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COMMENTARY
Dec 18, 2008

What can be done to protect Zimbabweans

WATERLOO, Ontario — The responsibility to protect (R2P) norm, embraced universally at the world summit in New York in 2005, remains operationally elusive. Calls are growing for international intervention to lift the shroud of Robert Mugabe's ruinous reign from Zimbabwe's body politic.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 16, 2008

Lessons from the tainted life of Guantanamo

NEW YORK — President-elect Barack Obama's promise to close the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, will go a long way toward ending one of the most shameful episodes in U.S. legal history.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 16, 2008

Rise of the spas

The world economy appears to be in free fall. Temperatures are plummeting toward zero, too. Work is stacking up perilously on the desk. Christmas celebrations and bonenkai (forget-the-year party) hangovers are setting in. Does this sound familiar?
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Dec 16, 2008

Manhole covers

Dear Alice,
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 14, 2008

Human rights require stronger institutions

PARIS — On Dec. 10, 1948, the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the first international proclamation of the inherent dignity and equal rights of all people. To this day, the UDHR remains the single most important reference point for discussion of ethical values...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ROAD
Dec 14, 2008

Nostalgia drives Japanese classic car scene

In recent years, America has developed a fast-growing interest in Japanese cars from the 1960s and '70s. It used to be that only the most obsessive of auto aficionados were even aware such cars existed, but now they've begun to appear in an increasing number of books, TV shows and magazines. Car shows...
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
Dec 14, 2008

Mystery shrouds the ancient Oshoro circle

In 1861 at Oshoro, southwestern Hokkaido, a party of herring fishermen, migrants from Honshu, were laying the foundation for a fishing port when they saw taking shape beneath their shovels a mysterious spectacle — a broad circular arrangement of large rocks, strikingly symmetrical, evidently man-made....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / BEST OF BOOKS: 2008
Dec 14, 2008

Ready for a little Yuletide reading?

THE FOURTH WATCHER by Timothy Hallinan (William Morrow)
Japan Times
JAPAN / READERS' FUND
Dec 13, 2008

NGO helps improve Afghan females' lives

Second in a series
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Dec 12, 2008

'Tokyo Sonata' subtitled for English-speaking audiences

The film "Tokyo Sonata," which won the Jury Prize at the 2008 Cannes International Film Festival, will be shown with English subtitles in Tokyo from Dec. 13 to 19. Directed by the renowned Kiyoshi Kurosawa, the film tells a cynical but warm story about a dysfunctional family in Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Dec 10, 2008

Sony brings home the convenience of FeliCa

Smart money: Japan's old-fashioned notions about money are evaporating one innovation at a time. Although people are getting used to carrying around cash that they can't see, managing those funds often involves a trip to a convenience store or a bank. Sony Corp. will relieve some of that hassle next...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Dec 5, 2008

'Magic Flute' adapted to South African beat

A new collaborative opera that blends Mozart's "The Magic Flute" and African music is coming to Tokyo this month, performed by South Africa-based Isango Portobello Productions.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 5, 2008

Envy

Formed in the early 1990s, Tokyo's Envy have seen their international fan base steadily expand since 2001's "All the Footprints You've Ever Left and the Fear Expecting Ahead." 2008 has proved to be no exception, with the quintet showcasing their intense hybrid of postrock and screamo to enthusiastic...
Reader Mail
Dec 4, 2008

Consider culling bull whales

A beached whale is synonymous with desperation. Pods have limited sources of krill and beach through hunger. Yet, historical records relating to Bass Strait, when pods were plentiful, mention large whales beaching singly and natives gathering to feast over many days. Now that marine life is significantly...
BUSINESS
Dec 4, 2008

Aso to break with Koizumi reforms

With the economy in recession and public approval ratings low, Prime Minister Taro Aso signaled Wednesday that Japan must depart from the reformist fiscal policies pursued by former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and his successors.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 4, 2008

One wicked tale from the other Japanese puppets

Founded in 1635 by Youki Magosaburo I, Youkiza is the oldest marionette theater in Tokyo and the only remaining troupe among the five theaters from the Edo Period (1603-1867) — three kabuki and two marionette — that were officially recognized and financially supported by the Tokugawa Shogunate. Designated...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 4, 2008

Pink thrills: Japanese sex movies go global

As the last wave of vengeful female ghosts inspired by "Ring' "s Sadako fade from cinema screens worldwide, either in their original J-horror manifestations or the obligatory Hollywood remakes, more adventurous foreign-film fans have begun turning their heads Eastward in search of a new frisson. Their...
JAPAN
Dec 4, 2008

Undaunted India vows to prevail over terror

India will continue to value fundamental freedoms and will emerge stronger in the face of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, Indian Ambassador to Japan Hemant Krishan Singh said Tuesday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Dec 3, 2008

Preholiday offerings speak of sensibility

Ahead to basics: Pentel is not ready to write the eulogy for the humble pen. Rather than killing off the ages-old device, it is intent on bringing it into the digital age. Its latest effort is the airpenMini digital pen.
COMMENTARY
Dec 3, 2008

Moving back to socialism?

The "ism" enthusiasts are out in force again. These are the analysts and commentators who see everything in strictly ideological terms of socialism versus capitalism, more state control versus less state control. Just now they are all convinced that the pendulum is swinging toward state control, that...

Longform

Atsuyoshi Koike, the president and CEO of Rapidus, says there is a “sense of urgency” when it comes to Japan’s efforts in manufacturing semiconductors. “We have to make sure we are successful,” he says.
Atsuyoshi Koike’s big game: Fourth down and 2 nanometers to go