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EDITORIALS
Jun 29, 2008

Subtle change in the Middle East

It did not take long before the ceasefire that went into effect on June 19 between Israel and Hamas was tested. The launch of rocket attacks last week from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory prompted Tel Aviv to launch an armed incursion, leaving the truce tattered, but not yet terminated. Peace must...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jun 29, 2008

Foreigners flourish in the realm of Japanese arts

Japan has come a long way since the era of Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904), arguably the world's most famous and certainly the first Western Japanophile. Before Hearn, a Greek-Irishman who married the daughter of a local samurai in remote and rural Shimane Prefecture, and also took on Japanese citizenship,...
Reader Mail
Jun 29, 2008

Give caregivers room to choose

There has been quite a lot of debate of late about the use of immigrant labor from other Asian countries in medical jobs in Japan. The Japanese government hopes that an influx of foreign medical workers will at least partially offset this country's desperate shortage of qualified people in the medical...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jun 29, 2008

Quirky celebrity habits on TV

The premises for variety shows can get pretty arcane, none more so than the one that anchors "Ochanoma no Shinjitsu: Moshikashite Watashi Dake? (The Truth in the Parlor: Am I the Only One?)" (TV Tokyo, Monday, 9 p.m.).
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 29, 2008

Having faith in traveling

EXCURSIONS IN IDENTITY: Travel and the Intersection of Place, Gender and Status in Edo Japan, by Laura Nenzi. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2008, 267 pp., illustrations IX, $57 (cloth) During Japan's Edo Period (1603-1867), Dr. Laura Nenzi tells us, "physical mobility (traveling along horizontal...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jun 29, 2008

Jero: U.S. enka singer takes Japanese soul by storm

Decked out in his broad-brimmed baseball cap, silver necklace and jeans, the young man stands alone on a black stage. With his voice full of emotion, he begins to sing in Japanese:
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jun 29, 2008

Sayuki: Aussie geisha speaks out

What a titillating sound bite it is: Japan's first gaijin (foreigner) geisha!
Reader Mail
Jun 29, 2008

Lay off katakana pronunciation

In the June 15 letter, "Good pronunciation comes first," Masayuki Aihara makes a significant point. I suggest that katakana be banned from the study of English. It's a common understanding that most Japanese can't help pronouncing katakana-style English, but all English words need not end with vowels....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jun 29, 2008

Odile Lundy: Learning the sublime ikebana lessons of nature

Nature and humanity are brought together in ikebana, the Japanese art of arranging cut flowers.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Jun 29, 2008

Japanese-American coach Walters aims to restore USF to glory

Let's take a trip down memory lane.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jun 29, 2008

Thomas Charles Marshall: Irishman excels at age-old biwa

With his back straight and his head up, Thomas Charles Marshall sits down in an arbor overlooking a lotus-filled pond on the compact but verdant campus of the University of Creation; Art, Music & Social Work in Yoshii, Gunma Prefecture. He slowly reaches for his pear-shaped biwa, a century-old mulberry-wood...
BASKETBALL
Jun 28, 2008

Ex-No. 1 pick Goya traded to Evessa

The Osaka Evessa acquired point guard Takanori Goya from the Toyama Grouses, the three-time defending bj-league champion announced Friday. He was traded for an undisclosed amount of cash.
BASKETBALL
Jun 28, 2008

Feeley feeling it

Summer is a good time to get a tan, enjoy barbecues with friends and sip tasty cold beverages.
OLYMPICS
Jun 28, 2008

Diver Ishimatsu has good shot at U.S. team for Beijing

For Olympic fans, there's a new Japanese-American athlete to keep an eye on. And she has the potential to be a household name for years to come.
Japan Times
Rugby
Jun 28, 2008

Revamped Japan meets New Zealand Maori in Pacific Nations Cup

NAPIER, New Zealand — A freshened-up Japanese national rugby team will face the New Zealand Maori on Saturday at McLean Park in Napier, as the fourth round of the Pacific Nations Cup begins.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 28, 2008

Pretoria's duty to Zimbabwe

Morgan Tsvangirai's withdrawal from the presidential runoff scheduled for Friday secured for Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe a Pyrrhic victory.
JAPAN / G8 COUNTDOWN
Jun 28, 2008

Verifying North report crucial: G8

KYOTO — The Group of Eight foreign ministers ended their meeting Friday in Kyoto by stressing the importance of ensuring that North Korea abandons its nuclear activities.
JAPAN / G8 COUNTDOWN
Jun 28, 2008

G8 security steps hit as dangerous precedent

KYOTO — Their region having played host to three Group of Eight ministerial conferences over the past month, many in Kansai are breathing a sigh of relief and hoping the security measures that residents, and even summit participants, found excessive are now in the past.
Japan Times
JAPAN / G8 COUNTDOWN
Jun 28, 2008

Blair shifts focus on climate to Copenhagen conference

The Group of Eight leaders gathering next month in Hokkaido should not attempt to resolve all climate issues up to 2050 or even 2020, but instead focus on setting a clear course for an agreement at next year's U.N. conference in Copenhagen, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Friday in Tokyo....

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