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JAPAN
Mar 7, 2007

Asano enters Tokyo race, hits Ishihara autocracy

Former Miyagi Gov. Shiro Asano officially announced his candidacy Tuesday for the Tokyo gubernatorial election in April, saying the capital's government needs to be cleaned up "before things get out of hand."
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Mar 7, 2007

Coo-ee! Or how to snipe posh pigeons

Iwas just turned 20, and earlier in the year I had quit teachers' training college in the genteel Cotswolds town of Cheltenham in rural western England. I was earning money by working part-time at a slaughterhouse as a skinner, helping out as a bouncer at a jazz club and fighting in two or three professional...
COMMENTARY
Mar 6, 2007

Russia set to break the ice

TORONTO -- You probably missed it. With the new year focus on America's continued efforts to deal with U.S. President George W. Bush's three "evils" -- Iraq, Iran and North Korea -- you probably were not aware of the potential long-term international consequences of a speech by a Russian minister in...
LIFE / Language
Mar 6, 2007

Eek! It's White Day, so what to say to your gal?

In January 2004, members of a Japan Ground Self Defense Forces contingent headed for Iraq were shown on the news being seen off by their families. It was an emotional moment, with plenty of misty eyes in evidence; but not one of these gallant young soldiers going off to war was seen exchanging a kiss...
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Mar 5, 2007

Japan must eliminate hidden agriculture taxes to progress at Doha

Some new developments may be around the corner in the Doha Round of trade liberalization talks.
Reader Mail
Mar 4, 2007

Appreciate the Cabinet you get

I know many foreigners feel frustrated at what they perceive as racism and discrimination in Japan. Perhaps it exists, but more often than not I just face it with humor and see the humorous side of things.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Mar 4, 2007

Nanae Aoyama: Office worker takes exalted literary status in her stride

Nanae Aoyama only turned 24 in January, but already she has won literary prizes for each of the two books she has published.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Mar 4, 2007

What is becoming of my grandfather's wisdom?

These days it's tough to be a journalist. This may sound like a whinge, but whinges may sometimes reflect a real situation. Oh, it's fine if you agree with the line of thought acceptable to governments, religious organizations or interest groups. But if you dare hold up a mirror to them, you may run...
Reader Mail
Mar 4, 2007

Working until the last minute

I'm in the ninth month of pregnancy and still working in an office. It was very difficult to find an ob/gyn hospital open till 8 or 9 p.m.; most are open only till 3 to 5 p.m. Even female nurses don't understand working women's feelings in a male-dominated working world. Some nurses at the hospital where...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 3, 2007

Ex-pat on a mission of life-saving dimensions

In 1982, I was successfully treated for cervical cancer. At that time I had little idea that my tumor was linked to sexually transmitted disease. Thanks to American Carol Baird -- who says that as a survivor I am one of the lucky ones -- I now know better.
EDITORIALS
Mar 3, 2007

Risk of interconnectedness

Plummeting stock markets this week marked the first time that a plunge in the Shanghai market has triggered a chain reaction worldwide. It underscores the weight China carries in the world's economy and financial markets as well as the interconnectedness between the Chinese economy and the economies...
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE MONTH
Mar 2, 2007

Ellis, Sparks earn February accolades

If your name is Andy Ellis, you want February to continue for another two months. After all, your scoring prowess in the year's second month has been impressive.
BUSINESS
Mar 2, 2007

Robots strut their human compatibility

The custom of serving tea is getting futuristic in University of Tokyo research about how robots and other technology can support and blend with human life.
JAPAN / WHEN A CITY GOES BUST
Mar 2, 2007

Once Tokyo's spa playground, Atami fading fast

ATAMI, Shizuoka Pref. -- Tamae "Meme" Ono remembers fondly the late 1980s when the hot spring resort of Atami was a glamorous place to be.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 2, 2007

!!! fly freak flag loud and proud

Nic Offer is sitting on a couch in a private room above the Liquid Room venue in Ebisu, cutting a less imposing figure than he does when he's on stage. Maybe it's the hair. "You got it cut short," a female acquaintance notices after popping in to say hello. Offer's usually unkempt curly locks add to...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 2, 2007

'Paris, je t'aime'

It's a collage of miniatures, a collection of gemlike vignettes. In "Paris, je t'aime," 21 directors of various nationalities create 18 bite-size shorts (the longest being five minutes) about Paris, each one named after a Parisian neighborhood. Like a plate of hors d'oeuvres from a five-star restaurant...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 1, 2007

Scriptwriter talks about Japan hit 'Letters'

Scriptwriting is something seemingly everyone in Hollywood does, from cab drivers to this year's Oscar host Ellen DeGeneres, who jokingly presented director Martin Scorsese with a script during the telecast. But the percentage of first-time scriptwriters who succeed in getting a feature film made is...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Feb 27, 2007

A grab bag of affordable products

Great design ideas do not necessarily need to cost an arm and a leg -- even though some manufacturers would like you to think so. With that in mind, this month's picks are a grab bag of affordable products, all under 10,000 yen (the small version of the Oblong clock excepted). Also, you should be able...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Feb 27, 2007

JET set Go MAD globally to help children in need

It was late on Christmas night when the meditation finished. The energy from the hourlong dancing and Sanskrit chanting flowed into charged silence and was now dissipating into the darkness.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Feb 26, 2007

Push market integration in expanding East Asia

As robust economic expansion continues worldwide, emerging economic powers like the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India and China) and other Asian countries are riding a wave of globalization to achieve rapid growth.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Feb 26, 2007

Eastwood didn't idealize Kuribayashi

NEW YORK -- Isn't the Gen. Tadamichi Kuribayashi in Clint Eastwood's film "Letters From Iwo Jima" idealized? That was a question my poet friend Geoffrey O'Brien asked on New Year's Eve. A dedicated student of film, O'Brien had remembered a poem about the general that I translated three decades ago. Written...
Reader Mail
Feb 25, 2007

Senseless dolphin slaughter

Thank you for publishing Boyd Harnell's Feb. 14 article, "Eyewitness to slaughter in Taiji's killing coves," the account of the dolphin killings in Wakayama Prefecture. Animal cruelty occurs worldwide, but few things are as horrifying as the mass slaughter of the one of the world's most intelligent,...
Japan Times
LIFE
Feb 25, 2007

Ex-PM lauds his exit as a 'public service'

The ousted prime minister welcomed me to his spacious compound where I met his son and daughter, both home from studying overseas, and his muddy, wriggling puppies that quickly Pollacked my best chinos.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 25, 2007

Women who give a rise to the man below them; it must be love

The big show business news last weekend was the wedding of model-actress Norika Fujiwara to comedian Tomonori Jinnai at a shrine in Kobe. The press were not permitted to attend the Shinto ceremony, but Fujiwara and Jinnai did come out a few times in their costumes to talk to reporters, which was nice...
Japan Times
LIFE
Feb 25, 2007

Back into the vortex?

East Timor is an ill-starred land that has endured more than its share of violence, neglect and deprivation.
MORE SPORTS
Feb 23, 2007

Morrison given medical clearance to resume boxing

Tommy Morrison was in his hotel room, talking about life, love and Mike Tyson when he suddenly grew silent for a couple of seconds.

Longform

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