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Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
May 9, 2008

Tour Tokyo's aging marvels

Talk of architecture in Japan tends to head in one of two directions — the very, very new (as in the mind-bending flagship stores for fashion brands in Ginza), or the very, very old (as in temples dating back centuries). So what, exactly, happened in between?
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
May 8, 2008

How firm is the reign of the Mongolians?

If asked to name a favorite to win the May 11-25 Natsu Basho at the Ryogoku Kokugikan, not many sumo fans will be looking beyond the obvious yokozuna duo of Hakuho and Asashoryu.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 6, 2008

As parent firm posts record profits, Berlitz teachers strike back

Question: How do you get to be on the Forbes list of the world's billionaires? You might inherit your wealth, take risks and get lucky, or work for it. For Soichiro Fukutake, owner of Berlitz's parent company Benesse, it's a case of "all the above."
CULTURE / Books
May 4, 2008

Japan as a land of many religions

PROPHET MOTIVE: Deguchi Onisaburo, Oomoto, and the Rise of New Religions in Imperial Japan, by Nancy K. Stalker. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2007, 265 pp., $49 (cloth) Reviewed by Florian Coulmas Japan has sometimes been called an irreligious country, but students of religion know that this...
Reader Mail
May 4, 2008

Pleased with new look of publication

Regarding the May 1 letter "Why fix what's not broken?": I offer my reason to fix things that aren't broken. Even though the publication might not appear to be broken, it's important to attract new customers as well as keep the old ones. If that means making some changes to the presentation to make it...
Japan Times
JAPAN / G8 COUNTDOWN
May 1, 2008

EC to G8: Match our ambitious carbon goals

The European Commission will push members of the Group of Eight industrialized countries to equal the European Union's commitment to fighting global warming when the G8 summit opens in July in the hot-spring resort of Toyako, Hokkaido, a senior EC official said.
Reader Mail
May 1, 2008

Short and to the point

One thing I like about The Japan Times is that it is short and to the point, with a satisfactory cross section of news and views from home and abroad. With just 22 pages it is easy to carry around and over the course of the day I read most of it. Well, not the ridiculous wastage of sports which, properly...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Apr 30, 2008

Japan ignores power-line warning

Electromagnetic fields are everywhere, but to what extent are these EMFs harming our health?
Japan Times
Reference / Special Presentations / WITNESS TO WAR
Apr 30, 2008

War trauma leads to efforts to reconcile

Free-falling from approximately 27,000 feet after his B-29 was critically damaged while flying over the Kanto region, Raymond "Hap" Halloran was all but certain his fate had been sealed.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / TAKING A CHANCE
Apr 29, 2008

Seller of educational toys finds a niche

With relatively few parks to run around in, many children spend long hours either at cram schools or playing their hand-held game consoles.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Apr 27, 2008

Hail and farewell to the world's greatest 'Good Gringo' U.S. president

On April 1, the widely read History News Network (HNN) Web site announced the results of a survey it conducted among historians.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 26, 2008

Rudd has lots of 'big ideas'

Bring on a republic. That's one clear demand to come out of the biggest talk-fest ever stage-managed in Canberra. And new Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is just the leader to bring it on.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Apr 25, 2008

'Drawing Book' series exhibit to delight kids

This is one of the best times of the year to be a child in Tokyo, especially as the fascinating world of popular American picture books is coming to Ebisu Garden Place from April 26 to May 6 with an event for children and parents titled "It's Easy! It's Fun! The World of Ed Emberley's Drawing."
BUSINESS
Apr 25, 2008

Japan to call on WTO to outlaw food-export curbs

As the world's biggest net food importer, Japan will ask the World Trade Organization as early as next week to introduce rules to prevent countries from restricting exports of wheat, rice and other grains, according to the agriculture ministry.
COMMENTARY
Apr 24, 2008

Now it's food versus fuel

What is the next great global problem we have to fear? The answer is not climate change and global warming, but food shortage and starvation. Suddenly, and in ways largely unforeseen by experts, a serious shortage of food supplies, especially corn and rice, has crept up on the world. The result has been...
OLYMPICS
Apr 22, 2008

Kitajima headlines 31-member Olympic team

Kosuke Kitajima was nearly speechless on the podium. He will give all the answers in Beijing.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 22, 2008

Summit wicked this way comes

You've probably heard about July's G8 Summit in Toyako, in my home prefecture of Hokkaido. In case you're unfamiliar with the event, here's a primer from the Foreign Affairs Ministry:
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Apr 15, 2008

Kyodo bochi

Dear Alice,
Reader Mail
Apr 10, 2008

What makes Taiji's economy tick?

On reading your March 30 article on the annual Taiji dolphin hunt ("A HREF="http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20080330x1.html">Secret film will show slaughter to the world"), I could not stop wondering from what point does healthy journalism unafraid of telling things that other papers do not...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 8, 2008

Dancing with the devil over 'Yasukuni'

One of the great mysteries of life in Japan is the presence of the ultra-right. Loud, threatening and occasionally lethal, the shaven-headed patriots seem immune to police powers. "Why doesn't someone do something about those guys," is a fairly common response by the first-time foreign visitor. A strong...
JAPAN
Apr 8, 2008

Official defends 'Yasukuni' screening for lawmakers

Defending the government's involvement in giving lawmakers an advance screening of a documentary on Yasukuni Shrine, a senior Cultural Affairs Agency official argued Monday it was appropriate to show Diet members a film partially funded by taxpayers' money.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Apr 6, 2008

Tom Maschler: A storied life of luck and literary passions

Regardless of whether you take it with a pinch of salt or think this consummate professional is simply being modest, Tom Maschler says that throughout his celebrated publishing career, "luck" has often played a significant role.
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE MONTH
Apr 5, 2008

St. Preux, Davis win March honors

"I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times, I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.'' — Michael Jordan Bobby St. Preux emulates MJ's mental approach...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 5, 2008

Breaking the bubble of pain and isolation

Nobuaki Kobayashi is a phenomenally kind and dedicated man. Life has never been easy, however. Now his wife is chronically unwell and he too is feeling his age.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 5, 2008

Back-seat riders to be bound by seat-belt law

Back-seat passengers will have to buckle up just like those up front when a new seat-belt law takes effect on June 1, although penalties will only be handed out for violations on expressways.
COMMENTARY
Apr 4, 2008

The power of Vietnam's feminine side

HO CHI MINH CITY — Powerful women seem to be appearing frequently in Asian news these days. Recent headlines have trumpeted the continued defiance of Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi while mourning the assassination of the Pakistani heir-apparent Benazir Bhutto.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 3, 2008

One huge fan of civilization

As long as you've at least half a sleepy eye slightly focused on popular culture, you've seen his art work, even if you never go to galleries. Up until two years ago, he'd never even shown in one, at least not the ones where you stand around sipping wine and eating imported cheeses.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Apr 2, 2008

Revisit the pleasure of penmanship

The writing is on the electron: Writing by hand is a human endeavor that technology has not yet spelled the end of, but it is working at it. Ever since the humble typewriter changed the office, the art of penmanship has been in retreat. In recent times, a slew of gadgets have tried to turn the rivals...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 1, 2008

'Extinct' bird on ¥10,000 note makes dramatic reappearance

It looks like an oversize, long-necked chicken with a piercingly loud squawk and impressive yellow-gold tail plumage.

Longform

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