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Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Dec 30, 2007

Need something to read in the new year?

THE GIFT OF RAIN by Tan Twan Eng (Myrmidon)
JAPAN
Dec 26, 2007

Time ripe for better ties: Iran envoy

A recent U.S. report that concluded with "high confidence" that Iran halted its nuclear arms program in 2003 offers a key opportunity to expand Japan-Iran ties, Iranian Ambassador to Japan Mohsen Talaei said.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Dec 26, 2007

The biggest Internet-related stories of 2007

As we wind down on 2007, it's a good time to look back and see how much the Internet landscape has changed in the last year.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
Dec 24, 2007

Tree goes up for 70th Christmas

Warren Nobuaki Iwatake's family has seen more than its share of calamity.
COMMENTARY
Dec 24, 2007

Article 9 fan club quickens

Momentum for constitutional amendments, which grew under the administrations of former Prime Ministers Junichiro Koizumi and Shinzo Abe, has diminished following the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's drubbing in the July 29 Upper House election and pro-amendment Abe's surprise resignation in September....
Reader Mail
Dec 23, 2007

'Research' can't hide self-interest

Once again I am amused at how Japanese work to conceal their self-interest in hunting whales in the Southern Ocean while claiming to engage in "scientific research." And it has been reported here that the official word from Tokyo is that Australia should be "calm." Meanwhile, the Japanese whaling ships,...
LIFE
Dec 23, 2007

One missionary's 'swamp' is another's 'religion allergy' challenge

"For 20 years I labored in the mission. The one thing I know is that our religion does not take root in this country."
JAPAN
Dec 22, 2007

MSDF exit elated al-Qaida, Taliban: Afghan ambassador

Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States, Afghanistan has been the battleground for the global war on terrorism.
BUSINESS
Dec 20, 2007

Wheat prices may increase 30% in April

Japan, Asia's biggest wheat importer, may increase prices of the grain sold to domestic flour millers by as much as 30 percent from next April after costs surged, a government official said Wednesday.
Japan Times
SOCCER
Dec 19, 2007

Yamaguchi looks back on outstanding year at FSU

As final exams winded down at Florida State University last week, many students were likely ready to make the long trek home for the holidays. Although it's probably a safe bet it didn't take them over 20 hours in a plane to get there.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Dec 18, 2007

Taking time for younger children

Every morning I trundle my daughter onto my bicycle and up the hill to her public day-care center in central Tokyo before heading off to work.
EDITORIALS
Dec 18, 2007

Lessons from the OECD tests

Japanese first-year high school students who took part in a 2006 international survey by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development scored lower in every field than the Japanese students who took the tests in 2003. The survey focuses on children's ability to solve problems in adult life...
Reader Mail
Dec 16, 2007

Turn 'culture' group inside out

The Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office Special Investigation team is investigating the office of the Japan-U.S. Peace and Culture Exchange Association in connection with the bribery case involving former Vice Defense Minister Takemasa Moriya. A U.S. subsidiary of Yamada Corporation, a defense...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 15, 2007

Fukuda seeks set law on SDF deployments

Japan needs a permanent law to allow the dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces overseas so they can carry out peace activities whenever requested, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said Friday.
EDITORIALS
Dec 15, 2007

The stakes in Seoul

South Korea elects a new president next week. Mr. Lee Myung Bak, the conservative former mayor of Seoul, is the front-runner and barring a twist, will prevail in the ballot. His victory will move South Korean politics back to the center, but radical shifts in policy are not likely. It could open the...
BUSINESS
Dec 15, 2007

Real estate bond sales to set record

Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank AG, and other investment banks are on track to sell a record amount of bonds tied to real estate in Japan, where rising property prices have created a safe haven from the subprime concerns afflicting other markets.
BUSINESS
Dec 14, 2007

TCI latest fund to seek better returns from companies

The Children's Investment Fund Management Ltd., the U.K.-based activist fund with more than $10 billion (¥1.1 trillion) in assets, said it won't let Japanese companies stymie its efforts to boost shareholder value.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Dec 14, 2007

Michelin maestro spills the beans

For one of the world's most illustrious chefs, Pierre Gagnaire keeps a remarkably low profile. Unlike many of his media-savvy colleagues, he shuns business suits and the spotlight of stardom, and just lets his food do the talking.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 13, 2007

'What is Hollywood anyway?'

Ken Watanabe's latest film opens with an image of a polar bear resurfacing into the brilliant spring sunlight after months living underground. It's tempting to see the scene as a metaphor for a career that has alternated between stretches of intense, highly acclaimed work and long periods of hibernation....
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 11, 2007

Hemp OK as rope, not as dope

A Justice Ministry report released last month says the number of Cannabis Control Law violations set a record in 2006, while the amount of marijuana seized dropped to half from the previous year.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 11, 2007

'Eikaiwa' firms face Nova fallout

Too big, too fast, and with too little quality — that's the consensus view of many industry analysts on former language-school market leader Nova Corp., whose collapse left over 420,000 students and 4,000 non-Japanese instructors without an "eikaiwa" home.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Dec 9, 2007

Oh's love for game, people endures

Sometimes the reality really is greater than the legend.
BUSINESS
Dec 8, 2007

U.S. official senses beef trade progress

Japan indicated its intention to ease import curbs on American beef during a two-day bilateral economic dialogue in Tokyo, a senior U.S. official said Friday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 6, 2007

Look back in anger

One way to learn what happened in one of history's most noxious but disputed episodes is to ask Satoru Mizushima. After what he calls "exhaustive research" on the seizure of the then Chinese capital Nanjing by Japanese troops in 1937, estimated to have cost anywhere from 20,000 to 300,000 lives, Mizushima...
EDITORIALS
Dec 5, 2007

Fruitful talks in Beijing

Japan-China high-level trade and economic talks, which were held in Beijing over the weekend, have helped advance economic ties between the countries and improved overall bilateral relations. The talks did not resolve the issue of China's exploitation of natural gas fields in an area of the East China...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 2, 2007

Preliminary baseball schedules reveal stretched-out season

The 2008 Japan pro baseball preliminary schedules are out, and it is always interesting for me to look ahead and see what quirks or oddities are on the agenda for the coming season.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 2, 2007

A country of consumers who salivate over swank

Does any country have as many food programs on television as Japan?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Dec 2, 2007

Dalai Lama: Ocean of wit and wisdoms

Lhamo Thondup was born on July 6, 1935 in Taktster, a small village in the Amdo region of northeast Tibet. But neither his parents — farmers who grew barley, buckwheat and potatoes — nor his three elder brothers and one elder sister (a younger sister and brother came later) were to discover his true...

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan