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Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Nov 14, 2007

Online music store helps Japanese music go global

You've heard the stories: The music industry is in crisis, CD sales are dropping year on year, iTunes is taking over the world, the future is digital, the revolution is here. While a lot of this may be true, music fans could be forgiven for some cynicism when all about them the music industry seeks to...
JAPAN
Nov 3, 2007

DPJ nixes Fukuda's coalition offer to Ozawa

shares a laugh with Democratic Party of Japan leader Ichiro Ozawa prior to their talks Friday at the Diet. AP PHOTO
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Oct 31, 2007

NFL foray recalls days when London boasted title team

LONDON — Occasionally life deals you a good hand.
BUSINESS
Oct 27, 2007

DoCoMo profits plunge 21% in half year as users defect to rivals

NTT DoCoMo Inc. reported a 21 percent drop in operating profit for the April-September period Friday, reflecting its loss of customers to rivals KDDI Corp. and Softbank Corp.
JAPAN
Oct 18, 2007

Ruling bloc's MSDF bill is given to Diet

The ruling coalition Wednesday submitted to a divided Diet a special bill to enable the Maritime Self-Defense Force to continue providing logistic support in the Indian Ocean for U.S.-led antiterror operations in and around Afghanistan.
CULTURE / Art
Oct 18, 2007

Design meets art at 'Roppongi Crossing'

The world loves Japanese design. Because of this, Design Week, coming up next month, is arguably one of the most successful international events in Tokyo. By contrast, Tokyo Fashion Week and Tokyo International Film Festival hardly generate in those fields' fans the rabid excitement that the designers'...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / TAKING A CHANCE
Oct 17, 2007

Florist brings affordable flowers to the masses

Hideaki Inoue, president of the company that runs the Aoyama Flower Market chain, earlier in life had no particular interest in flowers. But today, the former accountant cannot live without them.
COMMENTARY
Oct 13, 2007

Democracies' double standard

NEW DELHI — The repression let loose by Burma's (Myanmar) military junta has fittingly drawn international outrage. But the indignation and new wave of U.S.-led sanctions also obscure an inconvenient truth: Promotion of freedom has become a diplomatic instrument to target not China — the world's...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 12, 2007

Dedicated followers of suburbia

Think of New York and rock musicians and you might well think of Lou Reed, whose identification with his home town is so secure that he remains the only rock star with the guts to actually title an album "New York." Even Billy Joel restricted himself to "52nd Street."
EDITORIALS
Oct 10, 2007

Refueling bill undercuts Diet

The ruling coalition has presented the opposition bloc with an outline of a new law to continue the Maritime Self-Defense Force's refueling mission in the Indian Ocean. The new law, if enacted, will replace the current special law, which expires Nov. 1. Although similar to the current law, the new law...
COMMENTARY
Oct 7, 2007

Advancing the study of Japan in Britain

LONDON — On Thursday, at the Japanese Embassy in London, the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation and the Nippon Foundation announced a series of new grants designed to further the development of Japanese studies in Britain.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Oct 7, 2007

Nahoko Yamazaki: Off-stage woman stars in men's theater world

Just as in the realm of politics, in the arts world — and here, particularly regarding the performing arts — different countries adopt different policies depending on their historical and economic circumstances.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ROAD
Oct 7, 2007

A Golden Age everywhere but at home

More high-profile new cars are hitting the market than have been seen for nearly 20 years, creating buzz everywhere but Japan.
JAPAN
Oct 6, 2007

Ruling bloc, in rare twist, hands MSDF bill to opposition

The ruling coalition Friday submitted to the opposition camp the draft of a new bill to continue the Maritime Self-Defense Force's refueling mission in the Indian Ocean in support of antiterrorism operations in and around Afghanistan — a key goal of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda in the current Diet session....
JAPAN / Q&A
Sep 29, 2007

All eyes on Japan Post as privatization begins

Japan Post will be reorganized Monday, paving the way for it to become a private company for the first time in its more than 130-year history. The following are questions and answers on how the privatization will affect Japan's postal services.
COMMENTARY
Sep 27, 2007

Hype on nuclear power is misleading

NEW DELHI — Talk of a "global nuclear renaissance" remains just that — all talk. Notwithstanding the strong public relations campaign by the nuclear power industry and its powerful lobbying groups, nuclear energy is hardly the answer to the twin challenges of carbon mitigation and energy security...
JAPAN
Sep 26, 2007

Fukuda elected prime minister in Diet faceoff

New Liberal Democratic Party President Yasuo Fukuda was elected prime minister by a divided Diet on Tuesday afternoon amid the political turmoil stemming from Shinzo Abe's sudden resignation announcement two weeks ago.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 25, 2007

Rules for making 'friends' from faces

PRAGUE — I'm embarrassed to say that after reading Newsweek's recent cover story on Facebook, I joined. The majority of the social networking site's new members are people over 35: oldies like me. Still, it's uncool — and supposedly "old school" — to join because of pieces in "old media" like Newsweek....
Japan Times
LIFE / Language
Sep 23, 2007

Cellphone bards hit bestseller lists

Like many other young Japanese, Rin, 21, punches her mobile phone keys very quickly. Holding her phone with two hands, and moving her thumbs deftly and smoothly, she quickly generates sentences on the small screen.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language
Sep 23, 2007

Japanese: A language in a state of flux

Languages are never static. They change and evolve with people over time. They also interact with other languages, and through an endless cycle of loaning and borrowing of words, ideas and concepts are shared, exchanged and nurtured across national and cultural boundaries.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 20, 2007

Butoh flowers of life and decay

There is a muscular eloquence to Junichi Kakizaki's constructions. He describes himself as a floral artist — not an ikebana (flower arrangement) master — and has won awards for his interpretation of the traditional Japanese art form. He considers his works to be contemporary art — either installations...
JAPAN
Sep 8, 2007

Abe & Co. stumbling toward a Diet showdown

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's political future hinges on how he manages the extraordinary Diet session that starts Monday.
COMMENTARY
Aug 30, 2007

Happiness can't be legislated

LONDON — The question is topical because economists and other experts are increasingly doubting whether existing policies, such as steps to increase economic growth, really add to people's welfare and contentment.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Aug 28, 2007

Picking faction bosses Abe's bid to show tactful maturity?

In a desperate effort to mend his and his Cabinet's damaged credibility, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took the safe course Monday by picking a new team of mainly veteran lawmakers, including Liberal Democratic Party faction leaders.
COMMENTARY
Aug 23, 2007

China tightens grip on Tibetan Buddhism

HONG KONG — China announced last month new regulations governing Tibetan Buddhism, including a stipulation that senior monks, known as "living Buddhas," cannot be reincarnated without government permission.

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo