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JAPAN
May 3, 2006

Japan Post defies efforts to slim down swollen ranks

Japan Post Corp. drafted a privatization plan Tuesday that calls for hiring more employees, directly contradicting one of the main reasons for its privatization.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 2, 2006

Memorial service marks Minamata tragedy's 50th year

MINAMATA, Kumamoto Pref. -- Japan marked on Monday the 50th anniversary of the recognition of Minamata disease, a malady caused by pollution that officials were slow to confront and whose sufferers include thousands still seeking recognition and compensation.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 2, 2006

Legal change seen giving entrepreneurs flexibility

When Keiji Okayasu founded his game software company, Studiofake, in 2000 he wanted it to be a limited liability company, a form of business popular with software developers in the West.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
May 2, 2006

"Cyrano," "Small Steps"

"Cyrano," Geraldine McCaughrean, OUP; 2006; 167pp.
BASKETBALL
May 1, 2006

Commish Kawachi looks to future of bj-league

The bj-league commissioner Toshimitsu Kawachi has watched game after game in his league all year, and as the inaugural season successfully came to an end at the weekend with the playoffs, he has no regrets and lots of hopes for the future.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 30, 2006

Recalling lady umpire Perry Barber and Cooperstown cookies

Reader Dennis McCormick from Hyogo Prefecture recently wrote to ask, "Do you remember about 15 years ago an American woman umpire came to Japan and worked a few Japanese games in the Kansai area? I don't recall her name, but I was surprised when I found out she was not a regular umpire in one of the...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 30, 2006

Harking back to the past in order to secure the immediate future

Thanks to continuing malfeasance on the part of some of its employees, NHK remains in the dog house, so it's tempting to view recent programming decisions with an eye for how they might boost the public broadcaster's standing among subscribers. For example, why has NHK revived not one, not two, but four...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Apr 30, 2006

Shower of light on Eastern philosophy

LIGHT FROM THE EAST: A Gathering of Asian Wisdom, by Frank MacHovec. Stone Bridge Press, 175 pp., 2005, $16.95 (paper). The notes to this book tell us that author Frank MacHovec is a retired psychologist who began his study of Eastern philosophies as a Marine during the Korean War, one who wanted to...
COMMENTARY
Apr 28, 2006

Oasis of stability in Britain

LONDON -- The British are currently in one of those moods of self-congratulation and self-esteem that seizes them from time to time.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Apr 28, 2006

Crafts collective opens up studio

The artisans of the Akeppiroge crafts collective will open up their homes and studios for the only time this year to visitors for an exhibition event to be held May 12-14 in Takashima, Shiga Prefecture -- a small scenic city on the western shore of Lake Biwa. Visitors are welcome from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 27, 2006

Putting art into fashion

"I'm just fed up with all the recycled cliches and the sensationalism," says Samuel Bourdin, son of the celebrated French fashion photographer Guy Bourdin, over the phone from Paris. "The press tries to make my father out to be some kind of depraved monster, but that's just not accurate."
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2006

DPJ win helps Ozawa, reflects anti-LDP mood

The narrow victory of a Democratic Party of Japan candidate in Sunday's by-election in Chiba Prefecture has given a boost to the main opposition force's new president, Ichiro Ozawa, virtually assuring his re-election in the DPJ's presidential poll in September, political pundits say.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 25, 2006

Sweden's IKEA back in Japan after 20-year hiatus

Furniture giant IKEA marked its return to Japan with the opening of a store Monday in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, but some domestic rivals question whether the Swedish firm has learned enough about Japanese consumers to please them.
COMMENTARY
Apr 24, 2006

Asian leaders acting badly: the makings of nightmares

LOS ANGELES -- Paging Dr. Geopolitical Freud! It's an emergency.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 23, 2006

Giants hope Glover has golden touch

In last week's column, I mentioned five key players who have triggered the phenomenal start this season by the Yomiuri Giants: second baseman Makoto Kosaka, outfielder Kenji Yano, first sacker Lee Seung Yeop, starting pitcher Jeremy "J.P." Powell and closer Kiyoshi Toyoda.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Apr 23, 2006

Detective fiction written for the love of Tokyo

THE SNAKE THAT BOWED, by Edward Seidensticker, based on works by Okamoto Kido. Tokyo: Printed Matter Press, 2006, 144 pp., 1500 yen (paper). Edward Seidensticker, the most eminent translator from Japanese to English, is a man of many parts. Not only has he given us "The Tale of Genji," "The Makioka Sisters,"...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Apr 23, 2006

'Folkways' school ban puts 'stateways' to democratic test

The essential argument about how to create a democratic society that is tolerant of difference revolves around an old and simple question: Do stateways make folkways?
Japan Times
LIFE
Apr 23, 2006

... all mixed up ...

Doesn't she realize that I can't understand much of anything she says? Bobbing my head, trying to rest on torturously bent knees with a smile iced onto my face, I wonder why she is so desperate to get in all of those words. They don't really sound like words, but they are.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / THE SECOND ROOM
Apr 21, 2006

Psychedelic radar 04.21

Saturday, April 22
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 21, 2006

The silly world of SpongeBob

OK, class, quiz time: Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? No takers? OK, here's a hint: Absorbent and yellow and porous is he!
SPORTS / E-LIST
Apr 19, 2006

'Little Matsui' a major league disappointment

The Pacific League has been raging on for nearly a month, but in the magical world of Major League Baseball, Japan's top-shelf exports are flying on Uncle Bud's calendar, and it must feel like Groundhog Day for some of the Hinomaru Heroes -- same old story day-in, day-out.
EDITORIALS
Apr 19, 2006

An unhealthy blast from the past

The ruling coalition has agreed to include a clause on patriotism in a bill that will revise the Fundamental Law of Education for the first time, although Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has not decided when to send the bill to the Diet. The 1947 law, although drafted under the leadership of the Occupation...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 18, 2006

No wonder Chavez makes Bush uneasy

NEW YORK -- When the hated despots of nations like Saudi Arabia and Kazakhstan loot their countries' treasuries, transfer their oil wealth to personal Swiss bank accounts and use the rest to finance (in the House of Saud's case) terrorist extremists, American politicians praise them as trusted friends...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Apr 18, 2006

Stylist Meets,' M.A.C. cosmetics for men, Juicy Couture . . .

Taste-makers
COMMENTARY
Apr 17, 2006

Ozawa confronts the LDP

The Democratic Party of Japan has made a fresh start under new chief Ichiro Ozawa, known for his "iron fist" leadership. His first priority is to revitalize the top opposition party, which has lost public trust following the fiasco over a fake e-mail.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Apr 17, 2006

'CPE' by stealth: the state of youth jobs in Japan

French students are victorious. They have managed to push the infamous "first-time employment contract" ("contrat premiere embauche") out of the window.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Apr 16, 2006

Gamba pulls one out

YOKOHAMA -- Super sub Masafumi Maeda punished a shocking defensive mix-up to fire in the winner as Gamba Osaka edged Yokohama F. Marinos in a seven-goal thriller on Saturday night.

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