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Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / GRAND OLD HOTELS
Oct 24, 2008

Jogashima: Awash with thousands of cherry blossoms

The escalator at the Keikyu Line's Misakiguchi Station transported me to a windswept hilltop where a booth provided information on places to pick mikan (tangerines) and shops sold tuna, toasted laver bread and horse mackerel seasoned with mirin (a rice wine). I boarded a bus. As it descended between...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Oct 24, 2008

Film fest offers the Himalayas

The stunning snow-capped mountains of the Himalayas are certainly a joy to behold — or, for some, to climb. For those not up to the cost or exertion of such an endeavor, the Himalaya Film Festival from Nov. 1 to 3 offers an experience in armchair mountaineering.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 23, 2008

Craftsmanship and nationalism

'Utility" is conventionally held up as what separates crafts from art. But what practical purpose is served by the stained-glass panel by Christopher Whall, "Saint Agnes" (1901-10) in "Life and Art: Arts and Crafts from Morris to Mingei" at The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto? In truth, the Arts...
JAPAN
Oct 23, 2008

Aso, Singh pledge cooperation, regional security; EPA eludes

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Prime Minister Taro Aso agreed Wednesday to cooperate on several issues, including regional safety, but fell short of signing an economic partnership agreement due to differences on trade.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Oct 22, 2008

A plea for the wetlands

Representatives of 158 nations will converge next week on Changwon in South Korea, where they will spend nine days, from Oct. 27 to Nov. 4, talking about how to save the world's wetlands.
EDITORIALS
Oct 20, 2008

Reviewing medical treatment

The trial of an obstetrician of a Fukushima prefectural hospital, where a 29-year-old woman died of blood loss during a Caesarean operation in December 2004, serves as a reminder that doctors' efforts to save lives sometimes lead to death. As the level of medical treatment advances and becomes more complex,...
EDITORIALS
Oct 19, 2008

Tainted frozen green beans

A housewife in Hachioji, Tokyo, fell sick when she ate green beans that were imported from China and then sold at her local supermarket. Two more people in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, also came down with similar symptoms after eating green beans from packages with the same lot number as those in the Hachioji...
Reader Mail
Oct 19, 2008

Lucky millennium celebration

The three articles Oct. 12 on the "1,000 years of 'Genji' " by Eriko Arita are absorbing and delightful. I've read Waley's, Seidensticker's, McCullough's and Tyler's versions -- the latter I don't know how many times. I've yet to tackle the very first version, and those by Jakucho Setouchi and Donald...
Japan Times
Features / WEEK 3
Oct 19, 2008

Hell's a-poppin' if you know where . . .

Thinking it was high time I had my synapses chomped by digitally enhanced satanic hardcore dance music, I head off to the appropriately titled Hell's Gate event at Studio Cube 326 in Tamachi, a reclaimed armpit of Tokyo.
Japan Times
Features / WEEK 3
Oct 19, 2008

Hear yea: 'This country is rotten!'

Barack Obama hasn't yet lived long enough to win the United States presidency; he has, however, influenced Japanese comedy television, where, true to his mantra — or perhaps because of it — "change we can believe in" has already occurred.
JAPAN
Oct 18, 2008

Filipino bar hostess visa scam snags top official

Senior Vice Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Masatoshi Kurata was embroiled in a scandal Friday over his alleged role in arranging visas for Filipino women to enter Japan and perform at "charity concerts," but who in fact ended up working as bar hostesses.
JAPAN
Oct 18, 2008

Nakagawa has ministry hoist Hinomaru

Despite opposition from media organizations, the Finance Ministry displayed the Hinomaru flag in its press briefing room Friday under orders from Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa.
EDITORIALS
Oct 17, 2008

Stepping up to the bench

Oct. 15 was the deadline for municipal election management commissions to submit lists of citizens who might serve as lay judges in district courts under a new system that starts next May. Six lay judges will sit with three professional judges in trials dealing with serious crimes such as murder, arson...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Oct 17, 2008

Art of Brazil on show

Japan is hosting a carnival of events to celebrate 100 years of Japanese immigration to Brazil this year, but Jacqueline Montagu has been promoting ties between the South American nation and Asia for more than two decades.
JAPAN
Oct 16, 2008

New round of health-care deductions riles seniors

About 3 million people aged 75 or older had their health insurance premiums automatically deducted from their pension benefits for the first time Wednesday under the controversial medical system for seniors that has increasingly become a hot political topic.
JAPAN
Oct 16, 2008

Guides help consumers pick 'sustainable sushi'

NEW YORK — Mackerel is in but octopus is out. And bluefin tuna, known as the king of sushi for its fatty belly meat, is a definite no-no.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 16, 2008

Mitsubishi touts young artists

Recent art-school graduate Yuzo Shimomura was looking as uncomfortable as the collar of his shirt, which had flared up above his jacket lapel. It was clear they both wanted to be somewhere else.
JAPAN
Oct 15, 2008

Keidanren: Immigrant worker influx vital to halt labor shortage

Japan should expedite an increase in immigrant labor to engage in fields ranging from welfare to manufacturing, construction and agriculture to offset the shrinking domestic workforce, the nation's largest business lobby said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY
Oct 13, 2008

Charge up to the fast lane

During a recent visit to China's Zhejiang University, which honored me with the title of visiting professor, I was surprised to learn that faculty members drive their own cars, many of them expensive models by my standard. A professor in his late 40s was driving a ¥10 million Audi; a 30-year-old instructor...
Japan Times
Features
Oct 12, 2008

1,000 years of 'Genji'

"Genji Monogatari," known as "The Tale of Genji" in English, is believed by many scholars to be the first full-length novel in world literature. Marking the 1,000th anniversary since its creation, today's Timeout introduces this masterpiece that draws readers into a beautiful world gone by full of passion,...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 11, 2008

Combating the piracy plague

SINGAPORE — The confrontation between foreign warships and well-armed pirates off the coast of lawless Somalia is a dramatic reminder to Asia of the importance of safeguarding busy channels used by international shipping.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 11, 2008

Offering shelter from life's storms

"It's the single most stressful job I've ever had. It's also the best job," says Briar Simpson of Tokyo's Animal Refuge Kansai.
BUSINESS
Oct 11, 2008

Firms use free beer, pasta to lure housewives into becoming investors

Tokyo Gas Co. and Asahi Breweries Ltd., Japan's biggest gas utility and second-largest brewer, are using free beer and pasta lunches to lure housewives into becoming investors.

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan