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Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 29, 2006

It's bureaucracy vs. bid to create security regime

Tokyo's sectionalist bureaucracy is the biggest obstacle to creating a centralized national security apparatus, said Yuriko Koike, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's national security adviser.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 23, 2006

Japan Folk Crafts Museum celebrates 70th anniversary

On first encountering Korean folk paintings, the avid collector Soetsu Yanagi (1889-1961) was so intrigued that he wrote, "The beauty of this Korean painting is beyond compare."
EDITORIALS
Nov 23, 2006

More of the same from APEC

The annual meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum was held last weekend in Hanoi. The Vietnamese hosts were no doubt pleased with the results. The conclave showcased the country's economic development and provided an exclamation point for Vietnam's accession to the World Trade...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Nov 23, 2006

Suspended in abstraction

'Maybe there are too many things in Tokyo," says Katsuhiro Saiki, "because for me, New York City is the only place where I can relax -- although I think it could be said that there are too many artists in New York City."
JAPAN
Nov 18, 2006

Education bill shifts power to the state

In the wake of Thursday's Lower House passage of the education reform bill, critics wonder whether news management may have been used to clear the path for what one commentator alleged to be a "fascist" power grab by the central government.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Nov 14, 2006

Van Cleef & Arpels' 'Treasures,' Kate Moss in Tokyo, Oakley on Cat Street . . .

Sleeping beauties When Estelle Arpels and Alfred Van Cleef opened their first boutique on Paris' hallowed Place Vendome in 1906, one of France's most revered jewelry maisons was born.
EDITORIALS
Nov 12, 2006

'Very happy, super horse'

It was an Irish poet, W.B. Yeats, who definitively captured in words the magic that attends a great horse race. In his poem "At Galway Races" (1909) he wrote:
CULTURE / Books
Nov 5, 2006

Following the paper trail to a modern Japan

JAPAN IN PRINT: Information and Nation in the Early Modern Period, by Mary Elizabeth Berry. Berkeley/Los Angeles/London: University of California Press, 2006, 325 pp., $45.95 (cloth). The title of this book is to be taken literally. "Japan in Print" is not about Japanese prints or printing in Japan,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Nov 5, 2006

Joi Ito: Master of multitasking

Joichi Ito, better known as Joi Ito, defies any one simple label.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 2, 2006

Love, Peace & Money?

Tokyo Design Week brings together international and local designers, manufacturers, retailers and entrepreneurs for a raft of exhibitions, gatherings and design-related events, and, of course, parties -- wherever designers get together, a party is not too far away. But apart from the civilized pleasure...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Oct 27, 2006

In the cool shade of the Maple Leaf

A pub is a pub, and a sports bar is a sports bar -- or so you might think. In fact, these watering holes come in subtle shades of cultural preference. All conveniently bear the bold colors of a national flag somewhere on the premises for ease of reference. No prizes for guessing which one you will find...
COMMENTARY
Oct 26, 2006

N. Korea: Who's to blame?

SEOUL -- "It's all Bush's fault!" "No, it's all Clinton's fault!" Has anyone engaged in this increasingly counterproductive debate over who should be blamed for North Korea's nuclear test ever stopped to consider that it might actually be Kim Jong Il's fault? . . . and that North Korean's "Dear Leader"...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Oct 15, 2006

Last rites for the memories as beloved dolls pass away

An opulent pair of Hime daruma prince and princess dolls from Ehime Prefecture in Shikoku has graced the living room of Tamiko Okamoto's home in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, since 1964. A wedding gift from a close friend, the dolls, side by side in a glass case, had been part of the family for all those...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Oct 3, 2006

Permanent visa can relieve pension pain

One of many foreign residents' biggest gripes about Japan is the requirement that they must pay into the Japanese pension system for as long as they work here, even though they won't stay long enough to receive any benefits. Permanent residency can help to side-step the issue without obliging somebody...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 25, 2006

Pope showed bias in misguided moment

HONG KONG -- What theological devil tempted Pope Benedict XVI earlier this month to make a byzantine reference to a long-forgotten Christian emperor who, under siege in Constantinople (now Istanbul) from Muslim forces, made derogatory remarks about the Prophet Muhammad's instruction to spread Islam by...
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2006

Foreigners to need 'skills' to live in Japan

A Justice Ministry panel discussing long-term policies for accepting overseas workers said Friday the government should seek out those with special skills and expertise to cope with the shrinking labor force in Japan.
CULTURE / Music
Sep 15, 2006

Yuki "Wave"

With her Minnie-Mouse-on-helium voice and overt Bjorkisms, there's no denying that Yuki is one of J-pop's most colorful stars. But after her success fronting Judy And Mary, Yuki's solo sound was far from consistent until, after two dodgy albums, she hit her stride with 2005's "Joy," an out-and-out pop...
EDITORIALS
Sep 8, 2006

Japan joins the Great Game

Acentury ago, Russia and Britain contested for influence in Central Asia in a competition known as the Great Game. One hundred years later, Central Asia remains a vitally important region, and the governments fighting for influence have increased, and now include Japan.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 5, 2006

Change needed at Yasukuni

In the Washington Post article that ran on this page Aug. 22, "Much to-do about a shrine," conservative U.S. commentator George Will suggests that Shinzo Abe, the front-runner in the Liberal Democratic Party's presidential race, stop visiting Yasukuni Shrine, the memorial for Japan's war dead, if he...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Sep 2, 2006

Keane-McCarthy antipathy makes for intriguing matchup

LONDON -- Circle the date in your diary -- Nov. 25, Wolves vs. Sunderland.
COMMENTARY
Aug 31, 2006

Defuse crisis by letting Tehran save face on nuclear issue

NEW DELHI -- With Iran rebuffing the United Nations Security Council, yet another global hot spot is emerging in the vast but volatile region between India and Israel. This arc of volatility between the only two democracies in the region has been made worse by the developments in Iraq, Lebanon, Gaza,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 31, 2006

The search for 'nihonga' clouds artistic judgements

While proponents of contemporary Japanese art do not seem quite as preoccupied with attempts to shock as their Western counterparts, for curators and creators with an eye on finding fame and fortune overseas, courting controversy can seem almost like an obligation.
BASKETBALL
Aug 29, 2006

LeBron has America's young guns shooting

Indisputably wise beyond his years, more confident than his peers, LeBron James lounged comfortably in front of cameras and microphones at a Tokyo hotel on Monday afternoon, gazed at the assembled crowd and uttered one short sentence that reveals the true essence behind his success.
JAPAN
Aug 22, 2006

Aso declares candidacy for LDP race

Foreign Minister Taro Aso officially declared his candidacy Monday for the Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election, throwing his hat into a ring where Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe is already expected to win by a landslide.

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan