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EDITORIALS
Jan 10, 2006

A vacuum in Israel

A massive stroke has felled Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Recovery is uncertain, and most observers believe his political career is over regardless. The loss will be felt not only by Israel but also by Palestinians and the world. For all his shortcomings, Mr. Sharon has been a leader with a vision,...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jan 10, 2006

Yasukuni, rail passes and records

That shrine again Jane says Tokyo's famed (or should that be infamous) Yasukuni Shrine has a flea market on the second and third Sunday every month.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 8, 2006

The ups and downs and ins and outs of Japan's media in 2005

* Media persons of the year: Takafumi Horie and Taizo Sugimura.
JAPAN
Jan 4, 2006

Pet businesses going to the dogs -- to their owners' delight

Two-year-old Melon slept on a small bed at one of the many beauty salons in Tokyo's Daikanyama shopping district, under a mist of negatively charged ions that reputedly reduces stress.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 27, 2005

Finding a job after Japan

Rachel spent 3 1/2 years in Tokyo working for one of the big five conversation schools, before returning to the U.S. and working for the same company as a recruiter up and down the West Coast of the U.S.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Dec 27, 2005

Donald Keene

One of the greatest scholars of Japanese literature, 83-year-old Donald Keene has spent the past 52 years in Japan, with the exception of his time spent teaching at Columbia University in New York, where, in 1986, The Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture was established in his honor. So far he has...
Features
Dec 25, 2005

Haruki Kadokawa: Spirits of the Yamato

Haruki Kadokawa is the closest Japanese equivalent to fabled Hollywood moguls like Sam Goldwyn or Howard Hughes in their glory days as master promoters and unrepentant egotists.
BUSINESS
Dec 23, 2005

State allocates 50 billion yen in 2006 budget

The government announced Thursday how to spend an as-yet-unallocated 50 billion yen in the 79.69 trillion yen fiscal 2006 budget.
JAPAN
Dec 22, 2005

Koizumi drawing flak for postelection playtime

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's recent "small travels" around Japan since his Liberal Democratic Party's landslide victory in the September election have sparked fresh criticism and backbiting among some elements of his own party and the bureaucracy, even though intraparty resistance forces were pretty...
Japan Times
Features
Dec 18, 2005

New chief puts paradise on map

Many dream of traveling the world and setting themselves up in a tropical paradise, but very few people make it happen. Even fewer get themselves appointed village chief of a remote Melanesian island in the process. But that's exactly what has happened to entrepreneur and art collector Ofer Shagan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Dec 13, 2005

What is your purpose of studying Japanese?

Stuart Kirby Teacher, 30 My main reason for studying Japanese is to understand my karate sensei when he's yelling at me, and, obviously, if you're going to live here a while, then you're missing out on a lot by not studying Japanese.
EDITORIALS
Dec 10, 2005

Protecting children from danger

The successive murders of two first-grade elementary schoolgirls in Hiroshima and Tochigi prefectures who went missing on their way home from school have sent alarm bells ringing across the nation. The brutal killings have raised security concerns particularly among parents with children of similar ages,...
JAPAN
Dec 9, 2005

Aso to talk security with Australia, U.S.

Foreign Minister Taro Aso plans to travel to Australia in January to engage in trilateral security talks with his Australian and U.S. counterparts, Foreign Ministry sources said Thursday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 8, 2005

Inside the belly of the beast

Jennifer Abbott's entire career as a filmmaker and editor has been involved with challenging people's perceptions. Her first documentary, "A Cow at My Table," was on the horrors of factory farming, and Abbott met her co-director Mark Achbar while working as an editor on his documentary on lesbian marriages...
EDITORIALS
Dec 6, 2005

Peace between pace-setters

The takeover battle between Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) and Rakuten has ended in a draw of sorts -- for now at least. The two companies have buried the hatchet, so to speak, and have agreed to start talks on forming capital and business ties.
MORE SPORTS
Dec 6, 2005

