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Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / SHORT TAKES
Dec 21, 2007

"Estrellas de la Linea"

Director: Chema Rodriguez
EDITORIALS
Dec 21, 2007

Tax reform minus the long view

The ruling coalition's tax reform proposals for fiscal 2008 are apparently aimed at getting votes in coming general elections. They fail to address long-term issues such as how to divide tax-revenue sources equitably between the central and local governments and how to overhaul the tax system to reconstruct...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 21, 2007

'L'heure zero'

French filmmaker Pascal Thomas has a thing about Agatha Christie. "L'heure zero (Toward Zero)" is his second adaptation of a mystery by the "Queen of Crime" following "Mon petit doigt ma dit . . . (By the Pricking of My Thumbs . . .)," and he re-creates the Christie microcosm, as before, with the earnest...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 21, 2007

'I carry The Who brand with pride'

I first met The Who's Pete Townshend 10 years ago at a hotel near his home in London for an interview. He entered the first-floor suite energetically. When he sat down, his crossed legs bounced with barely contained passion in response to each question.
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Dec 21, 2007

Fukuda's point of no return

Former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi rocked the Japanese political landscape in November by predicting that Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda would dissolve the Lower House and call a general election "in the near future."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 21, 2007

'Persepolis'

When Art Spiegelman's "Maus" came out in 1986 (a later edition would win a Pulitzer Prize in 1992), many mused that the graphic novel had come of age. Finally, it seemed, it was possible to meld words and pictures with the richness, depth, and insight of a novel. All sorts of topics could be tabled now,...
JAPAN / ALSO OUT THERE
Dec 21, 2007

To survive a corporate scandal or to crumble

Reflecting a year that was jam-packed with food makers' scandals, including false labeling, the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation announced earlier this month that "nise," meaning "fake," best symbolized 2008 in a single character.
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Dec 21, 2007

Broncos, Rizing develop at different pace

TOKOROZAWA, Saitama Pref. — Two teams walked off the basketball court on Monday night with identical 5-7 records. These teams, however, have different tales to tell about what they hope to accomplish this season in the bj-league.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 21, 2007

Rounding off a great year in food

The winter solstice is hard upon us; the days of wassail, mince pies and figgy pudding close behind. As is our custom, the final Food File column of the year is a tightly stuffed Christmas stocking of musings over 12 months of dining out. But before settling back and sifting through the fragrant lees...
Reader Mail
Dec 20, 2007

The need to bash young women

In the Dec. 16 translation "Kogyaru grow into monster mums," from the Dec. 13 Shukan Bunshun, we learn of one "monster" who brings her child to a day-care center, even though he's infected with chicken pox. Yet on the same page, in the Media Mix column, we hear of a working mother who was fired for taking...
Japan Times
Reference / Special Presentations / WITNESS TO WAR
Dec 20, 2007

A long life of peace that sprung from war

Twelfth in a series
Reader Mail
Dec 20, 2007

Media jumped the gun as usual

The Dec. 14 shootings at a sports club in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, was sad and deplorable. The coverage of the TV media was just as bad. For almost 24 hours, some media repeated over and over again that the shooter was a "foreigner." Every time a gun is used in Japan the TV media seems to immediately...
Reader Mail
Dec 20, 2007

Don't target licensed owners

Regarding the Dec. 16 article "Suspect in gym shootings found dead at church": I hope the media will not use this horrible incident to begin another witch hunt against gun owners. I know there are some 300,000 rifles in Japan, which means that up to 100,000, maybe 150,000 people, own rifles legally....
Reader Mail
Dec 20, 2007

Stupid waste of helicopter fuel

Last Friday (Dec. 14) all train services to and from Sapporo station were suspended for several hours; the exact cause could not be identified. In my opinion it was big news since it was the first time in the 17 years that I've lived here that all lines had been...
Reader Mail
Dec 20, 2007

Common sense in Japanese names

Most Japanese people write their first name first in English, even though writing their family name first is the correct way in Japanese. I think Japanese people should write their names in the same order in English as in Japanese.
COMMENTARY
Dec 20, 2007

'Supping with the devil' to sign a deal

LONDON — Prime Minister Gordon Brown's decision to boycott the EU-African Summit held recently in Lisbon won general approval in Britain. He did not attend because Robert Mugabe, the president of Zimbabwe, was going to be at the meeting.

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