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JAPAN
Apr 2, 2008

April 1 proves readers no fools

Barack Obama's half brother, Barracuda Obama, is doing well in Japan and wishes the Illinois senator luck in his quest for the U.S. presidency, the Tokyo Shimbun reported Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Mar 30, 2008

Ireland: From the quintessence of reaction — to what?

Second of two parts
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 26, 2008

Scary signs in BOJ debacle

HONG KONG — Even Google couldn't believe it. Asked to supply its best information about Koji Tanami, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's second "best available" candidate to be governor of the Bank of Japan (BOJ), the search engine instantly responded, "Do you mean Bank of Japan tsunami?"
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Mar 26, 2008

Northern lapwing

Japanese name: Tageri
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Mar 25, 2008

World Baseball Classic venues unveiled

Japan will begin its defense of the World Baseball Classic title on home turf.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Mar 25, 2008

Nendo's cabbage chair, Trico's ashtub and more

Next in line
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Mar 23, 2008

Time for facts, trivia about MLB games in Japan

Keep your eyes on the players participating for the Boston Red Sox and Oakland Athletics in this week's exhibitions and regular-season American League games at Tokyo Dome. Someone from those rosters will come back to play for a Japanese team, and you can take that to the bank.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 23, 2008

Utamaro, the women's brand name

UTAMARO AND THE SPECTACLE OF BEAUTY by Julie Nelson Davis. London: Reaktion Books, 2008, 269 pp., 114 illustrations, 66 color plates. £35 (cloth) Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806) is widely known as one of the most creative and influential artists of the ukiyo-e, those "pictures of the floating world" that...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 21, 2008

Anime universe shifts to Tokyo

Tokyo International Anime Fair 2008, one of the world's largest animation conventions, will be held at Tokyo Big Sight from March 27 to 30.
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 21, 2008

Shinsuke: A sip of sake in shitamachi

Slowly but surely word is getting out to the rest of the world: Japanese restaurants don't have to be formal, exquisite and jaw-droppingly pricey. Quite the opposite, in fact: Eating out in Tokyo can be casual, friendly, affordable and fun.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 16, 2008

Car industry hitting the bumps as wheels lose their cachet of cool

Anew TV commercial for insurance company Tokyo Kaijo Nichido features two newborns lying next to each other in a hospital maternity ward, telepathically discussing the "pleasures" that await them in life.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 14, 2008

Digging up a real gem of an Indian curry

Northern Indian cuisine — which features some of the country's most elaborate dishes — was largely influenced by the Moghuls, who invaded India from the Middle East in the eighth century. In addition to red meat, the Moghuls enjoyed poultry, nuts, saffron and ghee. Over the centuries a distinctive...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 13, 2008

An exciting liquid dance

Called the "Queen of German Dance Theater," Pina Bausch is one of the most influential avant-garde figures of our time. She is returning to Tokyo this month with her Tanztheater Wuppertal dance company for their 11th tour since 1986.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Mar 12, 2008

Black-faced spoonbill

* Japanese name: Kurotsura-herasagi * Scientific name: Platalea minor * Description: A large, white, striking bird with a black face and bill, and black legs. The bill is the most distinctive feature, being wider at the tip than in the middle, with a flattened end like a paddle or a spoon. The long...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2008

Media now gun-shy in Miura reportage

Ryo Sakamoto, a former editor of the major tabloid newspaper Tokyo-Sports, remembers the media frenzy in the 1980s over the case of Kazuyoshi Miura.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / SPORTS SCOPE
Mar 10, 2008

Pair of rookie hurlers could make big impact for their teams this season

While Hokkaido Nippon Ham rookie Sho Nakata continues to turn heads at the plate during the exhibition season it may be a pair of rookie hurlers that make the biggest difference this year.
CULTURE / Music
Mar 7, 2008

Pat Metheny "Day Trip"

Familiarity doesn't always breed contempt. Having played together on tour since 2003, guitarist Pat Metheny's new trio had performed live songs from his latest album, "Day Trip," before they even sat down to record it — in one or two takes per song — in just one day in October 2005. Taking over...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Mar 5, 2008

Easy-to-listen-to hits, soccer memories

Proven brand: Picking genuine designer goods from increasingly sophisticated ripoffs is tough. So Hitachi and printing maestro Toppan next month bring to Japan a high-tech method for seeing beyond the label. The IC Hologram is an RFID (radio-frequency identification) tag with a special hologram etched...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 2, 2008

Compartmentalizing Japanese using prefectural stereotypes

At the heart of the current argument over whether or not to continue the special gasoline tax is a question that gets overlooked: Does the central government have too much control over prefectural governments?
BUSINESS
Feb 28, 2008

Honda chief upbeat on prospects for fuel-efficient vehicles in U.S. market

Despite growing worries over a recession in the United States, Honda Motor Co. President Takeo Fukui said Wednesday he is not pessimistic about the prospects for its biggest automobile market.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 28, 2008

The time before the 'starchitects'

A brief respite from the 21st century's relentless demand for "starchitects" — exemplified by Rem Koolhaas, Tadao Ando and Frank Gehry — can be found at the Museum of Modern Art, Shiga, in "100 Years of W. M. Vories' Works."
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Feb 27, 2008

Snow crab

Japanese name: Benizuwaigani
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Feb 27, 2008

Excercise machines stride into the future, Sony reels into the retro past and Thanko's latest product sucks

Give exercise the finger:
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Feb 26, 2008

METAPHYS' LADD mag rack, Lemnos' new mirror and H Concept's PhotoHanger

Hanging vanity
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Feb 20, 2008

'Streetfighter IV' leads the coin-op charge

Making their debut on the arcade-entertainment scene at Chiba's Makuhari Messe exhibition venue on Saturday were Crimson Viper, a redhead with a predilection for cross-dressing and ultraviolence, and Abel, a Teutonic blond whose rippling physique seemed to bear the hallmarks of some serious steroid abuse....

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?