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Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 3, 2008

Seeking international artists

W hen New York's Armory Show art fair started out back in 1994, it was a simple affair. At a news conference last week in the city, one of the four founders, Paul Morris, described how works shown the first year were hung on the walls or laid out on the beds of the small Gramercy Hotel.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 2, 2008

Ozawa threatens censure over pension-record mess

Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa said Tuesday the DPJ may submit a censure motion against labor minister Yoichi Masuzoe in the Upper House for breaking his pledge to match all 50 million unidentified pension premium payment records with their holders by the end of March.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 1, 2008

'Half-alien' group foresees disaster, Japan UFO landing

In December, Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura caused quite a stir with his bold statement that "UFOs definitely exist." In subsequent clarifications, the government claimed that there have been no confirmed sightings, but if a UFO was to appear, "fighter jets would be scrambled to attempt...
JAPAN
Apr 1, 2008

20 teachers punished over 'Kimigayo' row

Twenty public school teachers were punished for disobeying an order to stand and face the flag during the singing of the national anthem in graduation ceremonies in March, the Tokyo board of education said Monday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Apr 1, 2008

BOJ finds itself in 'unpresidented' state

The divided Diet has left the Bank of Japan with a vacant seat at the top for the first time since the war. This came about after Toshihiko Fukui's five-year term ended in mid-March and the government's nominees to succeed him were vetoed.
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Apr 1, 2008

Public forums, spinning wheels

A friend sent me a Yomiuri article (Feb. 10) about a neighborhood forum in Kanazawa. Its title: "Citizens consider how to live together with foreigners."
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Mar 31, 2008

Oxymoronic sustenance and sustainability

NEW YORK — Earlier this month there was held, in a midtown hotel, an International Conference on Climate Change. Yet another one? you might ask. But, no, this one was to make the case that Al Gore, with his argument in "An Inconvenient Truth" is a fraud, a swindler. One of the conferees' premises was...
Japan Times
SOCCER
Mar 31, 2008

Becks, Galaxy routed in season opener

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. (AP) Christian Gomez scored on a penalty kick and the Colorado Rapids beat David Beckham and the Los Angeles Galaxy 4-0 on Saturday night in the season opener for both teams.
Japan Times
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Mar 30, 2008

Mao a shining example of why sports still matter

Too often in life potential goes unfulfilled.
JAPAN
Mar 29, 2008

Storm over gasoline tax worries farmers

Saddled with an annual fuel bill of about ¥3.1 million, potato farmer Katsuhiro Yamamoto, like many others who work the soil for a living, is keeping a nervous watch on lawmakers in Tokyo as they battle over the extension of higher gas tax rates.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 29, 2008

Stations, refineries brace for impact of lower pump prices

With higher gas taxes set to expire, Kazuo Yaginuma, spokesman for a gasoline station business, has been fielding a lot of phone calls lately from reporters asking what the impact might be.
JAPAN
Mar 29, 2008

Under fire, ruling bloc passes the '08 budget

Ignoring a rejection by the opposition-controlled House of Councilors, the Diet Friday evening passed an ¥83 trillion state budget for fiscal 2008, which starts Tuesday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 29, 2008

Sapporo shareholders vote to keep Steel Partners at bay

By a two-thirds margin, Sapporo Holdings Ltd. shareholders voted Friday to back the brewer in its ongoing struggle to avert a takeover by its largest shareholder, Steel Partners, a U.S.-based activist hedge fund.
JAPAN
Mar 28, 2008

Fukuda offers to untie road tax income in '09

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda hoped to break the Diet deadlock by declaring Thursday he is willing to allow revenue from road-related taxes to be freed up for purposes other than road projects in fiscal 2009, which starts in April next year.
BUSINESS
Mar 28, 2008

ANA gives Mitsubishi lift with plane order

All Nippon Airways Co. said Thursday it plans to order up to 25 small passenger jets from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., becoming the leadoff buyer of what would be Japan's first domestically developed jetliner.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 27, 2008

When natural beauty just isn't cutting it . . .

Ines Ligron is the ultimate Miss Universe insider, and she does not believe much in secrets. One of her favorite stories is of a contestant who could have won but opted for last-minute cosmetic surgery, and thus was barely able to lift her arms when she went before the judges.
COMMENTARY
Mar 26, 2008

Why this foreigner supports Obama

WATERLOO, Canada — Barack Obama's speech on race and politics on March 18 came from and spoke to the heart. It was brutally, searingly honest. Nothing he said or could have said will appease the detractors and the naysayers. But their sniping and carping will diminish them and betray their smallness...
JAPAN
Mar 26, 2008

Serial rapist Obara's appeal starts

Joji Obara's appeals trial started Tuesday before the Tokyo High Court with his defense team arguing that the life sentence he received for serial rape and for causing the death of one of his victims is too harsh.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Mar 26, 2008

Can three experts all be wrong on looming disaster?

If you ask British scientist James Lovelock about the future of humanity, be prepared for a shock.
JAPAN
Mar 26, 2008

Permanent law on SDF overseas dispatch in the works: Fukuda

Looking to avoid another round of Diet wrangling over the dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said Tuesday that the government will draft permanent legislation during the current Diet session allowing for the dispatch of the SDF overseas for multinational operations.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 25, 2008

Hawker's kin in Japan to prod manhunt

Visiting Japan a year after her slaying, the parents and sisters of Briton Lindsay Ann Hawker voiced disappointment Monday that the fugitive sought in her killing remains at large.

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