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Japan Times
LIFE
Aug 24, 2008

Biomimicry: Natural by design

I magine being able to maintain a perfect temperature and humidity in your home year round, without spending a single yen in electricity or gas bills. That's exactly what Professor Emile Ishida of Tohoku University in northern Japan is striving to achieve — and he got the idea from termites.
BUSINESS
Aug 23, 2008

Wal-Mart gives credit-starved companies samurai bond with Japan

Corporate borrowers are turning to Japan for cash that is becoming increasingly hard to get anywhere else in the world.
OLYMPICS / 2008 BEIJING OLYMPICS: TRACK AND FIELD
Aug 22, 2008

Bolt blazes to 200m gold in record 19.30

BEIJING — Usain Bolt confirmed his greatness in style, starting in Lane 5 and ending in a one-for-the-ages celebration before a worldwide audience.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 21, 2008

New 'Tang' Dynasty for rapidly rising China?

PRAGUE — On Aug. 8 the world watched with awe the amazing spectacle of the Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing. We saw the electronic unrolling of Chinese scrolls replete with great historic symbols and were mesmerized by dancers creating "harmony," using their bodies as ink brushes. Two thousand...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 18, 2008

Free trade system is in danger of extinction

In July, the Doha negotiations, promising freer trade, broke down, ostensibly over a small technicality in safeguard rules. In reality, the talks collapsed because nobody was willing to take the political short-term hit by offending inefficient farmers and coddled domestic industries in order to create...
SPORTS / ODDS AND EVENS
Aug 18, 2008

Rivals heap praise on fastest man Bolt

BEIJING — The Los Angeles Times billed it as the "clash of the dash."
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 13, 2008

Water shortage: China's looming problem

SINGAPORE — The Chinese government has made a huge effort to improve air quality and beautify Beijing for the Olympics. But it cannot apply a short-term "fix" to another problem that visitors to the Games will not see — the steady depletion of underground water supplies in northern China, where the...
OLYMPICS / 2008 BEIJING OLYMPICS
Aug 9, 2008

Beijing joyfully steps forward

BEIJING — There are numerous slogans plastered on walls and Web sites with equal frequency in Beijing. The "One World, One Dream" Olympic motto and "Light the passion, share the dream" theme for the torch relay are prominently featured.
COMMENTARY
Aug 7, 2008

Say no to 'NPT' of climate change

Climate change has been correctly identified as a threat multiplier. Yet it has already become a divisive issue internationally before a plan for a low-carbon future has emerged.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jul 27, 2008

Was the 'Japanese Renaissance' lost at sea?

Last week, Japan celebrated Umi no Hi (Marine Day). First observed as a national holiday in 1996, Marine Day marks the anniversary of the return of Emperor Meiji from a boat trip to Japan's northernmost island of Hokkaido on July 20, 1876.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Jul 27, 2008

Athletics squad faces pressure in Beijing

There was a mild dose of optimism Japan would collect a bunch of medals at the 2007 IAAF World Athletics Championships in Osaka. Some said the nation's athletes would benefit from the home stadium advantage and the fact they were acclimated to the hot, humid summers in Kansai.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 25, 2008

Do images of scarcity drive prices higher?

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Could the television image of the Greenland ice cap crumbling into the ocean because of global warming — indirectly and psychologically — be partly responsible for high oil and other commodity prices? The usual explanation of today's scarcity and high prices focuses on explosive...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 19, 2008

The rising middle classes want their wheels

BEIJING — W hat becomes immediately apparent on entering the 10th annual Beijing car show is the emotional intensity with which China has thrown itself into its greatest consumerist passion to date: the first throes of an affair with the car. The entire nation, it turns out, is in love with them, is...
COMMENTARY
Jul 17, 2008

Let's hope it's over soon

The world is now in the grip of a first-class financial crisis. Some will be hit harder than others, but no one is going to escape. Final confirmation of this has arrived with the news that the two giant mortgage companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, pillars of American life that underwrite, or insure,...
COMMUNITY
Jul 15, 2008

