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Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 27, 2008

Maki Rinka at SXSW: My music goes well with alcohol

Far from the glorious cacophony blasted out by the majority of the Japanese acts at South by Southwest, Osaka's Maki Rinka plays a coquettish, kitsch pastiche of 1950s and '60s jazz and good old Hollywood glamour. At the first of her two SXSW shows, at The Rio on March 12, she took the stage dressed...
Japan Times
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 27, 2008

Oakland hitting coach Van Burkleo relishes return to Japan

Longtime Nippon Professional Baseball fans have seen a familiar face at Tokyo Dome this week. Call him a blast from the past, with a handsome face and long arms and legs that haven't changed.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 27, 2008

Ketchup Mania: Austin's f**king crazy!

With their Green Day-esque stoopid-punk sensibility, Ketchup Mania might be the most American-sounding band on the Japan Nite bill at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, were it not for the clear streak of Judy & Mary- tinged pop that marks them out as Japanese. Ketchup Mania — Hiro (vocals), Dai (guitar),...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 27, 2008

Detroit 7: Playing at SXSW is killer!

Detroit 7 are one of Tokyo's most explosive bands, a tight trio blasting out raw, Iggy Pop-inspired garage punk and dripping with showmanship. At their performance at South by Southwest's Japan Nite on March 14, singer Tomomi Nabana drawled her lyrics in a deep husk, thrashing her left-handed guitar...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 27, 2008

Detached or mundane?

The fame that Yosa Buson (1716-1783) enjoyed as a painter and haiku poet in his own lifetime quickly eroded in the years following his death. And while his poetic reputation was restored as early as the 19th century, it was only in the years following World War II that his paintings once again became...
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2008

Fishing, farming fuel breaks to end

Fishermen and farmers in Japan may face higher oil taxes if Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's government fails to extend an exemption that expires March 31.
Reader Mail
Mar 27, 2008

Smiling faces at trial troubling

Regarding the March 20 article "Akita woman who killed daughter, boy gets life term": I was surprised that 3,000 people turned up for the 26 seats available at the trial of the accused, Suzuka Hatakeyama. She was accused of murdering her daughter, and later a young boy from her neighborhood, and was...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 27, 2008

Tokyo's tidal wave of art

L ike a tsunami moving through deep water, the boom in Japan's contemporary art world has been approaching, little detected, for several years. Now, as it readies to peak in a proliferation of events next week — many of them brand new — we can see for the first time just how big it was, and who was...
BASKETBALL
Mar 26, 2008

Sea Horses even series with Alvark

The Aisin Sea Horses forced a decisive fifth game in the JBL Finals, defeating the defending champion Toyota Motors 88-69 on Tuesday at Yoyogi National Gymnasium Annex. Aisin outscored Toyota 30-15 in the fourth quarter, evening the series at two games apiece. J.R. Sakuragi led the Sea Horses with 25...
COMMENTARY
Mar 26, 2008

Why this foreigner supports Obama

WATERLOO, Canada — Barack Obama's speech on race and politics on March 18 came from and spoke to the heart. It was brutally, searingly honest. Nothing he said or could have said will appease the detractors and the naysayers. But their sniping and carping will diminish them and betray their smallness...
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Mar 26, 2008

Williams, Paul top of class at point

NEW YORK — "At best," Mark Jackson appraises, no disrespect intended, "Steve Nash is the NBA's third-best point guard."
JAPAN
Mar 26, 2008

Green plan eyes fewer disposables

Japan will urge people to carry their own chopsticks instead of using disposables and to shop with their own bags instead of using plastic ones in a bid to more than halve the garbage it produces.
SOCCER / World cup
Mar 26, 2008

Nakamura's absence not a concern for Okada in Bahrain game

Japan takes the field with an entirely home-based team against Bahrain for its second 2010 World Cup qualifier on Wednesday, but manager Takeshi Okada is confident his side is strong enough to do the business.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 26, 2008

Access to water is a right, not a privilege

BANGKOK — How will Japan and other countries in the world achieve the millennium development goal (MDG) target to reduce by half the proportion of 2.6 billion people who have no access to basic sanitation by 2015?
Japan Times
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 26, 2008

Fans cherish chance to see Red Sox, Athletics in Tokyo

A salad bowl, a melting pot, whatever you call it, the stadium was mixed with all types of baseball fans from all over the world.
JAPAN
Mar 26, 2008

Last tried over Aneha fraud avoids prison

The Tokyo District Court handed a suspended three-year prison term to a bankrupt condominium developer Tuesday for knowingly selling defective condos designed by disgraced architect Hidetsugu Aneha and defrauding his clients out of about ¥415 million.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 26, 2008

Scary signs in BOJ debacle

HONG KONG — Even Google couldn't believe it. Asked to supply its best information about Koji Tanami, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's second "best available" candidate to be governor of the Bank of Japan (BOJ), the search engine instantly responded, "Do you mean Bank of Japan tsunami?"
JAPAN
Mar 26, 2008

Serial rapist Obara's appeal starts

Joji Obara's appeals trial started Tuesday before the Tokyo High Court with his defense team arguing that the life sentence he received for serial rape and for causing the death of one of his victims is too harsh.
Japan Times
JAPAN / ALSO OUT THERE
Mar 26, 2008

'70s fish snack tune 'Taiyaki-kun' leaps again up the sales chart

There are plenty of fish in the sea, but not one quite like Taiyaki-kun.
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 26, 2008

Ramirez, Red Sox rally in 10th, defeat A's in opener

Daisuke Matsuzaka's homecoming was as memorable as advertised. Brandon Moss and Manny Ramirez made sure of it.
BASKETBALL
Mar 26, 2008

Apache's Davis receives award

Nick Davis, a major offseason pickup for the Tokyo Apache, has helped his team win seven straight games, including a series sweep over the Niigata Albirex BB last weekend. Davis is the Circle K Sunkus Player of the Week, the bj-league announced on Tuesday. Davis, a 31-year-old center, had 13 points,...

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