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COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Aug 20, 2007

Why can't Americans give up their guns?

NEW YORK — Is there anything comparable to the numbing obstinacy, the utter blindness to reality, that politicians display toward the consequences of untrammeled gun ownership in this country? So I wondered, once again, when I stumbled upon President George W. Bush's answer to what some now call "the...
EDITORIALS
Aug 20, 2007

Downturn in economic recovery

The Cabinet Office has announced that Japan's gross domestic product for the April-June period grew 0.1 percent, or an annualized 0.5 percent, in real terms from the previous quarter. This points to slowing economic growth in Japan, although economic activities as a whole continue to expand.
SOCCER / J. League
Aug 19, 2007

Tanaka makes case for call-up

Tatsuya Tanaka did all he could to convince Japan coach Ivica Osim to pick him for the upcoming friendly against Cameroon with a blistering display for Urawa Reds in a 4-1 victory over Ventforet Kofu on Saturday evening that moved the defending champions to the top of the J. League.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Aug 19, 2007

Kuwata, Igawa, Furuta share uncertain future as players

Too bad about the career of Masumi Kuwata apparently coming to an end after he was designated for assignment by the Pittsburgh Pirates, but success pitching in the major leagues for the 39-year-old right-hander was really a long shot, made even longer because of the ankle injury he had in a spring training...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Aug 19, 2007

Without Rooney, pressure on Man United

LONDON — One week into the Premier League season and already the C-word has reared its ugly head.
MORE SPORTS
Aug 19, 2007

Moses trying to help less fortunate hurdle obstacles

Edwin Moses was an untouchable, unbeatable performer as a track and field superstar during his heyday in the 1970s and '80s.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Aug 19, 2007

Veteran hurler Greisinger silences Giants' potent offense

Yakult Swallows hurler Seth Greisinger took the mound against the most potent offense in Japanese baseball and responded with eight shutout innings to lead his ballclub to a 3-0 victory over the Yomiuri Giants on Saturday night.
Reader Mail
Aug 19, 2007

Asashoryu shows hypocrisy

What cheek! Asashoryu wins the Nagoya basho (for his 21st grand sumo tournament victory), then spurns his loyal fans in eastern Japan by telling everyone that injuries prevent him from participating in the August tour. Then he summarily flies to Mongolia and plays in a soccer match, allowing a television...
Reader Mail
Aug 19, 2007

Sumo wrestlers deserve rest, too

The punishment meted out to Asashoryu was neither lenient nor strict, but the accusation of "mental instability" was off the wall and totally inappropriate. Asashoryu's unrefined behavior in the past was tolerated because he was the only yokozuna, his sumo was exciting, and spectators and TV audiences...
Reader Mail
Aug 19, 2007

Abe sends a mixed message

Although I have lived in Japan more than half my life, I had never attended the annual Aug. 6 A-bomb memorial ceremony in Hiroshima until this year, the 62nd anniversary. In addition to a record attendance of representatives from 42 countries, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, still reeling from his party's...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 19, 2007

Why not let doping close the gene gap?

PRINCETON, New Jersey — There is now a regular season for discussing drugs in sports, one that arrives every year with the Tour de France. This year, the overall leader, two other riders and two teams were expelled or withdrew from the race as a result of failing, or missing, drug tests. The eventual...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 19, 2007

Something's up as 'buy' confidence slips

NEW HAVEN, Connecticut — The sharp drop in the world's stock markets on Aug. 9 — after BNP Paribas announced that it would freeze three of its funds — is just one more example of the markets' recent downward instability or asymmetry. The markets have been more vulnerable to sudden large drops than...
EDITORIALS
Aug 19, 2007

Another confectionary food scandal

A Sapporo-based confectionary company has joined the list of food manufacturers accused of unethical practices, by falsifying expiration dates on its main product and shipping other products contaminated with colon bacilli or staphylococci, both of which can cause food poisoning.
Reader Mail
Aug 19, 2007

U.S. whitewash of the bombings

Regarding Arnie Hove's Aug. 5 letter, "An apology from one American": I wish more Americans shared his view about the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Having grown up in Hiroshima, I feel compelled at this time of the year to ask ordinary Americans how they view the use of the bombs.
CULTURE / Books
Aug 19, 2007

Osamu Tezuka: Fighting for peace with the Mighty Atom

The Astro Boy Essays: Osamu Tezuka, Mighty Atom, and the Manga/Anime Revolution, by Frederik L. Schodt. Stone Bridge Press, 2007, 248 pp., $16.95 (paper) When legendary manga and anime artist Osamu Tezuka visited the 1964 New York World's Fair, he met a man he had long idolized, Walt Disney. Tezuka...
EDITORIALS
Aug 19, 2007

More important than gold medals

In less than a year — before the 2008 Summer Olympics opens in Beijing on Aug. 8 — China will have to overcome problems related to the world sports event, which the country hopes will showcase its rapid development and its status as a leading power in Asia. The 17-day Beijing Games will be the third...
Reader Mail
Aug 19, 2007

No amount of prudence

Regarding Bob Austenfeld's Aug. 12 letter, "If others had had the A-bomb": I had a hard time deciphering why Austenfeld thinks it's so important that we consider (the quote from a book that he read) that "Had either the Germans or the Japanese been able to develop the A-bomb first, the world would quite...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / WEEK 3
Aug 19, 2007

Putting the fun back into feeling fit

Although you may be a typically busy worker, in Japan there's no shortage of easy exercise options to help keep you in shape — whether "10-minute fitness" clubs where you can have a quick workout without even changing your clothes, varieties of home exercise videos or machines and, of course, any number...

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’