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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 10, 2007

Reported stalking cases likely just tip of iceberg

The day started like any other. The alarm clock rang at 7 a.m. and Laura Fitch, a Canadian then 28 years old, made her sleepy-eyed way to the shower to freshen up before brewing her first coffee of the day.
COMMENTARY
Apr 9, 2007

Redundant higher education

In the 1990s, the education ministry announced a policy of making graduate schools the center of education and research at what had traditionally been undergraduate universities. At about the same time, restrictions on a liberal arts education for undergraduates were relaxed, allowing even freshmen students...
EDITORIALS
Apr 9, 2007

Dark cloud over baseball

An investigative committee has found that the Seibu Lions, a Pacific League baseball club, paid from 100,000 yen to 10 million yen to 170 managers and others affiliated with amateur baseball teams for 27 years until 2005 as rewards for helping the pro baseball team acquire new players. The revelation...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 9, 2007

Only one way to move forward in Ukraine

KIEV -- Suddenly, Ukraine faces another stark choice: Dismiss the government and Parliament and hold new elections, or see the country's independence surrendered bit by bit. There is renewed talk, too, of violent civil unrest. None of this should be surprising, given how our corrupt rulers systematically...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Apr 8, 2007

Tigers rough up Kadokura

In their last game the Yomiuri Giants ran Hanshin starter Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi out of the game in 3 2/3 innings. On Saturday night, the Tigers returned the favor.
Reader Mail
Apr 8, 2007

A joke that can fan prejudices

Although the front-page April 1 article "Shibuya's loyal dog Hachiko vanishes" was clearly an April fool's joke, I don't think The Japan Times should do things like this at the expense of minority groups. (In this case the story suggested that soaring prices for copper and other metals, spurred by the...
EDITORIALS
Apr 8, 2007

The annual 'hanami' rethink

Though it happens every year, cherry blossom season still functions as a vibrant experience in Japan. As the blossoms open up, somehow, so do people. Time spent walking or partying under the falling petals makes most people slow down to reconsider what is essential in life. It may be just a bunch of...
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Apr 7, 2007

Takamatsu's Sparks best player, James top defender

Power forward Lynn Washington was instrumental in leading the Osaka Evessa to the bj-league's first championship last April.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Apr 7, 2007

The short-lived cherry blossom -- Japan's national identity

The most beautiful time to be in Japan is right now -- cherry blossom season. Oha-nami cherry-blossom-viewing parties are taking place everywhere, and you don't need an invitation to go to one.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 6, 2007

Multicultural psychosis

Eugene Hutz is a difficult man to pin down. He is rarely in the same country, let alone the same city, for more than a few weeks at a time, touring with his band Gogol Bordello across time-zones and cultures on four different continents for most of the year.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 6, 2007

'Everyone Stares/The Police Inside Out'

It's been more than 20 years since Stewart Copeland ended his tenure as drummer for The Police after a string of platinum albums and era-defining singles. The band members went their separate ways: Sting, to a solo career and mainstream celebrity; guitarist Andy Summers, to the relative obscurity of...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 6, 2007

Asakusa Jinta march into history

Unless in search of a cheap, dusty souvenir for a relative, Tokyo's historic Asakusa district isn't on the radar of too many folks under the age of 70. But Asakusa Jinta, a seven-piece band that mixes elements of ska, swing, punk and chindonya (traditional street performance), is hoping to bring the...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / WALKING THE WARDS
Apr 6, 2007

Where mod confronts odd

Several decades ago, commuters riding the Mekama Line into Meguro Station were tagged country bumpkins. Today, developers pack the ward with suburban homes as fast as they can pour cement. Old dwellings with gardens give way to duplexes with flowerpots, and chic furniture stores now clog Meguro Avenue...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Apr 6, 2007

Kin-no-saru: In any season, a park-side classic

We had it all planned. We'd spend the afternoon in Kichijoji's Inokashira Park, strolling and sitting under the cherry trees, with maybe a dram or two of sake to inspire lofty thoughts, before adjourning for dinner nearby. But we hadn't counted on the weathermen getting their predictions so wrong.
SOCCER / J. League
Apr 5, 2007

