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Reader Mail
Jan 7, 2007

Energy geopolitics is the key

In The Japan Times' Time Out features Dec. 31, various predictions are made for Japan, but not one seriously considers the most unpredictable and most influential factor of all: energy sources and where they are to come from. Robotics, demographic changes, productivity are all ultimately affected...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 7, 2007

Japan is 'beautiful' -- and don't you dare disagree

Japanese tradition has it that your first dream of the new year (hatsuyume) is a portent of what is in store for you in the 12 months to come. There are three hatsuyume (wouldn't you just know that the Japanese would even designate dreams) they hold to be symbolic: If on the night of Jan. 1 you dream...
CULTURE / Books
Jan 7, 2007

How one merchant ship doomed a colony

Mrs Ferguson's Tea-Set, Japan, and The Second World War: The Global Consequences Following Germany's Sinking of The SS Automedon in 1940, by Eiji Seki. Global Oriental, 187 pp., 2007, £35 (cloth) On her way to Penang on Nov. 11, 1940, the Blue Funnel Line merchant vessel SS Automedon was sunk by the...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 7, 2007

Through the Terayama looking glass

THE EXPERIMENTAL IMAGE WORLD OF SHUJI TERAYAMA, DVD four-volume box set. Tokyo: Daguerreo Press, Inc./Image Forum Video, 2006, color/monochrome, English subtitles, bilingual menu, audio commentaries (Japanese only) by Nobuhiro Kawanaka, Tatsuo Suzuki, Sakumi Hagiwara and Henriku Morisaki, 346 min., 18,900...
Reader Mail
Jan 7, 2007

Melodrama substitutes for truth

Regarding Peter Stevenson's Dec. 31 letter, "As influential as 'Rashomon' ": Stevenson apparently didn't comprehend my Dec. 17 letter, "Nothing can save war movie," in which I stated categorically that all war movies are rubbish!
COMMENTARY
Jan 7, 2007

Hanging Hussein for the wrong crime kept America's dirty laundry hidden

LONDON -- It was not the Iraqi government but its American masters that chose to execute Saddam Hussein in a great rush as soon as the first sentence was confirmed, thus canceling all the other trials on far graver charges that awaited him. The current Iraqi government had nothing to hide if those trials...
CULTURE / Books
Jan 7, 2007

Searching for the perfect personal haiku pen-name

The Haiku Apprentice: Memoirs of Writing Poetry in Japan, by Abigail Friedman. Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press, 2006, 235 pp., $14,95 (paper) The story in this book begins with a chance encounter. As the author later explains, she was living with her family in Japan, and serving as a diplomat (for the United...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Jan 7, 2007

Yoshiharu Habu: Japan's king of the board

Yoshiharu Habu shocked the shogi (Japanese chess) world when, on Feb. 14, 1996, at the age of 25, he won his 7th title to become the only person in the history of the ancient board game to simultaneously possess all seven titles -- Meijin, Ryuo, Kio, Oza, Kisei, Oi and Osho.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jan 7, 2007

Bordeaux breaks the bank

Heralded as an exceptional vintage, premier crus 2003 Bordeaux wines are now on the market, much to the delight of wine enthusiasts -- albeit at surprisingly high prices that may rather dilute that delight.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jan 7, 2007

Shogi: basics of the game

The board used in shogi is a grid of nine squares by nine squares. Each player starts with 20 wedge-shaped pieces, called koma, on which the name of the piece is inscribed in kanji (Chinese characters).
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE MONTH
Jan 6, 2007

Washington wins Dec. award

He takes a lot of shots and he consistently makes around 50 percent of them. And he had six 20-point games in December.
BASKETBALL
Jan 6, 2007

Takeuchi twins clash in quarters

Twins phenoms Joji and Kosuke Takeuchi, both of whom played for Japan at last year's FIBA World Championship, faced each other in the quarterfinals of the National Championships and Joji's Tokai University capitalized on its all-court zone press and defeated Kosuke's Keio University 97-82 at Yoyogi National...
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2007

'Amakudari' abuses targeted

establishment procedures," Matsuoka told a news conference. The group in question is the World Business Expert Forum, which bought 1 million yen worth of fundraising tickets for Matsuoka.
EDITORIALS
Jan 6, 2007

Two nations bigger

With the arrival of 2007, Romania and Bulgaria joined the European Union, increasing its membership to 27 states. Simultaneously, Slovenia adopted the euro, Europe's single currency, becoming the first former communist state to do so and the 13th member of the euro-zone. The accession of Romania, with...
BUSINESS
Jan 6, 2007

FSA imposes record fine on Nikko for accounting violations

The Financial Services Agency has fined Nikko Cordial Corp., a major brokerage, 500 million yen for padding profits, the biggest penalty ever levied by the agency, an official said Friday.
BASKETBALL
Jan 6, 2007

Baker rejoins Tokyo Apache

The Tokyo Apache announced the signing of Dameion Baker on Friday.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jan 6, 2007

Bear with me on this

Hiker beware. For the woods are full of bears. And they will get you if you don't watch out.

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