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EDITORIALS
Aug 28, 2008

Kids caught in the Web

The National Police Agency has reported that the number of youths who fell victim to sex and other crimes after accessing Web dating (deai-kei) sites has drastically decreased in the first half of this year. This is welcome news, but since minors are still being lured into child prostitution and other...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 28, 2008

Soundtracking Japan — again

So, you've got 73 minutes of play time to sum up the entire music culture of Japan. How would you do it? What would you include?
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...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2008

Temp era ending as rules change, workforce shrinks

Masahiko Tanabe's life has changed since home products retailer The Loft Co. made him a permanent employee and gave him a 10 percent pay raise.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 28, 2008

Contemplative in Gunma

The Hara Museum ARC in Shibukawa, Gunma Prefecture, has just opened a revolutionary new space designed by world-renowned architect Arata Isozaki that interweaves motifs of Japanese traditional architecture and art with modern ones. Called the Kankai Pavilion, the exciting new exhibition space is being...
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...
COMMENTARY
Aug 27, 2008

Showcasing best of China

It's been like watching the coverage of the Beijing Olympics on a split screen. Much of the Western media comment in the main news and opinion pages has been written up by the "nattering nabobs of negativism," in the immortal words of Vice President Spiro Agnew (albeit written by William Safire). The...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 27, 2008

What the West can do to support Georgia

TBILISI — Given the tremendous damage that Russia has inflicted on Georgia, it is easy to conclude that the Kremlin has achieved its objectives. But, so far, Russia has failed in its real goal — getting rid of Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgia's prodemocracy, pro-American president. For three years, Russia...
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2008

Seiko Noda: The time is ripe for consumer agency

Establishment of a consumer protection agency couldn't come at a better time, what with the current deterioration of the consumer environment, consumer affairs minister Seiko Noda said Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2008

Steps eyed for temps' plight

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry may submit a bill to the Diet this fall that will urge, but not require, temp staffing agencies to pursue regular employment for the workers they dispatch in a bid to bring more stability to the lives of the underpaid.
EDITORIALS
Aug 27, 2008

Watching the clouds

Sudden cloudbursts have taken at least 10 people's lives this summer. On July 28, two adults and three children died after they were washed away in the Toga River in Kobe. That day, rain fell in the city at the rate of 31.5 mm per hour — a record amount in the past 10 years.
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2008

Ota downplays flap over funding

A political support group for agriculture minister Seiichi Ota declared more than ¥23 million in office fees in 2005 and 2006 in its annual political funding reports for an office registered at the Tokyo home of his ministerial secretary, even though no rent money was actually paid.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Aug 27, 2008

Abe eases back into the groove

It didn't take Shinnosuke Abe long to get back into the swing of things.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Aug 27, 2008

Exploring Antarctica for key climate clues

The steamy hot days of summer make it very tempting to imagine an escape to the snow and ice of Antarctica, though few of us will ever have that chance. Shin Sugiyama, 39, a glaciologist at Hokkaido University, is one of the exceptions.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Aug 27, 2008

Japanese Minnow

Japanese name: Mugitsuku
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Aug 27, 2008

Sharing summer memories becomes even easier

Hard copy: Camcorder owners have always had it a bit tougher than their still-camera counterparts. Sharing their memories after the (usually) fun part of imitating a Hollywood cameraman involves more steps and more time, especially with high-definition video.

Longform

Koichi Tagawa’s diary entry from Aug. 9, 1945, describes the day of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
The horrors of Nagasaki, in first person