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Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
May 14, 2008

Space defense no reason to ax gentler projects

For a country with a constitution "forever renouncing war" (Article 9), Japan spends an awful lot of money on its military. In 2005 it was the fifth largest military spender in the world. And now there is the unsettling news that Japan is expanding its powerful self-defense capability into space.
COMMENTARY
May 13, 2008

Argentine economy, public health unraveling

NEW YORK — A recent visit to Argentina brought home the fact that, just four months after her inauguration, President Cristina Kirchner's government is unraveling.
BUSINESS
May 13, 2008

Economic outlook warrants caution: Shirakawa

Bank of Japan Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa urged caution Monday about downside risks to the economy, including ongoing financial market turbulence and increasing energy costs.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
May 13, 2008

Are you prepared for the next major earthquake?

Louis Chan Nurse, 30 (Hong Kong) I would try to stay up to date with the news and special announcements — if possible, I would check the Internet — but in terms of emergency supplies, I don't have anything prepared.
COMMENTARY
May 12, 2008

Let the Asians push aid to Burma

WATERLOO, Canada — CNN has quoted Shari Villarosa, the top U.S. diplomat in Burma, as saying that more than 100,000 may have died in the country's delta region alone from the deadly cyclone that hit May 3.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
May 11, 2008

Minchey comes back to Japan as scout for Indians

One-time Hiroshima Carp and Chiba Lotte Marines pitcher Nate Minchey was back in the country this week in his current capacity as a scout for the Cleveland Indians.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
May 11, 2008

Home-interaction game show, retail documentary, school-age drama

The last thing we need is yet another quiz show featuring comedians proving how smart or dumb they are, but "The Quiz Man" (TV Asahi, Tuesday, 7 p.m.) promises something quite different. The difference has nothing to do with the content.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ROAD
May 11, 2008

Japan's gourmands should hit the highway

At the beginning of the postwar period of economic growth in Japan, highways were more for transporting parts and goods to jump-start the economy than for going on a Sunday drive. Even into the 1980s, pit stops in highway rest areas were still the stuff of nightmares. Surrounded by trucks belching acrid...
JAPAN
May 10, 2008

For the moment, panel turns aside road tax bill

An Upper House panel rejected a contentious bill Friday to use road-related tax revenue exclusively to pay for road construction for the next 10 years — even though it will likely be rammed through the Diet by the ruling coalition next week.
JAPAN
May 10, 2008

Tokyo ramps up greenery effort

Tokyo is gaining greening speed.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 10, 2008

JAL's group profit soars amid cost cuts

Japan Airlines Corp. said Friday that its group operating profit more than quadrupled to ¥90.01 billion for the business year that ended March 31, helped by its cost-cutting efforts amid surging fuel costs.
COMMENTARY
May 10, 2008

Britain's next government must beat mood of retreat

LONDON — Has the political tide in Britain now turned? And is the Labour Party under Prime Minister Gordon Brown now heading for defeat?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 9, 2008

'Charlie Wilson's War'

It's hard to imagine a political film, let alone one that deals with events that lead directly to 9/11, as being all that funny. "Charlie Wilson's War" pulls it off though, and manages to make covertly arming the Afghani mujahedeen seem like a zany lark. Until, of course, the last reel.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
May 9, 2008

A drop of Malbec from down south

Despite being the fifth largest producer of wine in the world, when it comes to quality wines, Argentina has long been in the shadow of neighboring Chile, where spicy Shirazes and surprising Chardonnays have consistently outshone anything from the other side of the Andes.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
May 9, 2008

Tour Tokyo's aging marvels

Talk of architecture in Japan tends to head in one of two directions — the very, very new (as in the mind-bending flagship stores for fashion brands in Ginza), or the very, very old (as in temples dating back centuries). So what, exactly, happened in between?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 6, 2008

A Finnish way for the Japanese educational system?

Ever since students in Finland emerged as top performers in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), many teachers and policymakers in Japan have turned to this Scandinavian country of 5.2 million for insights on how to educate...
BASKETBALL
May 4, 2008

Apache join Osaka in bj-league's title game

The Tokyo Apache's remarkable 2007-08 turnaround catapulted the team into the bj-league playoff semifinals. And a gritty, mettle-revealing performance on Saturday night pushed the team into the championship game against the Osaka Evessa.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
May 4, 2008

1970's anime, female focused drom-com, court room drama

"Yatterman" is one of those 1970s anime series that's recently been revived for a generation that wasn't alive when it was first aired.
COMMENTARY / World
May 3, 2008

Rule of law comes under fire

The government's reactions to the Nagoya High Court's April 17 decision that Japanese operations in Iraq are unconstitutional, raise profoundly disturbing questions about the rule of law and the democratic separation of powers in Japan.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / ONE-ON-ONE WITH ...
May 2, 2008

Big man Newton an integral part of Evessa's run at third straight bj-league title

The Japan Times will be featuring periodic interviews with players in the bj-league — Japan's first professional basketball circuit — which is in its third season. Jeff Newton of the Osaka Evessa, who face the Rizing Fukuoka in Saturday's semifinal showdown at Ariake Colosseum, is the subject of...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 2, 2008

Sex, drugs and sitars

Blame Julian Cope.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 2, 2008

'10,000 B.C.'

The 1966 film "One Million Years B.C." was one of those classic naff B-movies from Hammer Films in the '60s. Rerun endlessly on both Saturday afternoon and late-night TV over the next couple of decades, the film had something for both demographics: excellent dinosaur animation by Ray Harryhausen (unsurpassed...

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