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Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 17, 2008

Takenaka calls for structural reforms to boost Nikkei

Japan will keep failing to attract investors to its stock market unless Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda carries out extensive structural reforms, said Heizo Takenaka, a former Cabinet minister and the key financial reform architect under Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
Reader Mail
Jan 17, 2008

Treatment of foreign students

I am of South Asian origin, currently living in Canada. I spent seven years in Japan, studying four years for a Ph.D. and another three years as a postdoctoral research fellow at Tohoku University, Sendai. While studying at Tohoku University, one incident remains vividly in my memory. It was the yearend...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 17, 2008

Gilberto wavers from the family script

Her albums of sultry, sunny bossa nova and pop have beguiled and seduced millions of listeners. But, woken by The Japan Times after a meager few hours' sleep, Brazilian singer Bebel Gilberto is struggling to put on a brave face.
Reader Mail
Jan 17, 2008

Accusations by soccer midfielder

Regarding the Jan. 13 article "Nakamura knocks racism in Italian soccer": I smiled at midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura's accusations of racism against Italian Football. I suggest that he come back to Japan, where foreigners are fingerprinted not only when they get a residence permit issuance but every time...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 17, 2008

Volunteer interpreters assist foreigners with disaster drill

Fifty volunteer interpreters speaking seven foreign languages took part in a disaster drill for foreign residents Wednesday in Tokyo, helping the roughly 60 participants communicate with their rescuers.
Reader Mail
Jan 17, 2008

Health care closer to U.S. system

Regarding the Jan. 12 article "U.S.-China ties worry Ishihara": Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara is right to worry about Japan following the American model of capitalism. Look at what has been done to the medical system here. Near universal health-care coverage of 90 percent was reduced to 70 percent. This...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 17, 2008

Burt Bacharach: Been there, wrote that

Let other musicians measure their success with applause and awards. Burt Bacharach's been there and done that.
EDITORIALS
Jan 17, 2008

Small-scale consolidation plan

The government has adopted a plan to consolidate and streamline its 102 independent administrative agencies. Six entities will be abolished or privatized and 16 others will be integrated into six entities. Many of the entities affected are small, like research institutes. The government should continue...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 17, 2008

The faithful student

"I love Las Vegas shows," says kabuki actor Ichikawa Kamejiro. "I go to Las Vegas because I think they use the most advanced techniques to create stunning productions. I find their attitude toward show business completely different from ours."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 17, 2008

Standing room for sale

A heady atmosphere of spending hung over the opening of this year's Art@Agnes, the "art fair in a hotel" that has in the last four years become a regular fixture of Tokyo's art world. Take 20 to 50 years off visitors' ages, strip them of their designer clothes and their well-polished courtesies, and...
Reader Mail
Jan 17, 2008

Business as usual with junta

Regarding the Jan. 13 article "Japan to give ¥6 billion in aid to four Mekong River nations": The official campaign against North Korea over the abduction issue continues, but it seems the Japanese government has completely forgotten about the murder of Japanese journalist Kenji Nagai at the hands...
BUSINESS
Jan 17, 2008

Machine orders cut amid U.S. woes

Machinery orders fell in November as companies pared spending on plant and equipment in anticipation of the U.S. slowdown spilling across Asia and hurting exports, the Cabinet Office said Wednesday.
Reader Mail
Jan 17, 2008

Far-fetched claim to 'life force'

Regarding Angela Jeffs' Jan. 12 article, "Therapist brings healing through hypnosis": Just when I thought that Angela Jeffs had run out of faith healers and quacks, here comes one more. According to "The Skeptic's Dictionary" -- the practitioners of reiki (and other energy healers) believe that health...
BASKETBALL
Jan 16, 2008

Blackwell earns weekly award

Sendai 89ers guard/forward Ryan Blackwell, who helped his team earn a two-game sweep over the Rizing Fukuoka last weekend, is the Circle K Sunkus Player of the Week, the bj-league announced on Tuesday. Blackwell, averaging 17.8 points per game in 18 starts, maximized his productivity in the home series,...
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Jan 16, 2008

Time running out for embattled Thomas

NEW YORK — You know that dead guy that was wheeled into a Manhattan check-cashing shop by two friends looking to covert his monthly $355 social security payment into currency?

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes