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Reader Mail
Feb 5, 2009

High road to physical fitness

Regarding the Jan. 27 Hotline to Nagatacho article " 'Marathon' ritual must change": While I understand the author's intent in asking for change, I must respectfully disagree with him on the "need" for things like his son's "marathon" to be discontinued. I myself was much like the author's son. As a...
COMMENTARY
Feb 5, 2009

What's wrong with the way English is taught in Japan

The good news is that Japan's education bureaucrats realize that despite six years of middle and high school study many Japanese are still unable to speak English well. The bad news is that the bureaucrats plan to solve this problem by giving us more of what caused the problem.
SOCCER / World cup
Feb 5, 2009

Japan crush Finland ahead of qualifier

Japan gave national team manager Takeshi Okada a welcome tonic ahead of next week's World Cup-qualifying match against Australia with a resounding 5-1 win over Finland on Wednesday night.
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE MONTH
Feb 5, 2009

Holm earns defensive award for big January

Sendai 89ers center Chris Holm has become the bj-league's chairman of the boards.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL: KEYES' POINT
Feb 4, 2009

Offensive compliments: A drinker's sober lesson

Of all the stupid, idiotic . . . sumimasen. Stuart Keyes is my name. I'm not in the best of moods, though you mustn't judge me by that. I'm good-humored enough most of the time, but . . .
COMMENTARY
Feb 4, 2009

Will Afghanistan turn into Obama's Vietnam?

You aren't really the U.S. president until you've ordered an airstrike on somebody, so Barack Obama is certainly president now: two in his first week in office. But now that he has been bloodied, can we talk a little about this expanded war he's planning to fight in Afghanistan?
COMMENTARY
Feb 4, 2009

Protectionism not the answer

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has rejected protectionist measures to mitigate the effects of the present world economic crisis and has condemned the anti-globalization lobby as ignorant and misguided. He and Lord Mandelson, the minister responsible for business affairs and a former EU commissioner,...
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Feb 4, 2009

No respect for Love from assistant coaches

NEW YORK — Stumblebum that I am, I have stumbled across a situation whose level of egregiousness falls somewhere between Bernie Madoff and Bernie Goetz.
COMMENTARY
Feb 3, 2009

Opening gestures show Obama's optimism

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Saying the right thing is not quite the same, to be sure, as doing the right thing, especially when you're the president of the United States. But it is much better than saying the wrong thing and then actually going on to do the wrong thing. We don't have to go back very far...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Feb 3, 2009

Finding the silver lining

The difficulties encountered as a foreigner can be sources of ideas for business opportunities. This belief is demonstrated by Park Tae Moon's 18 years in Japan — and his successful transition from a newspaper delivery worker to the owner of a 20-staff magazine publishing/consulting business.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jan 31, 2009

Milking bovine tourism in '09

Happy Chinese Moo Year! It's the Year of the Cow. And you know what that means: bovine tourism. No, I don't mean cows stampeding to Japan for the "Visit Japan Campaign." I'm talking about the role of cows in Japanese culture and famous places of bovine interest within Japan.
CULTURE / Film
Jan 30, 2009

'Caramel'

Stereotypes about the Middle East are everywhere in the West these days, so it's always a joy when someone decides to give us a fresh perspective. Think of Mideastern women, and the first image we're inclined to think of is a chador or burqa, the female forced to cover her hair, her limbs, perhaps even...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 30, 2009

'Caramel'

Stereotypes about the Middle East are everywhere in the West these days, so it's always a joy when someone decides to give us a fresh perspective. Think of Mideastern women, and the first image we're inclined to think of is a chador or burqa, the female forced to cover her hair, her limbs, perhaps even...
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Jan 30, 2009

MVP St. Preux never gave up hoop dreams

BEPPU, Oita Pref. — Contrasting images fill my head as I sit down to write this. Bouncing basketballs heard after endless hours in the gym and the pleasant silence of the local onsen (hot springs) clash for control. No problem. I'm relaxed.
Reader Mail
Jan 29, 2009

