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Reader Mail
Oct 21, 2007

Humor from a limited perspective

In his Oct. 14 letter, "Enough with the cockroach humor," Robert Lezzi severely criticizes the contributions regularly made to The Japan Times by Amy Chavez, dismissing her work as lame and "delivered in the guise of humor."
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Oct 21, 2007

The not-so-secret market potential of bubble-wrap bubbles

Ask your friends what handy fun items they carry around and most of them will mention their Nintendo DS or their mobile phone, on which they can watch TV, play games and read a novel. But more and more these days, they may also grin and say, "puchipuchi" — referring to the pleasure — and the sound...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 21, 2007

TV in cahoots with the shamed Kameda boxing clan

In the fuss over the Oct. 11 WBC flyweight title match between 33-year-old world champion Daisuke Naito and 18-year-old contender Daiki Kameda, the media has been the object of criticism as much as Kameda, who has since been punished with a one-year suspension by the Japan Boxing Commission for rules...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Oct 21, 2007

One man with a mighty passion for mannequins

Mannequins are a foil for fashion items, whether they be coats, stockings or even hairpieces. Few of us pause to wonder where those plastic dolls go after they grace the shop windows or decorate department store floors.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 20, 2007

Repeat offender sentenced to 14 years for confining and abusing four females

A 26-year-old man who, as a repeat offender, confined and sexually abused four women between 2003 and 2004 was sentenced to 14 years in prison Friday by the Tokyo District Court.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 20, 2007

Off and running in Australia

SYDNEY — They're off and racing. No sooner has Australian Prime Minister John Howard announced an election date than he is promising a $34 billion tax cut, the biggest in the nation's history.
COMMENTARY
Oct 19, 2007

Timely apology calms an Asian storm

LOS ANGELES — Donald Tsang, the executive leader of Hong Kong, recently apologized to his good citizens for something he said he didn't really mean. But the people of Hong Kong said they thought they heard it right the first time: that he believed the territory's rapid democratization, which many people...
JAPAN
Oct 19, 2007

Frayed com cable, not cell phone, may have delayed flight

Torn insulation on a cockpit cable — and not a mobile phone — might have been the cause of the communications breakdown that delayed an All Nippon Airways flight Wednesday, the transport ministry said.
CULTURE / Music
Oct 19, 2007

Various Artists "The Kings of Electro"
Ricardo Villalobos "Fabric 36"
Various Artists "Soundboy Punishments"

Three reasons to buy the double CD mix album "The Kings of Electro" — Various Artists (Hostess): It is an excellent introduction to old-school electro, that synth-heavy take on hip-hop indebted to Kraftwerk and funk; it provides a timely reminder that there was computer-generated dance music before...
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Oct 19, 2007

Ikebana comes together with music in Kyoto

Visit Kyoto by train and the first thing you will encounter will be Kyoto Station, an immense structure that was criticized by many of the city's inhabitants when it was completed as the antipathy of what the Japan's cultural capital stands for.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Oct 19, 2007

Berlin-based artists unite

Writer Yoko Tawada and jazz pianist Aki Takase will perform together on Nov. 2 as part of Art Complex 2007, a new project held by Kanagawa Kenmin Hall, which combines chamber music, art, theater and contemporary dance.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 19, 2007

'Stardust'

"People who know" say that fantasy is the next big thing in Hollywood. "People who know" obviously haven't seen "Stardust" yet.
JAPAN
Oct 19, 2007

Ruling bloc's MSDF bill rankles opposition in Diet

won't be able to get Diet approval in the Upper House, in which the opposition parties hold a majority in accordance with the public's will," Yamaoka told a news conference. "That is why the Diet's approval was omitted. . . . (The bill) is one-sided and merely convenient" for the ruling coalition. The...
Japan Times
Reference / Special Presentations / WITNESS TO WAR
Oct 18, 2007

The horror of war cannot be forgotten

Tenth in a series
CULTURE / Art
Oct 18, 2007

Eight must-sees as Mori Art embraces 'excess'

Chu Enoki, "RPM-1200" (2005): Chu's work is a standout, a shining metal city made of what look like industrial drill bits, massive screws and saw blades. It's a perfect example of the use of excess in a number of the works in the exhibition to convey the chaos of the present day urban experience.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / 2007 NPB PLAYOFFS
Oct 17, 2007

Satozaki sizzler powers Marines

SAPPORO — Masaru Takeda has probably seen enough of Tomoya Satozaki to last him a lifetime.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / 2007 NPB PLAYOFFS
Oct 17, 2007

Glynn comes up with goods

SAPPORO — With the Chiba Lotte Marines threatening to take control of the series, the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters were looking for a good game out of starting pitcher Ryan Glynn. He responded with the game of his life.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Oct 17, 2007

Individual variations and a sense of identity

I have recently returned to Japan from five astonishing weeks in the neotropics. Exploring and observing the riches of Brazil's Atlantic rain forest and Pantanal (the world's biggest wetland area) has left me overwhelmed by their biodiversity.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / 2007 NPB PLAYOFFS
Oct 16, 2007

Nishioka, Morimoto spark ballclubs as leadoff hitters

SAPPORO — Chiba Lotte's Tsuyoshi Nishioka and Nippon Ham's Hichori Morimoto are two of the biggest stars in Japanese baseball, despite neither really hitting for a lot of power or driving in a lot of runs.
LIFE / Language / KANJI CLINIC
Oct 16, 2007

Self-study sites welcome you to the world of kanji

When I first suggested in this column using Internet resources for learning kanji in 2001, a Yahoo search yielded 12,700 hits for "kanji learning." That number has now reached a staggering 1.4 million. New, sophisticated online kanji self-study resources are increasingly enabling foreign kanji learners...
MORE SPORTS
Oct 14, 2007

Young star Nagasu has priorities in order

The kanji in her first name means "future" and it is looking pretty bright for the young American skater with the Japanese name.
Reader Mail
Oct 14, 2007

Worldviews and movie reviews

It seems quite the norm for Japan Times film critic Giovanni Fazio to tell his readers that some movies (such as "United 97" and "300") are propaganda tools and not worth the price of admission, while writing glowing reviews for movies like "The Assassination of a President" or "Sicko," simply because...

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