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Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 9, 2008

Killing calves makes Japan's whaling indefensible

KUROHIME, Nagano Pref. — When I turned on my TV to both BBC World and CNN this morning, I was shocked and saddened by the sight of a minke whale and calf being winched up the ramp of a Japanese factory ship in the Antarctic Ocean.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 8, 2008

'Mister Lonely'

Intentionally or not, Harmony Korine built his reputation on being the enfant terrible of American art-house cinema, the impish prankster whose art seemed to draw on charm rather than hardened professionalism. This put him in a different league to that other film-buff-turned-indies wunderkind, Quentin...
JAPAN
Feb 7, 2008

Overriding vote passes '07 extra budget

The Lower House on Wednesday overrode the Upper House's rejection of a ¥1.78 trillion supplementary budget for fiscal 2007 and rammed it through the Diet, the first such move pertaining to an extra budget in 15 years.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 7, 2008

Crown Princess panned for living high life

First, Crown Princess Masako feasted on classy Mexican fare from a 13-dish special menu in her honor. Then it was roast duck and shark's fin soup at a top Chinese eatery. A month later, she enjoyed a sumptuous repast at a French restaurant where the course featured exquisite black truffles.
JAPAN
Feb 7, 2008

Osaka governor sounds fiscal alarm

OSAKA — Toru Hashimoto, Osaka's new governor, officially started work Wednesday by declaring a state of fiscal emergency and warning prefectural residents that a rocky road lies ahead.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 7, 2008

The individuals come together

As is befitting of an exhibition of a corporate art collection at Tokyo's premier corporate gallery space, the Mori Art Museum has decked itself out in office chic: cool, understated spaces that feature the height of contemporary art to tickle the tired mind. Like the most privileged of office workers...
EDITORIALS
Feb 5, 2008

Making the best students brighter

A night "cram school" for top achievers run by a private company has begun at the publicly run Wada Junior High School in Tokyo's Suginami Ward. Some public schools have been pushing tieups with private cram schools offering supplementary instruction to help improve the scholastic ability of students....
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 3, 2008

'Pimp' my road — For bureaucrats, it's business as usual

It's that time of year again, when the highways and byways of Japan are suddenly filled with construction crews tearing up asphalt for repair and maintenance work. That's because the annual budgets of the crews' public-sector employers must be used up before the end of the fiscal year in March, regardless...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2008

Give a guy a mike to proclaim his love

The power of love seemed to prevail over the chilly, windy weather as dozens of men shouted out to express their love for their special ones Thursday evening at Hibiya Park in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 1, 2008

Arcade Fire: 'a goofy bunch of people'

They're a funny bunch, Arcade Fire. Last year saw the Montreal-based band graduate from indie darlings to arena stars touring North America and sharing a stage with Bruce Springsteen and U2. Their second album, "Neon Bible," entered the Billboard chart at No. 2 last March and has since sold upward of...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Feb 1, 2008

Praise be for belly dancers

It's often said that good things (and bad ones) come in threes. But anyone who has seen Tokyo-based belly dancers The Afet Collective in action is likely to insist that great things come in sevens.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 1, 2008

Yoshiume: Simmering over a nabe hot pot

The sleet was lashing down, the wind whipping off Tokyo Bay as we trudged the streets of Ningyocho, eastern Nihonbashi, in search of dinner. Appalling conditions, certainly, but worth braving for the down-home charms of an evening at Yoshiume.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 31, 2008

Say no to nukes in the Arctic

"The Arctic is the barometer of the globe's environmental health. You can take the pulse of the world in the Arctic. Inuit, the people who live farther north than anyone else, are the canary in the global coal mine.''
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 31, 2008

Voice of dissent revives forgotten war memories

Yoji Yamada had just finished greeting the audience at the premiere of "Kaabee (Kabei: Our Mother)" at Tokyo's Marunouchi Piccadilly Theater when he sat down with The Japan Times.
JAPAN / Q&A
Jan 30, 2008

Road taxes: Pork-barrel or necessity?

The government submitted a tax reform bill to the Diet Jan. 23 that includes a clause to continue the provisional higher rates imposed on auto-related levies for another 10 years, drawing opposition from the Democratic Party of Japan, which wants the higher rates that have been in place for more than...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Jan 30, 2008

Hitachi gives its HD camcorders even more memory; and cars look us in the eye

Going HD: As television sets get more advanced, so too do video camcorders, and that means going high-definition. Hitachi's recent DZ-BD7H camcorder records onto Blu-ray discs alongside its 30-gigabyte hard disk. But Hitachi has upped the stakes with its new DZ-BD9H, out in February and keeping the Blu-ray...
EDITORIALS
Jan 29, 2008

'Tear down this wall'

At the height of the Cold War, then U.S. President Ronald Reagan went to Berlin, where standing next to the landmark of that era, he called on Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall." Today, a similar symbol of repression separates the Gaza Strip from the rest of the world.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 29, 2008

Toyota beats GM in global output

Toyota may have fallen short of General Motors in global vehicle sales last year, but it beat its U.S. rival in another measure — global vehicle production.
BASKETBALL
Jan 28, 2008

Joho catches fire in overtime to lead Apache to thrilling win

Masashi Joho wanted the ball and he wanted the spotlight.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jan 27, 2008

Extreme and odd sports, teacher drama, real-life childbirth drama

One of the longest-running game shows on Japanese TV is "Tokyo Friend Park" (TBS, Monday, 6:55 p.m.), where veteran announcer Hiroshi Sekiguchi sets a team of celebrities unusual physical challenges.
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2008

Foreigner registration system to be revised

The government plans to abolish the current registration system for foreigners living in Japan and introduce a new regime similar to that for Japanese residents that will manage them on a household basis, Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama said Friday.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Jan 26, 2008

Grant, Ramos follow flamboyant predecessors with success

LONDON — In the ideal world the vast majority of Chelsea and Tottenham supporters would have preferred Jose Mourinho and Martin Jol to have remained their club's manager.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2008

Cram school in public junior high gets metro nod

The Tokyo Metropolitan board of education said Thursday that an expensive cram school for elite students that critics say will create inequalities in education can open at a public junior high school in Suginami Ward.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jan 25, 2008

Renowned artist Maxx gets a Tokyo sendoff

When Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum director Akiomi Hirano heard that one of Japan's favorite artists/illustrators, Maya Maxx, was planning to move permanently to New York in February, he decided he wanted to "send her out into the world," by giving her a special sendoff exhibition at his institution...

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan