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BUSINESS
Jan 20, 2007

Japan, Switzerland agree to begin talks on free-trade pact

Japan and Switzerland agreed Friday to launch free-trade agreement talks in a move that will create, if successful, Tokyo's first FTA with a European country.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jan 20, 2007

Master of agility celebrates the Renaissance man

How many people have namecards that describe them as "business artists?" American-born William Reed is one. As a 7th-dan black belt aikido practitioner, licensed calligrapher, tap dancer, translator, bilingual trainer and speaker, published author and writer, blogger and entrepreneur, he brands his activities...
SUMO / Basho reports
Jan 19, 2007

Asashoryu fends off Chiyotaikai's challenge

Grand champion Asashoryu survived a fierce challenge from Chiyotaikai on Thursday to move a step closer to winning his 20th Emperor's Cup at the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament.
MORE SPORTS
Jan 19, 2007

Fukuhara, mate notch doubles title

Teenager Ai Fukuhara and her partner Ryusuke Sakamoto won the mixed doubles title at the national championships on Thursday.
MORE SPORTS
Jan 19, 2007

Arakawa, Hillman win FSAJ Awards

Figure skater Shizuka Arakawa, the women's gold medalist at the 2006 Turin Olympics, and Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters manager Trey Hillman have been selected as the top Japanese and foreign sports figures for 2006 in voting by the Foreign Sportswriters Association of Japan.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jan 19, 2007

Yakult's H. Ishii may miss season

Tokyo Yakult Swallows left-hander Hirotoshi Ishii, who underwent surgery on his pitching shoulder last October, is likely to miss the 2007 season. "I've been told it'll take a year to fully recover, so there is no point in getting worked up," Ishii said.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 19, 2007

Ishihara defiant, teflon to scandal

Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, an ex-transport minister, award-winning writer, Yasukuni Shrine pilgrim known for firing racist and sexist remarks from the lips, has recently drawn flak for taking pricey trips on taxpayer money and nepotism for choosing his son to work on an event he sponsored in Switzerland....
COMMENTARY
Jan 19, 2007

Europe, energy and Russia

LONDON -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel has a very different attitude toward Russia from the last three or four German chancellors, perhaps because she grew up in former East Germany, under Russian control.
MORE SPORTS
Jan 19, 2007

U.S., Japan gymnasts benefit from exchange

They spin and tumble, twist and turn, and bend their bodies, whipping them into shapes that often look like caricatures of pretzels.
JAPAN
Jan 19, 2007

If civil service faces cut, give it union-style rights: Watanabe

The civil service needs to adopt private-sector labor-management relations so the government can propose wage and job cuts while public servants can counter with collective-bargaining, newly appointed administrative reform minister Yoshimi Watanabe said Thursday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 19, 2007

'Marie Antoinette'

A recurring scene in "Marie Antoinette" shows the young princess (or "Dauphine" as she was referred to in the Versailles Court) with her head leaning against the window of her carriage, looking out at the passing scenery, or craning her neck to look at the sky. She doesn't speak, and the soundtrack is...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jan 19, 2007

Here lies the lore of the land

Against the backdrop of the Northern Japan Alps, isolated and picturesque Takayama, in Gifu Prefecture, is a welcome retreat from big-city life.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jan 19, 2007

Violinist keeps father's flame alive

A program of lively Gypsy music will be performed in Nagoya and Osaka on Feb. 2-3.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 19, 2007

'Tamamoe'

"Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive," wrote Sir Walter Scott -- words of wisdom for married cheaters, who rarely turn out to be as clever in their sexual games as they first imagined. Too often passion overcomes prudence as hard-to-explain credit card bills and "business...

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