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BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 2, 2006

How it all began for Baseball Bullet-In 30 years ago

Believe it or not, it was 30 years ago this week when the "Baseball Bullet-In" first appeared in the pages of The Japan Times. I was 27 years old and still a student at Sophia University on Tokyo when the first column ran on April 4, 1976.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Apr 1, 2006

Giants rout BayStars on Opening Day

Opening Day must be Koji Uehara's least favorite day of the year, but things change.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 1, 2006

Poems that speak in essence of time in Tokyo

Aileen Fedullo is a young American poet whose observations of people and life in Tokyo over the past decade ("Plastic seasons scraping against eyes") have been sometimes acerbic, often passionate, always penetrating and more often than not jotted down in coffee shops.
SOCCER / World cup
Mar 31, 2006

Sato fires Japan by Ecuador

OITA -- Hisato Sato came off the bench to score a late winner as Japan beat Ecuador 1-0 in a World Cup warmup at Oita Stadium Big Eye on Thursday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Mar 31, 2006

Here's one castle to crow about

They may be unloved and unwanted, but even their detractors would have to admit that Japan's crows are tough, resilient critters. It is, then, entirely appropriate that the oldest castle in Japan should be named after these intimidating birds. The Japanese of yore had quite a fondness for naming their...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / COUNTER CULTURE
Mar 31, 2006

Lauren gets his Tokyo landmark

Omotesando, Tokyo's premier luxury brand boulevard, has recently been furnished with a string of ultramodern shrines to consumable design, crafted in concrete and steel and glass. That makes Ralph Lauren's vast whitewashed neoclassical monolith -- which opened yesterday -- seem even more like something...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 31, 2006

Lapping up success

When she's not working as an actress or DJing at a Saami language radio station in Helsinki, Anni-Kristiina Juuso is a reindeer farmer in her native Lapland. "Yes, like my character in the film. So in many ways, I was totally in my element!" So laughs the 27-year old Juuso, who is one of few Lapp women...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Mar 30, 2006

Yakult looking to get back on top of CL

HANSHIN TIGERS -- The Tigers seem to be taking turns finishing in fourth and first place every other year. Fourth in 2002 and 2004, first in 2003 and 2005, and if not careful, they could drop to the second division in 2006.
EDITORIALS
Mar 30, 2006

DPJ has dawdled long enough

With the Diet's passage of the fiscal 2006 budget, the Koizumi administration has cleared an important hurdle. But the Diet is in a sad state following the Democratic Party of Japan's blunder in its handling of an e-mail message presented by a DPJ lawmaker alleging shady financial ties between disgraced...
SOCCER / World cup
Mar 30, 2006

Kubo and Tamada to lead the line against Ecuador

Keiji Tamada and Tatsuhiko Kubo renew old acquaintances as strike partners for Japan on Thursday in a friendly against Ecuador, with national team boss Zico confident the spark is still there between the two.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 30, 2006

Canberra-Jakarta ties sink

SYDNEY -- Fragile relations between Indonesia and Australia have taken a nosedive, again, and Canberra is concerned that any sudden venting of anger in Jakarta may wreck years of painstaking efforts at building up mutual good will. The Indonesian ambassador has been recalled from Canberra "for consultations."...
JAPAN
Mar 30, 2006

Change to allow foreign political funds

Running for office doesn't come cheap. Politicians need money for posters, vans, venues for speeches and meals for volunteers. The problem for aspirants to office is that political donations are falling, and corporate money in particular is dwindling fast.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 27, 2006

Hamas sets out to put first things first

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- As it struggles to form a government for the Palestinian territories, Hamas seems to be clutching the biblical verses of Ecclesiastes rather than the desires of the Quartet (United States, Russia, the European Union, and the United Nations), which is charged with trying to bridge...
EDITORIALS
Mar 26, 2006

A fair ruling in Britain

In most legal rulings, even a casual observer can see reasonable arguments on both sides. This is not surprising. If both sides didn't have reasonable arguments, there wouldn't be a dispute to begin with, or any need for a ruling. But a decision handed down by Britain's Law Lords last week backing a...
JAPAN
Mar 26, 2006

Alleged U.S. leak irks Defense Agency

A top Defense Agency official was furious after reading front-page stories on March 15 here about Japan's negotiations with the United States.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Mar 26, 2006

TV Asahi's 'TV Tackle,' NHK's 'Itsuka Au Machi' and more

Since TV exposure is a plus for politicians regardless of what they say, they can be put on the spot without any real loss of popularity. In fact, being humiliated can work in their favor in terms of PR.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 2006

Weather services compete in blossom forecasting

One would think Eishin Murakata has a pleasant, relaxing job. Every spring, he strolls each day to the same cherry tree in central Tokyo and gazes up at its boughs. When he spots a full bud on the verge of blossoming, he carefully snaps a photograph.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 23, 2006

A grand splash

Just before Japan's economy took a downturn, the Tokyu railroad conglomerate celebrated good times with the construction of the splendidly designed Bunkamura arts complex just behind its flagship department store in Tokyo's Shibuya district.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Mar 21, 2006

Japan, Cuba battle against the odds to make it to WBC final

SAN DIEGO -- The baseball giant who couldn't and the world-class unknown that almost wasn't allowed are getting ready to play for the World Baseball Classic championship. How perfect.
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Mar 21, 2006

White Day

Dear Alice,
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Mar 20, 2006

Cubans down Dominicans

SAN DIEGO -- Team Cuba didn't come all the way to Petco Park to get smoked.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Mar 20, 2006

What the Merchant of Venice might think about BOJ policy

"The quality of mercy is not strained."
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 19, 2006

Africa's clock ticking on bird flu virus

NEW YORK -- The spread of avian flu to Africa and Europe, although expected, is unwelcome news. In the last few weeks the disease has reached several states in northern Nigeria and Niger. Together with other countries in West Africa, they are on the bird migratory route from Central Asia and the Middle...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Mar 19, 2006

Is this really just good fun?

You couldn't miss him if you tried: The guy in the skintight black vest and hotpants is popping up wherever you look in Japan these days, thrusting his pelvis on television, striking his signature "Y" pose on magazine covers and boasting about his beefy workouts in subway ads.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 19, 2006

Prefecture opts for foster-care plan to combat declining birthrate

A recent Associated Press poll found that Americans' views about abortion aren't very clear-cut. Only a small percentage of the respondents were in favor of either legalizing abortion completely or banning it outright. About 60 percent were somewhere in the middle. The AP took these results to mean that...

Longform

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