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Reader Mail
Mar 27, 2008

Unilateral bias hurts Japan

Professor Teruhiko Mano begins his March 24 article, "Chinese frozen food and frigid bilateral relations," by stating that he sees problems with the responses from both the Chinese and the Japanese sides in the poisoned-gyoza case. However, it turns out that Mano one-sidedly slams the Chinese side for...
Reader Mail
Mar 27, 2008

A look back at the Elizabethan Era

I wholeheartedly sympathize with Erin Aubry Kaplan's righteous response in his March 23 article, "American black anger and the pulpit," just as I wholeheartedly sympathize with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright for his forthright remarks on the subject, and as I similarly sympathize with U.S. Democratic presidential...
JAPAN
Mar 27, 2008

State to be sued by hepatitis B carriers, who top 1 million

In the wake of the recent ground-breaking out-of-court settlement with people who contracted hepatitis C from tainted blood products, the government will face a fresh legal battle waged by hepatitis B carriers.
Reader Mail
Mar 27, 2008

Afghan children get by with less

In the March 20 Japan Times we learn that "Afghan kids get candles discarded by temples" (headline). How generous! What next, discarded day-old bread? Slightly used clothing? Recycled manga? No, not for reading, but for fuel on cold winter nights.
JAPAN
Mar 27, 2008

When natural beauty just isn't cutting it . . .

Ines Ligron is the ultimate Miss Universe insider, and she does not believe much in secrets. One of her favorite stories is of a contestant who could have won but opted for last-minute cosmetic surgery, and thus was barely able to lift her arms when she went before the judges.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 27, 2008

Maki Rinka at SXSW: My music goes well with alcohol

Far from the glorious cacophony blasted out by the majority of the Japanese acts at South by Southwest, Osaka's Maki Rinka plays a coquettish, kitsch pastiche of 1950s and '60s jazz and good old Hollywood glamour. At the first of her two SXSW shows, at The Rio on March 12, she took the stage dressed...
Japan Times
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 27, 2008

Oakland hitting coach Van Burkleo relishes return to Japan

Longtime Nippon Professional Baseball fans have seen a familiar face at Tokyo Dome this week. Call him a blast from the past, with a handsome face and long arms and legs that haven't changed.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 27, 2008

Ketchup Mania: Austin's f**king crazy!

With their Green Day-esque stoopid-punk sensibility, Ketchup Mania might be the most American-sounding band on the Japan Nite bill at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, were it not for the clear streak of Judy & Mary- tinged pop that marks them out as Japanese. Ketchup Mania — Hiro (vocals), Dai (guitar),...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 27, 2008

Detroit 7: Playing at SXSW is killer!

Detroit 7 are one of Tokyo's most explosive bands, a tight trio blasting out raw, Iggy Pop-inspired garage punk and dripping with showmanship. At their performance at South by Southwest's Japan Nite on March 14, singer Tomomi Nabana drawled her lyrics in a deep husk, thrashing her left-handed guitar...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 27, 2008

Detached or mundane?

The fame that Yosa Buson (1716-1783) enjoyed as a painter and haiku poet in his own lifetime quickly eroded in the years following his death. And while his poetic reputation was restored as early as the 19th century, it was only in the years following World War II that his paintings once again became...
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2008

Fishing, farming fuel breaks to end

Fishermen and farmers in Japan may face higher oil taxes if Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's government fails to extend an exemption that expires March 31.
Reader Mail
Mar 27, 2008

Smiling faces at trial troubling

Regarding the March 20 article "Akita woman who killed daughter, boy gets life term": I was surprised that 3,000 people turned up for the 26 seats available at the trial of the accused, Suzuka Hatakeyama. She was accused of murdering her daughter, and later a young boy from her neighborhood, and was...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 27, 2008

Tokyo's tidal wave of art

L ike a tsunami moving through deep water, the boom in Japan's contemporary art world has been approaching, little detected, for several years. Now, as it readies to peak in a proliferation of events next week — many of them brand new — we can see for the first time just how big it was, and who was...
BASKETBALL
Mar 26, 2008

Sea Horses even series with Alvark

The Aisin Sea Horses forced a decisive fifth game in the JBL Finals, defeating the defending champion Toyota Motors 88-69 on Tuesday at Yoyogi National Gymnasium Annex. Aisin outscored Toyota 30-15 in the fourth quarter, evening the series at two games apiece. J.R. Sakuragi led the Sea Horses with 25...
COMMENTARY
Mar 26, 2008

Why this foreigner supports Obama

WATERLOO, Canada — Barack Obama's speech on race and politics on March 18 came from and spoke to the heart. It was brutally, searingly honest. Nothing he said or could have said will appease the detractors and the naysayers. But their sniping and carping will diminish them and betray their smallness...
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Mar 26, 2008

Williams, Paul top of class at point

NEW YORK — "At best," Mark Jackson appraises, no disrespect intended, "Steve Nash is the NBA's third-best point guard."
JAPAN
Mar 26, 2008

Green plan eyes fewer disposables

Japan will urge people to carry their own chopsticks instead of using disposables and to shop with their own bags instead of using plastic ones in a bid to more than halve the garbage it produces.
SOCCER / World cup
Mar 26, 2008

Nakamura's absence not a concern for Okada in Bahrain game

Japan takes the field with an entirely home-based team against Bahrain for its second 2010 World Cup qualifier on Wednesday, but manager Takeshi Okada is confident his side is strong enough to do the business.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 26, 2008

Access to water is a right, not a privilege

BANGKOK — How will Japan and other countries in the world achieve the millennium development goal (MDG) target to reduce by half the proportion of 2.6 billion people who have no access to basic sanitation by 2015?
Japan Times
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 26, 2008

Fans cherish chance to see Red Sox, Athletics in Tokyo

A salad bowl, a melting pot, whatever you call it, the stadium was mixed with all types of baseball fans from all over the world.

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