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Japan Times
SOCCER
Jul 8, 2009

Huge crowd turns out to welcome Ronaldo

MADRID (AP) Cristiano Ronaldo received a rapturous welcome from 80,000 Real Madrid fans Monday, an outpouring so exuberant the soccer star had to be hustled away when spectators leaped barriers and took the field.
COMMENTARY
Jul 7, 2009

Rule of law eludes Guantanamo detainees despite Obama's cheerleading for rights

NEW YORK — The Obama administration should show resolve in releasing Guantanamo Bay inmates or trying them in a court of law, says Navanethem Pillay, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jul 5, 2009

New Niigata stadium opens this week, could host expansion team someday

The Hiroshima Carp and Hanshin Tigers will play the first official games at the new Niigata Prefectural Stadium this week with consecutive nighters on July 7 and 8. If ever Japanese baseball was going to expand or a team was to be moved, Niigata would be the next obvious best place in the country to...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 3, 2009

ART iT transforms into digital forum

When Tokyo-based quarterly magazine ART iT announced the discontinuation of its print edition and that all content would move online following the publishing of its June 2009 issue, it seemed like yet another example of how the popularity of the Internet had combined with a global economic recession...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Jul 3, 2009

Imperial jazz festival 2009

The Imperial Hotels in Tokyo and Osaka will swing to the sound of jazz in August when they hold their annual, star-studded "Imperial Jazz Complex 2009" festival.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 3, 2009

Sheena Ringo

Following Sheena Ringo can be a frustrating business. Her third album, 2003's "Karuki Zamen Kuri no Hana" ("Lime, Semen, Chestnut Blossoms"), ranks as one of the most wildly ambitious pop records of the past decade, which made it all the more confounding when she ditched her solo career the following...
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Jul 1, 2009

Walsh still trying to clean up mess Thomas left

NEW YORK — In 14 months as Knicks president, Donnie Walsh's claim to fame is erasing two bloated salaries belonging to Zach Randolph and Jamal Crawford ($27,413,333) from New York's 2010 payroll, therefore, giving the team roughly $34 million in "additional" cap space to charm a couple collector items...
JAPAN / CONTROLS ON FOREIGNERS
Jul 1, 2009

Visa overstayers given too many breaks: rightist

Fourth in a series
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2009

Election is about local issues, not a national litmus test: Aoyama

Political parties and the media widely see the July 12 Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election as the last and biggest litmus test before a Lower House election that may see the Democratic Party of Japan unseat the ruling bloc.
EDITORIALS
Jun 30, 2009

A need to nurture scientists

Last year, four Japanese scientists, including one who became a naturalized American, received Nobel Prizes. Unfortunately, however, their achievements do not reflect the current state of science in Japan. The government's 2009 science and technology white paper shows that the foundation for basic science...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 26, 2009

Acid Mothers Temple vs. Kinski Japan Tour 2009

A pub debate between a few rummies and a bartender over analog and digital recording techniques ended with the involved parties forming a band together called Kinski in 1998.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 26, 2009

How to conjure worlds from the fewest words

One evening in late May, a cozy rehearsal room in Yokohama was more like a drill hall as Mikuni Yanaihara called for another run through a dance scene in her latest play, "Gonin Shimai" ("Five Sisters").
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 26, 2009

'The Visitor'

Maybe it's just me, but "The Visitor" recalls the slight fear mixed with slight resentment, that tends to assail non-American citizens going through U.S. immigration. It seems the quickest and most hassle-free way out of the booth and through the exit, is to stress that you're only visiting — and will...
EDITORIALS
Jun 25, 2009

Admission of illegal donations

The hearing in the trial of Mr. Mikio Kunisawa, the former Nishimatsu Construction Co. president charged with violating the Political Funds Control Law, began and was concluded on the same day last Friday. Mr. Kunisawa, who was indicted on a charge of providing ¥5 million in illegal political donations...
COMMENTARY
Jun 24, 2009

Iraq war is a tipping point

The British are to hold an inquiry into the origins and conduct of the Iraq war, and how Britain came to be so closely involved with the Americans in the 2003 Iraq invasion.
EDITORIALS
Jun 23, 2009

Criteria for radiation victims

Health and welfare minister Yoichi Masuzoe has announced that the government would not appeal to the Supreme Court the May 28 Tokyo High Court ruling that recognized 29 of 30 plaintiffs as sufferers of illnesses caused by radiation exposure from the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Among...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jun 21, 2009

Enoshima: Stepping back into 'old Japan'

Crossing Enoshima Benten Bridge to Enoshima Island in Sagami Bay, 80 km south of Tokyo, I was stopped in my tracks by a pair of mustard-eyed dragons slithering down gray granite lanterns. A man dismounted his bicycle and asked if I needed help. No, only his story, I replied.
EDITORIALS
Jun 20, 2009

Economic prognosis ticks up

The government on Wednesday upgraded its assessment of the nation's economy for the second month in a row, following a similar assessment made Tuesday by the Bank of Japan. Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Kaoru Yosano, who doubles as finance minister, even went as far to say, "It is strongly estimated...
JAPAN
Jun 20, 2009

Lower House passes bill revising foreign residency rules

The Lower House passed bills Friday making it easier for the Justice Ministry's Immigration Bureau to keep tabs on foreigners who have overstayed their visas as well as others residing legally in the country.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 19, 2009

Asian Kung-Fu Generation @ Nano-Mugen Festival

There are few success stories in Japanese rock as satisfying as Asian Kung-Fu Generation's. Formed at Yokohama's Kanto Gakuin University in 1996, the punk quartet slowly garnered a following in the Tokyo metropolitan area before appearing at both Fuji Rock and Summer Sonic in 2003. That same summer,...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 18, 2009

Ghost of appeasement still haunting EU ties

PRAGUE — One of the fundamental pillars of Europe's political architecture is a strong and enduring belief in the universal validity of equal, universal, and inalienable human rights.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / GLOBAL ECONOMY SYMPOSIUM
Jun 17, 2009

Japan Inc. must adapt to survive post-crisis global competition

In the post-financial crisis world economic landscape, people are increasingly turning to emerging markets as the new engine of global growth. But are Japanese companies ready to compete in the changing environment?
COMMENTARY
Jun 16, 2009

Jailing U.S. journalists could prove costly

LOS ANGELES — Call me a dupe of the commies if that makes you happy — I really don't care at this point. Maybe all these years I have been wrong to argue that we can negotiate with North Korea; maybe my critics are right and the regime does need to be either ignored and further isolated or, in the...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Jun 16, 2009

Hannaryz lay down groundwork at bj-league draft

As the bj-league's newest team, the Kyoto Hannaryz are building the foundation for their future.

Longform

Ayumi Matsuki, a priestess at Yoshiwara Shrine, shows off some "o-mamori" charms. She says visitors to the shrine have increased since the NHK drama “Unbound” began airing this month.
Tracing Tsutaya Juzaburo, Edo’s media maverick