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JAPAN
Feb 2, 2008

Condemned trio sent to the gallows

Three condemned convicts were hanged Friday and the government released their names and other details in line with the disclosure policy introduced by Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama with his Dec. 7 approval of three other executions.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Feb 2, 2008

The changing Japanese face and the eye of the beholder

"The camera doesn't lie," says my friend, a professional photographer with long years in Japan.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE MONTH
Feb 1, 2008

Sendai's DeWitz, Kusaka capture monthly honors

This is a good thing: The Sendai 89ers have a tendency to pass the ball to Nick DeWitz, and he makes his teammates want to keep doing this.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 31, 2008

Voice of dissent revives forgotten war memories

Yoji Yamada had just finished greeting the audience at the premiere of "Kaabee (Kabei: Our Mother)" at Tokyo's Marunouchi Piccadilly Theater when he sat down with The Japan Times.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 30, 2008

Asia's high stake in Persian Gulf stability

SINGAPORE — Could a radio operator, whose identity is unknown, cause a war between the United States, the world's most powerful nation, and energy-rich but radical Iran? Perhaps not. But it now appears that someone — maybe a prankster — almost triggered a shootout between the two sides earlier...
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Jan 28, 2008

Watching the world's biggest roadshow

NEW YORK — I was recently amused to read the following observation quoted in an intellectual history of modern Japan: "The system in which people vie to get elected head of state through indulgence in garrulity and by flaunting gestures like those of low-class actors is a singularly bizarre custom...
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2008

Foreigner registration system to be revised

The government plans to abolish the current registration system for foreigners living in Japan and introduce a new regime similar to that for Japanese residents that will manage them on a household basis, Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama said Friday.
Reader Mail
Jan 20, 2008

Committed teachers shunted aside

Kanako Takahara's Jan. 5 article, "Assistant language teachers in trying times" -- on the problems faced by ALTs in Japan -- was excellent, though it only mentioned a few of the issues we face.
EDITORIALS
Jan 20, 2008

Some good ideas, but can he do it?

In his second policy speech before the Diet, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda made clear that his administration has abandoned the basic policy line of his predecessor, Mr. Shinzo Abe, who called for a "departure from the postwar regime" and constitutional revisions. Symbolically, Mr. Fukuda did not use the...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jan 18, 2008

The hotel of eternal youth

It was reportedly good enough for Elizabeth Taylor. It kept Chairman Mao forever young (until he died). And Charlie Chaplin went straight to the source — a clinic in Bucharest — for it.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 18, 2008

Upcoming Diet session figures to be a stormy one for Fukuda

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda appears fated to face some challenging times ahead as the 150-day ordinary Diet session opens Friday, only three days after an extraordinary session drew to a close.
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Jan 15, 2008

Bento grass

Dear Alice,
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 11, 2008

'The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford'

The story of Western outlaw Jesse James gets rewritten for every generation — indeed it was being rewritten even while he lived. As the former confederate guerrilla-turned-bandit embarked on a spree of bank and train robberies in the 1870s, gunning down unarmed bystanders repeatedly, James was also...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 11, 2008

Vega steals into the spotlight

A city of extremes, New York represents different things to different people. For singer- songwriter Suzanne Vega, its infinite variety is a constant source of inspiration.
JAPAN
Jan 11, 2008

Illness, not policies, ended my time in office: Abe

The abrupt and, at the time, inexplicable resignation of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in September stunned the nation, prompting criticism that he was an irresponsible and immature politician who couldn't even offer a convincing explanation as to why he quit the nation's top post.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 8, 2008

Following in our fingerprints

It was a quarter of a century ago on an autumn day in 1982 that I decided to engage in a small act of civil disobedience by refusing to give my fingerprint. Little did I realize I was stepping into a decades-long controversy that would be both an education and a circus.
COMMENTARY
Jan 7, 2008

Hope and betrayal in Kenya

LONDON — More than two years ago, when Kenya's current opposition leader, Raila Odinga, quit President Mwai Kibaki's government, I wrote the following: "The trick will be to get Kibaki out without triggering a wave of violence that would do the country grave and permanent damage. . . . Bad times are...
BUSINESS
Jan 5, 2008

Rice cookers go upscale to bring male retirees traditional flavor

For the average Japanese, no day starts out right without a bowl of steaming, glistening white rice.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / WALKING THE WARDS
Jan 4, 2008

Where ambitions have long soared

First of two parts
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 4, 2008

'The Namesake'

Mira Nair's last film, "Monsoon Wedding," was not only a lot of fun, it was also a perceptive look at cross-cultural confusion, tracking the travails of an Americanized Indian guy back in Dehli for an arranged marriage. Her latest film, "The Namesake," flips the equation, following a young Calcutta girl...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 1, 2008

Seeking a life in balance

A task force set out earlier this year to bring more balance to the the grueling lifestyles that have become engrained in Japanese society over the past century. In November, a set of employment guidelines were formally adopted by the government.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Dec 29, 2007

Time-zoning phenomenon linked to dozers

I finally figured out why Japanese people sleep on the train. They have jet lag. It's not jet lag from jets, but jet lag from trains, caused by crossing time zones on the train.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 27, 2007

Honda touts Clarity as latest, greatest fuel-cell car

LOS ANGELES — The red car humming quietly along this four-lane suburban road looks pretty much like your average four-door sedan.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 25, 2007

Nuclear facilities as targets

LOS ANGELES — The drumbeat appears to be growing louder: Western leaders repeatedly declare that no option is off the table to stem Iran's nuclear ambitions. And, in mid-November, London's Sunday Times reported that Israel put defenses around its Dimona nuclear reactor on "red alert" 30 times, as worries...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 22, 2007

Tokyo American Club prepares to move

Michael Bumgardner is not only the general manager of Tokyo American Club; he's a "keeper of trees," as his ancestral German name Baumgartner suggests.

Longform

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