Japan to send 114 athletes to Turin

A total of 114 Japanese athletes will travel to Turin in February to take part in the 2006 Winter Olympics, the Japanese Olympic Committee said Monday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Dec 6, 2005

Kumiko Mori

Since 1997, mezzo-soprano Kumiko Mori, 46, has played Madame Thenardier more than 2,000 times in the hugely successful Japanese stage production of "Les Miserables." A couple of times a week she can be seen on a variety of shows ranging from travel and food specials to talk shows and comedies. She's...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Dec 3, 2005

Bowyer's trial for row with Dyer a waste of time, money

LONDON -- A penny for Lee Bowyer's thoughts as he watched the pitch brawl at the end of England's 40-3 rugby union victory over Samoa at Twickenham last weekend would be money well spent.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 2, 2005

Have music, will travel

Shugo Tokumaru is one of those unfairly talented types who seem to be able to turn their hand to anything. He wrote, played and sang every note on his two albums of "bedroom music" and produced them both too. The 25-year-old also finds time to play guitar and occasionally sing in lo-fi indie pop band...
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Dec 2, 2005

NGO puts on two fundraising classical concerts

The Japan International Volunteer Center (JVC) is organizing two classical concerts to raise money for its relief and development work in Asia, the Middle East and Africa. This year, the JVC will present two seasonal concerts, Bach's "Christmas Oratorio" at Izumi Hall, Osaka (Dec. 10) and Handel's "Messiah"...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 1, 2005

The reign of Vivienne

From being prosecuted under Britain's obscenity laws for her risque punk fashions to twirling pantyless after receiving an honor from the Queen whose image she once defaced with safety pins, Vivienne Westwood has always had a habit of causing controversy.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Nov 27, 2005

Animals proved superheroes in TV Tokyo's "Sekai Bikkuri Daihakken" and more

Animals are cute and all, but on TV Tokyo's special documentary program, "Sekai Bikkuri Daihakken: Dobutsutachi no Kiseki no Power (World Surprising Discoveries: The Miracle Power of Animals)" (Monday, 8 p.m.), animals prove they are also superheroes.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 27, 2005

The Jesuit boys' tour of Europe

THE JAPANESE MISSION TO EUROPE, 1582-1590: The Journey of Four Samurai Boys Through Portugal, Spain and Italy, by Michael Cooper. Global Oriental, 2005, 262 pp., xix black and white plates, $85 (cloth). Michael Cooper, a former editor of Monumenta Nipponica, has contributed significantly to our knowledge...
JAPAN
Nov 26, 2005

Oshima tapped to lead Hariri panel

The U.N. Security Council has picked Japanese Ambassador to the United Nations Kenzo Oshima to chair a panel tasked with determining whether to punish those suspected of being involved in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, the Foreign Ministry said Friday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 26, 2005

Gate ceremony: Pomp or circumstance?

"Please come to the opening ceremony for the gate," said the Buddhist priest. I'd never seen a ceremony for a gate before, so my first thought was, "What should I wear?" My second thought was, "I won't even be here for it, so I could probably go naked and no one would notice." I thanked the priest for...
JAPAN
Nov 25, 2005

U.S. eyes $9 billion to move marines

Japan is considering using a high-speed ship developed jointly for commercial use by Japanese shipbuilders to transport U.S. forces, sources said Wednesday. The move is being made as part of the interim report on the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan. It is, however, unclear whether the Techno Super...
EDITORIALS
Nov 24, 2005

A frustrating trip for Mr. Bush

Heads of state travel either to get a respite from domestic problems or to get photo opportunities that make them look like leaders. By those standards, U.S. President George W. Bush must be frustrated by his recently concluded eight-day Asia tour. He neither escaped increasingly contentious and bitter...
JAPAN
Nov 24, 2005

Hayabusa landed on asteroid but didn't leave probe

The Japanese space probe Hayabusa successfully landed on the asteroid Itokawa, located about 290 million km away from the Earth, during its landing attempt Sunday, but did not drop the equipment for collecting surface samples, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said Wednesday.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami