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Reader Mail
May 18, 2008

A tale of entering two cities

Assisted by my "HKIA" frequent visitors card, I entered Hong Kong last week through the specially dedicated immigration channel in literally a few seconds!
OLYMPICS
May 18, 2008

Shibata out to prove self again in Olympics

Ai Shibata made history in 2004, becoming the first Japanese female swimmer to capture a gold medal in an Olympic freestyle race. In her mind, though, her triumph in the 800-meter freestyle at the Athens Olympics is, well, ancient history.
Reader Mail
May 18, 2008

Horrific conditions at Odawara Zoo

I recently visited the Odawara Zoo near Tokyo and was horrified by the conditions in which the animals are kept. In particular, there is a beautiful elephant who lives on a concrete pad roughly the size of half a tennis court. My family and I think of this poor creature frequently and don't know who...
EDITORIALS
May 18, 2008

More expensive school lunches

Everyone who has attended school retains memories of school lunches. The simple experience of eating together with other students and teachers is almost as important as learning inside the classroom. Social skills, informal interaction and a sense of shared community are basic to school lunches. However,...
CULTURE / Books
May 18, 2008

Manhunt for a Chinese woman

THE FINDER by Colin Harrison. New York: Sarah Chrichton Books, 2008, 325 pp., $25 (cloth) In this tightly woven page-turner by Colin Harrison, Jin Li, a young Chinese woman with an advanced university degree, engages in industrial espionage, setting off a series of violent events.
SOCCER / J. League
May 18, 2008

Gamba win marred by unruly behavior

SAITAMA — Ugly scenes on the pitch and in the stands marred Gamba Osaka's 3-2 win over Urawa Reds on Saturday.
CULTURE / Books
May 18, 2008

'Woman Warrior' to 'Passport Baby'

LONDON, SPECIAL TO THE J (AP) Maxine Hong Kingston's "The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts" opens: " 'You must not tell anyone,' my mother said, 'what I am about to tell you.' " LONDON — Since this fictional memoir was published in 1975, the telling of Chinese women's lives has become...
Reader Mail
May 18, 2008

Option for dealing with Myanmar

The May 13 editorial, "Yet more tragedy for Myanmar," ends with an impassioned and elegant call for the world to do something about the junta's oppression of Burma. But do what? Our options seem few and unpleasant, and the editorial didn't suggest any. What would you have us do?
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 18, 2008

Japan affords translators an elevated status not found elsewhere

Here's a little quiz for you.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / WEEK 3
May 18, 2008

Handsome is not enough: beauticians make the man

Perhaps no words send shivers down a company employee's back more than when your boss gravely tells you that he'd "like to have a chat with you." So, when mine at the English-language conversation school that I was teaching at said this to me a few years ago, my heart sank to the ground.
Reader Mail
May 18, 2008

Why 30,000 suicides a year?

In his May 15 letter, "Suicide image is misrepresented," William Wetherall seems to dismiss the concerns of so many in Japan about this country's shamefully high suicide rate.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
May 18, 2008

A rare, short breed returns

Not even the sonorous voices of 20 young children singing "I am a Noma Horse," was enough to put Erika, who really is a Noma horse, at ease.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 18, 2008

Pandas: pawns in a game of international diplomacy

As he often does, Shintaro Ishihara recently offered his views on a subject that didn't concern him and kicked up a controversy. During a press conference, the Tokyo governor sardonically questioned the "divinity" of pandas and wondered out loud, "Do we really need them?" — thus adding fuel to the...
Reader Mail
May 18, 2008

America likes to make examples

In his May 11 letter, "U.S. knew what it wanted in Iraq," Peter Morrissey claims that to this day the world still can't pin down exactly why the United States invaded Vietnam -- "except possibly to replenish the military industrial complex." I thought I might take a stab at it anyway.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
May 18, 2008

Period-piece thriller, historical marriage drama, family-business soap opera

"Nihonshi Suspense Gekijo" (Japanese History Suspense Theater; Nihon TV, Wed., 7:58 p.m.) offers something to both lovers of historical dramas and fans of those two-hour mysteries used to fill holes in network schedules. Basically, the producers take a real incident from Japanese history and turn it...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
May 18, 2008

Nature naturalized in Japanese gardens

INCOMPARABLE JAPANESE GARDENS, photographs by Gorazd Vilhar, text by Charlotte Anderson. Tokyo: IBC Publishing, 2008, 192 pp., with 159 full-color plates, ¥5,500 (cloth) If we compare the "incomparable," we will discover that the difference of the Japanese garden depends upon the Japanese, very different,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / WEEK 3
May 18, 2008

The beauty of the afterworld

At a funeral, if your loved one in the coffin appears as if they are simply sleeping peacefully, it may alleviate your grief.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 18, 2008

African Festa opens eyes in Yokohama

YOKOHAMA — With the Tokyo International Conference on African Development to be held in Yokohama later this month, a two-day cultural event kicked off Saturday to bring a taste of Africa to Japan's famous harbor city.
Reader Mail
May 18, 2008

Homelessness in both countries

Regarding the May 13 article "Team Japan faces huge hurdles on road to Homeless World Cup": I applaud The Japan Times for covering the topic of homelessness. It is a serious issue affecting many people in Japan as well as the United States. It is tragic that there exists such biased attitudes toward...
BASKETBALL
May 17, 2008

Lakestars hire assistant GM

The Shiga Lakestars named Motofumi Iguchi their assistant general manager, the club announced Friday.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
May 17, 2008

Portsmouth-Cardiff City F.A. Cup final fails to inspire

LONDON — No matter how much purists try to argue that it sums up the magic of the F.A. Cup, regardless of the "ideal" David vs. Goliath matchup and, to the relief of some, the fact that none of the Big Four clubs is involved, the final between Portsmouth and Cardiff City is the least interesting most...
BASKETBALL
May 17, 2008

Oketani fired by HeatDevils

The Oita HeatDevils have fired coach Dai Oketani. His contract expires on May 31.

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear