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JAPAN / ALSO OUT THERE
Oct 8, 2008

Kimutaku — enduring heartthrob

Of Japanese male celebrities, actors Ken Watanabe of "The Last Samurai" and Masi Oka of "Heroes" are among the better-known overseas. But domestically, no one beats Takuya Kimura.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Oct 8, 2008

Tuna's just too cheap

A prime slice of fatty, creamy otoro — belly-meat of Bluefin tuna — isn't cheap. These days in Tokyo, you can expect to pay at least ¥10,000 ($100) for a goodly portion of the stuff.
BUSINESS
Oct 7, 2008

Utsumi pans rate cuts, dollar props

Makoto Utsumi, a former top currency official at the Finance Ministry, said he doesn't see the need for joint interest-rate cuts and coordinated intervention to support the dollar by the United States, Europe and Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Oct 7, 2008

Spicy food, sexy idols and now . . . fashion

SEOUL — In the late 1990s, the Korean Wave — "Hallyu" as it's referred to in its native tongue — began as South Korea's television, film and music industries gained greater international followings, especially among its Asian neighbors.
BUSINESS
Oct 7, 2008

Mongolia talks slated to secure uranium as competition soars

Japan, the world's third-biggest uranium consumer, will hold talks this week with Mongolia on jointly developing ore reserves as part of efforts to secure additional supplies of the nuclear fuel.
Japan Times
JAPAN / MIXED MATCHES
Oct 4, 2008

Brought together by fate — and a whim

Rajesh and Kayo Prasad have no doubt they were destined to marry.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 4, 2008

Life — it's all in the books

Sometimes it seems I live holiday to holiday. Having just finished Respect for the Aged Day, and the Autumn Equinox (both national holidays) I am now looking forward to Sports Day in October. The problem with national holidays in Japan, however, is that they are rarely a chance to relax. Instead, they...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / CABINET INTERVIEW
Oct 3, 2008

Kaneko to review visa rules

Visa-issuing policies must be reviewed to attract more foreign tourists, according to newly appointed transport minister Kazuyoshi Kaneko.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 3, 2008

It's a cakewalk for Tokyo's newest doughnut maker

Yoshihisa Yamada, at 44 a holder of an MBA from Harvard, quit his job as president of Rakuten Travel Inc. and established Neyn, a handmade doughnut shop in Tokyo's Akasaka district last month.
BUSINESS / CABINET INTERVIEW
Oct 2, 2008

Nikai vows support for small firms

If the nation's small and medium-size companies start suffering from the financial crisis in the United States, the government must consider additional measures to help them, trade minister Toshihiro Nikai said in a recent interview.
BUSINESS
Oct 2, 2008

Industry's mood at five-year low

The business confidence of big manufacturers dipped below zero for the first time in more than five years in the latest Bank of Japan "tankan" survey released Wednesday.
JAPAN
Oct 2, 2008

Merger creates ODA behemoth

The merger Wednesday of the Japan International Cooperation Agency with a part of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation is a significant development in the country's contribution to world stability and peace, Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone said.
BUSINESS
Oct 2, 2008

First-half car sales sink to 34-year low

Domestic auto sales in the first half of this business year slumped to their lowest level in 34 years as rising unemployment and decade-high inflation sapped demand for new vehicles, an industry association said Wednesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 30, 2008

Practical fashion for the other end of life

One after the other, the models strutted across the stage to bouncy '80s dance tunes, all showing off designs of the same article of clothing — adult diapers.
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Sep 30, 2008

Jitensha odantai

Dear Alice,
JAPAN
Sep 30, 2008

Aso goes on attack in Diet policy speech

Prime Minister Taro Aso kicked off an extraordinary Diet session Monday with a policy speech in which he challenged the Democratic Party of Japan to a political debate, consciously highlighting the ruling camp's rivalry with the largest opposition force.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 30, 2008

Berlitz strike grows despite naysayers

As union representative for Berlitz General Union Tokyo (Begunto), let me set the record straight.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Sep 29, 2008

U.S., Japanese crises share factors from Great Depression

The upheaval in the U.S. financial system since Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 two weeks ago has triggered turmoil worldwide.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Sep 28, 2008

Memories flow as era ends with closure of Hiroshima Shimin Kyujo

Kind of a sad week in baseball, wasn't it?
Reader Mail
Sep 28, 2008

A path to assured destruction

As I am neither a resident of Japan nor Japanese, I am willing to tentatively accept professor Kazuo Ogoura's analysis of the roots of "Japan's antipathy toward China" in his Sept. 23 article. Where I take strong exception is his analysis of the roots of "China's antipathy toward Japan."
JAPAN
Sep 27, 2008

Tourism minister apologizes for gaffes

New tourism minister Nariaki Nakayama wasted no time putting his foot in it. The day after stating that Japanese do not like foreigners and that the country is ethnically homogeneous, Nakayama apologized Friday and retracted his statements.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 27, 2008

French chef has Japanese touch

A reputation for excellence is the result of modest efforts made every day. At least that's what 50-year-old French chef Michel Troisgros seems to embody.
JAPAN
Sep 27, 2008

Free gas not enough: Afghan envoy

Japan must do more to fight terrorism than continue to refuel ships in the Indian Ocean, Afghan Ambassador to Japan Haron Amin said Friday in Tokyo.

Longform

After the asset-price bubble crash of the early 1990s, employment at a Japanese company was no longer necessarily for life. As a result, a new generation is less willing to endure a toxic work culture —life’s too short, after all.
How Japan's youth are slowly changing the country's work ethic