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COMMENTARY / World
Nov 5, 2007

Ban expansion of agrofuels

NEW YORK — With biofuels being touted as our best great hope to undo climate change, it would be easy to ask yourself, "What's not to like?"
COMMENTARY
Nov 5, 2007

Health obstacles to African development

NEW YORK — According to the U.S. Census Bureau, by 2010 sub-Saharan Africa will have suffered 71 million deaths from AIDS. By comparison, the bubonic plague of the Middle Ages killed some 30 million people. These are staggering figures, particularly if one considers that deaths from AIDS are only one...
EDITORIALS
Nov 5, 2007

New approach to rural revitalization

The government is tackling the urgent tasks of revitalizing local economies and reducing the gap between prosperous urban regions and economically weak rural regions. Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda has established a "rural regions revitalization headquarters," serving as its head; all the Cabinet ministers...
EDITORIALS
Nov 5, 2007

A trustworthy pension system

A final report by the internal affairs ministry panel investigating pension record-keeping problems shows how sloppy the Social Insurance Agency's operation has been. The government must strive to win back people's trust in the nation's pension system. Time is pressing because the SIA will be abolished...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 5, 2007

PCs getting pushed aside by other, powerful gadgets

Masaya Igarashi wants ¥20,000 headphones for his new iPod Touch, and he's torn between Nintendo Co.'s Wii and Sony's PlayStation 3 game consoles. When he has saved up again, he plans to splurge on a digital camera or flat-screen TV.
BUSINESS / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
Nov 5, 2007

Can new stock market keep startups in Tokyo?

Last week, the Tokyo Stock Exchange announced it was tying up with the London Stock Exchange to establish a new type of market in Japan.
BASKETBALL
Nov 4, 2007

Palmer, Ashby drafted in NBADL

Forward David Palmer, the 2006-07 bj-league MVP, was selected 13th in the second round in the 2007 NBA Development League Draft on Friday. The ex-Osaka Evessa standout, a former Southern Utah University player, was the 26th overall pick. In the fifth round, ex-Takamatsu Five Arrows center Julius Ashby,...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 4, 2007

Seeing World Series at Fenway Park an amazing experience

I have been to a major league All-Star Game (Seattle Kingdome, 1979) and seen big league action at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, the Polo Grounds and Yankee Stadium in New York and Wrigley Field in Chicago. But, until two weeks ago, there were still three ambitions to fulfill for me as a baseball fan.
Reader Mail
Nov 4, 2007

Fixing blame for pension woes

Regarding the Nov. 1 front-page article "Pension woes may never be solved": As a foreigner married to a Japanese who has paid into a pension account over decades, I am appalled by the record-keeping debacle and disgusted by the cavalier assertion that pursuing responsible executives on which to lay the...
Reader Mail
Nov 4, 2007

Future of the 'eikaiwa' industry

I used to teach an immersion kindergarten class in Nagano. Because I had the same group of students every day, all day, for two years I got to know the parents.
Reader Mail
Nov 4, 2007

Tokyo's silence draws suspicion

Regarding the Oct. 31 article, "Kim blasts Seoul report on '73 kidnapping": When former South Korean President Kim Dae Jung was kidnapped in 1973 (during his dissident days) while staying in Japan, you could probably accept that there were no Koreans involved other than the kidnappers acting under the...
Reader Mail
Nov 4, 2007

Tough spot for some teachers

I have to be honest and say I'm tired of hearing about the poor students at Nova. I am an ex-Nova teacher who quit fairly recently. I am fortunate enough to have found another job before the downfall of Nova, but I am still waiting for more than six-weeks' wages. I have friends and former coworkers...
Reader Mail
Nov 4, 2007

A measure of the lack of trust

Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama's advocacy of the fingerprinting law is full of holes. His recent remarks tell us that no one is to be trusted, least of all a government that mishandles everything it touches, from pensions to Japan Self-Defense Force missions. I had never been fingerprinted before...
Japan Times
LIFE / CLOSE-UP
Nov 4, 2007

Sue Palmer: The kids are not OK, top educator warns

To a growing legion of educated, enlightened and empowered mothers in Japan and abroad, Sue Palmer's advice on how to bring up children might sound — if not heard in context — too old-fashioned, too alarmist or even maybe too naive to prepare their loved ones for the rapidly changing, fiercely competitive...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Nov 4, 2007

Teacher's providing guidance, problem-solving geisha, secret police

Everyone's favorite junior-high-school teacher, Kimpachi-sensei (Tetsuya Takeda), is back for another season of sage advice for confused young minds on "San-nen B-gumi Kimpachi-sensei (Year 3 Class B: Teacher Kimpachi)" (TBS, Wednesday, 9 p.m.).
EDITORIALS
Nov 4, 2007

Nova burns out

The tragedy of the English-teaching company Nova is a gripping and revealing one. That students should have their fees returned and teachers and staff be given their salaries should go without saying. That the company had serious management and leadership problems should be equally obvious. Still, the...
BASKETBALL
Nov 4, 2007

Apache open season with victory

The Tokyo Apache opened their 2007-08 campaign with an 84-65 victory over the visiting Saitama Broncos on Saturday afternoon at Ariake Colosseum.
CULTURE / Books
Nov 4, 2007

The Showa Emperor in modern perspective

Hirohito: The Showa Emperor in War and Peace, by Ikuhiko Hata, edited by Marius B. Jansen. Global Oriental, 2007, 272 pp., £55 (cloth) So much has been written about the Showa Emperor that some readers may ask whether there is anything more to be said about a man who would hardly have left much lasting...
Reader Mail
Nov 4, 2007

Threats thus far are homegrown

Regarding the Oct. 30 article "Hatoyama in hot water over 'al-Qaida connection' ": Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama stressed in a recent press conference that "It is vital that we take fingerprints (from foreign visitors) to prevent terrorism attacks." Unfortunately, or should I say fortunately, all...
SOCCER / J. League
Nov 4, 2007

Gamba earns Nabisco title

Teenage defender Michihiro Yasuda proved the hero with a second-half winner as Gamba Osaka edged Kawasaki Frontale 1-0 on Saturday to claim their first Nabisco Cup.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
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