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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.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ROAD
Dec 16, 2007

How to handle a mobster on the move

Status and fear can do a swift job of clearing a congested road ahead of you. It's a phenomenon I've seen twice on double-lane highways in Japan in the past six months. One time, crawling along at 15 kph in heavy traffic, I spotted a convoy of three black S-Class limos in my rearview mirror threading...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Dec 16, 2007

Tunnel visions

I don't know about you, but when I'm walking along train tracks and I hear a train approaching, my instincts tell me to get out of the way, fast. So, last month, when I was strolling along the sleepers of one of Tokyo's underground lines and I detected a distant rumbling, that's exactly what I did.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Dec 16, 2007

Tokyo's real floating world

One interesting phenomenon this year has been the growing popularity of tours to such unlikely places as factories and old bridges, where grimy stone walls, rusting mazes of pipes and crumbling concrete constructions have become a lure for worshippers at the altar of brutalism. In many ways, these tours...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 16, 2007

Operating system that stole Christmas

BERKELEY, Calif. — Before asking for a new Windows PC this holiday season, remember the old adage: "Be careful about what you wish for."
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Dec 16, 2007

Comic child-detective, comedians visit the poor, blind singer docu-drama

One of the longest-running comic series is "Meitantei Conan (Famous Detective Conan)," about an elementary-school-age private eye named Conan Edogawa who was once a high-school-age private eye named Shinichi Kudo before the evil Black Organization (Kuro Soshiki) used some kind of "chemical" to make him...
CULTURE / Books
Dec 16, 2007

Unlocking the mysteries of Japanese culture

A TRACTATE ON JAPANESE AESTHETICS by Donald Richie. Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press, 2007, 79 pp., $9.95 (paper) In the preface to this new, much-needed book on Japanese aesthetics, Donald Richie points out, "In writing about traditional Asian aesthetics, the conventions of Western discourse — order,...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 16, 2007

Japan stands back as the poor get poorer

One of the year's biggest selling books is Hiroshi Tamura's "Homeless Junior High School Student," a memoir focusing on the 28-year-old comedian's adolescence.

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