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SPORTS / ODDS AND EVENS
Aug 18, 2008

Rivals heap praise on fastest man Bolt

BEIJING — The Los Angeles Times billed it as the "clash of the dash."
Japan Times
OLYMPICS / 2008 BEIJING OLYMPICS: SWIMMING
Aug 17, 2008

Phelps wins fly, ties Spitz with 7th gold

BEIJING — Michael Phelps has obliterated swimming records left and right during the 2008 Beijing Games.
OLYMPICS
Aug 17, 2008

Entering uncharted waters

BEIJING — Countless media reports have reminded readers that Michael Phelps will probably make millions of dollars in endorsement deals after the Summer Olympics.
Reader Mail
Aug 17, 2008

Sparing trees for the future

I was impressed with Victoria Oyama's Aug. 4 letter, "Bamboo wood best for chopsticks." In the early 1950s, bamboo was used for many purposes in cooking, farming and fishing. However, in the 1960s, Japan took up industrialization, and substitutes were used for bamboo products. So chopsticks are expensive...
Reader Mail
Aug 17, 2008

Assailed by mindless violence

One day last week, at 9:30 a.m., I was sitting in a theater filled with little kids and mamas. It was my 4-year old son's big day out with papa. My wife and I had been talking it up for a week and he was eager to see a delightful animation, "Ponyo." He was a little nervous sitting in the strange theater,...
EDITORIALS
Aug 17, 2008

Mr. Mugabe's maneuvers

Never count Mr. Robert Mugabe out. That is surely the lesson of events of the last few months. Despite losing presidential and parliamentary elections, facing regional and international criticism and potential isolation, Zimbabwe's president remains determined to maintain his grip on power.
SPORTS / ODDS AND EVENS
Aug 17, 2008

Opening week creates stories the world over

BEIJING — More than a week has rapidly gone by since the Beijing Olympics started, and in that time dozens of heart-warming stories have filled up space in newspapers from Swaziland to Saitama.
OLYMPICS / 2008 BEIJING OLYMPICS: TRACK AND FIELD
Aug 17, 2008

Bolt cruises to 100m Olympic gold

BEIJING — And the winner is — Usain "Lightning" Bolt!
Reader Mail
Aug 17, 2008

Victor's privileges to present day

In his Aug. 7 letter, "Prosecution hurdles needed," Jeffrey Snow argues that since "the Japanese police have a horrible track record of maintaining the rights of those under arrest," U.S. service members suspected of crimes must be protected from this defective justice system by all means.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Aug 17, 2008

Unprecedented love stories, an emigrant artist and world travels

The topic of discussion on this week's installment of the variety show "Za Sekai Gyoten Nyusu (The World's Amazing News)" (Nihon TV, Wednesday, 9 p.m.) is "unprecedented love stories." In particular, hosts Tsurube Shokukutei and Masahiro Nakai, along with their studio guests, listen to the true romantic...
CULTURE / Books
Aug 17, 2008

Avoiding flat tires

JAPAN: 6,000 Miles on a Bicycle, by Leigh Norrie. Printed Matter Press, 2008, 229 pp., ¥2,000 (paper) The worst account of a bicycle trip ever written about must surely be Bernard Magnouloux's "Travels with Rosinante," a five-year, 199-puncture journey around the world, in which the author struggled...
Reader Mail
Aug 17, 2008

Efforts to rectify war record

Jeff Kingston's Aug. 10 article, "War and reconciliation: a tale of two countries," states that Chinese "uncritically accept Iris Chang's monochromatic view of war memory in Japan." Monochromatic? Hey, steady on. We are not talking about a war novel. We are dealing with a properly researched piece of...
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ROAD
Aug 17, 2008

Electric bikes charge the market

What do you buy for the U.S. president who has everything? When former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi traveled to the United States in 2006 for his "sayonara summit" with George W. Bush, he presented Dubya with a CD of Elvis numbers, sung by his good self, as well as a far more inspired gift — an...
Reader Mail
Aug 17, 2008

Education doesn't meet all needs

The number of people not in education, employment or training (often called NEETs) reached 640,000 in 2004. Sadly, they are often described as people who are unwilling to work hard and end up relying on their parents for support. Some are actually eager to work and pursue their interests, but somehow...
OLYMPICS / 2008 BEIJING OLYMPICS: BASEBALL
Aug 17, 2008

China wins first game

In preliminary-round action, Taiwan's batters scored four runs in the top of the 12th inning to break a 3-3 tie. However, host nation and newcomer China erupted for five runs in the bottom frame to upset Taiwan 8-7 and claim the country's first-ever Olympic win in baseball.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 17, 2008

Indonesians put to the test on the job in Japan

When the first group of potential nurses and caregivers arrived from Indonesia on Aug. 7 as part of a new economic partnership agreement (EPA) with Japan, the numbers were confusing. According to the agreement, Japan would accept 500 workers in the first year and facilities throughout Japan said they...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Aug 17, 2008

There's a lot to learn from the life and times of Beate Sirota Gordon

"This film is a requiem to people who have been persecuted and died in war."

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