Search - u_times

 
 
OLYMPICS
Aug 17, 2008

Entering uncharted waters

BEIJING — Countless media reports have reminded readers that Michael Phelps will probably make millions of dollars in endorsement deals after the Summer Olympics.
OLYMPICS / 2008 BEIJING OLYMPICS: TRACK AND FIELD
Aug 17, 2008

Bolt cruises to 100m Olympic gold

BEIJING — And the winner is — Usain "Lightning" Bolt!
Reader Mail
Aug 17, 2008

Efforts to rectify war record

Jeff Kingston's Aug. 10 article, "War and reconciliation: a tale of two countries," states that Chinese "uncritically accept Iris Chang's monochromatic view of war memory in Japan." Monochromatic? Hey, steady on. We are not talking about a war novel. We are dealing with a properly researched piece of...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 17, 2008

Indonesians put to the test on the job in Japan

When the first group of potential nurses and caregivers arrived from Indonesia on Aug. 7 as part of a new economic partnership agreement (EPA) with Japan, the numbers were confusing. According to the agreement, Japan would accept 500 workers in the first year and facilities throughout Japan said they...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Aug 17, 2008

There's a lot to learn from the life and times of Beate Sirota Gordon

"This film is a requiem to people who have been persecuted and died in war."
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
Aug 17, 2008

1908 Olympics, Tokyo drunks and a hot summer

100 YEARS AGO
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Aug 16, 2008

Heavyweights poised to dominate again

LONDON — Predicting the top four clubs at the end of the 2008-09 Premier League season is relatively easy.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 16, 2008

Rightwingers slam no-show ministers for lacking spirit

Hundreds of rightwingers and kin of the war dead made their annual pilgrimage to Yasukuni Shrine and lashed out at Cabinet members who gave the contentious Tokyo landmark a miss Friday, the 63rd anniversary of Japan's surrender.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS / 2008 BEIJING OLYMPICS: SWIMMING
Aug 15, 2008

Double glory as Kitajima repeats feat

BEIJING — Fifteen minutes after repeating as a double gold medalist at the Water Cube on Thursday morning, these were the final words of breaststroke specialist Kosuke Kitajima: "Ashita oyasumi."
OLYMPICS / 2008 BEIJING OLYMPICS: SWIMMING
Aug 15, 2008

Phelps feeling a bit overexposed

BEIJING — Perhaps the quick quip below best sums up the exhaustive media coverage Michael Phelps is receiving around the world as he attempts to break Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals in a single Olympics.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 15, 2008

Don't trust North, abductees' kin warn

Relatives of Japanese abducted by North Korea voiced concern Thursday that the government was rushing into an fruitless agreement with Pyongyang to resolve the long-standing issue.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 15, 2008

'Dosokai'

Nostalgia keeps changing. The music, TV shows and junk food that leaves one generation misty-eyed are regarded by the next as quaint curiosities from a distant past, until they finally pass into that dead, hallowed realm known as history.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 15, 2008

Don't panic! It's just a stadium

Las Vegas four-piece Panic at the Disco changed radically between their 2005 debut album "A Fever You Can't Sweat Out," which made them poster boys for the emo scene, and 2008's "Pretty. Odd.," where they paid homage to The Beatles and "Ogden's"-era Small Faces. Their set in Summer Sonic's vast Marine...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 14, 2008

Kutcher gets lucky — in Vegas and in life

Model turned actor and TV producer Ashton Kutcher is the first to admit he's a very lucky man. In the mid-1990s he auditioned for several U.S. TV series before joining "That '70s Show," which in 1998 launched his career as a nationally known face.
SPORTS / ODDS AND EVENS
Aug 14, 2008

'Underdog' Gay ready to face his date with destiny

BEIJING — I spent an hour listening to one of the three fastest men living on the planet speak in slow, articulate sentences earlier this week.
OLYMPICS
Aug 13, 2008

Phelps in esteemed company at top of Mount Olympus

BEIJING — Here's the answer to an obscure trivia question: Michael Phelps' middle name is Fred.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 13, 2008

Water shortage: China's looming problem

SINGAPORE — The Chinese government has made a huge effort to improve air quality and beautify Beijing for the Olympics. But it cannot apply a short-term "fix" to another problem that visitors to the Games will not see — the steady depletion of underground water supplies in northern China, where the...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 13, 2008

Don't let looks sucker punch you

Daria Abramova is an instant knockout, boasting a stunning combination of dark blonde hair, light brown eyes and candy-colored lips.
JAPAN
Aug 13, 2008

Three decades of peace with China celebrated

The 30-year-old peace treaty between Japan and China plays a key role in Asian and global stability and development, Chinese Ambassador to Japan Cui Tiankai said Tuesday in Tokyo.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 13, 2008

Ainu stepping out of social stigma

SAPPORO — For someone who grew up ashamed of her ethnic identity, they are powerful words.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Aug 13, 2008

Gamers can tap into their neural impulses

Head games: A magician's hand may be faster than your eye, but is your eye faster than hands on a keyboard? PC gamers now have the chance to find out with the new Neural Impulse Actuator (NIA) from OCZ Technology.
COMMENTARY
Aug 13, 2008

Georgia's giant miscalculation

The war in South Ossetia is essentially over, and the Georgians have lost. There may be some more shooting yet, but it is now clear that Georgia will never regain control of the rebel territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, that President Mikhail Saakashvili has handed Russia a major victory, and...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Aug 12, 2008

"Harry Potter" translator Yuko Matsuoka Harris

Yuko Matsuoka Harris, age 64, is the translator of the "Harry Potter" books in Japan and the president of the series' Japanese publisher, Say-zan-sha. Similar to the series' Hermione, Matsuoka has always been exceptional: As one of the best simultaneous interpreters in Japan, during her 30-year career...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 12, 2008

It ain't too bad being a joshi or a danshi

For a long time I couldn't pronounce the word otoko (男, man) without slightly blushing; I didn't much like the word in English either, but in Japanese it sounded a little vulgar and what women of my grandmother's generation would call hashitanai (はしたない, crude and ill-mannered).
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Aug 12, 2008

It's ghost season in Japan — who you gonna call?

If there are eerie goings-on in the neighborhood — and Halloween is still two months off — it could be because Japan's traditional "ghost season" maxes out at this time of the year.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 12, 2008

Artist puts a happy face on Olympics

Pictured on umbrellas paraded at the event, the happy faces of more than 1,000 children from around the world adorned Friday's opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics at the Beijing National Stadium, otherwise known as the Bird's Nest.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Aug 12, 2008

It's ghost season in Japan — who you gonna call?

If there are eerie goings-on in the neighborhood — and Halloween is still two months off — it could be because Japan's traditional "ghost season" maxes out at this time of the year.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS / 2008 BEIJING OLYMPICS: JUDO
Aug 10, 2008

Tani falls short in quest for gold

Her fighting spirit never wavered and her effort was never less than stellar, but judoka Ryoko Tani came up short in Beijing on Saturday in her quest to capture a third straight Olympic gold medal.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / JAPAN NATIONAL BASEBALL TEAM
Aug 10, 2008

Japan routed by CL squad in final tuneup

Japan's final Olympic tuneup featured a team that put on a gold medal-worthy performance both at the plate and on the mound on Saturday.

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