F. Marinos defeat S-Pulse in Nabisco Cup Group B match

YOKOHAMA -- Koji Yamase and Daisuke Sakata gave Yokohama F. Marinos a well-deserved 2-0 victory over Shimizu S-Pulse in their Nabisco Cup Group B game at Mitsuzawa Stadium on Wednesday evening.
COMMENTARY
Apr 5, 2007

Shaking up Russia's Far East

LONDON -- If you Google "Vladimir Nikolaev," mayor of Vladivostok, 2007," you will come up with an interesting story about how he was recently arrested. You will also find stories about how he resisted arrest, but finished up in handcuffs.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Apr 4, 2007

Giants down Dragons at Dome

Championships aren't won in April, but the Yomiuri Giants sure made one heck of a statement. The Giants scored four runs and batted around in the fifth inning en route to a 7-2 win over the Chunichi Dragons on Tuesday night at Tokyo Dome.
EDITORIALS
Apr 4, 2007

Conrad Black's diversions

The trial of Mr. Conrad Black -- Lord Black of Crossharbour -- began last week in Chicago. While the proceedings will offer considerable insight into the lives of the rich and famous, it will also provide a vivid reminder of the need for effective corporate oversight and the vital role played by boards...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 2, 2007

Bulgaria's betrayal of EU norms of justice

SOFIA -- When Bulgaria joined the European Union in January, I believed that my country had finally left its repressive past behind. But the recent arrest and threatened deportation of Annadurdy Hadjiev, a dissident from Turkmenistan who sought refuge here, suggests that some things never change.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Apr 1, 2007

Buddha's fighting soldiers

THE TEETH AND CLAWS OF BUDDHISM: Monastic Warriors and Sohei in Japanese History, by Mikael S. Adolphson. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2007, 214 pp., with 32 illustrations and maps, $36 (cloth) Buddha with fangs and claws is an unexpected image, if only because religions so often express themselves...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Apr 1, 2007

Words to win hearts and minds the Japanese way

Over the years, the Japanese language has been called many things: inscrutably ambiguous, frustratingly vague and positively untranslatable.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Apr 1, 2007

Comedy interview variety show, Japan history cultural special, 'King Lear' modeled business drama

Life is a journey filled with questions, some of which the new variety show, "Megami no Hatena, (The Goddess of What is That)" (Nihon TV, Tuesday, 11:55 p.m.) will attempt to answer. These are not mind-twisting queries about the meaning of life or natural phenomena, but rather the kind of things that...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 1, 2007

French vote validated Euro-skepticism

PARIS -- Not long ago, an American political analyst compared France's loss of influence in Europe following its "no" vote in the 2005 referendum on the EU constitutional treaty with France's surrender in 1940. A provocative analogy, but is it apt?
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 31, 2007

Urban Kyoto tries on an old look

KYOTO -- First-time visitors to the ancient capital of Kyoto usually arrive expecting to see quiet temples and rock gardens or an abundance of old wooden buildings set against the backdrop of the surrounding mountains.
EDITORIALS
Mar 31, 2007

Iraq, four years later

This month marked the fourth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. To the surprise of virtually all the war's supporters, coalition forces are still present in Iraq. They are working to stabilize a country that appears to be on the brink of civil war. The continuing chaos and ever-growing number of fatalities...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 30, 2007

Guns N' Roses

In their prime, Guns N' Roses were all about excess: Substance abuse, controversial lyrics and inciting riots earned them the title "world's most dangerous band" in the late 1980s. However cliched, GNR's gloriously over-the-top sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll antics endeared them to millions.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 30, 2007

'Brick'

A woman with fur around her neck and her hair decorated by a huge corsage has her profile tilted toward a man. Her rouged lips are slightly parted and her lashes cast a seductive shadow on her cheek. This is it: a perfect 1930s film-noir moment. She could be Lauren Bacall; he could be Humphrey Bogart....
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 29, 2007

Getting to 'yes' with Iran

BERLIN -- There is a wise American saying: "If you are in a hole, stop digging." The six governments that are considering the next steps to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb -- the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany -- should heed that advice. Otherwise, they could...
JAPAN
Mar 28, 2007

Murakami testifies in his own insider-trading trial

Yoshiaki Murakami, Japan's best-known fund manager, took the stand for the first time in his own trial Tuesday, telling the court he initially owned up to insider trading to save other executives of his fund from being prosecuted.

Longform

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