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Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Dec 21, 2007

Tasting the good life

Karuizawa is known as a getaway magnet for the rich, and based on a recent trip to the town in Nagano Prefecture, Japan's wealthy take their pleasures very seriously.
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Dec 21, 2007

Draft budget prompts head-scratching

The fiscal 2008 draft budget unveiled Thursday by the Finance Ministry has prompted many economists to wonder whether the government's fiscal reconstruction goal will ever be achieved.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 21, 2007

'Kazoku no Hiketsu'

The Kansai region, which includes the cities of Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe, is Japan's comedy center. The biggest comedy talent agency, Yoshimoto Kogyo, is based in Osaka and its comics mostly deliver their quips in the Kansai dialect.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 21, 2007

'I carry The Who brand with pride'

I first met The Who's Pete Townshend 10 years ago at a hotel near his home in London for an interview. He entered the first-floor suite energetically. When he sat down, his crossed legs bounced with barely contained passion in response to each question.
JAPAN / ALSO OUT THERE
Dec 21, 2007

To survive a corporate scandal or to crumble

Reflecting a year that was jam-packed with food makers' scandals, including false labeling, the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation announced earlier this month that "nise," meaning "fake," best symbolized 2008 in a single character.
Reader Mail
Dec 20, 2007

Can't close door to immigration

In his Dec. 13 letter, "Pay the price of social harmony," Graham Blake's suggestion (that Japan hold off on fully opening its door to immigrants) is like building on sand. As a reader, I am cognizant of his right to an opinion, but I have to dispute it because of apparent gaps in information.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 20, 2007

Honda sees record year on 6% rise in global sales

Honda expects its global sales to rise 6 percent this year to a record 3.76 million vehicles, thanks to booming demand in the United States, Europe and Asia, President Takeo Fukui said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Dec 18, 2007

Death penalty foes await U.N. moratorium vote

Human rights activists renewed on Monday their call to abolish capital punishment as the United Nations gets ready to vote on a resolution calling on member states to declare a moratorium on executions.
BUSINESS
Dec 18, 2007

Daihatsu to up '08 global output 7%

Daihatsu Motor Co. said Monday it plans to raise global output 7 percent in 2008 as it increases sales in overseas markets, including Indonesia and Malaysia.
BUSINESS
Dec 18, 2007

'08 economic growth

The economy will probably keep expanding in 2008, though higher oil prices and a slowdown in the United States are risks to growth, economic and fiscal policy minister Hiroko Ota said Monday.
BUSINESS / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
Dec 17, 2007

'Green IT' trend set to heat up, but will it cool the world down?

There are few pieces of office equipment as ubiquitous or as necessary as the personal computer. While the number of PCs in use worldwide is nearly impossible to estimate, their prevalence as a basic tool may be obscuring their role as energy consuming devices.
BASKETBALL / ONE-ON-ONE WITH ...
Dec 16, 2007

Confidence helps Yonamine elevate game for HeatDevils

The Japan Times will be featuring periodic interviews with players in the bj-league — Japan's first professional basketball circuit — which has entered its third season. Tsubasa Yonamine of the Oita HeatDevils is the subject of this week's profile.
Reader Mail
Dec 16, 2007

Okinawans know their own history

During World War II, Okinawa was a battlefield. Scars of the war still remain there. The people of Okinawa were not to be captured, they were afraid of American soldiers, so many committed mass suicide. Now the topic is a textbook controversy.
EDITORIALS
Dec 16, 2007

Stars in their guides

Last month, Tokyo's restaurants received their stars. For the first time, the famed Michelin Guide, the most respected and feared guidebook in Europe, published a volume outside the Western world. Noted for its make-or-break effects on European hotels and restaurants, the publication was greeted in Tokyo...
SOCCER
Dec 15, 2007

Nakata expresses confidence in Okada

Hidetoshi Nakata has backed Takeshi Okada to be a success at the helm of the national team and praised the decision of the Japan Football Association in rehiring the coach.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 2007

MSDF Aegis ship ready to test SM-3 off Kauai

Japan will test-fire a U.S.-made ballistic missile to intercept an oncoming mock one in space off Hawaii next week with the help of the U.S. military, Defense Ministry officials said.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 15, 2007

Bringing books, schools to the world's children

Immediately after meeting John Wood and hearing the story of his Room to Read program, I was reminded of one of my favorite childhood books. Though he isn't prone to wearing green leotards or stealing from the rich, this modern-day Robin Hood acquires donations from the world's largest companies and...
COMMENTARY
Dec 15, 2007

Can Kim do the right thing?

HONG KONG — The six-party talks hosted by China on North Korea's nuclear-weapons program have reached a critical stage, and signs are that while the disabling of the nuclear reactor at Yongbyon is going well, the overall denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula may be in jeopardy.
Japan Times
JAPAN / READERS' FUND
Dec 15, 2007

Donations aiding Asian kids in need

Last in a series
BUSINESS
Dec 14, 2007

Tax proposals extend breaks, avoid hike in consumption tax

The Liberal Democratic Party-New Komeito ruling bloc on Thursday released tax reform proposals for fiscal 2008, including a two-year extension for tax breaks on capital gains, that indicate it is trying to support Japan's turmoil-stricken stock market.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past