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Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Sep 1, 2008

NBA trailblazer Tabuse signs for JBL's Brex

Yuta Tabuse, the first Japanese-born basketball player ever to appear in the NBA, has signed with the Link Tochigi Brex of the Japan Basketball League, team president Takashi Yamaya revealed on Sunday.
Reader Mail
Aug 31, 2008

What does the government mean?

The news that the Japanese government is making "every conceivable effort" to eliminate racial discrimination makes me wonder -- as a foreigner who has lived in Japan for more than six years -- what the word "conceivable" means.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 30, 2008

Four one short of forming party

Four Upper House lawmakers Friday declared the formation of Kaikaku Club, a tentative new party, saying they want to change the situation in the currently divided Diet.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 30, 2008

Stimulus package ready for Diet OK

Hammered out in lengthy negotiations among ministries and the ruling parties, the government put forward an ¥11.7 trillion economic stimulus package Friday financed by a ¥1.8 trillion supplementary budget to be submitted to next month's extraordinary Diet session.
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2008

Slaying in Afghanistan will not deter Japan's antiterror mission

Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura voiced anger Thursday over the kidnapping and killing of aid worker Kazuya Ito in Afghanistan.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2008

Critics dispute Michelin regard for Tokyo

Paris might still be good if you've got a big wad of cash and want the best of the best. But Tokyo is really where it's at foodwise, at least according to the French people who keep track of these things.
BUSINESS
Aug 29, 2008

Toyota plugs into electric vehicles

Toyota Motor Corp. said Thursday it will start mass-producing next-generation electric vehicles in the early 2010s, demonstrating a renewed commitment to develop fuel-efficient cars.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Aug 29, 2008

Giants' Uehara returns to rotation with a win

Koji Uehara returned to the Yomiuri Giants' starting rotation against the Yokohama BayStars on Thursday night.
BUSINESS
Aug 29, 2008

Bankruptcies to rise: Daiwa chief

The list of real estate companies filing for bankruptcy will grow this year as banks cut lending, said Takeo Higuchi, chairman of Daiwa House Industry Co., Japan's second-biggest home builder by market value.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2008

Saitama U.N. disarmament talks follow North denuclearization snub

SAITAMA — A three-day U.N. conference on nuclear disarmament kicked off Wednesday in Saitama, a day after North Korea announced it had stopped disabling its atomic facilities.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 28, 2008

McCain aims to win by pandering to bigotry

NEW YORK — At a time when the Beijing Olympics have increased America's apprehension of China's rising power, Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee for president, has chosen Sen. Joe Biden as his running mate. Biden is the influential chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee and an established...
EDITORIALS
Aug 28, 2008

Kids caught in the Web

The National Police Agency has reported that the number of youths who fell victim to sex and other crimes after accessing Web dating (deai-kei) sites has drastically decreased in the first half of this year. This is welcome news, but since minors are still being lured into child prostitution and other...
COMMENTARY
Aug 27, 2008

Showcasing best of China

It's been like watching the coverage of the Beijing Olympics on a split screen. Much of the Western media comment in the main news and opinion pages has been written up by the "nattering nabobs of negativism," in the immortal words of Vice President Spiro Agnew (albeit written by William Safire). The...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2008

Ota downplays flap over funding

A political support group for agriculture minister Seiichi Ota declared more than ¥23 million in office fees in 2005 and 2006 in its annual political funding reports for an office registered at the Tokyo home of his ministerial secretary, even though no rent money was actually paid.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Aug 27, 2008

Abe eases back into the groove

It didn't take Shinnosuke Abe long to get back into the swing of things.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2008

Commission to lay foundation for NPT review

The world faces a pressing need to monitor civilian use of nuclear technology and maintain strong discipline in the face of weapons proliferation, former Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi said Monday in Tokyo.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Aug 26, 2008

Brisk output belies crisis facing publishing industry

More than 200 new books are published daily in Japan, and the total market of books and magazines surpasses ¥2 trillion. But experts say the publishing industry is facing a historic crisis.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 26, 2008

Coming out of the shadows

"We judge that it will be best for the child that the (parent) pray from the shadows for his healthy upbringing. If worried about the child, ask about him through others, secretly watch him from behind a wall, and be satisfied with what is heard about the way he is growing up. Acting in accordance with...
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Aug 25, 2008

The longest day ever for Japan

I recently stumbled upon a YouTube recording — actually, two — of the Showa Emperor telling his subjects over the radio that Japan was accepting defeat. The first one I heard was what appeared to be a cleaned-up version; the second was the one with static, bits of which I had heard before. This was,...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 24, 2008

Bush legacy leaves U.S., Asia room to build

BANGKOK — In his last presidential visit to Asia, U.S. President George W. Bush laid out what he considered was his legacy for the region. But what he left out in his last major Asia policy speech, delivered earlier this month in Bangkok, was as revealing as what he underlined as his success.
Japan Times
LIFE
Aug 24, 2008

Biomimicry: Natural by design

I magine being able to maintain a perfect temperature and humidity in your home year round, without spending a single yen in electricity or gas bills. That's exactly what Professor Emile Ishida of Tohoku University in northern Japan is striving to achieve — and he got the idea from termites.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / LIQUID CULTURE
Aug 22, 2008

The perfect gin and tonic

"A gin and tonic is an entry-level drink," said the ladyfriend recently. It's easy to understand, she said, easy to drink. Like Kahlua milks and Moscow mules. A drink for people who haven't graduated to whiskeys or rickeys.
Japan Times
SPORTS / ODDS AND EVENS
Aug 21, 2008

China taking small steps to baseball success

BEIJING — Baseball is experiencing growing pains in China. In order to take a big step forward, China needs time to establish a foundation for the future.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 20, 2008

From Prague Spring to the Velvet Revolution

WARSAW — What was the Prague Spring, or the events of 1968 more generally? Their meaning, it seems, has become more, not less, debatable with the passage of time.

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