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Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 15, 2004

Director falters and then triumphs

Few names resonate more powerfully in the world of theater than that of Hamlet, Shakespeare's youthful Prince of Denmark. In whatever language, somewhere in the world right now, an actor is likely embarking on that famously challenging soliloquy beginning "To be or not to be . . ."
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 15, 2004

Nagashima's son named adviser

The Yomiuri Giants said Tuesday they have named Kazushige Nagashima, son of former manager and star player Shigeo Nagashima, as a special adviser for the team.
JAPAN
Dec 14, 2004

Disaster broadcasts via cell phone eyed

More than a year has passed since terrestrial digital broadcasting services began a new TV era in Japan, with the services spreading to rural prefectures.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 14, 2004

Right side of the law

Sacked without notice I was working for an English-language school in Tokyo and got fired without any notice at all. My one-year contract doesn't expire for four more months. Can they do that?
LIFE / Travel
Dec 14, 2004

Mongolia: Land of yesterday and tomorrow

ULAN BATOR Mongolia has been called "one of the last unspoiled travel destinations in Asia," and, indeed, the traveler feels not only in another country but in another century.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Dec 12, 2004

Nihon TV's "Sekai wo Kakeru Hiro-tachi" and more

The aura surrounding people who become successful abroad is perhaps more pronounced in Japan than in other countries. There's a sense that the cultural gulf separating Japan from the rest of the world is deeper and more difficult to cross, so when someone does it successfully it seems more impressive....
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 12, 2004

Lord Shrimp gets deep-fried over New Year's special

While surfing for coverage of the most recent NHK scandal on commercial television, I naturally had my radar tuned for expressions of schadenfreude, especially on the wide shows, where commentators enjoy a little more freedom to be critical. But there hasn't been much gloating. Last Monday, the host...
JAPAN
Dec 11, 2004

Kenyan marathoner struck blind turns disability into gold medals

Winner of three gold medals at the Sydney and Athens Paralympics, Henry Wanyoike also broke the world record at the marathon for the visually disabled held in Boston this year, completing the race in 2 hours, 33 minutes and 20 seconds.
JAPAN
Dec 11, 2004

SDF set to shed its 'nonmilitary' shell

Since their establishment in 1954, the Self-Defense Forces have never had to be mobilized to defend Japan from attack.
JAPAN
Dec 11, 2004

Yokota furor spells end to food aid for North Korea, Machimura says

North Korea will not receive the remaining half of its food aid package from Japan, Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura said Friday.
BUSINESS
Dec 11, 2004

Tax hikes could be recipe for recession, analysts say

Books and Web sites devoted to the art of economizing describe the savings per month from "recycling" leftovers by putting them in stews and tempura (2,600 yen), taking shorter showers (540 yen) and flushing toilets at low-intensity (720 yen).
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Dec 11, 2004

Controversial Hoddle given one more chance by Wolves

LONDON -- "You and I have been physically been given two hands and two legs and a half-decent brain. Some people have not been born like that for a reason.
JAPAN
Dec 10, 2004

Extended Iraq tour a given from get-go

Although media opinion polls showed most respondents opposed extending the Self-Defense Forces deployment to Iraq, the government never seriously discussed a pullout of the Japanese troops from the war-torn country at the Dec. 14 end of their one-year mission.
EDITORIALS
Dec 10, 2004

Challenges for Mr. Karzai

Afghanistan's three-year drive for stability reached a milestone when Mr. Hamid Karzai was sworn in Tuesday as its first popularly elected president. But the road is strewn with obstacles. Ethnic and tribal divisions are clouding prospects for national unity. As yet, there is no end in sight to terrorist...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Dec 10, 2004

Six sure-fire gift ideas for fellow wine-lovers

There appears to be an entire cottage industry dedicated to making the kind of wine-themed gifts that imbibers everywhere are hoping not to receive this season -- our favorite of which is the doormat which says, "We love good wine. Did you bring any?"
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Dec 9, 2004

Long-tailed tit

* Japanese name: Enaga * Scientific name: Aegithalos caudatus * Description:The long-tailed tit is a small, fluffy, pinkish bird; it would be the Bridget Jones of the bird world if only it were better fed. The flanks and shoulders are pink-brown; the eyes red; the wings black; and the tail, which is...
EDITORIALS
Dec 9, 2004

Closing the curtain on a hard life

Mr. Charles Jenkins on Tuesday arrived in Sado, Niigata Prefecture, together with his wife Ms. Hitomi Soga, a former abductee to North Korea, and their two daughters after serving a short sentence for desertion from the U.S. Army. Sado is Ms. Soga's hometown. Procedures for Mr. Jenkins' dishonorable...
JAPAN
Dec 9, 2004

Safety line on Samawah repeated

The secretaries general of the Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner, New Komeito, said Wednesday that the security situation in Samawah, southern Iraq, is safe enough for Japanese troops there to stay beyond Tuesday's deadline.
JAPAN
Dec 8, 2004

'Sesame Street' making waves -- in Japanese

Rena Mizushiro sits in a cramped position with other puppeteers as she works her character, Teena, to sing in a scene about Elmo's birthday in "Sesame Street."
JAPAN
Dec 8, 2004

Koizumi's ministers endorse SDF extension

Key members of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's Cabinet effectively agreed Tuesday to keep ground troops in Iraq for another year, and are preparing to make a formal decision possibly Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 8, 2004

Tax and spend no better than borrow and spend

UBUD, Bali -- For most politicians and bureaucrats, so-called tax reform is a cover for them to raise taxes. And so it is not surprising that Japan's Tax Commission insists it is impossible to avoid tax increases to sort out Tokyo's fiscal problems. But it turns out that this assertion is based on logic...
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 7, 2004

Golden Eagles to play Giants on opening day of interleague play

The Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of the Pacific League will meet the Yomiuri Giants of the Central League at Miyagi Stadium next spring on the opening day of interleague play, which will be introduced from next season.
JAPAN
Dec 5, 2004

Defense Agency chief leaves for Iraq to visit SDF troops

Defense Agency chief Yoshinori Ono left Saturday for Iraq to visit the troops deployed in the southern city of Samawah -- just as the government prepares to extend the troops' mission, which started in January.
JAPAN
Dec 4, 2004

Trafficking victims to be given better treatment

As part of efforts to combat human trafficking, Japan plans to revise immigration legislation next year to exempt trafficking victims from being deported in the same way as foreigners who overstay their visas or illegally enter Japan, it was learned Friday.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’