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EDITORIALS
Jul 15, 2008

Troubles grow in Afghanistan

A fghanistan is in trouble again. U.S. officials now warn that more troops are needed to combat a rising insurgency. This is not the first time that warning has been issued, but the urgency is increasing. The Taliban appears to be making a resurgence, other extremist forces are growing in strength and...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Jul 15, 2008

Vivienne Westwood, Ebi-chan in Maquillage and more

The latest Vivienne Westwood exhibition rolls into Tokyo this week. After the acclaimed "Vivienne Westwood: 35 Years in Fashion" held at the Mori Arts Center in 2005, this show includes one of the largest fashion books ever published, and is sure to be an instant hit with Westwood's huge Japanese fan...
LIFE / Language
Jul 15, 2008

Learn katakana properly or face full-frontal nudity

I have never understood why Japanese people generally assume that words in katakana, the angular syllabary, are easier for nonnative speakers to master than words in hiragana, the rounded syllabary.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jul 15, 2008

Human rights — strictly personal, strictly Japanese?

Go figure. Just a few weeks after I wrote about how Japanese courts try to avoid doing anything dramatic, on June 4 the Supreme Court ruled that a section of the Nationality Law was unconstitutional. Such rulings being so rare, I steeled myself for a big helping of highfalutin' Japanese legalese and...
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Jul 15, 2008

Tanuki genitals

Dear Alice,
BUSINESS
Jul 15, 2008

TCI bid to double J-Power stake halted

The Children's Investment Fund said Monday it will accept a government order barring it from doubling its stake in J-Power.
JAPAN
Jul 15, 2008

Campaigners call for dual custody of children

Foreigners who have divorced their Japanese spouses are often denied access to their children.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 15, 2008

Famed electronics hub still sparks the curious, bizarre

Tokyo's Akihabara district draws throngs not only with its hundreds of electronics shops but also because it is the mecca for "otaku" computer geeks, and fans of "manga" and "anime" pop culture.
COMMENTARY
Jul 15, 2008

Guantanamo ruling may end the nightmare

NEW YORK — The recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that recognizes the rights of Guantanamo detainees to challenge their detention in U.S. civilian courts is a serious rebuke of the controversial detention policies of the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush. It also may pave the way for the...
BUSINESS
Jul 15, 2008

Shinsei's CEO sees consumer finance rebound

Shinsei Bank Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Thierry Porte, whose firm is buying General Electric Co.'s Japan consumer finance business for $5.4 billion, said the industry is about to recover from its two-year slump.
JAPAN
Jul 15, 2008

Firebomb thrown at U.S. Consulate

A homemade firebomb was thrown into the U.S. Consulate compound in Okinawa, but nobody was injured in the attack, police said Monday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 15, 2008

Japanese-type game show a hit in U.S.

A new Japanese export is luring U.S. consumers: television game shows that inflict pain, suffering and humiliation for a laugh.

Longform

A mushroom cloud from the atomic bombing on Hiroshima taken from a U.S. military aircraft on Aug. 6, 1945. Copying the photo without permission is prohibited.
80 years on, a Japanese American hibakusha recalls the day the bomb dropped