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Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Oct 7, 2008

Spicy food, sexy idols and now . . . fashion

SEOUL — In the late 1990s, the Korean Wave — "Hallyu" as it's referred to in its native tongue — began as South Korea's television, film and music industries gained greater international followings, especially among its Asian neighbors.
COMMENTARY
Oct 6, 2008

Counterproductive antiterrorism

Buried deep in the U.S. Pentagon somewhere is an official in charge of the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. As he goes about his daily chores — organizing the floor shackles, bully guards, illegal confinements, arbitrary trials and occasional torture sessions — he no doubt thinks he is...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 6, 2008

After the Dear Leader has passed

SEOUL — Korea is a unique country. The Cold War ended when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, and is now remembered only as history to most people around the world. The Korean Peninsula, however, remains divided along ideological lines, and the two Koreas coexist as living remnants of the Cold War....
Reader Mail
Oct 5, 2008

Palin's premises discomfiting

In response to Barbara Smith's Sept. 18 letter, "New face of American feminism" -- about U.S. Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin -- I would like to say that regardless of what "caused the Big Bang," teaching schoolchildren about "God" would be disastrous, because, from the tone of Smith's...
Reader Mail
Oct 5, 2008

Out of Gloria Steinem's league

Since everybody is entitled to his opinion, let me say how tired I am of men telling women what real feminism is, and what they don't have a right to do with their own bodies. I refer to Bob Austenfeld's Sept. 25 letter, "Right to life has priority."
EDITORIALS
Oct 4, 2008

Fire at a video parlor

The fire at a Nanba video parlor in Osaka's Naniwa Ward, which killed 15 customers and injured 10 other people, highlights a potential danger at similar facilities with small private rooms. It is outrageous that a customer is suspected of deliberately starting the fire — on the very day that a revision...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 3, 2008

Justice Ministry should 'respect' rulings on executions, Mori says

Justice Minister Eisuke Mori supports the death penalty because it helps maintain the social order and eases the mental pain of crime victims' families.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 3, 2008

'Achilles to Kame'

Zeno's paradoxes are ancient mind games that undermine common-sense assumptions about reality. In the most famous, "Achilles and the Tortoise," a fast runner and a tortoise start at the same time toward the same goal, the tortoise with a head start — say it must cover 10 meters while the runner must...
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Oct 3, 2008

Foundation runs for breast-cancer awareness

Every Oct. 1, Tokyo Tower is illuminated in a warm pink light to commemorate the beginning of National Breast Cancer Awareness month.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 2, 2008

Seeking photographic destinies

His figures cut through the sky, crisply suspended, on their way into the water. Sometimes they are immersed, or watching from a shore, but most often they hang in the air, about to split the drink in two. For Lithuanian photographer Vidas Biveinis, water represents a changing emotion, expressive of...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 2, 2008

Web society opts to stay anonymous

Like a lot of 20-year-olds, Kae Takahashi has a page on U.S.-based MySpace, and there is no mistaking it for anyone else's.
BUSINESS
Oct 2, 2008

First-half car sales sink to 34-year low

Domestic auto sales in the first half of this business year slumped to their lowest level in 34 years as rising unemployment and decade-high inflation sapped demand for new vehicles, an industry association said Wednesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 1, 2008

Sarah Palin doesn't deserve women's votes

NEW YORK — The selection of Sarah Palin as John McCain's running mate hit the United States like an electric storm. To her legions of lipstick-waving fans on the right, Palin is a down-to-earth, God-fearing "hockey mom" whose moose hunting, evangelical faith and even chaotic family life are all evidence...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 1, 2008

Matsushita gives way to Panasonic

A famous corporate brand name will disappear Wednesday when Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. abandons the name of its founder in an attempt to evolve into a truly global corporation.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Oct 1, 2008

Helping a healthy river flow

My eldest daughter, Miwako, gave birth to twin girls in March of this year, raising the number of my grandchildren to five. So, when my busy schedule finally permitted, I recently nipped over to Vancouver to see them all and to help out Miwako and her partner, Don McCubbing, by being houseboy and chief...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / IN BLOOM
Oct 1, 2008

Balloon vine

Whither does he make his way?Only where the autumn winds blow The little pilgrim!
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Oct 1, 2008

These babies offer a different perspective

Right angles: Photographic creativity lies in the choice of focus. Being able to isolate the subject while the rest of the picture is reduced to a blur is an eye-catching technique.
BUSINESS
Oct 1, 2008

Japan sweats as U.S. rescue stalls

The uncertainty swirling around the financial crisis in the United States has sparked concerns in Japan that more bad news is on the way for exporters, consumption and the economy, analysts said Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Sep 30, 2008

Election promises

With the next general elections expected to be held soon, both Prime Minister Taro Aso and the Democratic Party of Japan led by Mr. Ichiro Ozawa are making policy proposals designed to appeal to as many voters as possible. Given the nation's past experiences and its financial conditions, both need to...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 30, 2008

Foreign automakers race to set up in Thailand

AYUTTHAYA, Thailand — Empty of machinery, the new high-ceilinged, white-walled Honda assembly plant here is cavernous. By late October, though, the building will be humming with life when production begins. It's all part of the carmaker's plan for Thailand to play a bigger role in its global strategy....
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Sep 28, 2008

Fall dramas about geisha, Ganesha and funereal pandemonium

NHK starts a new six-month-long asa-dora (morning drama) on Monday. These popular serials traditionally launch the careers of the young actresses who play the heroines, but "Dan Dan" (More and More; NHK-G, M-F, 8:15 a.m.; BS-2, M-F, 7:45 a.m.) stars twins Mana and Kana Mikura, who appeared in an asa-dora...

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat