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JAPAN
Aug 28, 2008

Challenge Ozawa for sake of DPJ, Maehara urges

The Democratic Party of Japan should hold a genuine presidential election next month in order to enliven policy debate, former DPJ President Seiji Maehara, who quit his post over a political blunder two years ago, said Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 28, 2008

Ainu musician Oki brings the world to Hokkaido

With a Japanese mother and Ainu father, the appearance of Oki on "The Rough Guide to the Music of Japan" with his Oki Dub Ainu Band presents a rare glimpse of the multiracial underbelly that Japan seems reluctant to own up to. Despite being indigenous to Hokkaido, or Ezo as it is known to them, the Ainu...
EDITORIALS
Aug 27, 2008

Sumo career goes up in smoke

It appears that the Japan Sumo Association lacks the ability and determination to rid itself of scandals. Wakanoho has become not only the first active sekitori wrestler to be arrested, but also the first active wrestler to be dismissed in sumo history. His arrest on suspicion of possession of marijuana...
COMMENTARY
Aug 26, 2008

Missile defense scam scores points for all

LONDON — Cynicism and hypocrisy are always part of international politics, but in the case of Poland and the antiballistic missiles (ABM) everybody is over-fulfilling their norm.
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.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 24, 2008

Bush legacy leaves U.S., Asia room to build

BANGKOK — In his last presidential visit to Asia, U.S. President George W. Bush laid out what he considered was his legacy for the region. But what he left out in his last major Asia policy speech, delivered earlier this month in Bangkok, was as revealing as what he underlined as his success.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 22, 2008

Seasoned J-pop duo ELT keep it positive

"When I'm walking beside her, people tell me I'm a lucky guy," sang John Lennon on the 1964 Beatles track "Every Little Thing." Sitting comfortably next to iconic lead singer Kaori Mochida of the band of the same name, guitarist Ichiro Ito has had 12 years to get used to such a feeling. However, he admits...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 21, 2008

New 'Tang' Dynasty for rapidly rising China?

PRAGUE — On Aug. 8 the world watched with awe the amazing spectacle of the Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing. We saw the electronic unrolling of Chinese scrolls replete with great historic symbols and were mesmerized by dancers creating "harmony," using their bodies as ink brushes. Two thousand...
Japan Times
SPORTS / ODDS AND EVENS
Aug 20, 2008

Beach volley provides good fun for everyone

BEIJING — I think I've discovered a very important fact: The public-address announcer at the Olympic women's beach volleyball matches considers himself to be the luckiest man on the face of the earth.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Aug 19, 2008

The busy sumo boys of summer

While summer is a time of rest and relaxation for many, the men at the top rungs of the sumo ladder enjoy no such benefits — or at least it would appear.
OLYMPICS / ODDS AND EVENS
Aug 19, 2008

Japan's judoka should be saluted

BEIJING — Every four years there are great expectations for Japan's judoka at the Summer Olympics.
Japan Times
SPORTS / ODDS AND EVENS
Aug 19, 2008

Liu withdrawal shocks fans, athletes in Beijing

BEIJING — Two billion Chinese eyes shed a collective tear.
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."
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 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
Aug 16, 2008

War dead kin rally to laud Article 9, hit Yasukuni

More than 260 protesters and people who lost relatives during the war gathered Friday in Tokyo to stage a march to protest politicians' visits to Yasukuni Shrine and demand that war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution be protected.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Aug 15, 2008

Feel Brazil: Asakusa Samba Carnival

Tokyo's Asakusa district, central to the capital's traditional shitamachi (downtown) area, will be filled with Brazilian rhythm on Aug. 30 for the 28th Asakusa Samba Carnival.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 15, 2008

Heading to the pubs for beer and bangers

For lovers of good beer, the major event of the spring was the opening of the Nakameguro Taproom. No ordinary pub, Taproom is the Tokyo outlet for Baird beers, the craft brewery in Shizuoka Prefecture that many people — and the Food File, too — rate among the best in the country.
OLYMPICS / 2008 BEIJING OLYMPICS: SWIMMING
Aug 14, 2008

Kitajima on target for double haul

BEIJING — Kosuke Kitajima remains on target for an unprecedented repeat double in the Olympic men's breaststroke competition.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 14, 2008

Street players give hoops diplomacy a shot

On one sunny Sunday afternoon this spring, dozens of people of various ages and nationalities converged on the basketball courts at Yoyogi Park in Tokyo. Juking, dunking, shooting and scoring, they played with grit as their competitive juices flowed.
JAPAN
Aug 14, 2008

CD featuring Lauper, journalist recalls zoo animals killed in war

Music label Epic Records Japan Inc. on Wednesday released a CD in which American singer Cyndi Lauper and a Japanese journalist recite a well-known story from the book "Faithful Elephants" about zookeepers who had to kill zoo animals during the war.
SPORTS / ODDS AND EVENS
Aug 14, 2008

'Underdog' Gay ready to face his date with destiny

BEIJING — I spent an hour listening to one of the three fastest men living on the planet speak in slow, articulate sentences earlier this week.
SPORTS / ODDS AND EVENS
Aug 13, 2008

Kitajima's swimming feats inspire a nation

BEIJING — With his head tilted back and his mouth wide open in a victorious roar, Kosuke Kitajima's fist-pump celebration after winning the 100-meter breaststroke final on Monday morning produced Japan's iconic image of the 2008 Summer Games so far.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS / 2008 BEIJING OLYMPICS: SWIMMING
Aug 12, 2008

Kitajima prevails in world-record fashion

BEIJING — Kosuke Kitajima became one of swimming's all-time great Olympians on Monday.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past