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BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Mar 4, 2007

New stadium in Hiroshima looking good for 2009 season

The city of Hiroshima recently unveiled plans and an artist's conception image of a new baseball stadium to be built for the Carp. The facility is expected to open in time for the 2009 season, and it promises to be one of the best ballparks in Japan -- or anywhere else, for that matter.
Reader Mail
Mar 4, 2007

Myth of national homogeneity

Education minister Bunmei Ibuki's recent comment that Japan is an "extremely homogenous" country shows again how clueless so many of our officials in government, particularly in the Liberal Democratic Party administration, are with regard to the origins of this country.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Mar 4, 2007

What is becoming of my grandfather's wisdom?

These days it's tough to be a journalist. This may sound like a whinge, but whinges may sometimes reflect a real situation. Oh, it's fine if you agree with the line of thought acceptable to governments, religious organizations or interest groups. But if you dare hold up a mirror to them, you may run...
JAPAN
Mar 3, 2007

Negroponte cool to U.S. call for sex slave apology

Issues pertaining to Japan's wartime sexual slavery should be dealt between Tokyo and the affected parties, not a third country, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte said Friday.
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 2, 2007

S-Pulse's Fujimoto eyes national team

Up-and-coming playmaker Jungo Fujimoto has set his sights on a place in the Japan national team this year, and Shimizu S-Pulse coach Kenta Hasegawa believes he is ready to make the step up.
EDITORIALS
Mar 1, 2007

Beating the Yamato drum

With health minister Hakuo Yanagisawa's gaffe remark that women are "childbearing machines" still fresh in people's memory, yet another Cabinet member has put his foot in his mouth. This time, education minister Bunmei Ibuki has voiced objectionable ideas on the general character of the Japanese state...
BUSINESS
Mar 1, 2007

BOJ's rate hike insane, economy expert says

The Bank of Japan was "insane" to raise its key interest rate to 0.5 percent last week because the economy is still fragile, Bill Emmott, author of several books on the Japanese economy, said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Feb 28, 2007

Is environmental protection in the (pay-per) bag?

Like many other customers at the OK Jumbo Sagan supermarket, Kumiko Fujimoto saves at least 6 yen by taking her own bag to the Tokyo store.
BUSINESS
Feb 27, 2007

Move on Sapporo double-edged

The move earlier this month by U.S. hedge fund Steel Partners to acquire Sapporo Holdings Ltd. is again raising the specter in corporate Japan of foreign raiders taking over established Japanese companies to turn a quick profit.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Feb 26, 2007

Eastwood didn't idealize Kuribayashi

NEW YORK -- Isn't the Gen. Tadamichi Kuribayashi in Clint Eastwood's film "Letters From Iwo Jima" idealized? That was a question my poet friend Geoffrey O'Brien asked on New Year's Eve. A dedicated student of film, O'Brien had remembered a poem about the general that I translated three decades ago. Written...
Reader Mail
Feb 25, 2007

Apologies without conviction?

Regarding the Feb. 16 article "Former 'comfort women' tell Congress of ordeal": It is absolutely amazing that the "comfort women" issue is still being reported on in 2007. Then again, perhaps not -- when a Japan Times article runs comments such as: "Japan reckons its leaders have repeatedly apologized."...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Feb 25, 2007

Fernandez knuckler the buzz at Carp camp in Miyazaki

MIYAZAKI -- You know it is spring training time upon arrival at the small airport in this quaint city in southeast Kyushu. Banners hang almost everywhere bearing the logos of five Japan pro baseball teams whose camps are in session in Miyazaki Prefecture: the Yomiuri Giants, Hiroshima Carp, Fukuoka SoftBank...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Feb 24, 2007

Toyoko Fry

Lady Fry, wife of British Ambassador Sir Graham Fry, is director of the Art of Dining Exhibition on March 7. All proceeds from this event go to Refugees International Japan, a volunteer organization with world-wide relief projects.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 23, 2007

Workers seek raises as firms plead need for competitiveness

Eager to share in the swelling profits of Japan Inc., unions are growing more aggressive in this year's "shunto" annual wage negotiations, seeking pay raises higher than those won a year ago.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Feb 23, 2007

Roofs raised in prayer

Most people are only too aware of the devastating effects of global warming -- the breaking up of polar ice shelves, weather patterns going haywire, glaciers in retreat, that documentary starring Al Gore. But the thermal consequences of all the carbon that humans assiduously upload into the atmosphere...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 22, 2007

Feminine mystique

Bicultural superstar Anna Tsuchiya on her role in Mika Ninagawa's acclaimed debut film 'Sakuran'
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 22, 2007

Drama despite the Establishment

At last December's press conference heralding this year's Tokyo International Arts Festival, Artistic Director Sachio Ichimura was in a less than festive mood.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Feb 22, 2007

Breaking into an insider's tea-drinking club

The term "gaijin artist" can be something of an insult to those who make Japan their home. It is, after all, parochial and old-fashioned to differentiate artists strictly on the basis of what passport they carry.
COMMENTARY
Feb 20, 2007

Knocked back in Beijing

Tokyo tries to keep a brave face on the agreements reached at last week's six-nation talks in Beijing aimed at putting an end to North Korea's nuclear development plans. But no amount of strong talk about refusing any direct participation in aid or other concessions to North Korea unless Pyongyang accepts...
JAPAN
Feb 20, 2007

Sexually abused intern wins settlement

A former foreign intern reached an out-of-court settlement Monday with her host company in Japan and a male executive at the firm whom she had accused of repeatedly sexually abusing her while she was in a trainee program.
Japan Times
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Feb 19, 2007

Goals remain the same, but Hammies have changed

Success hasn't changed Trey Hillman, or his Japan Series championship team.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Feb 18, 2007

Tuffy and Nori: Will they be comeback players of the year?

Former teammates Tuffy Rhodes and Norihiro Nakamura are trying out with Japanese baseball clubs in an effort to extend their careers, and the spring camps of the Orix Buffaloes and Chunichi Dragons have become more interesting with focus on their comeback attempts.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Feb 18, 2007

TIRED OR EMOTIONAL: A space robot knows

Office meetings occasionally flit between two extremes. Either they're so tedious that you want to sleep, or they take an interesting turn when someone gets hot under the collar and starts ranting without listening to anyone else.
JAPAN
Feb 17, 2007

Abe, Li agree to cooperate on N. Korea

Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed Friday to cooperate closely in their efforts to have North Korea denuclearize as part of the six-party process.
BUSINESS
Feb 16, 2007

JAL may save Nagano-Sapporo route

NAGANO (Kyodo) A domestic flight route Japan Airlines Corp. intended to cancel as part of its consolidation plans may be retained, a top JAL executive was quoted as saying Thursday.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years