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Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 23, 2007

B-girl boppers

'Maybe they can smell something on us!" says Halca, 18, one half of hip-hop- meets-J-pop duo HalCali.
BUSINESS
Mar 23, 2007

International 'anime' fair opens in Tokyo

Giant balloons depicting Pokemon characters and boy detective Conan filled the air at the Thursday kickoff of the Tokyo International Anime Fair 2007 in Tokyo, as 270 companies, including 55 from overseas, came together for the world's biggest animation festival.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 23, 2007

Home sweet Hollandafter Hollywood hell

Director Paul Verhoeven is living, breathing proof of that old Hollywood adage, "You're only as good as your last film."
CULTURE / Music
Mar 23, 2007

The Rakes "Ten New Messages"

One of the dozen or so neo-postpunk British guitar bands signed in the wake of Franz Ferdinand's success, East London's The Rakes flaunted their middle class background (in concert they wear matching polo shirts) and dynamic debt to Wire on their 2005 debut "Capture/Release." Their second album retains...
BUSINESS
Mar 23, 2007

Mazda aims for 27% profit rise to 200 billion yen by '10

Mazda Motor Corp. announced its new midterm business plan Thursday, aiming to raise its operating profit to 200 billion yen in its 2010 business year, up 26.5 percent from its projection for fiscal 2006.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 23, 2007

'Mushishi'

Katsuhiro Otomo once had a reputation as a genius anime auteur -- a younger, hipper version of Hayao Miyazaki. His 1988 SF hit "Akira" was unlike anything coming out of the Hollywood animation industry in its dark vision of an atomic-blasted Neo-Tokyo, with its multilayered story of lawless young bikers...
EDITORIALS
Mar 23, 2007

Try learning from a critical mistake

It was revealed last week that Hokuriku Electric Power Co. failed to report a "criticality accident" at a nuclear-power plant in Shiga, Ishikawa Prefecture, eight years ago. The accident involved a 15-minute uncontrollable fission chain reaction.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 23, 2007

World Toy Museum brings out the otaku in you

The World Toy Museum, situated in the resort town of Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, is currently holding an exhibition on model trains, "Amazing Model Train Exhibition 2007," that will appeal to iron-horse enthusiasts young and old. The exhibition runs through June 18 (10 a.m. to 6 p.m.).
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 23, 2007

'Step Up'

If nothing else, "Step Up" is a great inducement to hit the gym. Or the barre. And the yoga mat. Anything in fact, to tighten those upper body muscles and get those abs to pop out.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 23, 2007

Atelier Bow-Wow have fun with urban spaces

Tokyo-based architectural practice Atelier Bow-Wow is currently holding an exhibition of its works at Tokyo's Gallery MA through May 12, titled "Practice of Lively Space -- detached house and micro public space."
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Mar 23, 2007

A treasure chest of tradition

The capital of Ishikawa Prefecture greeted me like it does most travelers: with a downpour. The train's rain-streaked windows blurred my first views of a city in a storybook setting. Kanazawa averages 178 soggy days a year, so it's fitting that the station's glass dome fans out like an umbrella.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 23, 2007

Sniff incense, reduce stress

And you thought tea ceremony, at around 10 years, took a long time to master?
MORE SPORTS
Mar 22, 2007

Cranes take 2-1 lead in finals

The Nippon Paper Cranes scored four third-period goals en route to a 7-2 victory over the Seibu Prince Rabbits in Game 3 of the Asia League Ice Hockey finals on Tuesday night at Kushiro Ice Arena in Hokkaido before 2,503 fans.
MORE SPORTS
Mar 22, 2007

Oda struggled

NHK Trophy runnerup Nobunari Oda struggled in the men's short program and was in 8th place behind leader Jeffrey Buttle with six left to skate Wednesday afternoon at the World Figure Skating Championships.
JAPAN
Mar 22, 2007

Substance, not usual campaign noise

and Yoshito Hori, head of the Globis Group, look on at a March 2 event in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward promoting use of platforms known as manifestos in politics. PHOTO COURTESY OF WASEDA UNIVERSITY
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 22, 2007

After Horie's fall, Nikko case seen smacking of favoritism

Japan has been abuzz with the unusually harsh prison term handed to former Internet mogul Takafumi Horie -- and the slap on the wrist given to scandal-tainted brokerage Nikko Cordial in another high-profile case of accounting fraud that, in monetary terms, was some eight times greater than Horie's firm....
COMMENTARY
Mar 22, 2007

Does religion do more harm than good?

LONDON -- In an opinion poll published in Britain recently, 82 percent of the people polled said that they thought religion does more harm than good. My first reaction, I must admit, was to think: That's what they would say, isn't it? It's not just that suicide bombers give religion a bad name. In "post-Christian...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 22, 2007

Limits to security cooperation

WASHINGTON -- Australia and Japan have just signed an historic security agreement. This new pact formalizes the security cooperation that began in secret between the two nations in the 1970s, and which has been moving forward in leaps and bounds since the early 1990s. It specifies a number of areas for...

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell