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CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Aug 12, 2007

TV host visits South Korea, WWII Tribunal Judge special, WWII A-bomb special tribute

One of the most popular series on NHK is "Tsurube no Kazoku ni Kampai (Tsurube Toasts Families)" (NHK-G, Monday, 7:30 p.m.), in which sandpaper-voiced rakugoka (comic storyteller) Tsurube Shofukutei and a guest visit a town or village and casually strike up conversations with people on the street with...
CULTURE / Books
Aug 12, 2007

Nothing romantic about being yakuza

Yakuza Moon: Memoirs of a Gangster's Daughter by Shoko Tendo, translated by Louise Heal. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 2007, 192 pp., $22.95 (cloth) The late author Koji Kata, a prolific chronicler of crime in contemporary Japan, once observed, "Nobody ever set out in life with the aim of becoming...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 12, 2007

Failing to learn lessons from a nuclear past

What do disgraced yokozuna (sumo grand champion) Asashoryu Akinori and Tokyo Electric Power Co. have in common? Answer: Both are under the delusion that they can get away with lying in plain sight.
LIFE
Aug 12, 2007

Has another society of such superlatives ever existed at all?

The fascination of the Heian Period (794-1185) lies in the fact that in all world history there is nothing quite like it. It would be hard to imagine a culture more exclusive, more fastidiously refined, more smugly incurious about the unknown, more unwarlike, more tearfully melancholic, more sensitive...
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Aug 11, 2007

Coach left indelible mark on the game he loved

"The Genius" is gone but his legacy lives on.
BASEBALL / MLB
Aug 11, 2007

Dice-K fever triggers tourist boom in Beantown

One spring evening at Fenway Park, Koji Sakae rose to his feet in a wave of Red Sox euphoria, joining a packed stadium in a standing ovation for his hero, Daisuke Matsuzaka.
EDITORIALS
Aug 11, 2007

ASEAN turns 40

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) celebrated its 40th anniversary this week. It has grown considerably since its birth: It has doubled in size and taken on new tasks. While there is justifiable pride in its progress, there is also recognition that ASEAN must evolve significantly more...
BUSINESS
Aug 11, 2007

BOJ injects ¥1 trillion into markets

The Bank of Japan injected ¥1 trillion into money markets Friday amid a plunge in Tokyo stocks and growing global worries about dubious U.S. mortgages.
JAPAN
Aug 11, 2007

Builder in Aneha scam can walk free

The Tokyo District Court handed former Kimura Construction Co. President Moriyoshi Kimura a suspended three-year prison term Friday for window-dressing his company's accounts and knowingly selling inadequately earthquake-resistant condos designed by disgraced architect Hidetsugu Aneha.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 11, 2007

Critic awaits callers in Imperial Hotel suite

The Imperial Hotel in central Tokyo's Hibiya district is a surprising place. Yes, of course the rich and famous stay there. But how many realize that this famed institution also rents out private office suites. On the fifth floor, for example, is where TV commentator and author Kenichi Takemura hangs...

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