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BUSINESS
Oct 31, 2006

MMC stems red ink in first half on cost cuts

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. announced Monday it has cut its losses for the first fiscal half to Sept. 30 compared with the previous year, thanks mainly to a weaker yen and cost-cutting efforts.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Oct 31, 2006

Slow food, an attitude as much as a meal

In the 1960s, Japan's first instant ramen changed people's eating habits significantly by making it possible to get dinner in as little as three minutes. Even putting fast food and microwave dinners aside, eating has become easier and more functional since those days, due either to higher living standards...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Oct 31, 2006

Is the ongoing battle against global warming a losing one?

SOCCER / J. League
Oct 30, 2006

Gamba wins, stays in title hunt

Brazilian duo Sidiclei and Magno Alves helped defending champion Gamba Osaka beat Shimizu S-Pulse 3-0 and close the gap to the front-running Urawa Reds in the J. League on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS
Oct 30, 2006

Major pockets fall Emperor's Cup

The win was in the numbers Sunday at Fuchu as Daiwa Major captured his second grade 1 race of his career with victory in the fall Emperor's Cup. Racing from the No. 14 post over 2,000 meters of turf, as he had done for his first top-level victory in the Satsukisho two years ago, the feisty 5-year-old...
BUSINESS / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
Oct 30, 2006

Will private equity boom in Japan? It did in Europe

After booming in the United States and Europe, private equity finally seems to have set its sights on Japan. Two of the world's top three private equity firms -- Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Texas Pacific Group -- have each opened offices in Japan or expanded their existing Japan operations over...
COMMENTARY
Oct 30, 2006

Even nuclear talk detracts

Some influential Japanese politicians have called for debate on whether the nation should adopt nuclear arms, causing repercussions at home and abroad. Since 1967, Japan has upheld the three-point policy of not possessing, making or allowing the entry of nuclear arms, while remaining under the U.S. nuclear...
EDITORIALS
Oct 30, 2006

New flexibility of cell phones

The much-awaited portable-number service for cell phones has started in Japan, enabling users to change carriers without having to change phone numbers. This is a new convenience for customers, but for the cell-phone carriers -- NTT DoCoMo Inc., KDDI Corp. and Softbank Mobile Corp. -- it heralds the...
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Oct 30, 2006

Erosions of a shaky moral high ground

NEW YORK -- To choose the most bewildering action of George W. Bush since he became U.S. president in 2001 is tough. Is it starting a war without cause? Is it creating a dubious court and prosecuting a man for mass killings while committing even greater mass killings? Or is it concocting legislation...
SOCCER / J. League
Oct 29, 2006

Frontale tops Sanga, pulls closer to Reds

KAWASAKI -- The race for the J. League title was blown wide open on Saturday as Kawasaki Frontale beat bottom-of-the-table Kyoto Purple Sanga 2-0 to move within four points of leaders Urawa Reds.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Oct 29, 2006

West Ham manager Pardew finds himself on hot seat as losing streak hits eight

LONDON -- If West Ham players could pass the ball as well as they are passing the buck, the team would not be staring relegation and crisis in the face after eight consecutive defeats, their worst run in 74 years.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Oct 29, 2006

TV Asahi's "Quiz Presentation Variety Q-sama," Fuji's "Kinyo Prestige" and more

SLack of imagination has not stopped TV producers from coming up with new outlets for all the comedians looking for work. Every week TV Asahi's variety show "Quiz Presentation Variety Q-sama" (Mon., 8 p.m.) offers about a dozen comedians and other tarento the opportunity to present their own quizzes,...
CULTURE / Books
Oct 29, 2006

Is the sun setting on the future of Japan?

SHUTTING OUT THE SUN: How Japan Created Its Own Lost Generation, by Michael Zielenziger. New York: Doubleday, 2006, 352 pp., $24.95 (cloth). The strength of this book lies in its sensitive and poignant portraits of hikikomori, Japan's recluses. Their stories of withdrawal are etched with pain and anomie....
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 29, 2006

Children's welfare in the doghouse

This past week the nation was shocked by the news of yet another small child who died at the hands of abusive and negligent adults.
Japan Times
LIFE
Oct 29, 2006

A Hero's Journey

A telegram arrived in the evening. Belinda sat on the edge of the faded chintz sofa in her parlour, staring at the envelope on her knees yet keeping her right hand poised above it as if it were a butterfly about to take to the air. She couldn't bring herself to open it, not straight away. She couldn't...

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