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LIFE / Language / KANJI CLINIC
Oct 28, 2008

Take the first step to writing home in kanji

A friend in North Carolina recently showed me a yellowing nengajō (年賀状, New Year's card) I had sent her soon after first arriving in Japan back in the early 1980s. The return address, penciled in my best effort at the time — a childlike, uneven scrawl of kanji — reminded me of the intense...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Oct 26, 2008

TV tributes to an artificial heart innovator, Picasso and Sadaharu Oh

The subject of this week's edition of "Professional: Shigoto no Ryugi" ("The Professionals") (NHK-G, Tuesday, 10 p.m.) is 56-year-old Chisato Nojiri, the leader of a special-project team that recently developed a new type of artificial heart.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 24, 2008

Ogasawara belts two home runs; fired-up Giants take 2-1 series lead

The Yomiuri Giants looked a bit sluggish in the first game of their series against the Chunichi Dragons.
BUSINESS
Oct 24, 2008

Automakers to lower production in Britain

LONDON (Kyodo) Japanese automakers operating in Britain have announced production cuts due to the slowing European economy, but Toyota Motor Corp., Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. have so far announced no workforce reductions.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 24, 2008

'Redacted'

Brian De Palma is a man of contradictions. The director is known for filming spectacular scenes of violence: Just think of the elevator slashing in "Dressed To Kill," Al Capone's baseball bat in "The Untouchables" or pretty much all of "Scarface." Yet his riskiest and maybe best film, 1989's "Casualties...
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
LIFE / Digital
Oct 22, 2008

Xbox 360 steals Tokyo Game Show

The biggest announcement at the four-day Tokyo Game Show 2008 (Oct. 9-12) at Makuhari Messe convetion center in Chiba Prefecture was not for a Japanese title and not by a Japanese company.
BUSINESS
Oct 22, 2008

Bank willingness to lend at eight-year low

The willingness of banks to extend loans to small and midsize companies stayed at its lowest level in at least eight years as lenders hoarded funds on signs that the economy is in a recession, the Bank of Japan said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 21, 2008

Addiction to the worst of worlds

COPENHAGEN — Have you noticed how environmental campaigners almost inevitably say that not only is global warming happening, but that what we are seeing is even worse than expected?
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Oct 21, 2008

Barrett, Simons and Clemens in Tokyo

Fast flagships On Sept. 17, the new flagship store for designer Neil Barrett opened in Tokyo with the assistance of a heavyweight collaborator — none other than hot U.K. architect Zaha Hadid came on board for her first retail-venue project. Barrett, a 20-year design veteran of tailored cuts (pictured...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Oct 21, 2008

Japan's spies: What cloak, dagger?

How ill is Kim Jong Il?
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Oct 21, 2008

JR gestures

Dear Alice, Until recently I lived in Tokyo and commuted on the JR Chuo Sobu Line from Kameido Station. I made it a practice to ride in the last compartment of the train, just so I could enjoy the spectacle of the driver making those sincere hand gestures at each and every station. I've seen the same...
BUSINESS
Oct 18, 2008

Demand for services falls 1.4%, adding to gloom

Demand for services fell in August, reinforcing the view that consumer spending is unlikely to support the ailing economy.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 17, 2008

U.S. slow with auto aid: Honda

Honda's chief executive welcomed the U.S. government decision to extend loans to American automakers Thursday, but said their problems highlighted their slow response to soaring gas prices.
MORE SPORTS
Oct 17, 2008

Ballesteros in stable condition

MADRID (AP) Seve Ballesteros was in stable condition Wednesday after the 51-year-old golf great had surgery on a brain tumor a day earlier.
BUSINESS
Oct 17, 2008

On skidding markets, Aso says U.S. bank bailout is falling short

The U.S. bank bailout is inadequate and is contributing to the renewed plunge in global stock markets, Prime Minister Taro Aso said Thursday.
JAPAN
Oct 16, 2008

Elderly offenders on rise

In August, a 79-year-old woman went on a slashing spree in Tokyo's bustling shopping and entertainment district of Shibuya, wounding two female passersby before being arrested by police.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 16, 2008

BOJ hand nominated as deputy

The government nominated Bank of Japan Executive Director Hirohide Yamaguchi on Wednesday to fill the central bank's longtime vacant deputy governor post amid the ongoing global financial crisis.
BUSINESS
Oct 15, 2008

Steps set to keep TSE stable

The government announced a package of measures Tuesday to stabilize the volatile stock market, including suspending sales of government-held shares.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Oct 15, 2008

Headset lets you engage your inner Borg

Warp factor: "Star Trek" has done far more than just entertain us over the decades. It has also inspired technology creators to reach for the stars (quite literally, if we ever manage to invent warp drive for faster-than-light travel).
JAPAN
Oct 15, 2008

Hosoda revives call to hold early election

A Lower House election should be held as soon as possible to break the political standstill created by the divided Diet, Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Hiroyuki Hosoda said Tuesday.

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