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JAPAN / G8 COUNTDOWN
Jun 27, 2008

G8 diplomats renew vow to stabilize Afghanistan

KYOTO — Foreign ministers from the Group of Eight industrialized nations met Thursday in Kyoto and agreed to renew their "firm and long-term commitment" to stabilizing Afghanistan, especially by giving development aid to regions on its border with Pakistan.
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2008

North scrutiny to continue, Komura, two G8 counterparts agree

KYOTO — Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura and his Italian and British counterparts agree the Group of Eight should continue to closely monitor North Korea's nuclear program, a Foreign Ministry official said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jun 27, 2008

Nipponkoa chief survives top investors' attack

Nipponkoa Insurance President Makoto Hyodo breathed a sigh of relief Thursday as shareholders agreed to let him retain his post despite opposition from top shareholder Southeastern Asset Management Inc. of the United States.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jun 27, 2008

Revel in Lock's fusion of dance

For more than 25 years, the Canadian troupe La La La Human Steps has been hailed as one of the world's leading and most radical contemporary dance companies since it was founded by Moroccan-born Edouard Lock in 1980.
EDITORIALS
Jun 27, 2008

Quakes in unexpected places

The June 14 earthquake in the Tohoku region underscores the need to strengthen studies of active faults for which quake-occurrence probability has not been evaluated. The 7.2-magnitude earthquake caused vibrations of upper 6 on the Japanese scale of 7 in Oshu, Iwate Prefecture, and in Kurihara, Miyagi...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / LIQUID CULTURE
Jun 27, 2008

Eau contraire: no two waters taste the same

From the marketing bumf, you'd think all mineral waters tasted alike. The aquifers are ancient, the nature is untouched and blah blah blah. But H2O is such a great solvent it steals a bit of anything it passes through, resulting in a shelfload of different flavors.
EDITORIALS
Jun 27, 2008

Unrelenting suicide toll

The year 2007 saw 33,093 suicides in Japan, with the number of people taking their own lives topping 30,000 for the 10th straight year. This is a sad situation. Some suicides may have been caused by strictly personal problems, but the National Police Agency's statistics hint that social factors also...
CULTURE / Music
Jun 27, 2008

Jakob Dylan "Seeing Things"

It's tough to write about Jakob Dylan without referencing his father, Bob, and pundits are going to have an even tougher time now with the release of Jakob's acoustic solo album. While his previous albums with his band The Wallflowers always featured stellar writing, that was often buried under the three-chord...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 27, 2008

Ultramobile PC joins Panasonic Toughbooks

Panasonic's latest PC offering is small enough to cradle in one hand, yet strong enough to handle the rough and tumble of extreme environments.
BUSINESS
Jun 27, 2008

Sony midterm plan focuses on core businesses, networking

In its three-year business plan unveiled Thursday, Sony Corp. said it aims to see annual sales in three additional business categories top ¥1 trillion, joining the four already above that target: LCD television sets, digital cameras and camcorders, games and mobile phones.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jun 27, 2008

A very green afternoon cuppa

Whenever I travel to Tokyo I make it a point to spend at least a good part of one day on a visit to Shibamata in Katsushika Ward. This lovely neighborhood tucked away in the remote northeastern corner of the city on the banks of the Edogawa River still retains some of the flavor of the Edo Period (1603-1867)....
COMMENTARY
Jun 27, 2008

Loving and loathing the EU

LONDON — The European Union now consists of 27 states, with more states in the Balkans and Eastern Europe jockeying to join. Turkey is a candidate for membership. There would be benefits for the EU from further expansion, including more trade, improvements in democratic institutions and the protection...
CULTURE / Music
Jun 27, 2008

Teenage pop stars know how to operate

"It's kind of embarrassing," says Taylor Henderson, violinist with teen sensations Operator Please, as she recalls the Australian release of the Queensland band's breakthrough single, "Just a Song About Ping Pong."
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Jun 27, 2008

Qualifying round shows talent gap narrowing in Asia

Japan national team manager Takeshi Okada will be aware his seat at Friday's World Cup final Asian qualifying round draw in Kuala Lumpur has not come easy, but he will not be the only man in the room irked by such thoughts.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Jun 27, 2008

Star-crossed celebratory feast

Star-crossed celebratory feast A Gourmet Legend dinner will be the centerpiece of the seventh anniversary celebrations of the Cerulean Tower Tokyu Hotel on July 7, the day of Tanabata (Star Festival).
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / SHORT TAKES
Jun 27, 2008

"Nishi no Majo ga Shinda"

Director: Shunichi Nagasaki
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 27, 2008

LDP's future as dicey as Humpty Dumpty's

BRUSSELS — Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda has been in office less than 12 months, yet polls show popular support for his administration running around 20 percent. Fukuda and his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) face a bleak future.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 27, 2008

'Aruitemo Aruitemo'

Family drama is the default setting of serious Japanese cinema. No matter what genre first brings Japanese directors fame or fortune, be it Sci Fi/fantasy, yakuza epics or horror, they often end up making a family drama, especially if they want to establish their auteurist credentials. The Western used...

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