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Reader Mail
Dec 9, 2007

Whales don't cause fish shortages

Regarding Misao Nakaya's Dec. 4 letter, "Hold your beef about whale meat": Nakaya argues that the consumption of whale meat is necessary to combat fish shortages. It appears to me, however, that this claim simply parrots the so-called science of the Japanese whaling industry.
Reader Mail
Dec 9, 2007

Not-so-young celebrate change, too

Alan Goodall's Dec. 3 article, "The return of Aussie labor," seems to suggest that younger Australians, the computer generation etc. were foremost in the Liberal government's loss in the Nov. 24 elections. I am a 50-plus Australian who is quite happy to see John Howard exit as prime minister. In celebrating...
Reader Mail
Dec 9, 2007

Hunt threatens tourist industry

Recently our local paper, "The West Australian," published a photograph of a humpback whale breaching, or leaping from, the water, with the sad comment that the whales are now returning to their feeding grounds in Antarctic waters, where they will face the harpoons of Japanese whalers for the first...
BUSINESS
Dec 9, 2007

Mitsubishi takes over Kentucky Fried Chicken Japan for ¥14.83 billion

Trading house Mitsubishi Corp. said Saturday that it successfully completed a friendly takeover of Kentucky Fried Chicken Japan Ltd., which owns more than 1,500 KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants around the country.
Reader Mail
Dec 9, 2007

Dumb and dumber news items

Is it me, or has NHK's News Watch 9 become extremely lowbrow recently? Take, for example, its Nov. 30 program, which plumbed news depths of banality with a story entirely devoted to the increasing popularity of black things. We were treated to a long list of examples of popular black items, including...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 9, 2007

A moment of opportunity for Australia's new PM

The election of Kevin Rudd as prime minister of Australia last month gives that country an excellent opportunity to broaden the base, and redefine the tenor, of its ties with Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE
Dec 9, 2007

A country defined by fish

Culture and cuisine are closely intertwined in Japan, and especially as regards seafood.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Dec 9, 2007

Police-interrogation drama, obscure comedian jokester, actor-singer tribute

The controversial practice of closed police interrogations gets the TV drama treatment on the two-hour mystery "Yoru no Owaru Toki (When the Night Ends)" (TBS, Monday, 9 p.m.). After the naked body of Detective Tokumochi of the Fujimi Police Department is found, a childhood friend named Sekiguchi is...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 9, 2007

Finding the self and losing others

Losing Keiby Suzanne Kamata. Wellfleet, Mass.: Leapfrog Press, 2007, 196 pp., $14.95 (¥1,554) Like France, after World War II Japan has hosted a varied group of expatriate writers. Though no Hemingways or Gertrude Steins have yet emerged, expectation remains.
EDITORIALS
Dec 9, 2007

Good news about Iran

In a sharp and striking reversal, the U.S. intelligence community has concluded that Iran has stopped work on its suspected nuclear weapons program. This revelation contrasts with the Bush administration's recent rhetoric warning that Iran's determination to develop a nuclear weapon could spark a war,...
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Dec 9, 2007

Time for Ando to look beyond ice at reasons for inconsistency

For those who have watched her perform for years, through good times and bad, it seemed almost inevitable.
LIFE
Dec 9, 2007

Japan's love affair with Oma's tuna

On Jan. 5, 2001, a 202-kg Pacific bluefin tuna sold at Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market auction for $173,000 ($860 per kilogram), making it the most expensive single fish transaction ever recorded.
Japan Times
LIFE
Dec 9, 2007

Eating away at a lifestyle

Tuna has been much in the news in 2007. The year began with Japan's quota for Atlantic or northern bluefin tuna being reduced by 23 percent from the 2006 level for the next four years and the nation's Pacific or southern bluefin tuna quota slashed by 50 percent for the next five years by the tuna conservation...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 9, 2007

Kroon latest player to attempt to break 'Yomiuri jinx'

Can Marc Kroon break a jinx with the Giants?
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ROAD
Dec 9, 2007

Japan's 'fix'ation with a risky ride

A group of young men huddle around a bicycle in a small shop named Carnival on the second story of a cream-brick building peering over the Yamanote Line in Shibuya.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 9, 2007

Media shows little respect to family of young murder victims

On Nov. 27, 11 days after 58-year-old Keiko Miura and her two preschool grandchildren went missing from Miura's home in Kagawa Prefecture, and the same day Miura's brother-in-law Masanori Kawasaki was arrested for their murder, the online Ohmy News service compared the coverage of the incident to that...
CULTURE / Books
Dec 9, 2007

Nanjing held hostage to numbers

The Nanking Atrocity, 1937-38: Complicating the Picture, edited by Bob Tadashi Wakabayashi. New York: Bergahn Books, 2007, 433 pp., $34.95 (paper) This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre, but it is not yet a time for quiet reflection about the horrors of the past. Instead, vitriolic...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Dec 9, 2007

The buildup to Beijing

During the 40-minute drive from Beijing Capital International Airport to the city center, my Chinese tour guide, Ma, had plenty of time to relate his views on Beijing's rapid development.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 9, 2007

Russia's role as the 'awkward partner'

MOSCOW — The greatest disappointment of the postcommunist era has been the failure of the West — particularly Europe — to build a successful relationship with Russia.
SOCCER
Dec 8, 2007

Sepahan sets up rematch with Reds

FIFA's decision to introduce a playoff buffer in the Club World Cup to stop a repeat of Auckland City's awful showing last year looked prescient four minutes into Friday night's game between Iran's Sepahan and Waitakere United, but despite finishing up 3-1 losers the Kiwis far from disgraced themselves....
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Dec 8, 2007

Controversial Mourinho unfit to be new England coach

LONDON — Brian Barwick, the chief executive of the Football Association, probably earns at least £1 million a year. Critics may argue no, not earns — that is what he is paid. Whatever.

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