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Reader Mail
Jul 6, 2008

Foreigners who became geisha

Regarding the June 29 article "Aussie geisha speaks out": Why does The Japan Times identify Fiona Graham as the first foreign geisha? American anthropologist Liza Dalby (who spent her first year in Japan with a Saga City family in the 1960s) became a geisha more than 20 years ago. james guthrie
JAPAN
Jul 6, 2008

Nineteen artists go cup to cup in Japan's first 'latte art' contest

Nineteen artists gathered at Blenz Coffee in Tokyo's Aoyama district Saturday to show off their skill at "latte art," a tasty endeavor that uses coffee as the canvas for creating paintings from foam milk.
EDITORIALS
Jul 6, 2008

Tough tasks on G8's agenda

Japan hosts a summit of the advanced industrialized nations' leaders for the fifth time from Monday to Wednesday. Leaders of the Group of Eight nations who gather in Toyako, Hokkaido, will discuss how to overcome major problems troubling the international community, such as global warming, steep rises...
JAPAN / G8 SUMMIT SPECIAL: JAPANESE ECONOMY
Jul 6, 2008

Time for Japan to take technological lead in combating global warming

At the World Economic Forum on East Asia in Kuala Lumpur on June 15 to 16, participants called for a fresh paradigm for dialogue to tackle mounting global risks, particularly climate change that threatens the global environment. They said global risks have reached a point where the advanced countries...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 6, 2008

Driving scams abound in the world of the bureaucrat

As long as I've lived in Tokyo, I've wondered why the city's public transportation system, maybe the best in the world, doesn't operate round the clock. One of the explanations I've heard is that taxi companies have successfully campaigned against any extension of train and bus services past midnight....
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ROAD
Jul 6, 2008

Nissan stages own 'Olympics' to get ahead in hard times

Imagine you are a marketing mogul at one of Japan's big carmakers. Your job is to get the world's motoring press driving your cars, generate international exposure and spread the word about your company's products. And right now car sales are plummeting in many countries as rising oil prices hit consumers...
JAPAN / G8 SUMMIT SPECIAL: JAPANESE ECONOMY
Jul 6, 2008

Toyako 2008: lessons from Japan

In 1936, when Keynes wrote the "General Theory," the world's key economic problem was unemployment. There were too many people and not enough jobs.
JAPAN
Jul 6, 2008

Toyota leads charge for new 'green' power source

As the world warms and gasoline prices rise, Japanese automakers are gearing up their efforts to develop vehicles that emit less or zero carbon dioxide.
Reader Mail
Jul 6, 2008

Big challenge facing society

Thank you for publishing the July 1 Zeit Gist article, "Society's role in Kato's crime." After living in Japan for more than four years now, I have witnessed a steady decline in economic conditions and morale among the masses. Having a family and a modest income, and living in a regional center, I am...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jul 6, 2008

Dramas about a doomed escape attempt, sibling rivalries, and a homeless junior high student

One of the most infamous episodes of the Pacific War was the attempted escape by 1,100 Japanese prisoners of war from Australia's Camp Cowra on Aug. 5, 1944.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 6, 2008

Fearless bluestockings in Japan

THE BLUESTOCKINGS OF JAPAN: New Woman Essays and Fiction From Seito, 1911-16, edited by Jan Bardsley. Ann Arbor: Center for Japanese Studies, University of Michigan, 2007; xii + 308 pp., $70 (cloth), $26 (paper) In 1911 a new publication appeared in Japan. It was singular in that it was written, edited...
JAPAN
Jul 6, 2008

Still 'efficient' G8 faces new realities

The 19th-century historian and political analyst Walter Bagehot divided affairs of state between what he called the dignified and the efficient. In the dignified category were great formal meetings of state, the pomp and ceremony surrounding heads of state and monarchs, and all the symbolic parades and...
JAPAN
Jul 6, 2008

Creation of low-carbon societies demands wholesale changes on national, global level

"In pursuit of Japan as a low-carbon society" was the theme of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's speech at the Japan Press Club on June 9. The following is an abridged excerpt from a translation of his remarks.
JAPAN
Jul 6, 2008

Fukuda's low-carbon society 'vision' needs to shorten its sights, include medium-term target

On June 9, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda released his "vision" for creating a low-carbon society in a determined bid to fulfill his responsibility as chairman of the summit of the Group of Eight industrialized nations in Toyako, Hokkaido.
BASKETBALL
Jul 5, 2008

Munakata named Alvark coach

Koju Munakata is the Toyota Motors Alvark's new head coach, replacing German Torsten Loibl, who coached the JBL team for the past two seasons. The Alvark made a formal announcement earlier this week.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 5, 2008

Exorcising Musharraf's ghost

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Following its recent free elections, Pakistan is rebounding politically. But the euphoria that came with the end of the Musharraf era is wearing off, as the new government faces stark choices.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jul 5, 2008

Omatsu slugs sixth-inning grand slam in Marines' rout of Hawks

CHIBA — The Chiba Lotte Marines looked relaxed during batting practice under a sunny, cloudless sky on Friday afternoon.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jul 5, 2008

Truly, it's a jungle out there!

While the rest of the brave world is out fighting terrorism, on my island we are fighting a different kind of evil: age, sickness, and most recently, weeds.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years