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Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 4, 2008

Devo uphold their duty now for the future

As I sit down opposite the gray-haired man in a black shirt and glasses, someone comes to clear the clutter off the table — a stick-thin, retro-futuristic guitar that has been rigged for its strings to explode at the climax of a solo. His flame-haired partner takes a seat; he's wearing a full suit...
EDITORIALS
Aug 29, 2008

India's nuclear access

The Nuclear Suppliers Group ended last week's meeting inconclusively over the question of whether to grant India access to nuclear fuel and technologies for civilian use. The NSG, an international body composed of 45 member nations, including Japan, controls the trade in nuclear technologies and related...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Aug 27, 2008

Exploring Antarctica for key climate clues

The steamy hot days of summer make it very tempting to imagine an escape to the snow and ice of Antarctica, though few of us will ever have that chance. Shin Sugiyama, 39, a glaciologist at Hokkaido University, is one of the exceptions.
SPORTS / ODDS AND EVENS
Aug 17, 2008

Opening week creates stories the world over

BEIJING — More than a week has rapidly gone by since the Beijing Olympics started, and in that time dozens of heart-warming stories have filled up space in newspapers from Swaziland to Saitama.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 14, 2008

Shock tactics return

"The only thing humans, rats and crows have in common is garbage," announced Ryuta Ushiro, leader of artist unit Chim ↑ Pom, with a mischievous smile.
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
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Aug 1, 2008

Rhodes, Sato share All-Star home run derby title

Four of baseball's top sluggers — Tuffy Rhodes of the Orix Buffaloes, Tomoaki Kanemoto of the Hanshin Tigers, G.G. Sato from the Seibu Lions and Yomiuri Giants outfielder Alex Ramirez — competed in a home run derby before the first game of Nippon Professional Baseball's All-Star Series on Thursday....
BUSINESS
Jul 26, 2008

Inflation quickens as core prices rise 1.9%

Japan's consumer prices rose at the fastest pace in a decade in June as higher food and gasoline costs squeezed household budgets, slowing economic growth.
BUSINESS
Jul 25, 2008

No need now for rate hike: BOJ's Mizuno

Atsushi Mizuno, a member of the Bank of Japan's Policy Board, said Thursday the central bank's decision to keep interest rates on hold for now has a "positive meaning," indicating he sees no need for higher borrowing costs anytime soon.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Jul 24, 2008

Yoshida, Hoketsu provide compelling story lines

In less than two weeks, the bright lights in Beijing will shine on thousands of athletes.
Reader Mail
Jul 24, 2008

More questions than answers

Regarding the July 20 article "Teenager held in dad's stabbing": How bizarre we can get? A 15-year-old girl "admitted stabbing her father in the chest several times with a knife." She "didn't like to be told to study" by her parents. The police got a call "from the teen's family" saying "the daughter...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jul 22, 2008

Whaling: the meat of the matter

Whales are magnificent creatures I have always dreamt of seeing in the flesh. However, tucking into a slab of whale steak at a restaurant in Tokyo was not what I had in mind. Nevertheless, this was a close encounter with one of the world's largest mammals that I felt I could not duck out of: If I was...
COMMENTARY
Jul 17, 2008

New world order is long overdue

George Herbert Walker Bush, when he was president of the United States, used to talk a lot about a "new world order" emerging after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Seventeen years later, that new order is still not in place as the countries that dominated the old order refuse to make way for...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 17, 2008

Are 24-hour shops a waste of energy?

Are 24-hour convenience stores and other late-night businesses eco-friendly?
COMMUNITY
Jul 15, 2008

Lawmaker takes 9/11 doubts global: readers' responses

A number of readers wrote to the Community Page in response to John Spiri's June 17 Zeit Gist article on Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Yukihisa Fujita. Following is a selection of the responses.
JAPAN
Jul 15, 2008

Campaigners call for dual custody of children

Foreigners who have divorced their Japanese spouses are often denied access to their children.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jul 13, 2008

Self-praise abounds in the pages of wheeler-dealers' own obituaries

Japanese politicians are known for their perseverance and ingenuity, and the Diet may well be the last place in the country still offering lifetime employment.
JAPAN / G8 SUMMIT 2008
Jul 10, 2008

U.S., Britain to seek U.N. action targeting Mugabe, Brown says

TOYAKO, Hokkaido — Britain and the United States are pushing for further sanctions against the regime of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Wednesday.
COMMENTARY
Jul 7, 2008

Light in Iraq won't burn on optimism alone

LOS ANGELES — A measure of self-delusion can be healthy if it deters the outbreak of another round of perhaps even more dangerous and destructive self-delusion. This scenario was on display the other night at a presentation at the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, a traditional major forum for world...
BUSINESS / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
Jul 7, 2008

As Europe's barriers rise, Japan's decline

The eyes of the world will be focused on Japan this week as the Group of Eight Summit finally kicks off at Toyako, Hokkaido. The agenda is long and topped by how to deal with climate change. But there is one item that will not be highlighted, although it is of crucial importance to every G8 member —...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 6, 2008

Still 'efficient' G8 faces new realities

The 19th-century historian and political analyst Walter Bagehot divided affairs of state between what he called the dignified and the efficient. In the dignified category were great formal meetings of state, the pomp and ceremony surrounding heads of state and monarchs, and all the symbolic parades and...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 1, 2008

Toy makers cast their gaze on the future: talking dolls for grannies

Primopuel is a knee-high Japanese doll with soft, apple cheeks and big black button eyes. It comes in green and pink. When you cuddle it or talk to it, it talks back. It is for grandmothers.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 27, 2008

LDP's future as dicey as Humpty Dumpty's

BRUSSELS — Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda has been in office less than 12 months, yet polls show popular support for his administration running around 20 percent. Fukuda and his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) face a bleak future.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 26, 2008

Why should Barack Obama's religion matter?

Whether Barack Obama is or, at one point, was a Muslim should be a trivial matter in any society governed by secular, democratic dictates that apply to all, on equal footage, regardless of race, gender or religion. But in a society that is taking a turn toward the right, the matter is anything but inconsequential....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 18, 2008

Death sentences on the increase

Tuesday's hangings of serial killer Tsutomu Miyazaki and two other inmates come at a time when courts are more inclined to mete out capital punishment.

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