Lawmaker takes 9/11 doubts global: readers' responses

A number of readers wrote to the Community Page in response to John Spiri's June 17 Zeit Gist article on Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Yukihisa Fujita. Following is a selection of the responses.
OLYMPICS
Jul 4, 2008

Clay looking good for decathlon gold

Decathletes are a special group of athletes.
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Jul 3, 2008

Bold Kobe bares its teeth to show Olympic soccer is just not worth it

Clubs grumbling over international callups is nothing new, but Vissel Kobe's decision last week to deny Japan the services of striker Yoshito Okubo for the Beijing Olympics may prove to be a watershed moment.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 1, 2008

Fukuda's heart for G8 leadership

This fragile earth of about 6.5 billion souls faces grave and unprecedented challenges: soaring prices of oil and basic commodities that fuel daily life; price increases that make staple foods like rice and wheat too expensive for millions of poor people; a savage profusion of natural and man-made disasters...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jun 29, 2008

Christine Flint Sato: Inking her own mark

For Christine Flint Sato, the key to understanding her adopted homeland has been through the world of sumi-e, a Chinese style of water-ink painting adopted in Japan in the 14th century.
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Jun 27, 2008

Qualifying round shows talent gap narrowing in Asia

Japan national team manager Takeshi Okada will be aware his seat at Friday's World Cup final Asian qualifying round draw in Kuala Lumpur has not come easy, but he will not be the only man in the room irked by such thoughts.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 26, 2008

How Carlo Zauli changed the course of contemporary Japanese ceramics

Change can be one of the most difficult words for traditional craftsmen to hear.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS / ICE TIME
Jun 22, 2008

Suguri turns to Morozov in attempt to regain form

In an effort to reignite her career, five-time Japan national champion Fumie Suguri has joined forces with coach Nikolai Morozov, the man who led Shizuka Arakawa to the gold medal at the 2006 Olympic Games and Miki Ando to the 2007 world championship.
BUSINESS
Jun 14, 2008

G8 huddles on oil, food crises, emissions fund

OSAKA (Dollar discussions: Page 8) Finance ministers from the Group of Eight industrialized nations gathered Friday in Osaka to address the rising price of oil, the food crisis and funding for a new climate change initiative to help developing economies lower their greenhouse gas emissions.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 12, 2008

One man, two worlds

Ryosuke Hashiguchi is one of the few gay filmmakers in Japan to have had a measure of popular success making films with gay themes. His third film, "Hush" (2002), about a gay couple whose life changes when one of them is drafted into becoming a father by a desperate woman, was an indie hit, as well as...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 12, 2008

Another looming food crisis

The United Nations held a summit in Rome earlier this month to find solutions to the global food crisis. The focus was on grain shortages and high prices that have recently roiled countries around the world, causing mass protests and political instability in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
EDITORIALS
Jun 11, 2008

No more pieties on hunger

Another summit has produced yet more pledges to cut world hunger. But if the outcome of the Food Security Summit looks familiar, the consequences must not be. Food prices are rising and the number of people worldwide who lack enough to eat is growing. This is no time for rhetoric and empty promises:...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 3, 2008

Lectures from steak-lovers hard to stomach

London — I feel a little sorry for U.S. President George W. Bush. Whatever his other many failings, he has a pretty good record on aid to poor countries, particularly in health care. True to form, he recently announced a big increase in U.S. food aid good for the hungry poor and good for American farmers....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Jun 1, 2008

Arata Isozaki: Astonishing by design

If the entire Japanese architectural fraternity was one big royal family, then Arata Isozaki would be a king approaching the end of a long and glorious reign.
JAPAN
May 30, 2008

Japan pledges $50 million for food

YOKOHAMA — Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda pledged Thursday $50 million in additional aid for Africa to deal with soaring food prices and the World Bank and three U.N. food-related organizations renewed their commitment to address food shortages and high food prices on the continent.
COMMENTARY / World
May 28, 2008

G8 summit, Doha agenda and the future of the WTO

YOKOHAMA — The world trading system, based originally on the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and now the World Trade Organization (WTO), celebrated its 60th anniversary Jan. 1. During its lifetime, tariffs declined to just one-tenth of what they were, while the volume of world trade grew...

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji