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COMMENTARY
Oct 23, 2008

Africa and the unstoppable rise of English

Just over half of Africa's 52 countries speak French, but the number is dropping. This month Rwanda defected, announcing that henceforward only English will be taught in the schools. It would not be overstating the case to say that this caused alarm and despondency in France.
Reader Mail
Oct 23, 2008

Changing worldview a good thing

Reading the first lines of the article "Japan in a post-U.S. world," I really wonder if the author seriously means this. What the United States is doing is trying to force everybody into the mind-set that it has. This can be seen in Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Oct 21, 2008

Barrett, Simons and Clemens in Tokyo

Fast flagships On Sept. 17, the new flagship store for designer Neil Barrett opened in Tokyo with the assistance of a heavyweight collaborator — none other than hot U.K. architect Zaha Hadid came on board for her first retail-venue project. Barrett, a 20-year design veteran of tailored cuts (pictured...
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Oct 21, 2008

Japan's spies: What cloak, dagger?

How ill is Kim Jong Il?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 17, 2008

Truth but still no comfort, 63 years on

There were no Korean subtitles during the screening of "63 Years On" at the Pusan International Film Festival on Oct. 4, which was strange since the 60-minute documentary about the Japanese Imperial Army's sex-slave policy during World War II is a Korean production.
BUSINESS
Oct 16, 2008

Political merit seen in forex-tapped rescues

Flush with cash after crawling out of its own bad-debt crisis, Japan is offering funding to help prop up crumbling financial firms around the world — a move that some hope may bolster this nation's standing on the international stage.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 12, 2008

Ryu Murakami mistakes consumption for labor

A friend used to call TV Tokyo the "ramen and golf channel." He was referring to the station's penchant for programming centered on food shows and sponsored sports events, which don't cost as much to produce as drama series or celebrity- laden variety shows. However, the station's tightwad image was...
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA
Oct 12, 2008

The Tale of Genji: Words of wonder

Western readers were first exposed to the wonders of "The Tale of Genji" when Kencho Suematsu, a graduate of Cambridge University in England, published his translation of the first 17 of its 54 chapters in London in 1882, according to the renowned scholar of Japanese literature Donald Keene.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 9, 2008

Japan punctuality lets duo go the Guinness 24-hour train distance

With some help from Mother Nature and Japan's famously punctual train system, two Americans this week unofficially broke the Guinness world record for the longest distance traveled by train in a 24-hour period.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 9, 2008

Venice Biennale's theme won't stop the rain

'Architecture is not building." That's the mildly provocative premise of this year's Venice Architecture Biennale, "Out There: Architecture Beyond Building," which runs till Nov. 23. Although outspent by the Venice Art Biennale and outshone by the Venice Film Festival, the architecture event in Venice...
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS / ICE TIME
Oct 8, 2008

Murakami case shows JSF short on skater support

"Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.''
Reader Mail
Oct 5, 2008

Japan Inc. meeting challenges

I have to disagree with some of Gregory Clark's comments at the end of his Sept. 21 article, "The Japanese knack for choking in a slump," as they seem out of touch with the Japanese business community that I see.
TENNIS
Oct 4, 2008

Del Potro upsets Ferrer in quarters

Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro sent top seed and defending champion David Ferrer crashing out in the quarterfinals of the Japan Open on Friday, while American Andy Roddick continued his successful tour of Asia with a comfortable 6-3, 6-4 win over Serbia's Viktor Troicki.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 2, 2008

Should Asia brace for more mega storms?

SINGAPORE — We have become acutely aware of the financial storm threatening to sweep the world. But what about nature's most powerful storms? Will global warming cause more frequent and intense tropical cyclones, increasing the already heavy annual toll of death, damage and injury in densely populated...
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2008

Shirakawa's BOJ finally joins coordinated action

When the subprime crisis ran riot and U.S. and European central banks launched a series of coordinated assaults earlier this year, Bank of Japan Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa stood aside and merely released statements hailing his peers' efforts.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Sep 21, 2008

Kenji Miyazawa: In harmony with all creation

If the primary theme of human life in the 21st century is living in harmony with other animals and plants — and also preserving the bounties of the Earth — then Kenji Miyazawa is the Japanese writer who can most thoroughly help us to understand and pursue this theme.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 11, 2008

LDP rivals offer more reform or regression

OSAKA — In the short term, the next prime minister will either continue internationally sought fiscal and economic reforms or return to the traditional pork-barrel projects and failed economic policies of the past, forge closer military ties with the United States or maintain the status quo.
BUSINESS / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
Sep 8, 2008

Japan's electronics giants acquire yen for European assets

While the just completed Beijing Olympics will have meant different things to different people, one thing is certain: A lot of TVs were tuned into the games. And now that the intense viewing of judo, swimming and softball is over, it is quite possible a number of Japanese TV owners are wishing they could...
Japan Times
SPORTS / ODDS AND EVENS
Aug 31, 2008

Beijing Games chock full of memorable moments

Editor's note: This is the first of a two-part series. The second part will focus on Japan's 2008 Olympic experience.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Aug 31, 2008

Why is Japan lagging in solar-energy field?

In the renewable energy industry, how does Japan compare with the rest of the world?
COMMENTARY
Aug 28, 2008

How to handle an angry bear

Experts and commentators have been pouring out books, pamphlets and articles in recent times telling us that conventional wars between states are a thing of the past and that all nations now instead face a kind of globalized, nihilistic terrorism requiring entirely new responses. Unfortunately the Russians...
CULTURE / Art / INSIDE ART
Aug 28, 2008

Why curators stay at home

When I interviewed 28-year-old curator Shinya Watanabe a month ago, he surprised me when he said his dream was to curate Documenta, the massive exhibition of international contemporary art held once every five years in Kassel, Germany. He might as well have said all he wanted was to be the most famous...
EDITORIALS
Aug 26, 2008

Olympics not all gold

The Beijing Olympic Games, viewed by both the Chinese government and the Chinese people as a tremendous opportunity to showcase the economic development and modernization of the world's most populous country, have drawn to a close.
OLYMPICS / 2008 BEIJING OLYMPICS: BASKETBALL
Aug 25, 2008

Team USA back on top of basketball

BEIJING — Chinese culture, it has been said, emphasizes group harmony over individual desires. Western culture is supposed to stress the opposite dynamic.
OLYMPICS / ODDS AND EVENS
Aug 18, 2008

Phelps' achievement leaves nothing to the imagination

BEIJING — There was little time to ponder the significance of Michael Phelps' record-tying seventh gold medal in a single Olympiad on Saturday. There were other stories to write before heading out to National Stadium to see the evening's track and field competition. And, oh yeah, lunch was on the agenda,...
OLYMPICS / 2008 BEIJING OLYMPICS: TRACK AND FIELD
Aug 16, 2008

Murofushi breezes in first round of hammer

BEIJING — Hammer thrower Koji Murofushi, the reigning Olympic gold medalist, is right where he wants to be: in position to defend his title.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Aug 16, 2008

Big three cruise in 100m heats

The race is on for 2008's most coveted title in track and field.

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear