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Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
May 15, 2008

Butoh — Omnivorous and best not defined

In a small studio in Kichijoji, a director is telling three dancers that their heads are potatoes rolling around on a plate. And their three bald pates, poking up through a single piece of cardboard that holds them together, certainly have the appearance of earthy spuds, wobbling uncertainly across the...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
May 14, 2008

Chubby checker: the machine that measures your fat

Assessing the battle: Is the humble bathroom scale destined, like the manual typewriter, for the halls of obsolescence? Amid the fret over metabolic syndrome and other health issues, just measuring your weight, even down to the gram, doesn't get the job done anymore.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
May 13, 2008

Landlords, support, auto advice

Reader BJ is having trouble communicating with his landlord.
COMMENTARY
May 12, 2008

Row that demonized China

So now we know, officially, that the U.S. military contemplated a nuclear attack on China during the 1958 Taiwan Strait crisis. But what few realize is how this then led to a violent slanging match between Beijing and Moscow, which in turn was to lead to the Vietnam and other Indochina wars, which in...
EDITORIALS
May 12, 2008

Legal services for everyone

On April 1, 2006, Nihon Shiho Shien Senta (Japan Legal Support Center) or Ho Terasu (Law Terrace) was established to offer people easy access to legal services. It began operation on Oct. 2 that year. Although two years have passed, only 22 percent of those recently polled know of Ho Terrace. More publicity...
Reader Mail
May 11, 2008

The Japanese view of ending life

Regarding David Quintero's May 4 letter, "High Japanese suicide rate mystifies," and the question he poses (Why do so many Japanese people kill themselves?): I don't have a definitive answer, but I have come up with a few theories:
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ROAD
May 11, 2008

Japan's gourmands should hit the highway

At the beginning of the postwar period of economic growth in Japan, highways were more for transporting parts and goods to jump-start the economy than for going on a Sunday drive. Even into the 1980s, pit stops in highway rest areas were still the stuff of nightmares. Surrounded by trucks belching acrid...
JAPAN
May 10, 2008

Myanmar junta slammed for referendum in cyclone wake

The Myanmar junta's plan to hold a national referendum while its people are reeling in the aftermath of a devastating cyclone "will not produce any good outcome," a model and designer from the country who was granted refugee status in Japan in 1993 told reporters Friday in Tokyo.
BUSINESS
May 10, 2008

Japan still good place to invest: Nikko Asset

Despite the possibility that the government may block a hedge fund's bid to increase its stake in a power utility, Japan remains an attractive place to invest because of low valuations, Nikko Asset Management Co.'s president said recently.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 9, 2008

South Korean punk band Gumx regroups after military service

"Gumx is back!!" proclaimed the T-shirt for Seoul punk band Gumx's short Japan jaunt in late February. The band's first foreign gigs in more than three years, it had good reason to be excited about returning to the live circuit in its biggest market.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
May 9, 2008

'Hamlet' production does not leave the question unanswered

From next week, the International Theatre Company London will be in Japan, conducting its 30th tour of the country with a production of "Hamlet."
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
May 9, 2008

Festival to serve up tastes, sounds of Thailand

Spicy tom yam kung (spicy shrimp soup) blende with Singha beer, beautiful Thai silk and traditional dancing.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 9, 2008

Craftsman learns from olden times how to make eco-friendly tatami

Calling Noboru Ueda a committed professional would be an understatement.
JAPAN
May 8, 2008

Radio broadcast of hanging earns listeners' kudos

The radio broadcast of an execution recorded in 1955, including the vivid sound of a creaking rope as the prisoner was hanged, met with a generally positive reaction from listeners, Nippon Cultural Broadcasting Inc. said Wednesday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 8, 2008

No more hostile takeover bids for Yahoo in works, Gates says

Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates said Wednesday the world's biggest software company has no plan to launch a fresh bid for search engine operator Yahoo Inc. after abandoning its $47.5 billion takeover attempt.
EDITORIALS
May 8, 2008

North Korea-Syria connection

The disclosure by the United States that North Korea helped Syria build a nuclear reactor demands that the North give a full explanation about its suspected nuclear proliferation activities. As there is the possibility that the six-party talks will hold another round this month, the U.S., Japan, South...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 8, 2008

Westernized subjects for a distinct Japanese style

The history of modern Japanese art has a hierarchy of narratives. As in the West, at the top is the story of the avant-garde. This is a tale of trail-blazing artists taking trips to foreign locales, usually Paris, and bringing back radical foreign styles in their suitcases.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 8, 2008

An aura of controversy in the chase for the new

Ever since 1917, when Marcel Duchamp submitted a urinal to the Society of Independent Artists' exhibition, arguing that it was art, anything has become acceptable. Artist Chris Burden shot himself in the arm in a Los Angeles gallery in 1971; Piero Manzoni canned what was allegedly his own feces and sold...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 8, 2008

Saskia Olde Wolbers: deceptive images, deceptive tales

If only every piece of video art started with the line: "Here I am lying next to my lover Jean, in intensive care."
Reader Mail
May 4, 2008

Improve content, including letters

I have been a loyal reader of The Japan Times for the 12 years I have been here. This is my first time to write, but I am driven to address two key points. First, I agree with recent letters that the latest changes of format in this paper were ill-advised and poorly thought out. It seems to be following...
EDITORIALS
May 4, 2008

Thou shalt not steal . . . books

On the surface, Japan appears to be a relatively crime-free and comparatively safe society. One crime, though, is on the rise — shoplifting. A recent survey by the Japan Book Publishers Association for Information Infrastructure Development found that nearly ¥4 billion in books are stolen every year,...

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