Raise amount of English input

The Jan. 12 editorial "English taught in English" has identified the problem but proposes the wrong solution. The traditional grammar-based approach is wrong, but simply insisting on the exclusive use of English in class could make things worse. Language acquisition research over the last three decades...
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA / ON: DESIGN
Jan 29, 2009

Design for DIYers, globetrotters, timekeepers, flower-lovers and garbage collectors

Spot the bag
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 28, 2009

China's clout grows as U.S. economy weakens

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — After 9/11 when China sided with the United States in the war on terrorism, Chinese leaders expected a quid pro quo: Perhaps Washington might make some concessions on the "Taiwan issue." But then U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell emphatically dismissed this idea.
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Jan 28, 2009

Can Japan afford the DPJ?

With the Aso administration's approval rating continuing to plunge, there appears to be a growing likelihood that the No. 1 opposition party, the Democratic Party of Japan, will defeat the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in the next general election and take the reins of government under the leadership...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 27, 2009

Half, bi or double? One family's trouble

It may not matter for inanimate objects, incapable of altering their own sweet smell, but for humans a name becomes part of our identity. My voice rises slightly as I warm to my argument: It may not be a tangible part of a person, like a hand or foot, but what others call us — and how we name ourselves...
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jan 25, 2009

Soft power beckons as time comes for academia to act sustainably

As I am for the most part an optimist, it seems only right to kick off 2009 with an upbeat column and, as an educator, one area I believe offers great promise is education.
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Jan 25, 2009

Phoenix roll into All-Star break

The streak began on Dec. 20, and so much has changed since then — their season and, possibly, the foundation of the world's geopolitical order.
ENVIRONMENT / BACKSTREET STORIES
Jan 25, 2009

A west side love story

With Valentine's Day approaching, Tokyo's lovers dust off chocolate-tempering pots, scope out sweet shops and reserve bouquets of roses. Of course, savvy romantics know a midwinter stroll along a back street, with requisite snuggling for warmth, works nearly as well to stoke affection as edible or olfactory...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Jan 25, 2009

A west side love story

With Valentine's Day approaching, Tokyo's lovers dust off chocolate-tempering pots, scope out sweet shops and reserve bouquets of roses. Of course, savvy romantics know a midwinter stroll along a back street, with requisite snuggling for warmth, works nearly as well to stoke affection as edible or olfactory...
Japan Times
JAPAN / MIXED MATCHES
Jan 24, 2009

Couple share California dream, can't wait to get back in the States

Ever since Haruki Imaoka watched the popular American TV series "Beverly Hills, 90210," he had dreamed of marrying a good-looking Western girl. When he went to Los Angeles for college, he met local resident Laura Beltz in May 2004, and they hit it off right away.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2009

2channel founder ponders next step after forum's sale

A short message recently posted on Hiroyuki Nishimura's personal blog sent shock waves across the online community. In a single sentence dated Jan. 2, he announced that he had sold 2channel, his wildly popular Internet forum.
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Jan 24, 2009

Neumann analyzes Curry, recalls Pistol Pete

Every dozen years or so, a young athlete arrives on the scene — Cristiano Ronaldo, Usain Bolt or LeBron James, for instance — with the demeanor, athleticism and poise beyond their years to be the next standard-bearer of excellence in that sport.
CULTURE / Music
Jan 23, 2009

Vienna's Arming strikes the right note

"During these five years, we have often tackled contemporary works," says Austrian conductor Christian Arming, music director of the New Japan Philharmonic (NJP) since 2003. "I believe that broadened our horizon."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 23, 2009

Vienna's Arming strikes the right note

"During these five years, we have often tackled contemporary works," says Austrian conductor Christian Arming, music director of the New Japan Philharmonic (NJP) since 2003. "I believe that broadened our horizon."

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan