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SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Jun 12, 2007

Sumo at the Olympics or a dohyo too far?

Sumo in Japan is on the up and up. We now have two yokozuna with a good half decade of rivalry in the tanks, one young enough to still be around in 10 years time. Irrespective of reports in the Japanese-language media, the sport is not sinking into the abyss with the continued success of its foreign...
Rugby
Jun 12, 2007

Japan's PNC tour ends with loss

TOWNSVILLE, Australia — Townsville locals who supported the Brave Blossoms in their 2003 World Cup games cheered on Japan against Australia A in the Pacific Nations Cup on Saturday night, but the Blossoms lost control of the game after the first 20 minutes and lost 71-10.
JAPAN
Jun 12, 2007

SIA probes computer glitch amid rise in queries

must be enhanced. We will strengthen manpower to respond to people's worries and complaints," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said at a meeting involving the government and the ruling coalition. The problem hit computers Sunday at the 130 offices in 23 prefectures, including Kanagawa, Hyogo and Fukuoka, at...
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 12, 2007

Japan's green strides belie spotty record

Last month, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sought a leading role in the fight against climate change when he proposed a global initiative to halve greenhouse gas emis sions by 2050.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 12, 2007

MHI to exhibit cabin of planned jet in Paris

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. will exhibit at this month's Paris air show a cabin mockup of a passenger jet it is developing, company officials said Monday.
JAPAN
Jun 12, 2007

Nakayama joins race for House of Councilors seat

issue is largely a political issue, and there are some angles that I could work as a politician" rather than as Abe's adviser, she said. Nakayama said she plans to keep her current post after the election, regardless of whether she wins a Diet seat.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jun 12, 2007

Good will hunting; rent fees

Renewal fees revisited Peter Link in Kyoto writes on the subject of renewal fees for renting property. This is the Japanese system whereby a renter can expect to pay a charge of up to three months' rent every two years to the landowner.
COMMENTARY
Jun 12, 2007

School tinkering that hurts

The education ministry is pushing university reform based on a U.S. model. As I wrote in April, the ministry in 1990 introduced a policy of sharply expanding graduate school admission quotas. In the next year, it relaxed undergraduate restrictions in graduate-level liberal-arts programs, allowing even...
EDITORIALS
Jun 12, 2007

Mr. Zoellick to the World Bank

U.S. President George W. Bush has picked Mr. Robert Zoellick to be president of the World Bank. Mr. Zoellick, a former U.S. trade representative and a former deputy secretary of state, is almost certain to be confirmed by the World Bank board. The best thing that can be said about the nomination is that...
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 12, 2007

Media scream 'yellow peril'

Days after the broken body of British teacher Lindsay Hawker was discovered in a fourth-floor flat in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, when the media feeding frenzy was at its most intense, a newspaper editor called me from London.
JAPAN
Jun 12, 2007

Victim-criminal dialogue can be cathartic

, founder of the U.S.-based group Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights, looks on. PHOTO COURTESY OF AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL JAPAN
EDITORIALS
Jun 12, 2007

Justice for Lebanon's late leader

A special court that the U.N. Security Council voted to set up to prosecute the February 2005 murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri came into force on Sunday. The U.N. vote was a direct challenge to Syria, which has been implicated in the killing while denying any involvement.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 12, 2007

It's a dog's life when you wear a cat on your head

Animals have always been prevalent in the Japanese language, perhaps more so than in other parts of the world, because Japanese people were for so long vegetarian, Buddhist or Shintoist.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Jun 12, 2007

Sobocki, Swatch, etc.

Sobocki, so good
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Jun 12, 2007

Horiyoshi III

Horiyoshi III is revered by tattoo enthusiasts as possibly the world's greatest horishi, or full-body tattoo artist. (Horimono are tattoos done purely for fun, while irezumi are tattoos that mark criminals.) Friendly and too cool for words, the 61-year-old loves digging his needle into people — he...
BUSINESS
Jun 12, 2007

FSA orders megabank BTMU to improve poor investment trust service

The Financial Services Agency ordered the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ on Monday to improve its business practices after a probe by authorities exposed poor treatment of investment trust services customers.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes