect...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 17, 2007

Ultra-rightist tilt posing clear, present danger to free speech

When ruling party lawmaker Koichi Kato criticized Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's annual visits to Yasukuni Shrine, retribution from the rightwing was swift: An extremist set his house on fire and tried to commit ritual suicide.
LIFE / Language
Jan 16, 2007

Buzzword book taps into zeitgeist language

Since 1948, a huge compendium (about 1,700 pages in its 2007 edition) of words, phrases, slang, jargon and acronyms in dozens of categories titled the "Encyclopedia of Contemporary Words (Gendai Yogo no Kiso Chishiki)" has made its annual appearance.
EDITORIALS
Jan 15, 2007

For lack of clean water

The United Nations Development Program's Human Development Report 2006, which focuses on water and sanitation, says that a deepening global water crisis threatens prospects for human development in the 21st century. Some 1.1 billion people lack access to clean water and 2.6 billion people are without...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 14, 2007

Japan keen to keep up with the killing of prisoners

The fall of Saddam Hussein was supposed to lead to a bright new era of democracy for Iraqis, but so far all it's led to is anguish and bloodshed. Similarly, his trial at the hands of his own people was supposed to be an example of real justice, but it was little more than a sad piece of theater.
CULTURE / Books
Jan 14, 2007

Asia's shift in global importance

Chasing the Sun: Rethinking East Asian Policy, by Morton Abramowitz and Stephen Bosworth. New York: A Century Foundation Book, 2006, 165 pp., $15.95 (paper). Slowly but surely, the United States is waking up to the profound changes afoot in the structure of global power. The rise of China is one sign...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 14, 2007

Once in keeping with some of the best company

In the Company of Men: Representations of Male-Male Sexuality in Meiji Literature, by Jim Reichert. Stanford University Press, 2006, 282 pp., illustrations XI, $60.00 (cloth). The search for modernity in the Meiji Era (1868-1912) involved not only the discovery of some new subject matter but also the...

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear