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COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jul 8, 2007

'Propaganda is the soul of every struggle'

Revolutionary activist Rosa Luxemburg, writing from prison in Breslau, Germany (now Wroclaw, Poland) on Sept. 3, 1918, exhorted colleagues not to relent in their struggles. "Stand your ground," she wrote, "till we meet again at work!"
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jul 8, 2007

Separated siblings family drama, young romantic comedy, melodrama of women competing for the same man

This summer's crop of drama series is dominated by young female leads as opposed to the usual bunch of cute boys. In its most crucial time slot, Monday at 9 p.m., Fuji TV is offering up "First Kiss," which is about a pair of siblings who were separated as small children when their parents divorced.
CULTURE / Books
Jul 8, 2007

Japan, just a puppet of America?

Client State: Japan in the American Embrace, by Gavan McCormack. New York: Verso Press, 2007, 246 pp., $29.95 (paper) Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his predecessor Junichiro Koizumi are usually portrayed as assertive nationalists, but come off here as dutiful and submissive gophers carrying out the...
Reader Mail
Jul 8, 2007

Outrage over a simple assessment

The Japanese public has implicitly condoned nuclear weapons for the past 50 years by placing themselves under the protection of America's nuclear deterrent. Kyuma's statement was not a moral evaluation of nuclear weapons, but a simple pragmatic assessment that, given the historical political circumstances...
Japan Times
LIFE / REFUGEES AND JAPAN
Jul 8, 2007

Sit-ins win new home, in Canada!

All Kurdish asylum-seeker Erdal Dogan wanted was a peaceful home for himself and his family.
Japan Times
LIFE / REFUGEES AND JAPAN
Jul 8, 2007

Screenings on behalf of 33 million

From July 18-26, the U.N. High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) will sponsor the 2nd International Refugee Film Festival in Japan. The program of 30 movies over nine days at four theaters includes feature and documentary films that focus on the lives, trials and triumphs of people forced to leave their...
Japan Times
LIFE / REFUGEES AND JAPAN
Jul 8, 2007

Diplomat rues Tokyo's 'lack of humanity' to asylum-seekers

Sadako Ogata was the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees from 1991-2001, and has been President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) since 2003. Here, she talks frankly to The Japan Times about Japan's attitudes to those who flee their homelands and seek sanctuary on these shores.
Japan Times
LIFE / REFUGEES AND JAPAN
Jul 8, 2007

'Liars' who won lottery

Just 410 — the number of refugees accepted by Japan since 1982 — says a lot about government policy toward those who flee political persecution in their home countries. They wouldn't fill more than a few cars on a rush-hour commuter train!
CULTURE / Books
Jul 8, 2007

A question of dignity or cause for embarrassment

THE DIGNITY OF THE NATION by Masahiko Fujiwara, translated by Giles Murray. IBC Publishing 2007, 278 pp., 1,400 yen (paper) The title of this little book deliberately echoes that of a notorious pamphlet issued by the Japanese government in 1937, at the peak of nationalist hysteria, in an attempt to...
Japan Times
SOCCER
Jul 7, 2007

Messi helps spark Argentina by Paraguay

BARQUISIMETO, Venezuela (AP) An inspired piece of play by substitute Lionel Messi saw Argentina overcame Paraguay 1-0 Thursday to finish atop Group C and charge into the Copa America quarterfinals as the only team with a perfect record.
JAPAN / PARTY LINE
Jul 7, 2007

Tanaka won't disband party, despite defections

New Party Nippon leader and ex-Nagano Gov. Yasuo Tanaka announced Friday his party would carry on even though its only two lawmakers said they are going to leave and become independents.
JAPAN
Jul 7, 2007

Chinese growth sustainable, Wang says

market will be realized only after we solve problems in rural villages and increase their purchasing power," he said. To narrow the gap with urban areas, the government has concentrated infrastructure investment in rural areas and exempted 150 million children from paying school fees, Wang said.
JAPAN
Jul 7, 2007

Taiwan seen losing military edge to China

The military balance between China and Taiwan is shifting in Beijing's favor and the qualitative superiority of Taipei's fighting force may soon be lost, the Defense Ministry warned Friday in a report.
MORE SPORTS
Jul 7, 2007

Japan, France kick off gridiron championship

KAWASAKI — Two-time defending champion Japan will kick off the international American football competition against France as the two nations take on each other on Saturday, the opening day of the 3rd IFAF World Championships at Kawasaki's Todoroki Stadium.
EDITORIALS
Jul 7, 2007

A swamp of a property deal

The arrest of Mr. Shigetake Ogata, former head of the Public Safety Intelligence Agency, on suspicion of fraud in connection with an unsuccessful attempt to buy the headquarters of the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents of Japan (Chongryun) begs the question "why?" — if prosecutors'...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 7, 2007

EU project prevents conflict in Africa

PARIS — The European Union's military mission to ensure free and fair elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has shown what the European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP) can achieve in Africa.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jul 7, 2007

Collins hopes Kiyohara can return next April

After winning the first game of their July 3-5 series against the Chiba Lotte Marines, the Orix Buffaloes lost the final two games. When the dust settled, two games wasn't all they lost.
JAPAN
Jul 7, 2007

Sales tax hike would need voter OK via Lower House poll

If the government hopes to raise the 5 percent consumption tax, it will have to gain voter approval in the next House of Representatives election, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki said Friday.
JAPAN
Jul 7, 2007

Nagano boasts oldest right whale fossil

Researchers at a museum in Nagano Prefecture possess fossils at least 5 million years old belonging to a cetacean species known as right whales, making them the oldest fossilized remains of the mammal in the world, officials said.

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