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SOCCER / J. League
Dec 4, 2008

Miller focused ahead of JEF's day of reckoning

NARASHINO, Chiba Pref. — JEF United Chiba manager Alex Miller is refusing to be distracted by events elsewhere in the J. League as his side makes a last-ditch attempt to avoid relegation on Saturday.
JAPAN
Dec 4, 2008

Passive smoking has restaurant diners breathing fire: survey

Despite steps taken by the government to curb passive smoking, a survey released Tuesday by drug maker Pfizer Japan Inc. found many are still bothered by other restaurant diners' lit cigarettes.
Reader Mail
Dec 4, 2008

A lot of outlaws in the making

I urge The Japan Times to publish further details of the recently passed Japanese law banning "survival knives." If the law does indeed ban, without further qualification, all two-sided knives with blades longer than 5 cm, it bans most German and French chef knives, Swiss Army knives, Chinese cleavers,...
Reader Mail
Dec 4, 2008

Consider culling bull whales

A beached whale is synonymous with desperation. Pods have limited sources of krill and beach through hunger. Yet, historical records relating to Bass Strait, when pods were plentiful, mention large whales beaching singly and natives gathering to feast over many days. Now that marine life is significantly...
Reader Mail
Dec 4, 2008

Welcome rectification of history

Kiroku Hanai's Nov. 24 article, "Tamp down the old ways," provides insightful knowledge of the inner thought processes at work within Japan's Self-Defense Forces. It's hard to imagine military figures denying Japan's aggressive actions against Asian countries in the past.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE MONTH
Dec 4, 2008

Maki, Joho provide solid backbone for Apache's march to success

It's their job to bewilder opposing guards by trying to get them to break their concentration and make hasty, ill-advised decisions with the basketball.
Reader Mail
Dec 4, 2008

Court impartiality threatened

In preparation for the start of a new criminal court system next May, 295,000 Japanese have been notified that they are listed as prospective lay judges. Given the media coverage of the recent fatal stabbing attacks at the homes of former health ministry officials, both lay judges and professionals already...
BUSINESS
Dec 4, 2008

Aso to break with Koizumi reforms

With the economy in recession and public approval ratings low, Prime Minister Taro Aso signaled Wednesday that Japan must depart from the reformist fiscal policies pursued by former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and his successors.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 4, 2008

Alternate visions of island paradise

In our global information age, when all of us are exposed to more data than we can perhaps adequately manage, the appeal of cliches has never been stronger. By a process of reduction and crude characterization, that which is complex, ambiguous, and difficult-to- know becomes simple, and is summed up...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 4, 2008

An audience with Miyazaki, Japan's animation king

Hayao Miyazaki says he doesn't like giving interviews, but the Oscar-winning, megahit-making animator has strong opinions he isn't shy about sharing, as a packed room of reporters learned when he appeared at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Tokyo on Nov. 20.
Reader Mail
Dec 4, 2008

Lessons maybe not so helpful

In his Dec. 1 article, "Look at the brighter side of the financial crisis," Tom Plate writes that the world has learned more helpful lessons from Asia than from the United States about how to handle one's economy, including lessons on saving money, significant reform, strong leadership, investment in...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 4, 2008

One wicked tale from the other Japanese puppets

Founded in 1635 by Youki Magosaburo I, Youkiza is the oldest marionette theater in Tokyo and the only remaining troupe among the five theaters from the Edo Period (1603-1867) — three kabuki and two marionette — that were officially recognized and financially supported by the Tokugawa Shogunate. Designated...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 4, 2008

Pink thrills: Japanese sex movies go global

As the last wave of vengeful female ghosts inspired by "Ring' "s Sadako fade from cinema screens worldwide, either in their original J-horror manifestations or the obligatory Hollywood remakes, more adventurous foreign-film fans have begun turning their heads Eastward in search of a new frisson. Their...
JAPAN
Dec 4, 2008

Undaunted India vows to prevail over terror

India will continue to value fundamental freedoms and will emerge stronger in the face of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, Indian Ambassador to Japan Hemant Krishan Singh said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 4, 2008

Mumbai terrorist attacks are a wakeup call

LONDON — India was a victim of terrorism long before the twin towers in New York collapsed on Sept. 11, 2001. But as the global "war on terror" continues, India has experienced increasingly lethal terrorism. The sheer scale, scope and audacity of the latest attacks in Mumbai put them in a different...
BUSINESS
Dec 4, 2008

Travel agents shrug off Thai turmoil

JTB Corp. and H.I.S. Co., the nation's two largest travel agencies, said Wednesday that losses from canceled package tours to Thailand, where antigovernment protesters took control of two airports in the capital, haven't been bad because it isn't peak season yet.
JAPAN
Dec 4, 2008

North nuke verification must be in writing: Saiki

Negotiators on North Korea's denuclearization confirmed Wednesday that they will press Pyongyang during next week's six-party talks to agree to verify its nuclear disarmament in writing.
Reader Mail
Dec 4, 2008

Don't write off trips to India

Regarding the Nov. 30 article "Tsuda's body arrives; Japanese recount terror": I am writing this from India. Here we have lost national pride, honor and, more importantly, a lot of lives. Only now a semblance of normality seems to be returning to Mumbai. I am saddened that Japan, too, has lost one of...
BUSINESS
Dec 4, 2008

M&A explosion ahead: analyst

Japanese companies may set a record for foreign takeovers and investment next year as they scramble to boost shareholder value after a 48 percent plunge in the nation's stocks this year, said JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s new head of mergers and acquisitions in Japan.
BUSINESS
Dec 4, 2008

Toshiba speeds up chip unit makeover

Toshiba Corp., Japan's largest chip maker, said it will speed up reorganization of its semiconductor business amid a harsh business environment.
BUSINESS
Dec 4, 2008

Japanese makers off 30% in U.S.

Japan's three biggest automakers said their November U.S. sales tumbled more than 30 percent as incentives failed to lure buyers to showrooms in the deepening recession.

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo