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COMMENTARY / World
Dec 26, 2006

Compelling antiwar images

Clint Eastwood has turned out a pair of outstanding movies based on stories about Iwo Jima, the scene of an internecine battle between U.S. and Japanese forces during the Pacific War.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 25, 2006

Enabling Islamic science to be born again

WASHINGTON -- For a few hundred years, when science and mathematics were enjoying a period of great invention, one region of the world stood out. Masters of these disciplines were revered, medicine advanced quickly and the average person was curious about how nature worked. Not surprisingly, this region...
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2006

Budget gets Cabinet's OK despite failing to address future social needs

The Cabinet on Sunday approved a 82.91 trillion yen budget for fiscal 2007 that could help the government achieve the so-called primary balance -- a key benchmark of fiscal soundness -- earlier than its target of 2011, but experts say policy steps planned for next year will leave the ballooning social...
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2006

More sanctions against North off table for now

sanctions are working," Foreign Minister Taro Aso said on a Fuji TV talk show. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki, appearing at a news conference announcing the Cabinet's endorsement of the fiscal 2007 budget, concurred.
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2006

More sanctions against North off table for now

sanctions are working," Foreign Minister Taro Aso said on a Fuji TV talk show. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki, appearing at a news conference announcing the Cabinet's endorsement of the fiscal 2007 budget, concurred.
EDITORIALS
Dec 21, 2006

Rabies still poses a threat

The recent death of two men from rabies is a reminder that the disease is still rampant abroad. Both men, in their 60s, were bitten by dogs in the Philippines. The first man, from Kyoto, died on Nov. 17, and the second man, from Yokohama, died on Dec. 7. Sadly, they would have lived had they gotten vaccinations...
BUSINESS
Dec 20, 2006

Restaurants plan to ask government to ease up on U.S. beef restrictions

The nation's restaurants will urge the government to ease import restrictions on U.S. beef, saying the stringent rules are causing a serious supply crunch, officials said Tuesday.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Dec 20, 2006

Focused Matsui aims to promote squash

When the name of the sport is mentioned, most people would probably say they have heard of it. But they probably don't know how difficult it is to play it in Japan.
EDITORIALS
Dec 19, 2006

Closing the biofuel gap

Japan is lagging behind several other countries in developing liquid biofuels that serve as alternatives for fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas. An increase in demand for oil caused by expanding economic activities worldwide as well as tighter government control of natural resources, as in...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Dec 19, 2006

Pensions, residency and driving

At this time of the year, it is good to think about what exactly the "holiday" is. It is Christmas -- the birthday of Jesus Christ -- and Hanukkah -- the Jewish festival of lights. They are both important times of the year to remember, say "thanks" and reflect.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Dec 18, 2006

Triangular mergers and the argument for stringent controls

With the ban on so-called triangular mergers scheduled to be lifted in May, debate in Japan -- which has occasionally involved interested parties in the United States and Europe -- has focused on determining the conditions under which such cross-border takeovers should be allowed.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 16, 2006

Focusing on the elusive imagery of identity

Why would a young photographer from Venezuela studying in Japan choose to spend valuable time recording the lives of Japanese-Brazilians in Brazil?
BUSINESS
Dec 16, 2006

Tokyo, New Delhi OK trade agreement talks

India and Japan agreed Friday to launch talks on an economic partnership agreement centered on lowering tariffs on bilateral trade, with Tokyo trying to make up for lost time as it tries to deepen business ties with India, whose economy is growing rapidly.
EDITORIALS
Dec 15, 2006

Allowing a future for tuna

In late November the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT) decided to cut the allowable catch of bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea by about 20 percent in four years. Earlier, the international commission for conserving southern bluefin...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 15, 2006

Kodo

In 1969, the young, idealistic communist Tagayasu Den formed a commune of taiko drummers on Sado Island off the coast of Niigata Prefecture called Ondekoza. Den became an increasingly dictatorial figure, obsessed with fitness and drumming. "Everyday, just running," recalls original member Eitetsu Hayashi...
JAPAN
Dec 14, 2006

Defense officials eager for status boost

With legislation to upgrade the Defense Agency to a ministry expected to clear the Diet this week, defense officials say they finally will be free of their identity complex.
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.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Dec 12, 2006

Heizaburo and Reiko Kawaguchi

Heizaburo and Reiko Kawaguchi, 84 and 81, from Kobe, believe that simple meals and large servings of complex ideas from Japanese manga, anime and classical literature pave the way to a long and happy life. Trained as a fukuryu (underwater kamikaze diver), and later head of a 300-year-old family business...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 10, 2006

Setting it straight about Matsuzaka's free agency status

As the deadline (Dec. 14) approaches for the Boston Red Sox to sign posted Seibu Lions Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka, let me clarify -- once and for all -- one key point seemingly misunderstood by many.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 7, 2006

Golden oldies step out into the limelight

Sixty-three-year-old Masatake Takei careened around the stage without his trousers, trying to beat off the angry mob of obasan (old ladies) who had just stripped him to his underpants. The audience obviously loved the spectacle, roaring with delight. But what was the president of a Tokyo architectural...
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.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’