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JAPAN
Dec 14, 2006

Government jiggered town meetings to push policies

The government padded expenses and had "plants," some of them paid, offer comments and opinions in the state's favor at so-called town meetings over the past five years, an investigating committee said in a final report released Wednesday.
JAPAN
Dec 14, 2006

Government jiggered town meetings to push policies

The government padded expenses and had "plants," some of them paid, offer comments and opinions in the state's favor at so-called town meetings over the past five years, an investigating committee said in a final report released Wednesday.
JAPAN
Dec 12, 2006

Accused in Blackman trial denies all charges

Joji Obara, accused of fatally drugging two women, including British hostess Lucie Blackman, and raping eight others, made his final plea Monday at the Tokyo District Court, denying all charges against him.
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
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Dec 6, 2006

Guns, geese and bears by the pair

We leaned back in our seats and gazed at the ruins of the goose. Our hut on Devon Island was festooned with decorations we'd made from toilet paper, and the five of us -- the Arctic Institute of North America's wintering party in Canada's far north, straddling the Arctic Circle above Baffin Island --...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 28, 2006

John Toler, 75, unlikely Zen abbot bridging East, West, dies at temple

John Toler, abbot of Seisen-An Temple in Ouda, Nara Prefecture, died of heart failure on Nov. 14 at the temple. He was 75 years old and a key link in the history of foreigners living in postwar Japan.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Nov 27, 2006

The importance of being ambiguous at APEC

APEC stands for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. A strange name. Neither a committee nor a council, not even a commission -- just "cooperation."
COMMENTARY
Nov 27, 2006

Abe, Bush to strengthen ties

In his first summit with President George W. Bush held in Hanoi on Nov. 18, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed to strengthen the "Japan-U.S. alliance for Asia and the world" in security and economic relations.
EDITORIALS
Nov 20, 2006

Politics of an energy boost

Recent events surrounding energy-development projects overseas highlight resource-poor Japan's vulnerability. They underscore the need for both the government and the private sector to develop a multipronged long-term strategy that will enable the nation to flexibly cope with unexpected changes in the...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Nov 19, 2006

Athletes extol sensation of 'iron calm' at the limit

People have been enjoying a wide variety of sports since at least the time of Ancient Greece. In the Athens 2004 Olympic Games alone, athletes competed in about 300 categories of 28 sports -- and the list seems to get longer every time.
COMMENTARY
Nov 17, 2006

Tough advice from a friend

LONDON -- Embattled U.S. President George W. Bush has asked for new ideas to help him on Iraq and on how to disentangle from the Middle East morass. He will of course get plenty, but he needs to be very careful over what he chooses.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 17, 2006

Islamic extremism threatens Bangladesh

MADRAS, India -- Bangladesh is the latest South Asian flash point where democracy stands threatened. Bloody street battles between two rival political parties -- led by two women who hate each other -- and other violence have swept the small country northwest of India in recent weeks. The military is...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Nov 11, 2006

The overrated and the underrated

Several months ago I devoted a column to aspects of Japanese life that I felt received too much or too little attention in the eyes of foreign visitors.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 10, 2006

Climate change to test our adaptability

NEW YORK -- If there was any remaining doubt about the urgent need to combat climate change, two reports issued last week should make the world sit up and take notice.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 10, 2006

'Sovereignty has to be taken'

Cillian Murphy certainly has romantic-lead looks, but his filmography reveals an actor more committed to a diverse career. Many viewers will recall his portrayal of the twisted Scarecrow character in "Batman Begins," but he also played a determined survivor in Danny Boyle's "28 Days Later" and a transvestite...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 9, 2006

Clues to living in a stress-filled society

We live in a high-pressure, high-stress society. In Japan, the symptoms of extreme levels of stress are seen in the "death from overwork" syndrome and a tragically high suicide rate. Vicious bullying among children is likewise a reflec- tion of this stress.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Nov 8, 2006

Rationality again on rack of 'faith'

How can certain events that took place in 17th-century Italy have much relevance to those of the 21st? I'm thinking of the way one of the greatest men in history, the father of physics, Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), was treated by the Roman Catholic Church.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 7, 2006

An uneasy introduction to a grandchild

According to an announcement last month by Nagano Prefecture obstetrician Yahiro Nezu, a woman nearly 60 years old has served as a surrogate mother for her daughter. Last spring the woman gave birth to a baby that had been conceived externally using a fertilized egg provided by her daughter and the daughter's...
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 3, 2006

Local volunteers revive cello competition

The 1st Gaspar Cassado International Violoncello Competition in Hachioji begins Nov. 23, relaunching a contest that first began in Florence, Italy in 1969.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight