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EDITORIALS
Nov 4, 2006

Renewal of a commitment

On Oct. 27 the Diet approved extending for another year -- from Nov. 1 -- the special antiterrorism law that, among other things, allows Maritime Self-Defense Force ships to refuel navy ships of the United States and other nations in the Indian Ocean in support of the security campaign in Afghanistan....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 4, 2006

Charmers of the Inland Sea

My landlord drives a ferry. Having grown up on an island in the Inland Sea, it was only natural for him to take up a job on a boat. Many islanders become captains of ferries, cargo ships, and tug boats. Ship captains in Japan can retire at age 55 and get a very nice pension. The problem is, it's hard...
EDITORIALS
Nov 4, 2006

Ideology ahead of education reform

The Diet is now discussing a bill to revise the Fundamental Law of Education, a carry-over from the previous session. The main point in the revision proposed by the government is to instill love of nation in children -- which carries the danger of imposing on children a particular view of the "correct"...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 4, 2006

Hooked on the concept of sustainable fishing

Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market -- the largest in the world -- is oddly quiet early afternoon. Yet climb a steep flight of steps above a small warehouse and the pace is frenetic.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Nov 3, 2006

Unheralded Giants big in tie

Meeting the Yomiuri Giants wasn't much fun for the San Diego giant.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / WALKING THE WARDS
Nov 3, 2006

A wave to Setagaya

Home to approximately one tenth of the total citizenry of all of Tokyo's 23 wards, Setagaya houses 800,000 people, the same figure as the population for the entire island of Oahu, Hawaii. At both places, people seem to have come in waves.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 3, 2006

It's not about porn, it's all about art

Lucile Hadzihalilovic strides into a room and the mood immediately becomes dense with awe. It's not just her striking looks or her height (over 1.85 meters in stockings), but the way she seems to mute these things behind a natural quietness and engaging shyness, as if she's whispering: "Please don't...
SPORTS / E-LIST
Nov 2, 2006

'Babe Factor' puts butts in Sapporo seats

SAPPORO -- The Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters have already won the first two Japan Series games played on the northern island, and they are about to win its first championship.More than 41,000 people have come out for each postseason game at Sapporo Dome, and the main reason for that is the "Babe Factor."...
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2006

Japan stands firm with sanctions on North Korea

Japan will continue the economic sanctions it leveled against North Korea despite Pyongyang's apparent about-face on returning to the multilateral talks to end its nuclear threat, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki told a news conference Wednesday.
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Nov 2, 2006

Joe Bryant and Apache reaching out to community

It's 10:45 on Tuesday morning. Tokyo Apache coach Joe Bryant and his players are busy preparing for another day in the gym. They bring the necessary attire -- sneakers, baggy shorts, jerseys -- and, of course, their basketballs. They have a special audience, too.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Nov 1, 2006

NBA moving to crack down on Cuban

NEW YORK -- Behind closed doors at last week's NBA Board of Governors meeting, a special session was convened to chastise Mark Cuban for behavior unbecoming that escalated to an everyday low during the NBA Finals last June.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Nov 1, 2006

NFL owners showing ignorance by nixing Japan for regular-season games

The oversight was about as subtle as a cockroach on a white rug.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Oct 31, 2006

Slow food, an attitude as much as a meal

In the 1960s, Japan's first instant ramen changed people's eating habits significantly by making it possible to get dinner in as little as three minutes. Even putting fast food and microwave dinners aside, eating has become easier and more functional since those days, due either to higher living standards...
MORE SPORTS
Oct 30, 2006

Major pockets fall Emperor's Cup

The win was in the numbers Sunday at Fuchu as Daiwa Major captured his second grade 1 race of his career with victory in the fall Emperor's Cup. Racing from the No. 14 post over 2,000 meters of turf, as he had done for his first top-level victory in the Satsukisho two years ago, the feisty 5-year-old...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 29, 2006

Children's welfare in the doghouse

This past week the nation was shocked by the news of yet another small child who died at the hands of abusive and negligent adults.
EDITORIALS
Oct 29, 2006

Japanese and the 'Paris syndrome'

How many victims does it take to make a syndrome? According to a French newspaper, a dozen a year will do. In the case of a trend it has dubbed "Paris syndrome," that would be the 12 or so Japanese tourists a year who are said to be so disenchanted by their encounter with the fabled French capital that...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 28, 2006

Seguignol Shimmy, Shinjo's tears . . . and more

SAPPORO -- The Japan Series wrapped up Thursday in Hokkaido, and Japan Times baseball writer Stephen Ellsesser is taking the first train out of here, before hopping a plane for Tokyo.
EDITORIALS
Oct 28, 2006

Bullying still a school problem

Two recent student suicides due to bullying -- one in the town of Chikuzen, Fukuoka Prefecture, and the other in the city of Takigawa, Hokkaido -- have raised questions over the attitudes of educators. Teachers, principals, board of education officials and officials of the education ministry need to...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 28, 2006

Living the slow life -- at warp speed

Autumn on Shiraishi island -- the tourists are gone and weekends are for cycling, sailing and holding impromptu beer parties.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 27, 2006

Dub pioneer Lee Perry talks God, ganja and Japanese gadgets

Musical resumes don't get much more impressive than Lee "Scratch" Perry's, the Jamaican maverick credited with inventing both dub and reggae.
COMMENTARY
Oct 26, 2006

No good exit strategy from Iraq for U.S.

LONDON -- Landlubbers usually get maritime analogies wrong. "Changing course" is not cowardice; it's the sensible thing to do if the ship is headed for the rocks. "Cutting" (the anchor cable) "and running" (before the wind) is what you do when the storm is raging, the anchor is dragging, and the ship...
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Oct 25, 2006

Isiah clueless to world outside NBA

NEW YORK -- Isiah Thomas needs to spend more of his free time cutting grass, petting animals or getting involved in any form of mindless relaxation that allows him to clear his attic of cobwebs.
BASKETBALL
Oct 25, 2006

Veteran Shoji looking forward to fresh start with Broncos in bj-league

TOKOROZAWA, Saitama Pref. -- Some things are inevitable: political scandals in election years, bad hair days, predictable plots in action-movie sequels.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 24, 2006

The rising wealth of nations

NEW HAVEN, Connecticut -- The new Penn World Table, Version 6.2, comparing standards of living across countries, has just been released. The latest figures are for 2004, and, because of data lags, not all countries are included. Yet these numbers are valuable because they are of exceptional quality and...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Oct 24, 2006

Sony's Aquos line, Kaichiro Yamada's Tatami chair, Tokujin Yoshioka's PANE chair, MSG's Kakehouki broom

Slim and sleek
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Oct 24, 2006

Views from Tokyo: Is Japan too permissive a society?

Thomasina Larkin asks people if they think that Japan is too permissive a society
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 23, 2006

Hammies rally in pivotal 7th inning

NAGOYA -- Makoto Kaneko had found a new way to make an out in every Japan Series at-bat heading into the seventh inning of Game 2.

Longform

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