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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Feb 19, 2008

Sitting out but standing tall

In "Japan at War: An Oral History," Hideo Sato recalls being forced to hoist the Hinomaru flag in tandem with the playing of the "Kimigayo" — "His Majesty's Reign," the Japanese national anthem — as a schoolchild in the 1940s. If the flag reached the top of the pole too early the teachers would beat...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 18, 2008

Australia's historic apology

SYDNEY — "Sorry," the hardest word in the English language to say, has been said by Australia to its Aborigines — officially, by Parliament in Canberra, in a ceremony screened in every city and set on the record to right the wrongs inflicted on them since white settlement began in 1788.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 17, 2008

Can the EU learn the lessons of empire?

WASHINGTON — If a European Union bureaucrat could travel to Vienna during the last years of the 19th century, he would be surprised at how closely the Habsburg Empire resembled today's EU. Like the EU, Austria-Hungary was an experiment in supranational engineering, comprising 51 million inhabitants,...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Feb 17, 2008

Organic food, JFK conspiracies, dealing with terminal cancer in a new way

Recent scandals concerning food produced in Japan and overseas have increased consumer interest in organic produce, which is seen as being both safer and healthier. On Tuesday, TV Tokyo's business-documentary program, "Gaia no Yuake (The Dawn of Gaia)" (10 p.m.), will look at organizations that are trying...
Reader Mail
Feb 17, 2008

Whale calves hunted for years

Regarding C.W. Nicol's Feb. 9 article, "Killing calves makes Japan's whaling indefensible": It is surprising that the author finds it indefensible that calves and their mothers are killed in the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary under special permits issued by the Japanese authorities. Since 1986 it has...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ROAD
Feb 17, 2008

Taking to the streets of tomorrow

Listen carefully and you might detect the slight whir of this car's motor, a little wind noise and a faint thrum from the tires. Could this be the sound of driving in the future? Will our streets one day be whisper-quiet even as they teem with traffic? Mitsubishi's electric mini-car, due on the market...
JAPAN
Feb 16, 2008

Sarin killer's death penalty is finalized

Rejecting his appeal, the Supreme Court on Friday finalized the death sentence of senior Aum Shinrikyo cultist Yasuo Hayashi, a key figure in the deadly 1995 sarin gas attack on Tokyo's subway system.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 15, 2008

'Fast Food Nation'

Once upon a time, the spread of freedom and democracy was measured in the spread of hamburger franchises. Beaming network correspondents would report from places like Moscow or Beijing on how formerly gray and monolithic communist societies had opened their doors to the Golden Arches. This, truly, was...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 14, 2008

Chinese views on North Korea

In recent years, issues pertaining to North Korea have been hotly debated by Chinese institute researchers. The publication of conflicting views in authoritative media suggests that these debates are sanctioned by the Chinese leadership.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Feb 13, 2008

Black-headed gull

Japanese name:Yurikamome
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Feb 13, 2008

Casio unveils its speediest camera; and every home gets its very own fireplace

Snappier snaps: A good-quality digital camera can take perhaps four or five photos a second, but Casio has left the competition in its wake with its just-announced Exilim Pro EX-F1, which boasts a staggering pace of 60 6-megapixel photos a second. It can also record video at an equally outlandish rate...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 11, 2008

Wise man from Japan now the black pope

HONG KONG — An American Maryknoll priest in Hong Kong preached that the greatest blessings in life come when you least expect them, a rain shower on a hot day, a friend unexpectedly turning up, remission in a crippling illness, an inspiring idea just when your brain seemed to have turned into blancmange....
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Feb 11, 2008

Joe Bryant knows player comparisons serve as strong motivational tool

They call him "Jellybean," which happens to be one of the best nicknames in all of professional sports.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 10, 2008

War rages against 'elites' of tolerance

AMSTERDAM — When "tolerance" becomes a term of abuse in a place like the Netherlands, you know that something has gone seriously wrong. The Dutch always took pride in being the most tolerant people on Earth.
Japan Times
LIFE
Feb 10, 2008

A 'Wonderland' where monks call for foreign air strikes

Burma is a topsy-turvy sort of place, where surprises lurk and suddenly jump out at you.
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...

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