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EDITORIALS
Jul 9, 2006

A hero some find hard to swallow

Once again, Japan's Takeru Kobayashi has pulled off the dubious feat of winning the annual U.S. Independence Day hot-dog eating contest at New York's Coney Island. Mr. Kobayashi took home his sixth straight Yellow Mustard Belt by downing 53 3/4 fat-, sodium- and nitrate-laden frankfurters in 12 minutes...
CULTURE / Books
Jul 9, 2006

Looking at Westerners' accounts of the salaryman blues

THE BLUE-EYED SALARYMAN by Niall Murtagh. Profile Books, 2006, 228 pp., £7.99 (paper). The phenomenon didn't start with Lafcadio Hearn, but in his day he became best known for it -- the foreigner who comes to Japan and writes a book about his experiences. His female contemporary, Isabella Bird, was...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jul 9, 2006

Home from home from home

Three days ago marked an anniversary of my own personal day of independence. Thirty years ago, on July 6, 1976, I became an Australian citizen and legally forfeited my U.S. citizenship.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 8, 2006

Waseda on cutting edge of cybercrime

Pauline Reich is as smart as she looks in black with a string of pearls. A late starter in some respects -- she did not graduate as a lawyer until she was almost 40 -- she's making up for lost time as a pioneer in the field of cybercrime.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 8, 2006

Tanigaki tells BOJ to gauge missile reaction before voting on rate hike

Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki urged the Bank of Japan on Friday to gauge the market's reaction to the North Korean missile tests before making a decision on interest rates next week.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 7, 2006

Foreign carmakers cash in as the rich get richer

One Sunday in June, a man in his 30s visited the spacious BMW showroom in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward.
BUSINESS
Jul 6, 2006

Aso says of Doha snarl: you give, then we'll take

Tokyo called on the United States and other food-exporting countries Wednesday to first make concessions in the difficult trade liberalization talks before Japan changes its protectionist stance on certain certain agricultural items.
BUSINESS
Jul 6, 2006

Stock market analysts unfazed by missile tests

The benchmark Nikkei stock index fell Wednesday as investors were temporarily spooked by North Korean missile tests over the Sea of Japan earlier in the morning. Stocks closed at 15,523.94, down 114.56 points from Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jul 6, 2006

North's missile threat

The following is a chronology of the events surrounding North Korea's missile program:
EDITORIALS
Jul 5, 2006

The Hashimoto legacy

Fortune did not smile on Mr. Ryutaro Hashimoto when he sought the presidency of the Liberal Democratic Party, and the premiership, for a second time in April 2001. He was badly defeated by Mr. Junichiro Koizumi. But Mr. Hashimoto, prime minister from January 1996 to July 1998, who died over the weekend...
MORE SPORTS
Jul 5, 2006

Mao to take on Meissner in GP opener

Mao Asada, the 15-year-old skating sensation who won last year's Grand Prix Final but was too young to compete in the Turin Olympics, will begin her Grand Prix campaign this season along with older sister Mai, and Miki Ando, at Skate America in October, according to an entry list posted on the Web site...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jul 4, 2006

Hanshin places five on All-Star roster

Hanshin Tigers middle reliever Kyuji Fujikawa and five others from the Central League club were named for the upcoming All-Star series as the final results of fan balloting were announced Monday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jul 4, 2006

Travel firm rapped over foreigner ticket policy

The nation's largest discount travel agency, HIS, which also runs foreigner-friendly No.1 Travel, has based the price of some air tickets from Japan on the nationality of the traveler, possibly in breach of Japanese law, The Japan Times has learned.
JAPAN
Jul 3, 2006

Hashimoto brought a rare passion to politics during his long career

Former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, who died Saturday at age 68, was a passionate, tough politician with a great deal of policy expertise.
EDITORIALS
Jul 3, 2006

A new door opens with Ireland

A n announcement at the Foreign Ministry last week that Japan and Ireland have agreed to let their young people work part-time in each other's countries for up to a year was a reminder of how much benefit flows from the little-mentioned but widely utilized "working holiday program."
COMMENTARY
Jul 3, 2006

Regaining the spirit to build

I had thought that Japan's Internet mogul Takafumi Horie, arrested Jan. 23 by public prosecutors for allegedly violating the securities and exchange law, was likely to be the last person to "pay the price" for the excesses associated with the nation's bubble economy from 1987 to 1990.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Jul 2, 2006

Tamiyo Kusakari: Dancing with body and soul

Tamiyo Kusakari has been on her toes since the age of 8. Japan's most treasured ballerina virtually grew up in her toe shoes, and spent her youth dancing on one stage after another. Now, at the age of 41, she continues to enthrall legions of fans with the skill and eloquence of her craft.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jul 1, 2006

A mite louder than mice: city gaijin vs. country gaijin

OK, so it's not the greatest conflict of all time. It's not Pepsi vs. Coke, Tom vs. Jerry or even Freddy vs. Jason. Plus it's not Japan-specific. The following swords of debate can be crossed in any nation at any time by anyone.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Jul 1, 2006

Mike Price

Tokyo International Singers, conducted by Marcel L'Esperance, will present its 104th concert on July 9 at Suntory Small Hall, Akasaka, Tokyo. This "Summer Serenade 2006" features Latin-American music. Guest artists on the program will be the Mike Price Jazz Ensemble.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / THE SECOND ROOM
Jun 30, 2006

Psychedelic radar 06.30

Solstice Music Festival 2006: July 15-17
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 29, 2006

Clay captures the motion of organic forms

Seeming to peer out the window of the gallery is a brightly colored red and blue polka-dot blob. For a moment the amorphous shape looks like it is slowly crawling up the wall, till further inspection suggests that the piece is actually still -- or is it? Such is the work of Japanese ceramic artist Chiho...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jun 27, 2006

On dual citizenship, pensions

Dual citizenship Reader S. doesn't recall ever reading anything in the Lifelines column on dual citizenship.
SPORTS / MULLY'S MISSIVES
Jun 26, 2006

Mully passes out some first-round hardware

MUNICH -- As the second round begins, Mully's Missives looks back at the World Cup so far and dishes out some awards.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Jun 24, 2006

Beatrice M. Bodart-Bailey

A new book published by the University of Hawaii Press appeared recently on bookshelves in Japan. Painstakingly written by Beatrice M. Bodart-Bailey, it is titled "The Dog Shogun: The Personality and Policies of Tokugawa Tsunayoshi."
EDITORIALS
Jun 23, 2006

Downshifting in Iraq

The government announced Tuesday that Japan will withdraw its Ground Self-Defense Force troops from southern Iraq, ending their 2 1/2-year noncombat mission. It is fortunate that, so far, not a single GSDF member has been injured or killed during this time and that the GSDF troops have not had to fire...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jun 23, 2006

The garden of earthly delight

An air of seclusion still hangs over Shikoku. This is despite the building of Japan's greatest civil-engineering white elephants -- three grandiose and grandiosely debt-ridden bridge systems that span the Inland Sea and connect the island with Honshu.
BUSINESS
Jun 20, 2006

Underground CO 2 storage planned

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Monday it plans to set up facilities in Japan and abroad to capture and store carbon dioxide underground in an effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

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