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LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Aug 22, 2007

Multitasking watches and solar iPod rechargers

No craze is complete without its own gadgets. This new Sudoku aid looks just like another Japanese obsession — the "keitai" — with players using the number keypad to enter their sudoku answers. It costs ¥1,029, with more information available at item.rakuten.co.jp/wnd-minakuru/4582256_900052/. If...
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Aug 1, 2007

Yamanote Line clocks — perfect for torturing Tokyo commuters

C locks make marvelous torture de vices. For sheer infliction of pain it's hard to top a creation that's dedicated to wrenching you out of your hard-won sleep. Throw in the fact that they insist on rousing you in time to cram yourself into a sardine can on wheels known as a train and you are adding pain...
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Jul 25, 2007

Glowing mini-fridge/heater, the world's smallest robot

Miniature fans are just so standard fare as office accessories for the long hot days of summer. International Trading Kansai Co. has crafted something rather more compelling, a minifridge that looks like a giant egg. Available in 6-liter and 10-liter sizes, the gadget gives you the option of keeping...
EDITORIALS
Jul 23, 2007

Ruling for fair trading

The Tokyo District Court on Thursday sentenced Mr. Yoshiaki Murakami, a former maverick fund manager, to two years in prison for insider stock trading. The prison term, without a suspension, shows that the judiciary is determined to deal severely with illegal trading activities to ensure sound and equitable...
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Jul 18, 2007

Mirror, mirror, in the phone and portable photo storage

Videophones might be the future of communication, but there is more than a whiff of narcissism about them. After all, whose self-image is such that they believe the person at the other end actually wants to gaze at their visage? Thanko is appealing to the powers of the ego with its Mirror WebCamera....
EDITORIALS
Jul 14, 2007

Zeal to expand 'defense' missions

The 2007 white paper on defense, the first such government report since the Defense Agency was upgraded to the Defense Ministry, stresses that the Self-Defense Forces must become an organization that can better cope with crises and contribute to world peace, saying the days are gone in which the SDF...
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Jun 27, 2007

Finding a final resting place for retired mobile phones

No self-respecting person is going to toss out their address book into the street for one and all to peruse at their leisure. It would invite too horrendous a violation of privacy. So, it is only natural that we are loathe to trust our retired "keitai" to the tender mercies of the communal trash, especially...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 14, 2007

In focus: 150 years of Japanese photography

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the oldest-known photograph taken by a Japanese person. Yet it is only in recent years that Japanese have started to take a serious interest in the history of early photography in this country, according to Terry Bennett, a London-based photo-historian.
COMMENTARY / World
May 17, 2007

A private affair, or not?

PRAGUE — Can a public figure have a private life? Recent events in three countries have highlighted the importance of this question.
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
May 16, 2007

Gadgets fall prey to multitasking, and a mouse keeps an eye on your computer

P eople these days are more like ly to remember to take their keitai in the morning than their keys. After all, the later only protects your life's property and valuables, whereas your mobile phone makes life worth living. Or at least it seems to be for those who spend more time with their portable communicators...
JAPAN
May 12, 2007

State wants Murakami to forfeit 1 billion yen

Prosecutors on Friday asked the Tokyo District Court to send Yoshiaki Murakami to prison for three years, fine him 3 million yen and make him forfeit 1.1 billion yen to cover the estimated profit he made in 2004 and 2005 on alleged insider trading involving Nippon Broadcasting System Inc.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
May 11, 2007

Peace is found in a historic town

Not since my Adidas-donning days in my hometown Croydon (famous as the breeding ground of chavs) in southeast London, have I ridden trams around town, and even then it was only to pick up a Chinese take-away and buy the odd large hoop earring. So, when I visited Nagasaki with a couple of friends, touring...
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
May 5, 2007

Modify Constitution for modern world, scholar urges

Born in 1949, baby boomer Setsu Kobayashi thanks the postwar Constitution for the freedom, peace and democracy Japan has enjoyed since its debut.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
May 1, 2007

Are new rules kind to hostile mergers?

Delayed for a year because of strong opposition from domestic firms frightened by the prospect of being taken over, the so-called triangular merger system becomes legal Tuesday.
JAPAN
May 1, 2007

U.S. admiral confident of missile shield effectiveness

proven that capability. I have great confidence in that capability," he said. The commander of the Hawaii-based fleet admitted the system is "very expensive" but said it is because of the advanced nature of the technology involved and that he is pleased with the progress in developing the capability...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 19, 2007

'Profile ads' riding back of SNS boom

If in recent days you happened to visit the Mobile Game Town community, a social networking site for cell phone users, you may well have bumped into a character named Fanta.
Reader Mail
Apr 15, 2007

Who will judge what's 'false'?

Regarding the April 7 front-page article "Cabinet OKs bill to boost grip on broadcasters": The fears of censorship are entirely understandable. Japan must have laws covering fraud. But don't such laws already apply to broadcasters?
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 10, 2007

At 6.6 trillion yen, gay, lesbian market no small niche

Japan has an estimated 2.74 million people who are either lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, and in terms of targeting a niche market, they have a combined purchasing power of 6.64 trillion yen -- the equivalent of the nation's liquor consumption.
JAPAN
Mar 21, 2007

Murakami no inside trader, Horie testifies

Convicted Livedoor Co. founder Takafumi Horie on Tuesday found himself again before the Tokyo District Court, this time testifying in defense of financier Yoshiaki Murakami against charges of insider trading.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Mar 20, 2007

Where do you browse online?

Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 3, 2007

Ex-pat on a mission of life-saving dimensions

In 1982, I was successfully treated for cervical cancer. At that time I had little idea that my tumor was linked to sexually transmitted disease. Thanks to American Carol Baird -- who says that as a survivor I am one of the lucky ones -- I now know better.

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo