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JAPAN
Mar 14, 2010

Japan's first Spelling Bee winner bound for U.S. finals

Students from international schools across the country competed Saturday in Japan's first-ever Spelling Bee, battling to correctly spell English words and book a ticket to the finals in the United States.
COMMENTARY
Mar 11, 2010

The U.S. media badly needs a wakeup call

Different societies allow their news media different roles. In most countries the media is subordinated to power, whether of the government or the ruling class. Surprisingly or not, the American model is not widely emulated globally.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Mar 10, 2010

Lakers starting to look less than invincible

NEW YORK — The Lakers lost a mere 17 games all last season when they won the NBA championship.
JAPAN
Mar 10, 2010

Kids at pro-North high schools fret tuition waiver snub

For Om Kwan Ja, excluding "chosen gakko" pro-Pyongyang schools from the government's tuition-waiver program would mean more than just having to shell out extra cash for her kids' education. It's a problem that touches on her family's identity, especially for her son, who is studying at Tokyo Korean Junior...
JAPAN
Mar 9, 2010

Yosano faults Tanigaki rule, eyes LDP exit

Ex-Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano indicated Monday he may leave the Liberal Democratic Party and form a new party, saying LDP President Sadakazu Tanigaki "is not qualified" to lead since he has failed to attack the current administration's shortcomings and thus hasn't attracted voters.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Mar 7, 2010

Hark ye to the Donkey's Ears

There is a book in my library written by a Russian sailor named A. Novikoff Priboy who was captured by the Japanese during the Battle of Tsushima in 1905. His book was translated and published in English in 1933. It's a fine story, with vivid descriptions of the Russian squadron's epic journey from the...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Mar 6, 2010

Apache guard Aoki pleased with team's recent progress

Enduring the stress of a season with a number of off-court issues and distractions, Tokyo Apache guard Cohey Aoki is playing with mixed emotions.
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE MONTH
Mar 5, 2010

White, Broxsie tops in February

Natural-born competitors hate to lose.
COMMENTARY
Mar 2, 2010

U.S. 'torture memo' lawyers got off too easily

NEW YORK — The recent statement by the U.S. Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) that the two lawyers who wrote the so-called torture memos merely exercised "poor judgment" is a disservice to justice. This is a topic that should be properly addressed by a serious inquiry...
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Mar 2, 2010

Sumo body deserves mawashi wedgie for racist wrestler ruling

I've noticed how highly Japan regards sports. We love investing taxes in games and facilities, hosting international events and Olympics. Sports are even part of a government ministry, the one in charge of Japan's science, education and culture.
COMMENTARY
Feb 28, 2010

Why the oppressed must tell their own story

SEATTLE — When American historian Howard Zinn died recently, he left a legacy that redefined our relationship to history. Professor Zinn dared to challenge the way history was written. He defied the conventional construction of historical discourses by the pen of victors or elites.
Japan Times
LIFE
Feb 28, 2010

Japan's love affair with dogs and cats

Takako Toda welcomed her lively, 7-year-old English pointer into her home in the city of Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, when the puppy she named Woowo was just a month old.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Feb 28, 2010

Is the Atsugi tragedy finally drawing to a close?

During the 18 years I have been writing this column, few stories have haunted me as much as that about the Japanese-owned incinerator that, for more than a decade, fumigated the U.S. Naval Air Facility at Atsugi in the Kanagawa Prefecture cities of Yamato and Ayase.
COMMENTARY
Feb 26, 2010

Damping the soot emissions could buy time

SINGAPORE — A team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences trekked across frigid highlands in Tibet to confirm a significant recent discovery about climate change. They drilled and analyzed five ice cores from various locations on the Tibetan Plateau to find that the concentration of black carbon, or...
COMMENTARY
Feb 25, 2010

Poland's future looks bright

In the 20th century the very name "Poland" conjured up images of suffering, refugees, slaughter, terrible destruction and division. Here was a country that had been invaded, partitioned, endlessly fought over, defeated and conquered.
Reader Mail
Feb 21, 2010

Kudos to Toyota and other greats

There has been much in the international media lately about Toyota Motor Corp.'s woes, with some journalists even referring to news reports as "Japan bashing." I personally do not agree with this assessment, nor do many residents of the United States. Rather, we are simply shocked and amazed that Toyota...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 21, 2010

Never mind 'strategy,' a basic education involves others' languages

"Americans have never been particularly interested in learning other languages and are even less interested today. . . . Our government spends 25 per cent less, adjusted for inflation, than it did 40 years ago on foreign-language training at university level."
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Feb 21, 2010

Japan's graphic designers turn over a new leaf

To judge from the staid design work he churns out for many of Japan's labor and environment public-service advertisements, you'd never guess that Tsuyoshi Suzuki is a spiky-haired hipster with a collection of 1950s American crockery.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Feb 19, 2010

Talk of New York, artist Chuma comes home

If mentions in The New York Times are taken as a measure of fame, then contemporary dancer/choreographer Yoshiko Chuma is running neck-and- neck with musician Ryuichi Sakamoto. Each has notched up around 500.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS / ICE TIME
Feb 14, 2010

Morozov says Ando can rise to occasion in Vancouver

It's been said that life all comes down to a few moments.
JAPAN
Feb 11, 2010

LDP struggling in vain to rebuild

Taking the podium last month at the Liberal Democratic Party's first convention since its fall from power at the hands of voters last summer, Katsuya Nomura, former manager of the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles baseball team, had a few words of advice for the LDP.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 10, 2010

U.S. friends in high places involved in Toyota probe

WASHINGTON — Toyota has friends in high places in Washington, including some of the very people now investigating the carmaker.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK
Feb 7, 2010

Marines take a flyer on Imaoka

The No. 2 will be back at Chiba Marine Stadium this year. Albeit with a different owner.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Feb 7, 2010

Taeko Tomiyama: Brushing with authority

I will never forget the day I went to a show titled "Embracing Asia: Taeko Tomiyama Retrospective 1950-2009," which was one of 370 art exhibits by creators from 40 countries comprising the fourth Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial staged over 50 days last autumn at locations across a huge area of rural Niigata...
JAPAN
Feb 6, 2010

Sumo failed to keep champ in check

Yokozuna Asashoryu, who announced his retirement Thursday, is one of the strongest sumo wrestlers of modern times.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 6, 2010

Prius problems put spotlight on car electronics

NEW YORK — Your most expensive piece of electronics probably is not your flat-panel TV or computer. More likely, it's your car, which can pack 50 microprocessors to control everything from the fuel mix to the rearview mirrors.
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE MONTH
Feb 5, 2010

Bostic, Holm, Pomare excel in January

Quietly and without much fanfare, the Kyoto Hannaryz have rattled off five straight victories.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 31, 2010

Checkmates and imbalances are derailing Obama's bid for change

When historians look back on the Obama administration, they may deem the senatorial election in Massachusetts on Jan. 19, 2010, to have been the pivotal event determining its destiny.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years