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Reader Mail
Apr 29, 2007

Abe made the right move

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may well be starting another period of tremendous enlightenment in Japan through attaining the painting "Annunciation," by Leonardo da Vinci, for the Japanese public to study.
SOCCER / J. League
Apr 29, 2007

Attacking forwards lead Reysol to win

KASHIWA, Chiba Pref. -- After looking as though their J.League campaign was beginning to go awry after two straight defeats following an astonishing start to the season, Kashiwa Reysol righted the ship somewhat Saturday with a 2-0 home victory over Nagoya Grampus Eight.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 29, 2007

Who will defend Japan's Constitution?

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced at the beginning of April that the government was establishing a "panel of experts" to examine the question of whether to "revise the current interpretation of the Constitution," in order to permit Japan to engage in collective self-defense activities.
Reader Mail
Apr 29, 2007

Old issues not ready for rest

In his April 18 letter, "Can old issues be put to rest?," B.K. Cottle expresses his disdain for the tendency of Japan to see itself as a victim of World War II. While there is no doubt that this is an irresponsible and morally reprehensible position for Japan to take, given Japan's culpability in the...
Reader Mail
Apr 29, 2007

Whitewashing is the problem

I agree with Setsuko Tokita ("America has its own atrocities," April 18) that the United States has no reason to be proud of certain chapters of its history, including slavery, as well as the forced relocation and extermination of most of the Native American population. However, to my knowledge, no American...
Japan Times
LIFE
Apr 29, 2007

Japan's love affairs with sex

Michael Hoffman delves deep into the carnal history of these islands from the Age of the Gods to the lovelands and soaplands of today
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Apr 29, 2007

Bus system special, elderly comedy drama and a mystery at the lost-and-found office

This week's "NHK Special," entitled "Kosoku Basu Senso (Highway Bus Wars)" (NHK-G, Monday, 10 p.m.), looks at the fierce competition that has arisen in the tourism and transportation industries since deregulation in 2000 opened the market to hundreds of new bus companies.
CULTURE / Books
Apr 29, 2007

The problem with Pan Asianism

PAN-ASIANISM IN MODERN JAPANESE HISTORY: Colonialism, Regionalism and Borders, edited by Sven Saaler and J Victor Koschmann. London: Routledge, 2007, 288 pp., £21.99 (paper) Pan Asianism, the notion of creating a fraternity of Asians, provides insights on how transnational perceptions and policies...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 29, 2007

The medical insurance game -- you always pay and they often play

On April 13, 12 different insurance companies apologized for failing to pay benefits for legitimate claims on life and supplemental medical insurance policies. It was the latest chapter in an industry-wide scandal that started with admissions about unpaid benefits for automobile and property insurance....
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Apr 29, 2007

Gorilla snot and Tokyo sauce

TABLOID TOKYO 2, by Geoff Botting, Ryann Connell, Michael Hoffman, Masuo Kamiyama, Mark Schreiber; Illustrations by Hirosuke Ueno; foreword by Mark Schreiber. Toyko: Kodansha International, 2007, 288 pp., profusely illustrated, 1,400 yen (paper) The success of the first volume of "Tabloid Tokyo" has...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Apr 29, 2007

Spare a shudder in memory of an American 'ism' that lives on

This coming Wednesday, May 2, marks the 50th anniversary of the death of a venal and cowardly man, a true antihero of the 20th century.
EDITORIALS
Apr 29, 2007

Global population is graying

The 2006 revision of the United Nations population estimates and projection recently made public shows that the world population, now 6.67 billion, will reach 9.19 billion in 2050. This increase of 2.52 billion people is equivalent to the world's total population in 1950. During the same period, the...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Apr 28, 2007

Mourinho continues shameful campaign of complaints against referees

LONDON -- Not for the first time Jose Mourinho got it hopelessly wrong when criticizing a referee.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Apr 28, 2007

La vida LaRocca: Slugger enjoying playing with Buffaloes

Last season was a tough one for Orix's Greg LaRocca.
EDITORIALS
Apr 28, 2007

Quake victims still need support

Many people are still living under inconvenient conditions more than a month after a major earthquake hit Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture on March 25, killing one person and injuring more than 300. In the city of Wajima, the hardest-hit municipality, more than 1,000 houses were either destroyed...
BUSINESS
Apr 28, 2007

NTT DoCoMo profit falls 25%

NTT DoCoMo Inc. said Friday that its net profit fell 25.1 percent from the previous year to 457.3 billion yen in business 2006, due partly to increased sales promotion costs.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 28, 2007

Yeltsin: a hero of his time

NEW YORK -- Boris Yeltsin was utterly unique. Russia's first democratically elected leader, he was also the first Russian leader to give up power voluntarily, and constitutionally, to a successor. But he was also profoundly characteristic of Russian leaders. Using various mixtures of charisma, statecraft...
BUSINESS
Apr 28, 2007

Citigroup bags Nikko Cordial for 920 billion yen

Citigroup Inc. announced Friday its public tender offer for scandal-tainted Nikko Cordial Corp. has succeeded, resulting in the biggest buyout -- at 920 billion yen -- of a Japanese firm by a foreign company.
EDITORIALS
Apr 28, 2007

A welcome law for the workplace

A lmost a month has passed since the revised Equal Employment Opportunity Law for Men and Women went into effect at the beginning of fiscal 2007. The revised law includes provisions for prohibiting indirect discrimination against women -- practices that are neutral on the surface but discriminatory in...
BUSINESS
Apr 28, 2007

Improving consumer lifestyle choices key to meeting CO2 goals

Consumer behavior holds the key to Japan's ability to fulfill its commitments under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to fight global warming, as rising greenhouse gas emissions in the household and transport sectors make it increasingly hard to achieve the nation's goals, said participants in a recent symposium...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Apr 28, 2007

Leading figures in the Funky Old People's Hall of Fame

After having spent the winter away from the island, I can say it is great to be back. As I take a walk around the island, I am comforted by the little touches of home: Bent-over ladies with bundles of sasaki on their backs, white-haired fishermen bringing in their day's catch, and old men sitting on...
BUSINESS
Apr 28, 2007

Business seat bookings lift ANA's profit 22% in 2006

All Nippon Airways Co. said Friday its net profit for its 2006 business year jumped 22.2 percent from the previous year to 32.6 billion yen.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight