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EDITORIALS
Dec 17, 2007

Galileo regains its wings

The European Union has agreed to proceed with Galileo, a satellite navigation project designed to rival the GPS system of the United States. The project has been fraught with difficulties, primarily squabbles about how to divide the spoils among the consortium of states backing the effort. Those problems...
BASKETBALL
Dec 17, 2007

Grouses get first win

The Toyama Grouses ended a season-long losing streak on Sunday, earning a 74-70 victory over the visiting Takamatsu Five Arrows.
SOCCER
Dec 16, 2007

FSU's Yamaguchi finalist for top honor

Less than a week after helping to lead the Florida State University women's soccer team to the first national championship game in its history, Tokyo native Mami Yamaguchi was named a finalist for the 2007 MAC Hermann Trophy, presented to the United States' top collegiate player.
BASKETBALL / ONE-ON-ONE WITH ...
Dec 16, 2007

Confidence helps Yonamine elevate game for HeatDevils

The Japan Times will be featuring periodic interviews with players in the bj-league — Japan's first professional basketball circuit — which has entered its third season. Tsubasa Yonamine of the Oita HeatDevils is the subject of this week's profile.
Reader Mail
Dec 16, 2007

Okinawans know their own history

During World War II, Okinawa was a battlefield. Scars of the war still remain there. The people of Okinawa were not to be captured, they were afraid of American soldiers, so many committed mass suicide. Now the topic is a textbook controversy.
Reader Mail
Dec 16, 2007

Whales as a food resource

Regarding Jennie Kern's Dec. 9 letter, "Whales don't cause fish shortages": Whale meat used to be a staple food for Japanese just as beef is for Americans. It's true that Japanese people don't have to eat whale meat to live, just as Americans don't have to eat beef to survive, since there are so many...
Reader Mail
Dec 16, 2007

Witness account counts for naught

On the way to work earlier this month, I heard the screech of tires. I turned around to see a taxicab skidding to a halt. But before it did so, it bumped into and knocked over an elderly woman who was trying to cross the road on her bike. I went over to see if she was OK, and then helped her to the...
Reader Mail
Dec 16, 2007

The elements of 'Britishness'

In the interests of accuracy I beg leave to differ with the Dec. 12 Reuters article " 'Britishness' campaign highlights identity crisis." If I were asked my nationality, I would surely answer not "British" but "English." The queen herself is not queen of Britain but queen of England. From the time of...
SOCCER
Dec 16, 2007

Kaka desperate for Milan win over Boca

AC Milan's talisman Kaka still aches from the disappointment of Milan losing the 2003 Toyota Cup to Argentina's Boca Juniors.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 16, 2007

Monks rap, strut in effort to re-energize Buddhism

Japanese monks and nuns held a fashion show — replete with rap music and a catwalk — at a major temple in Tokyo on Saturday to promote Buddhism.
EDITORIALS
Dec 16, 2007

Stars in their guides

Last month, Tokyo's restaurants received their stars. For the first time, the famed Michelin Guide, the most respected and feared guidebook in Europe, published a volume outside the Western world. Noted for its make-or-break effects on European hotels and restaurants, the publication was greeted in Tokyo...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 16, 2007

Readers chime in about Giants 'jinx'

A couple of readers sent me their opinions about the subject of last week's column: the supposed "Giants jinx." It seemingly afflicts foreign players who play in Japan for one team, then cannot reach agreement on a new contract, so they move to the Yomiuri Giants, only to find bad luck, coincidental...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Dec 16, 2007

A drama of our own making

One recent sunny afternoon, I set off for a performance of "Tokyo/Olympic" by the city's Port B theater company.
CULTURE / Books
Dec 16, 2007

When traditions attract: finding Japan in Ireland

OUR SHARED JAPAN: An Anthology of Contemporary Irish Poetry, edited by Irene De Angelis and Joseph Woods. Dublin: Dedalus Press, 2007, 232 pp., 20 euro (paper)
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 16, 2007

Fascist currents in the EU mainstream

LONDON — On a cold wet November evening the dreamy spires of Oxford University became the unlikely setting for a new front line between the organization Unite Against Fascism and the far-right British National Party (BNP).
Reader Mail
Dec 16, 2007

Monk deserves punishment

Regarding the Dec. 12 article "Canvassing monk found guilty of trespassing": I agree with the Tokyo High Court that the Buddhist monk should be punished (for distributing Japanese Communist Party fliers in a Tokyo Katsushika Ward condominium complex in December 2004). Politics and religion must be...
Reader Mail
Dec 16, 2007

Rationale for stopping gropers

In his Nov. 29 letter, "Gender separation is common sense," Francisco Menendez was kind enough to offer an answer to my Nov. 25 question: Why do non-Japanese men who believe that the fingerprinting regime equates to being treated like a terrorist do not also feel that their exclusion from women-only...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 16, 2007

'Kyoko' shines on as the true star she was

Tomorrow is the first anniversary of the death of a wonderful friend. Actress and author Kyoko Kishida passed away on Dec. 17, 2006, and Japan lost not only a fantastic stage presence but also an immense creative spirit and inspiration to its young actors.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 16, 2007

Gored by a political truth

HONG KONG — He still has the same patrician manner — friends would say aloof, others might say pompous. He still carries a mountainous chip on his shoulder, believing that he was robbed of the U.S. presidency seven years ago.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’