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Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 22, 2007

'Hollywoodland'

The new film noir "Hollywoodland" has a title that may leave people scratching their heads: Isn't the home of the movie studios called "Hollywood?" Well, yes and no. The original, iconic sign on the hillside read "Hollywoodland," placed there in 1923 by some real-estate developers. It lasted only until...
COMMENTARY
Jun 21, 2007

The law is clear on Kosovo

LONDON — The ratio of foreign soldiers to local citizens in Kosovo (16,500 NATO troops to 2 million civilians) is slightly higher than the ratio of American soldiers to Iraqi citizens.
COMMENTARY
Jun 21, 2007

Mark Twain and the sins of 'our race'

LONDON — When I resorted to Mark Twain's writings, I attempted to escape, at least temporarily from my often distressing readings on war, politics and terror. But his "The Mysterious Stranger," although published 1916, left me with an eerie feeling. The imaginative story calls into question beliefs...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 21, 2007

World's last interventionist

PRAGUE — When Tony Blair, having procrastinated about his departure almost to the point of unreason, finally gives up the British premiership this month, it will be to the general relief not only of the British public as a whole, but also of the overwhelming majority of his own party.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 21, 2007

Asian artists echo biennale director's themes

VENICE, Italy — By the light of the setting sun, a skateboarder practices tricks on the edge of a seaside jetty. Heavy waves roll in and break against the shore in a constant motion in the background. The skateboarder keeps to a narrow radius and his movements are rhythmic and supple. The board appears...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 20, 2007

Don't underestimate Hamas' extremism

PRAGUE — Hamas' capture of the Gaza Strip has created, along with Iran, a second radical Islamist state in the Middle East. The region, probably the Arab-Israeli conflict and certainly the Palestinian movement will never be the same.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jun 17, 2007

Stand by your language — but not as a nationalist icon

Last month, on May 21 to be exact, something caught my eye in the English-language IHT/Asahi Shimbun newspaper. In an article headlined "Holistic patriotic education still missing," Professor Nobukatsu Fujioka of Takushoku University in Tokyo made an impassioned plea for Japanese children to be imbued...
BASKETBALL
Jun 16, 2007

Little Parker emerges as big-time star

CLEVELAND — The shortest guy on the court grabbed the rebound under his own basket, scanned the floor once, and took off.
COMMENTARY
Jun 14, 2007

Wanted: A 'new deal' for globalization

LOS ANGELES — There is no such thing as "free" trade. In truth, the phrase "free trade" is an oxymoron.
BUSINESS
Jun 13, 2007

Steel Partners head sells investors on hedge fund

Confronted with takeover-defense measures adopted by Japanese companies, Warren Lichtenstein, the head of U.S. hedge fund Steel Partners, urged Japanese investors Tuesday to consider the downside of such "poison pill" tactics.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jun 13, 2007

Religion's cute, but creation chemistry is complex

The ancient Chinese believed the universe began inside a cosmic egg. In Japanese mythology, two gods, Izanagi and Izanami, stirred the oceans with a giant spear, forming the islands of Japan and, eventually, its people. There are countless more creation myths. Every culture has them. But I like to think...
JAPAN
Jun 12, 2007

Victim-criminal dialogue can be cathartic

, founder of the U.S.-based group Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights, looks on. PHOTO COURTESY OF AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL JAPAN
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jun 10, 2007

In Japan, show reverence where it's due (or not)

Japan is the country that I feel most at home in. Yet, despite having arrived in 1967, and living here for the better part of the intervening 40 years, I still see myself as the odd man out in one particular aspect. I just can't "act Japanese" — if you will excuse the generalization — when it comes...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jun 10, 2007

Remembering Clete Boyer — and the Taiyo Whales

Sad news came across last week about the death of Clete Boyer, the New York Yankees' slick-fielding third baseman from the glory days of the early 1960s. Most obituaries failed to mention that Boyer, who died June 4 in Atlanta at the age of 70, ended his playing career in Japan with the then-Taiyo Whales...
EDITORIALS
Jun 8, 2007

Popularity takes a tumble

The approval rating for the Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has hit a record low since he came into power last September. A telephone poll at the beginning of this month by Kyodo News shows that the support rate has sunk to 35.8 percent, a drop of 11.8 points from mid-May and a big slide from the...
EDITORIALS
Jun 8, 2007

Defection from the North

Four North Koreans — a married couple and their two adult sons — were spotted in a small boat off Fukaura port in Aomori Prefecture last Saturday and are now in custody. They arrived in a 7.3-meter-long open wooden boat equipped with an old outboard engine. They say they left a port near the northeastern...
COMMENTARY
Jun 7, 2007

Playing the new Great Game in Asia and beyond

NEW DELHI — A nifty new enterprise to discuss security dangers in the Asia-Pacific and evolve a coordinated approach — the Quadrilateral Initiative — has kicked off with an unpublicized first meeting. U.S., Japanese, Indian and Australian officials, at the rank of assistant secretary of state,...
JAPAN
Jun 7, 2007

Competing foreign-worker plans face off

OSAKA — If the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) have their way, it's possible you'll see this help-wanted ad in your English-language newspaper:
SOCCER
Jun 6, 2007

Japan, Colombia conclude Kirin Cup with scoreless draw

SAITAMA — Japan and Colombia played out a dour 0-0 draw on Tuesday in the last home match for Ivica Osim's men before the Asian Cup finals, leaving the national team coach with even more questions than answers ahead of the July 7-29 tournament.
Reader Mail
Jun 6, 2007

Critics loyal to Dalai Lama

I would like to express my appreciation for the publication of B. Gautam's May 26 article, "Dalai Lama's shattered dream for Tibet." I am happy about the way in which the author has spoken about the Tibetan issue and the Dalai Lama, and about the underlying tone of support in his piece.

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