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Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 7, 2008

'Tropic Thunder'

Hollywood has been feeding on itself a bit lately, with a string of comedies that parody its own predictable tendencies. "Scary Movie" sent up the slasher genre: "Team America" took on the jingoistic, kick-ass action movie; and "Meet the Spartans" speared "300," while also digressing into about a kazillion...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 7, 2008

Sensoji fetes rebuilding of hall

Asakusa has long been a big tourist attraction for visitors from the world over, but its lure is now hitting a peak, with a series of events under way to commemorate the 50th anniversary of reconstruction of the main hall at Sensoji Temple.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Nov 7, 2008

White truffles at the Ritz-Carlton

The Ritz-Carlton Tokyo will host a "Great Chefs of the World" dinner fair from Nov. 13 to 20 at the Forty Five French restaurant, featuring that rarest of delicacies, white truffles.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 7, 2008

Canadian music execs schmooze up to Tokyo

The relatively small 33 million population of Canada, the world's second-largest country in terms of land mass, makes it nearly impossible for its musicians to maintain careers based on domestic support alone.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 7, 2008

No more riots — Kaiser Chiefs get serious

In a few short years, Kaiser Chiefs, the cheeky indie-pop five-piece from Leeds in northern England, have seen their success on home turf swell from zero (as pre-Kaiser incarnation Parva) to their rebirth as stadium-ready, worldwide superstars. For this they can thank a string of chart-bothering singles...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 6, 2008

It would be a mistake to super-size the IMF

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — As the global financial crisis radiates out from the developed economies into emerging markets, it is ravaging not only governance-challenged economies such as Venezuela, Russia and Argentina. The crisis is also striking countries like Brazil, Korea and South Africa, which appeared...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 6, 2008

The key to Joseon times

Known as pungsu in Korean, feng shui was transmitted from China into Korean culture during the Unified Silla Dynasty (668-935). The system of aesthetics taught that proper placement of the home in relation to natural elements would facilitate a flow of positive energy through space and ensure well-being...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 4, 2008

Line of liquidity to confront fear

WASHINGTON — Even as the squeeze in interbank lending has started to ease after the rescue of financial systems across the advanced countries, falling economic indicators have sent stock markets tumbling. Pressures on emerging-market countries, which were once thought by many to have "decoupled" from...
JAPAN
Nov 4, 2008

Dalai Lama admits his approach to Tibet greater autonomy has failed

The Dalai Lama said Monday that his approach to Tibet's greater autonomy has so far failed, and that Tibetans should decide for themselves the future direction the region should take.
CULTURE / Books
Nov 2, 2008

Nothing funnier than a comedian in a kimono

RAKUGO: Performing Comedy and Cultural Heritage in Contemporary Tokyo, by Lorie Brau. Lexington Books, 2008, 274 pp., $75.00 (cloth) Of all the Japanese arts, rakugo traditional comedy is one of the most impenetrable for foreigners. The premise is simple: kimono-clad practitioners tell old funny stories...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 1, 2008

Bridging the China-India gap

DELHI — The sooner that India and China accept their inevitable strategic competitiveness but limit it through tactical cooperation, the better. Two tactical areas needing immediate Chinese and Indian intervention are a fix for the world economy and overcoming terrorism from Afghanistan and Pakistan....
JAPAN
Nov 1, 2008

U.S. candidates vow to 're-engage' Japan

OSAKA — Eight years ago, on the eve of the 2000 U.S. presidential election, a bipartisan group of Washington experts released the Armitage Report, named after Richard Armitage, one of the main authors and an eventual deputy secretary of state under President George W. Bush.
EDITORIALS
Oct 31, 2008

A warning to Syria and Iran

By launching armed attacks in Syria last weekend, the United States sent another warning to governments that refuse to stop terrorists who operate on their territory. U.S. President George W. Bush has made it clear that he will not stand idly by as terrorists target American troops, and some scholars...
JAPAN
Oct 31, 2008

Prime minister's crisis political, not financial

Prime Minister Taro Aso's desire to address the global financial crisis appears to be why a snap election won't be called anytime soon, but political analysts have another take: He just wants to avoid a losing battle.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 31, 2008

'Boy A'

When a 10-year-old commits a horrendous crime, whose fault is it? "Boy A" addresses the question but offers no easy answer in this painful portrayal of the repercussions of a childhood gone terribly awry.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 31, 2008

Now in their 50s, Def Leppard are still ferocious

Legendary English rock band Def Leppard brought the circus back to town last week. Paired up with fellow hair-metal survivors Whitesnake, the group began a four-date Japan tour with two nights at the prestigious Nippon Budokan in central Tokyo on Oct. 23 and 24.
JAPAN
Oct 30, 2008

Foreign workers are first to feel impact of economy's slowdown

HAMAMATSU, Shizuoka Pref. — Brazilian Stenio Sameshima came to Japan last year planning to make a bundle of money at the country's humming auto factories. Instead, he's spending a lot of time in line at employment agencies.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 30, 2008

Digging deep to find the sparkle in Japanese Eyes

Japan's film industry releases more than 400 films a year, but only 10 screened in the Japanese Eyes section of this year's Tokyo International Film Festival, which ran from Oct. 18 to 26.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 29, 2008

Bush's nuclear deal with India: bigger consequences to consider

HONOLULU/STOCKHOLM — The U.S.-India civilian nuclear agreement was signed into law this month after two years of negotiations and bitter debates. The final deal sharply divides arms control and nonproliferation specialists. The focus of an often-emotional debate revolves around a simple question: Is...
JAPAN
Oct 29, 2008

Aso reportedly won't call election this year

Word spread quickly Tuesday through the Nagata-cho political center that Prime Minister Taro Aso will not dissolve the Lower House and call a general election until next year so he can focus on the faltering economy.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Oct 29, 2008

Nara's cute, destructive deer

Nara's Kasugayama Forest Reserve doesn't look like a landscape in crisis.
EDITORIALS
Oct 28, 2008

Giving peace many chances

The Norwegian Nobel Committee's decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2008 to Finland's former president, Martti Ahtisaari, shows that the committee has restored the tradition of honoring people who have played important roles in helping to solve conflicts between nations and between ethnic groups....

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji