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JAPAN
Dec 24, 2006

Dolphin with breeding record dies

A beloved dolphin said to have the world's longest breeding record has died after spending 36 years at an aquarium in Shizuoka Prefecture, the aquarium said.
JAPAN
Dec 24, 2006

Japan plays weak hand, may seek more sanctions

The lack of progress in the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons underscores Japan's growing difficulties in trying to defuse the crisis and resolve the abduction issue.
EDITORIALS
Dec 24, 2006

Five days and no leads

The latest round of the six-party talks aimed at halting North Korea's nuclear weapons programs ended without tangible results Friday. The participants even failed to decide on the date of the next round. Moreover, Japan and North Korea held no bilateral talks on resolving the fate of Japanese nationals...
JAPAN
Dec 24, 2006

Emperor turns 73, avoids shrine topic

from Emperor Showa regarding the mourning of the war dead." On the September birth of Prince Hisahito, his first grandson and the first heir to the throne in 41 years, the Emperor said his first impression was that the prince was "a very fine and healthy baby."
JAPAN
Dec 24, 2006

Japan plays weak hand, may seek more sanctions

The lack of progress in the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons underscores Japan's growing difficulties in trying to defuse the crisis and resolve the abduction issue.
EDITORIALS
Dec 24, 2006

Beware of norovirus

Outbreaks of norovirus -- which causes infectious stomach and intestinal ailments -- have prompted Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to call on the health ministry to take special measures. The ministry's statistics show that from Nov. 1 to Dec. 18, a record 9,650 people suffered from food poisoning believed...
COMMENTARY
Dec 24, 2006

Next to the Iraq catastrophe, minor dramas marked 2006

LONDON -- In hard news terms, it's been one of the slower years: no great events, few surprises and no real shocks. But as the little events accumulated during 2006, the shape of the future gradually became clearer in three important dimensions.
Japan Times
LIFE
Dec 24, 2006

Penmanship: A lost art is rediscovered

At this time of the year, you may have received and sent any number of Christmas cards. Or, in the Japanese tradition, you might still be panicking about writing all the New Year's postcards that the nation's army of mailmen and women endeavor to deliver on New Year's Day.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 24, 2006

The spirit of classics in a luminous new translation

TALES OF MOONLIGHT AND RAIN by Ueda Akinari, translated by Anthony H. Chambers. New York: Columbia University Press, 2006, 236 pp., with 1776 edition woodcuts, $29.95 (cloth). Ueda Akinari (1734-1809), scholar and poet, is remembered for his collection of nine stories, the "Ugetsu Monogatari," first...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 24, 2006

Ongoing Vietnam tragedy revives ghosts of a Christmas past

Christmas brings to mind many wonderful memories for most of us. But history has bequeathed to some of us a most awful little two-word phrase blackening those memories like a stain. That phrase is "Christmas bombing."
Japan Times
LIFE
Dec 24, 2006

Find out why a fountain pen 'personalizes' your prose

Kumiko Kumazawa of Pilot Corporation placed four fountain pens in front of me.
CULTURE / Books
Dec 24, 2006

Word power: 'The way' and the way you say it

OGYU SORAI'S PHILOSOPHICAL MASTERWORKS: The Bendo and Benmei, edited and translated by John A. Tucker. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2006, 478 pp., $56 (cloth). One of the foremost thinkers of our time, Noam Chomsky, has argued that the United States is a rogue state. To arrive at this conclusion,...
CULTURE / Books
Dec 24, 2006

A dip into the extraordinary of the ordinary

IN THE POOL by Hideo Okuda, translated by Giles Murray. Tokyo: IBC Publishing, 2006, 224 pp., $24.95 (cloth). On the surface, Irabu General Hospital appears no different from other medium-size privately owned medical facilities in the Tokyo area. It's only when patients' conditions defy simple diagnosis...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 24, 2006

Giving life-affirming gifts without dipping into your pocket

With the gift-giving season upon us, it is as good a time as any to think about the gift that keeps on giving -- your organs. Another reason to think about organ donation is that on Tuesday the Matsuyama District Court will sentence a 59-year-old man who was convicted of buying a kidney from a woman....
Japan Times
LIFE
Dec 24, 2006

Sutra-writing by hand to boost the brain

Amid the current national craze over anything that might boost brainpower -- or at least help its legions of elderly to retain their mental functions -- a relatively low-key, centuries-old Buddhist practice has lately been attracting a lot of attention.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Dec 23, 2006

Investigation reveals F.A.'s failure to monitor transfers

LONDON -- Occasionally in the media we will read the blindingly obvious from a university in Texas or wherever that after a year's research they can reveal that diving from a cliff into a ravine is dangerous. Or some other statement that we all know.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 23, 2006

'42 midget sub committed to the deep

SYDNEY -- The wartime midget submarine discovered off the beaches of Sydney is to be left on the ocean floor and is expected to become a permanent tomb for the two crewmen killed inside the vessel after their attack on Sydney Harbour in 1942.
JAPAN
Dec 23, 2006

Researchers capture first live footage of giant squid

, and that would suggest there are quite a few squid for them to be feeding on. I don't think they are in danger of extinction." Having taped the squid, Kubodera said his next goal is to study the creatures' habits in their natural surroundings -- at a depth of around 650 meters.
JAPAN
Dec 23, 2006

Six new embassies set to parry China

Despite commitments to slash the size of government, the Finance and Foreign ministries agreed Friday to set up new embassies in six countries next year and to hire more local staff at embassies and consulates.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 23, 2006

Postpone the full operation of Rokkasho

December 18 was the 50th anniversary of Japan's affiliation with the United Nations. At the ceremony Secretary General Koffi Annan called on Japan to stick to its ban on nuclear weapons. His message seems to have been prompted by the nuclear-arms argument in Japan that has emerged since North Korea's...

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