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Japan Times
LIFE
Dec 24, 2006

Penmanship: A lost art is rediscovered

At this time of the year, you may have received and sent any number of Christmas cards. Or, in the Japanese tradition, you might still be panicking about writing all the New Year's postcards that the nation's army of mailmen and women endeavor to deliver on New Year's Day.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Dec 23, 2006

Bernard Yu

In 1957, the Foreign Community Supporting Committee was founded in Tokyo to work nation-wide with the Young Men's Christian Association. Today, the FCSC comprises a volunteer group of ambassadors and community and social leaders who aim to raise public awareness of YMCA activities throughout Japan. ...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 23, 2006

Artist of movement takes it to the next generation

Steve Tomlinson is feeling pretty wretched, but having staggered from his bed in Tokyo's Koto Ward, puts on a brave face. The show must go on, right? Tomlinson is what he calls an entertainment artist -- instructor, choreographer, dancer, singer, actor.
EDITORIALS
Dec 22, 2006

Changes at the United Nations

Two key figures are leaving the United Nations. Secretary General Kofi Annan has stepped down after two terms and has been succeeded by former South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki Moon. U.S. Ambassador John Bolton's tenure has come to an end as well. Their departures will change the world body, offering...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Dec 22, 2006

Go the whole hog this New Year's

It's almost time to whoosh your tush to the tunes of world-class DJs as we welcome in another new year. Next up in the Chinese zodiac's menagerie is the wild boar, or inoshishi, as it is known natively in Japan. The boar is best characterized by the single-minded determination and speed with which it...
EDITORIALS
Dec 21, 2006

Japan's role in the U.N.

Fifty years have passed since Japan was admitted into the United Nations on Dec. 18, 1956. In his speech that day before the U.N. General Assembly, Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu expressed Japan's determination to fulfill its duties under the U.N. Charter, and said that Japan can become a bridge...
COMMENTARY
Dec 21, 2006

Fresh leadership at the United Nations

NEW YORK -- The world has no sure idea of what it may be getting with its newly designated United Nations secretary general. Ban Ki Moon, a former South Korean foreign minister, is more or less an enigma except to a small population engaged in international diplomacy.
BUSINESS
Dec 20, 2006

BOJ, noting weak data, leaves interest rates alone

The Bank of Japan wrapped up its two-day Policy Board meeting Tuesday by saying the benchmark short-term interest rate will remain unchanged, causing market watchers to look for any clue from Gov. Toshihiko Fukui's remarks to gauge when the next rate hike may occur.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Dec 20, 2006

Focused Matsui aims to promote squash

When the name of the sport is mentioned, most people would probably say they have heard of it. But they probably don't know how difficult it is to play it in Japan.
JAPAN
Dec 19, 2006

One bad apple set to spoil Osaka's 'buraku' aid barrel

projects because the system of distributing funds could easily be abused," he said. "Local political leaders at that time bear much of the blame for Osaka's current scandals." Osaka pumped billions of yen into social welfare projects run by Konishi for more than three decades in line with its policy...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 19, 2006

Take note: You needn't always think straight

'How-to" business books are stacked knee-high in bookstores and advertisements for motivational seminars continue to multiply through commuter trains.
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Dec 15, 2006

Several Japanese standouts emerging in bj-league

Who's the best Japanese player in the bj-league?
JAPAN
Dec 15, 2006

Women unite to confront job woes

, which will open its doors on Jan. 20 in Tokyo, will look at how women are treated in the workplace, including sexual harassment, unfair wages, long overtime and sudden dismissal, and propose ways for the government to improve conditions. The group, set up by 100 women, is the first attempt to link...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 15, 2006

Kodo

In 1969, the young, idealistic communist Tagayasu Den formed a commune of taiko drummers on Sado Island off the coast of Niigata Prefecture called Ondekoza. Den became an increasingly dictatorial figure, obsessed with fitness and drumming. "Everyday, just running," recalls original member Eitetsu Hayashi...
EDITORIALS
Dec 14, 2006

More trouble in paradise

For the fourth time in 19 years, the legal government of the South Pacific country of Fiji has been overthrown. The military is the culprit this time, with the head of the armed forces, Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama deposing Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase and his Cabinet. The coup has been roundly condemned...
EDITORIALS
Dec 13, 2006

Clarify ASDF's Iraq activities

The government has decided to extend the deployment of the Air Self-Defense Force in Iraq until July 31, 2007. The ASDF started airlifts from Kuwait in March 2004 under a July 2003 ad hoc law to carry out Self-Defense Forces deployment for noncombat activities in Iraq. Initially the ASDF's airlifts were...
EDITORIALS
Dec 12, 2006

Heavy burden on an aging town

The residents of Yubari city in Hokkaido are shivering not only from biting cold but also from the city's harsh financial reconstruction plan under the supervision of the internal affairs ministry. The former coal-mining center, now with a population of only about 13,000, must pay back 36 billion yen...

Longform

Construction equipment sits idle in a park near Shiba Toshogu shrine in Tokyo's Minato Ward. While Japan has a history of treating its trees with reverence, green coverage is said to be lacking in most of the major cities.
Do Japan's trees no longer occupy the sacred space they used to?