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Events / Events Outside Tokyo
May 2, 2008

Train museum on track for 2 million visitors

Japan's biggest museum devoted to all things locomotive, the Railway Museum in Saitama City, welcomed its millionth visitor at the end of March. Amazingly, it has only been open since October.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Apr 30, 2008

Japan ignores power-line warning

Electromagnetic fields are everywhere, but to what extent are these EMFs harming our health?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Apr 29, 2008

What are your plans for Golden Week?

JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Apr 29, 2008

By-election loss adds to Fukuda's troubles

The Liberal Democratic Party's defeat in the Lower House by-election in the Yamaguchi No. 2 district on Sunday is yet another blow to the already reeling Cabinet of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Apr 28, 2008

Bush's brutal war stirs memories of Vietnam

When the news came that Daniel Ellsberg led a rally in Concord, New Hampshire, to help impeach President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, I happened to be looking at the entries for the year 1967 in an almanac.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Apr 28, 2008

Closing of global mind bodes ill for future of globalization

"The Closing of the American Mind" is a book that no doubt many readers will be familiar with. As an indictment of higher education and the corrosion of the intellect in 1980s America, this book caused a sensation and earned well deserved acclaim. I am reminded of this title because we seem to be suffering...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Apr 27, 2008

Hail and farewell to the world's greatest 'Good Gringo' U.S. president

On April 1, the widely read History News Network (HNN) Web site announced the results of a survey it conducted among historians.
Japan Times
LIFE
Apr 27, 2008

Bestowing beauty on a fearful blade

If you were to call 51-year-old Yoshihiko Usuki a makeover maestro, he'd probably just chuckle, go back to his hunched position and continue sliding the sword clasped in his hands over a polishing stone.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 27, 2008

Versatility gives veteran Gonzalez solid opportunity with Giants

Yomiuri Giants utility man Luis Gonzalez is determined to take advantage of his opportunity to play for the club's varsity team after replacing slumping Korean first baseman Lee Seung Yeop, as Kyojin manager Tatsunori Hara plays the up-and-down yo-yo game with respect to Japanese baseball's four-man...
MORE SPORTS
Apr 27, 2008

Ito, Nakamura grow as rivals, swimmers

Reiko Nakamura and Hanae Ito occasionally chat with each other. But consciously or not, they almost never talk about swimming.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Apr 25, 2008

Set the controls to quirk factor 10

After listening to Tokyo Pinsalocks' brilliant new minialbum "Planet Rita," it's frightening to think that the trio — bassist Hisayo, singer Naoko and drummer Reiko — almost sold their soul to the devil, and not the rock 'n' roll one at that, which would be cool. No, in a bid to get famous they almost...
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Apr 24, 2008

Kitajima eager for challenge

Kosuke Kitajima prepares for this summer's Beijing Olympics as the reigning Olympic champion in the men's 100- and 200-meter breaststroke races. But instead of considering himself the king of the hill, he will stand on the starting block with the mind-set of a challenger.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 24, 2008

One hell of a time

What wasn't to like about an artist who painted the scroll "Hard Times in Hell," in which the king of Hell and his coterie of demons ascend to paradise in search of more suitable employment?
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2008

NGOs tell Japan to show leadership at G8 summit

KYOTO — This year's Group of Eight summit in Toyako, Hokkaido, could end up a failure unless Japan demonstrates strong leadership and the political will to forge agreements among the members on issues ranging from climate change to African development, international NGOs warned Wednesday.
BASKETBALL
Apr 23, 2008

Neumann honored

John Neumann, the globe-trotting, high-intensity head coach of the first-year Rizing Fukuoka has been named the bj-league Coach of the Year, the league announced.
SOCCER
Apr 23, 2008

Oliveira miffed about schedule

Kashima Antlers manager Oswaldo Oliveira has launched an angry tirade against his club's hectic schedule ahead of Wednesday's Asian Champions League clash with Beijing Guoan.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2008

Kamei seeks to undermine death penalty

Japanese politicians are generally not very vocal when it comes to their views on capital punishment, mainly because a large majority of the public supports the death penalty.
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2008

Lawmakers visit Yasukuni festival

A group of lawmakers from the ruling and opposition parties paid a visit to Yasukuni Shrine on Tuesday for its annual spring festival, just one day after South Korean President Lee Myung Bak said in Tokyo he would focus on building friendly ties with Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 22, 2008

Volunteer DIY group puts a touch of earth into prefabs

On a rainy day in late March, a group of people were making material to apply to the walls of a two-story concrete house going up in the city of Musashino in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Apr 21, 2008

Squabbling ruined chance for private-sector BOJ chief

The dispute over replacing the Bank of Japan governor, whose seat was left vacant when Toshihiko Fukui's five-year term ended March 19, was finally settled April 9 when Deputy Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa was officially promoted to chief of the central bank.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Apr 20, 2008

Oba blossoming as assistant coach

Yasuhiro Oba is exceptionally tall, but he is a humble and gentle man who never talks big.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Apr 20, 2008

Belly-laughs boffin puts mirth to the test

When people laugh, it is often their cheery sounds or the wrinkles around their eyes that mark out their mirth. Yoji Kimura believes, however, that the key to determining the nature of laughter lies in the diaphragm.
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Apr 19, 2008

Antlers logical destination for rehabbing Ronaldo in Japan

Whether there's truth in reports this week suggesting Ronaldo may be headed to the J. League, it is certainly a compelling story.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Apr 19, 2008

A disturbing sign of wildlife

When I first came to Japan, I thought "Where is all the wildlife?" You know, everyday urban-adapted wildlife like we have in the United States such as squirrels, raccoons, and chipmunks. . . Such animals and small rodents can be found living in almost any city or city park in the U.S., but in Japan,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 18, 2008

'Paranoid Park'/'You, the Living'

Spree killer, rock star, average teenage skater. Director Gus Van Sant sees all three in much the same light: emotionless, affectless, blank. Numb characters for a numb generation? Or is Van Sant's penchant for an aesthetic — an aloof, arty minimalism — blinding him to things like personality, expression,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 18, 2008

Asian Dub Foundation's cracked reflection shifts the agenda

"Most world leaders have been on drugs," says Steve Chandra Savale, aka Chandrasonic, guitarist for ragga-breakbeat-punk collective Asian Dub Foundation.
JAPAN
Apr 17, 2008

Radio station to air '55 Osaka hanging

Nippon Cultural Broadcasting Inc. will air an audio recording of an execution carried out at the Osaka Detention House in 1955, a spokesman for the AM radio station said Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 17, 2008

Enduring anime reveals Japan's ghoulish spirit

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the debut of "GeGeGe no Kitaro," an animated children's TV series about the supernatural that's become a Japanese institution.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?