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EDITORIALS
Jan 9, 2007

Driving a train under pressure

On the morning of April 25, 2005, a "rapid service" (express) commuter train derailed along a curve between Tsukaguchi and Amagasaki stations on the West Japan Railway Co.'s Fukuchiyama Line in Hyogo Prefecture, slamming into a nine-story condominium building near the tracks. The accident killed 106...
Reader Mail
Jan 7, 2007

Christmas surprise in Japan

Regarding the Dec. 26 article "Four sent to the gallows": While enjoying a wonderful visit to Kyoto, I was shocked to learn of the execution of four people on Christmas Day.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / LIFELINES
Jan 6, 2007

Rockin' poet reaches out with messages of caring

It's hard to predict when Tsuyoshi Yumoto will be sitting on the pavement outside Harajuku Station, just before the right-hand turn toward Meiji Shrine. It depends on the weather, you see, and what else he is up to in life.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jan 5, 2007

Win a chance to 'do' the Awa-odori

"Yokoso! Japan" is the government-led campaign that aims to increase the number of foreign visitors to Japan. As part of the campaign, on the third Friday of every month, it organizes a Japan Night.
EDITORIALS
Dec 31, 2006

Japan turns a corner

The year 2006 will go down in history as a turning-point year during which Japan experienced a resurgence in nationalist sentiment and felt a weakening in the influence of the lessons from its modern wars (1930s through 1945). As a result, concerns have mounted that the pillars of Japan's postwar democracy...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 26, 2006

Can NHK keep the air free?

The credibility of public broadcaster NHK is on the line over its handling of political interference by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Dec 25, 2006

Relativity of greatness in a lawless world

NEW YORK -- Americans love to rank their own greats. One recent example is "the 100 most influential Americans of all time" that The Atlantic monthly compiled from the views of 10 historians. The list appears in its December issue, with a brief summary of what distinguishes each person.
Japan Times
LIFE
Dec 24, 2006

Penmanship: A lost art is rediscovered

At this time of the year, you may have received and sent any number of Christmas cards. Or, in the Japanese tradition, you might still be panicking about writing all the New Year's postcards that the nation's army of mailmen and women endeavor to deliver on New Year's Day.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 23, 2006

Artist of movement takes it to the next generation

Steve Tomlinson is feeling pretty wretched, but having staggered from his bed in Tokyo's Koto Ward, puts on a brave face. The show must go on, right? Tomlinson is what he calls an entertainment artist -- instructor, choreographer, dancer, singer, actor.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 15, 2006

Reminiscing on a year at the table

The solstice is upon us, and the holiday season is closing in fast. But before we take refuge under the mistletoe and give ourselves over to the usual Yuletide overindulgence, we must first clear the clutter from the Food File desk and tidy up all the loose ends.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 14, 2006

Artists go global in Sendai

The 2006 Australia-Japan Year of Exchange has featured more than 800 events in the two countries.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 12, 2006

Pluck, trim, extend -- making up is hard to do

The word kesho (makeup) is beautiful to look at -- made up of the kanji characters ke (to metamorphose) and sho (to decorate). Combined, they evoke far more than the mere act of making up. Novelists have poured much ink over the depiction of a woman applying powder, dabbing rouge or performing that special...
CULTURE / Books
Dec 10, 2006

Guidance from a master brewer

THE BOOK OF SAKE: A Connoisseur's Guide, by Philip Harper. Kodansha International, 2006, 96 pp., 2,940 yen (cloth) How the global culinary pendulum does swing. It was not so long ago that drinking sake was considered as exotic, or even as ill advised, as eating raw fish seasoned with green horseradish....
Japan Times
LIFE
Dec 10, 2006

Politics at the grass roots

Judging by the society pages of certain publications in Japan, politicians at both the local and national levels seem to spend a lot of their time being photographed with ambassadors, captains of industry, assorted aristocrats, passing film stars and all manner of other folk.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 9, 2006

Calling on the right brain for creative strategy

With his head shaved and outfitted in designer glasses and crocodile-style winklepicker shoes, Gordon Watson does not look like the stereotypical president of any type of company, let alone one selling life insurance.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 7, 2006

'Old bunch' learn new tricks to bridge the generations

A way from the bustle of the Waseda University students just around the corner, a quite different demographic gathered in a rehearsal studio there to prepare for their world premiere in Tokyo's theater youth culture hub of Shimokitazawa.
BASKETBALL
Dec 6, 2006

bj-league player tryouts resume

The bj-league announced the dates and sites for upcoming player tryouts on Tuesday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Dec 5, 2006

Views from Tokyo: What are the best ways to tackle bullying in schools?

Thomasina Larkin asks about the best ways to tackle bullying in schools

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