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JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 10, 2008

Celebrity rules as the Olympics strays far from its ideal

The big story this year in competitive swimming is the LZR Racer swimsuit, which was developed by the British sportswear manufacturer Speedo. At least six world records have been set by swimmers wearing the suit. Studies have shown that its drag-diminishing properties lower racing times by 1.9 to 2.2...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 8, 2008

Taking the Japan Wine Challenge

Despite the countless half- finished bottles of wine that lined the walls, the atmosphere in the plush function room of Tokyo's Sheraton Hotel was decidedly tense rather than tipsy. Japanese and Westerners were sitting around tables deep in concentration, thoughtfully holding a glass up to the light...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 8, 2008

'Bottle Shock' leaves a nasty aftertaste for the organizer of the Judgment of Paris

Due to be released in American theaters this month is "Bottle Shock," a new wine movie based on the story of the Judgment of Paris. The wine event, which was organized by Steven Spurrier back in 1976, upset the received wisdom of the wine community at the time.
COMMENTARY
Aug 7, 2008

Say no to 'NPT' of climate change

Climate change has been correctly identified as a threat multiplier. Yet it has already become a divisive issue internationally before a plan for a low-carbon future has emerged.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 5, 2008

Schools aim to cultivate returnee students' 'second culture'

Yuki, 7, zooms around the school lounge in her neon T-shirt, hugging teachers, gesturing wildly, making jokes and chattering away in perfect English. Yuki is Japanese and learned English when her family lived in Los Angeles for two years. She is affectionate and expressive, or at least she is on Saturdays...
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Jul 24, 2008

Yoshida, Hoketsu provide compelling story lines

In less than two weeks, the bright lights in Beijing will shine on thousands of athletes.
LIFE / Language
Jul 15, 2008

Learn katakana properly or face full-frontal nudity

I have never understood why Japanese people generally assume that words in katakana, the angular syllabary, are easier for nonnative speakers to master than words in hiragana, the rounded syllabary.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jul 8, 2008

How green are Japan's urbanites?

The Group of Eight summit began Monday at the Windsor Hotel Toya, an exquisite, maximum- security resort in Hokkaido. There, the world's top leaders are holed up in conference rooms, trying to strike last-minute deals on various global issues, the most disputed of all being climate change.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 4, 2008

A wave of migrating brains and barbarians

MUNICH — Europe is experiencing a huge wave of migration between east and west. This movement resembles the Great Migrations (Volkerwanderung) of the fourth to sixth centuries.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 27, 2008

Ultramobile PC joins Panasonic Toughbooks

Panasonic's latest PC offering is small enough to cradle in one hand, yet strong enough to handle the rough and tumble of extreme environments.
Reader Mail
Jun 26, 2008

Antiforeign attitude unchanged

Regarding the June 21 article "Fukuda gets report on boosting immigrants": Most wealthy advanced countries have a long, open history of allowing immigration because they accept it as their international duty. Although the trend has more recently been to try to curtail this, the percentage of immigration...
JAPAN
Jun 21, 2008

Kyoto Prize winners announced

A California-based computer scientist, a philosophy professor and a molecular biologist will each receive $460,000 after being selected Friday as winners of this year's Kyoto Prizes for achievement in the arts and sciences.
EDITORIALS
Jun 8, 2008

Health-care tangle

A political battle has heated up over a new health insurance plan covering 13 million people aged 75 or over and introduced April 1. Opposition forces Friday passed a bill through the Upper House to abolish the unpopular plan on April 1, 2009, and reintroduce the previous plan, but the ruling bloc-controlled...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jun 6, 2008

Festival explores artistic side of Thai cinema

The realm of Thai cinema goes well beyond martial arts movies such as "Ong-bak" (titled "Mach!" in Japan), which was a hit here in 2004. Movie fans in Japan unfortunately rarely ever get a chance to experience much else from Thailand's vibrant film industry, which has more to offer that is surprisingly...
BUSINESS
May 31, 2008

Premium revenues drop at six big life insurers

Premium revenues at six of Japan's nine major life insurers dropped in the business year to March, according to earnings results released Friday.
Reader Mail
May 29, 2008

Some Buddhists prefer a fairy tale

After reading William Johnston's May 25 letter, I'd just like to set the record straight and say not all Buddhists think rationalism is a bad thing, and not all Buddhists believe in some fairy tale where Asia is a Shangri-La full of enlightened beings.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
May 27, 2008

Toothpaste tube chandeliers, eco-seats and other design highlights

A toothy light
LIFE / Language
May 27, 2008

Mastery of kanji takes time to build, just like Rome

If you want yuyujiteki no seikatsu wo suru, to live the life of Riley, in Japan, then you should learn as many four-kanji expresssions as you can. (Yuyujiteki implies living in unsurpassed comfort for the rest of your days, an admirable goal if there ever was one.)
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
May 27, 2008

Law bends over backward to allow 'fuzoku'

Some desires money can't gratify, but for appetites of the flesh, there are ways in Japan to legally sate one's carnal cravings.
EDITORIALS
May 24, 2008

A 'full-scale' gray society

A government white paper on the graying of the population says Japan has become a "full-scale gray society." As of Oct. 1, people aged 75 or over numbered a record 12.7 million — up 540,000 from a year earlier — and accounted for a record 9.9 percent of the nation's population, a 0.4 point increase...
BUSINESS
May 22, 2008

Nonlife insurers lashed by steep profit hits

Four of Japan's six major nonlife insurance companies saw their group net profits plunge in business 2007 as the U.S. subprime loan crisis and the subsequent fall in global stock prices pushed down profits from their investments, the firms said Wednesday.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?