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Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Apr 29, 2008

Luxury fashion finds a friend

Collaborations have become such a widespread fashion marketing tactic in the last 20 years that some in style circles have dubbed the practice "the C word."
EDITORIALS
Apr 27, 2008

Ruling restricts free speech

The Supreme Court's Second Petit Bench on April 11 found three antiwar activists guilty of trespassing when they entered a housing compound of the Self-Defense Forces in Tachikawa, Tokyo, in January and February 2004 to distribute leaflets urging SDF personnel and their family members to oppose the deployment...
EDITORIALS
Apr 25, 2008

Disturbing death penalty trend

In a retrial ordered by the Supreme Court, the Hiroshima High Court sentenced a 27-year-old man to death Tuesday for strangling and raping a 23-year-old woman, then strangling her 11-month-daughter in Hikari, Yamaguchi Prefecture, in 1999. The Juvenile Law prohibits sentencing to death anyone who was...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Apr 25, 2008

Set the controls to quirk factor 10

After listening to Tokyo Pinsalocks' brilliant new minialbum "Planet Rita," it's frightening to think that the trio — bassist Hisayo, singer Naoko and drummer Reiko — almost sold their soul to the devil, and not the rock 'n' roll one at that, which would be cool. No, in a bid to get famous they almost...
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2008

Death-penalty foe fined by court

The Tokyo High Court on Wednesday overturned a lower court ruling and fined lawyer Yoshihiro Yasuda ¥500,000 for obstructing compulsory seizures of the assets of his client by moneylenders between 1993 and 1996.
BUSINESS
Apr 24, 2008

Exports grow 2.3%, worst pace since '05

Japan's exports rose in March at their slowest pace in almost three years as shipments to Asia lost momentum and the U.S. slowdown deepened.
EDITORIALS
Apr 23, 2008

Mr. Lee puts his best foot forward

Critical to the realization of the ambitious goals set by South Korea's new president, Mr. Lee Myung Bak, is the forging of a new relationship with the United States. Mr. Lee's five-day visit to the U.S. last week, which included a meeting at Camp David, the U.S. president's weekend retreat, went a long...
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Apr 22, 2008

Yellow dust storms getting worse

Each year, most of Japan's prefectures are affected by what is known as yellow dust, which appears as a yellow fog in the atmosphere for a few days, often in late winter and early spring. A mixture of des ert sand, arid topsoil and man-made pollutants from Central Asia, China and Mongolia, the annual...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 22, 2008

Summit wicked this way comes

You've probably heard about July's G8 Summit in Toyako, in my home prefecture of Hokkaido. In case you're unfamiliar with the event, here's a primer from the Foreign Affairs Ministry:
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Apr 20, 2008

Sojourner promoting game on and off court

There are professional athletes in all sports who fit this bill: They are outgoing, passionate about their chosen profession and more than willing to speak their mind about what they think the powers that be can do to improve the sport on levels.
COMMENTARY
Apr 18, 2008

A passport to peace in the Middle East?

TUCUMAN, Argentina — Daniel Barenboim, the noted Israeli musician, is no stranger to controversy. By recently accepting Palestinian nationality, although in itself only a symbolic act, he will only fuel the controversy about his role in the Middle East process.
BUSINESS
Apr 18, 2008

Ailing Hitachi subsidiary spurns U.S. fund's offer

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Inc., a U.S.-based hard-disk drive subsidiary of electronics giant Hitachi Ltd., said Thursday it will rebuild its business on its own, denying rumors it will sell part of its shares to U.S. investment fund Silver Lake Partners.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 16, 2008

Caution still advised for resilient Brazil

SAO PAULO — Less than a decade ago, Brazil's economy faltered at the first sign of instability in international financial markets. Today, by contrast, the country seems immune from global market turbulence — or so Brazilian officials believe.
BUSINESS
Apr 16, 2008

Lawson, Japan Post plan alliance

Lawson Inc., the nation's second-largest convenience store chain, may form a capital alliance with Japan Post Holdings Co. by the middle of the year.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Apr 15, 2008

Pecha Kucha! Ping! Monozukuri gets hot!

Good things come from small packagers, according to new online design magazine PingMag MAKE.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Apr 15, 2008

TSE shrugs off pitfalls in quest to be a hit

It was reported earlier this month that Tata Motors Ltd., India's largest automobile company, plans to debut on the Tokyo Stock Exchange this year.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Apr 15, 2008

An outside eye on Japan

In a nation traditionally seen as a monoculture, there's a multinational range of flowers blooming in Japan's current cultural crop. In the last several years there has been an influx of foreign-born creators — whether architects, designers or writers — and they are thriving in the local scene.
Japan Times
LIFE
Apr 13, 2008

Japan's tragic 'Titanic of Turkey'

The jagged rocks off Oshima Island break the surface of the ocean like so many knives strewn across the shallow water. Even on a calm day, they are a menacing reminder of the maze of reefs that surround this island in the Pacific just off the coast of Kushimoto, Wakayama Prefecture, in central Honshu....
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Apr 12, 2008

Playin' the look-alike game

It's a game my wife plays whenever she's bored.

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