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SPORTS / ODDS AND EVENS
Aug 31, 2007

Japan medal hopes fading

OSAKA — The home-nation advantage has not provided much of a spark for Japan at the 2007 IAAF World Athletics Championships.
EDITORIALS
Aug 31, 2007

The education of a sumo wrestler

Yokozuna Asashoryu, accompanied by his stable master Takasago, has flown to his motherland Mongolia for treatment of a mental disorder and injuries to his left elbow and lower back. The injuries have been diagnosed as requiring six weeks to heal.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / CABINET INTERVIEW
Aug 31, 2007

Nukaga cautious on state of economy

New Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga gave a cautious assessment of the economy and urged the Bank of Japan to work with the government to ensure continued growth.
EDITORIALS
Aug 31, 2007

A troubled cop off the beat

Guns possessed by yakuza gangsters pose a threat to society. But what happened early last week in Tokyo is serious as well. A "koban" (police box) duty officer of the Metropolitan Police Department assigned to the Tachikawa Police Station used a gun issued to him to shoot a woman to death in her apartment...
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2007

Japan opted out of nukes in '69

In 1969, then Foreign Minister Kiichi Aichi told the Soviet Union that Japan was capable of arming itself with nuclear weapons but stressed that its people were strongly resolved not to do so, according to diplomatic documents declassified Thursday by the Foreign Ministry.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Aug 31, 2007

Plucking the final string

The Vermeer Quartet, the internationally renowned string ensemble formed in Marlboro, Vermont, will play their final tour of Japan Sept. 24 to Oct. 7, before retirement at the end of the year. They have played in Japan four times since 1996, and this time they will teach talented young students in masterclasses...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 31, 2007

Transformation of Turkey

ISTANBUL — Abdullah Gul's election as Turkey's 11th president marks a watershed in the country's history.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 31, 2007

'Hero'

The ways of Japanese TV drama producers must be as mysterious to their Hollywood counterparts as the statues of Easter Island.
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2007

Merkel, Ozawa clash on MSDF mission

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa clashed Thursday over the Maritime Self-Defense Force's mission to provide logistic support for the NATO-led antiterrorist campaign in Afghanistan, with Merkel urging Japan to extend the operation.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 31, 2007

Marcus Miller "Free"

Brooklyn-born Marcus Miller kicks off his latest album playing the sitar, lending "Blast" an Indian groove before adopting a hip-hop beat in the chorus. It's an early indication of Miller's diverse musical tastes: "Free" features the noted bass guitarist playing 14 different instruments.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 31, 2007

Peninsula makes a play for luxury hotel crown

The Peninsula Tokyo opens its doors Saturday, flexing its muscles with a premier location at the foot of Marunouchi's Naka Dori, dazzling interiors from Yukio Hashimoto, alumnus of local interior bigwigs Superpotato, a 900-sq.-meter spa with "experience showers," and the city's second-largest suite,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 31, 2007

'Because I Said So'

As a longtime fan of Diane Keaton, it's always disheartening to see her in roles that seem inadequate for the Oscar-winning, lean and brainy hipster icon of the 1970s ("Annie Hall," "Manhattan" and "Interiors," to name just a few). But her most recent foray into mainstream rom-com is just plain painful....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2007

Masuzoe stakes political life on fixing pension mess

New Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Yoichi Masuzoe says he will "stake his political life" on matching the 50 million unidentified pension premium records, whose decades of mishandling by the Social Insurance Agency led many people to receive smaller payments than they were due.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Aug 31, 2007

A day (or two) for every dog

Super Dogs Carnival 2007, Japan's premier canine festival, will be held Sept. 1-2 at the Goodwill Dome in Saitama Prefecture. And the good news for us humans: we're welcome, too.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 31, 2007

'Planet Terror'/'Death Proof'

With their double-feature project "Grindhouse," directors Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez seek to revive a bit of cinematic history, namely the grindhouse: the flea-pit inner-city theaters of the 1970s (think NYC's old Times Square), with dodgy clientele, that inevitably had a double-feature of...
CULTURE / Music
Aug 31, 2007

Gogol Bordello "Super Taranta!"

The previous album by this motley crew of Brooklyn-resident immigrants was called "Gypsy Punks." It's a good description of the music, but the generic-sounding title may have also fooled people into thinking it was some kind of anthropological exercise.
BUSINESS
Aug 31, 2007

BOJ's Mizuno says loan crisis shows why rates need to rise

The Bank of Japan needs to raise interest rates to prevent excess borrowing that helped trigger the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis and subsequent financial-market turmoil, central bank Policy Board member Atsushi Mizuno said Thursday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Aug 31, 2007

A great escape to Biwako

Jasmine, a writer who hails from Hiroshima and is much older than me but has a refined magnetizing beauty that cannot be ignored, pours me a cup of green tea on my first ever junket. It's just before the world turns blue; just before I'm dropped into a Marc Chagall painting by an invisible but all-seeing...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / SHORT TAKES
Aug 31, 2007

The Wicker Man

Director: Neil Labute Language: English
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 31, 2007

Mono find fan in Steve Albini

While big-name music acts look to foreign markets to continue fattening their already oversize bank accounts, for Tokyo quartet Mono, it's a simple matter of survival.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’