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Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 15, 2007

In dark woods

The Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine in Kyushu is a peaceful, tranquillity-filled spot detached from the bustle of big cities like Fukuoka, a half-hour drive away. It has been a place of worship since it was built on the grave of Michizane Sugawara, a beloved high-ranking Heian Period official who died in exile...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 14, 2007

IRCJ chief satisfied as bailout body prepares to wind down

Atsushi Saito, president of the Industrial Revitalization Corp. of Japan, is confident the government-backed bailout agency has done more than revive ailing companies.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Mar 13, 2007

Japan is obliged to accept refugees, so why so few?

In 1981, Japan signed the U.N. 1951 Conventions Relating to the Status of Refugees and in 1982, it inked the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees and enacted the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law. Signatories are obliged to give refugees due recognition and protect their basic...
SOCCER
Mar 13, 2007

Inter downs AC in Milan derby

ROME (AP) Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored Sunday to lead Inter Milan to a come-from-behind 2-1 win over city rival AC Milan.
SOCCER
Mar 13, 2007

Multiplex hands over Wembley

SYDNEY (AP) London's Wembley Stadium has been officially handed to its owners by Australia's Multiplex Group after more than a year of delays to the reconstruction of the iconic sports ground.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 13, 2007

What women want is to be treated 'like a girl'

Since the Danjyo Koyo Kikai Kinto Ho (Equal Employment Opportunity Law) kicked in two decades ago, it's become the norm for women to work as hard and long as men, though not necessarily under the same conditions. Accordingly, money matters between danjyo (men and women) have become a lot more complicated....
BASKETBALL / ONE-ON-ONE WITH ...
Mar 11, 2007

Takamatsu's Nakagawa reaped benefits from time spent playing pro ball overseas

The Japan Times will be featuring periodic interviews with players in the bj-league -- Japan's first professional basketball circuit -- which is in its second season. Kazuyuki Nakagawa of the Takamatsu Five Arrows is the subject of this week's profile.
EDITORIALS
Mar 11, 2007

Long road to rehabilitation

The announcement last June by Yubari, Hokkaido, a former coal-mining town now known for the Yubari brand of melon, that it had effectively gone bankrupt sent shock waves throughout the nation because many cities, towns and villages face a similar financial crisis. The city has adopted, and the government...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Mar 11, 2007

What will happen to all that Japanese boomers' cash?

Hurry! Don't miss out! Yamaha, the giant musical-instrument manufacturer, is offering three-month ukulele courses! Or, the more adventurous can avail themselves of the services of travel agents at JTB who are promoting a six-day tour -- or an eight-day rongubakeeshon (long vacation) tour of Hawaii, where...
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Mar 10, 2007

HeatDevils need more Ayer

After the opening tipoff, every statistic that is quickly jotted down on a sheet of paper or frantically typed into a computer becomes a permanent piece of a game's history.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 10, 2007

Hit's failure to woo Japan baffles inventor

In the U.K. over Christmas, 300,000 electronic Test Tube Aliens flew off toy store shelves to encourage kids to be both active and interactive nurturers.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 9, 2007

'Paradise Now'

Just last week I was complaining about how rare it is to see a film on Africa that has an African, not Western, perspective. You could say the same thing about the Middle East, where even a well-intentioned film like "Syriana" views the region mostly through the avatars of George Clooney and Matt Damon....
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 9, 2007

'Crying dragons' part of Yamanashi temple tour

Interested in Buddhist temples? Then sign up to a 2-hour tour -- in English -- given by the Yamanashi Interpreter and Guide Society (YIGS) of Zenko-ji Temple in Kofu City, Yamanashi Prefecture, on March 11. Kofu is 90 minutes by Limited Express from Shinjuku Station.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Mar 9, 2007

This wine school gets better with age

Japan's oldest and largest wine school, the Academie du Vin, is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Something of an institution in Japan's wine world, the academy has turned out more than 30,000 graduates in its two decades of operation. But rather than rest on its laurels, the school continues...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 9, 2007

'Two Sons of Francisco'

At times the tried and true formula works best and this is certainly the case in "Two Sons of Francisco," a Brazilian box-office superhit that had the whole nation rushing to the theaters -- over 5.5. million.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 9, 2007

Ethereal beings

Twenty years ago when he was in his mid-20s, Yukikazu Kano founded the Hanagumi Shibai Theater Company to start what he called "neokabuki." His idea was to bridge the gap between the traditional and contemporary theater fields in Japan.
BASKETBALL
Mar 8, 2007

Assistant coach Boettcher hopes to find more like Nakayama

Editor's note: This is the second of a two-part series on Utah Valley State's connection to Japanese basketball. The Wolverines' season concluded Saturday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 8, 2007

Confusing the categories

Maybe it's just as well that the Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura was as deserted as it was, because the sculpture of Wakiro Sumi is art that whispers rather than shouts. At one of Tokyo's busier museums or galleries, with your head still abuzz with the screech of traffic, the blitz of advertising, and...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Mar 8, 2007

The Germans come to play

In most all of the world's larger cities, traditionally the grandest buildings have been religious in orientation. As places of congregation, they were necessarily characterized by large open spaces. As conduits to the spiritual, their design included surging spires, pagodas or minarets. The current...
EDITORIALS
Mar 8, 2007

Lack of transparency spells trouble

China plans to increase its defense budget by 17.8 percent to $44.94 billion in fiscal 2007 from the previous year's actual level. The boost, announced a day before the start of an annual session of the National People's Congress, is the largest since a 19.4 percent jump in fiscal 2002. China's defense...
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Mar 7, 2007

Wizards-Warriors finish strange as it gets

NEW YORK -- Sunday's one-point Wizards' win over the Warriors was one of the most bizarre finishes in NBA history.
Reader Mail
Mar 7, 2007

Yasukuni's spiritual integrity

Illuminate new facts and reinterpret old facts to develop a more accurate and truthful understanding of what happened in East Asia between, say, the middle of the 19th century and the end of World War II? Fine. With a focus on Japan, China and the United States during the 1930s and 1940s? Fine. This...
Reader Mail
Mar 7, 2007

Teach patriotism at school

Regarding the Feb. 18 article "Whose Japan deserves youth's patriotism now?": I believe patriotism must be taught at school. Since 2000, some 875 public school teachers have refused to pay their respect to the national flag and anthem at school ceremonies. Given the influence they wield as teachers,...
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Mar 7, 2007

Coo-ee! Or how to snipe posh pigeons

Iwas just turned 20, and earlier in the year I had quit teachers' training college in the genteel Cotswolds town of Cheltenham in rural western England. I was earning money by working part-time at a slaughterhouse as a skinner, helping out as a bouncer at a jazz club and fighting in two or three professional...

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