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Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 29, 2009

Consumer prices fall record 2.2%

Consumer prices fell at a record pace in July, adding to signs deflation will hamper a rebound from the nation's worst postwar recession, the government said Friday.
JAPAN / ELECTION 2009
Aug 28, 2009

Even Aso can't rely on shoo-in notion

IIZUKA, Fukuoka Pref. — Given his nationwide unpopularity, not a few candidates from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party would prefer that their leader, Prime Minister Taro Aso, not visit them during the election campaign lest this worsens their chances.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 28, 2009

'Martyrs'

What exactly is the definition of a horror film these days? The genre seems to have moved from its traditional goal of scaring the viewer to a more decadent phase in which extreme depictions of brutality and degradation seem to be its raison d'etre. Suspense and fright have been replaced by torture and...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 28, 2009

'Ballad: Namonaki Koi no Uta'

Takashi Yamazaki was known primarily as a computer-graphics whiz when he directed the ensemble drama "Always Sanchome no Yuhi" ("Always: Sunset on Third Street," 2005). True to form, the recreation of 1950s Tokyo by Yamazaki's team at the Shirogumi effects house was hyper-realistically detailed, while...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 28, 2009

the telephones get their disco on

Saitama quartet the telephones are unabashed disco aficionados.
EDITORIALS
Aug 27, 2009

Breathing a little easier

Each year the world's central bankers head for Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to take stock. Last year's meeting was dominated by the brewing economic crisis: Participants spent much of their time in a command center set up to monitor and respond to developments. The center was up and running again at this year's...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 27, 2009

Promise and peril of global change

MUNICH — Panta rhei. Everything flows.
JAPAN / ELECTION 2009
Aug 27, 2009

Mindan fights for foreigners' local-level suffrage

Foreigners won't have the right to vote in Sunday's election but the national association of South Koreans, the largest ethnic group of permanent foreign residents, is waging a rare political campaign to win local-level suffrage because it believes there is too much at stake this time.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 25, 2009

Taiji told to stop dolphin carnage or sister ties end

The town of Broome on the coast of Western Australia has put its sister city, Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, on notice: Stop the yearly dolphin slaughter or the relationship is off.
EDITORIALS
Aug 25, 2009

Homegrown food production

Japan's food self-sufficiency rate in calorie intake improved by about 1 percentage point to 41 percent in fiscal 2008, for the second straight annual rise. But, as farm minister Shigeru Ishiba said, one cannot hail the rise once various factors are taken into consideration.
JAPAN / ELECTION 2009
Aug 25, 2009

Tanaka battling in New Komeito heartland

AMAGASAKI, Hyogo Pref. — Yasuo Tanaka, the leader of New Party Nippon and former governor of Nagano, is attempting to unseat New Komeito heavyweight Tetsuzo Fuyushiba in a race widely seen as a test of Tanaka's popularity in a region where his volunteer activities after the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake...
COMMENTARY
Aug 24, 2009

Afghan health crisis defies aid efforts so far

NEW YORK — Afghanistan is going through a serious public health emergency, exacerbated by the unstable political situation in the region. Food shortages could leave 8 million Afghans — 30 percent of the population — on the brink of starvation, unless more effective aid is provided soon. Lack of...
BASEBALL / SPORTS SCOPE
Aug 23, 2009

Several NPB managers in danger of losing jobs

As the NPB season begins to head into the stretch run, an unusually high number of mangers find themselves on the hot seat — or at least very warm ones — as the Climax Series races begin in earnest.
JAPAN / ELECTION 2009
Aug 22, 2009

LDP kept voters at bay while watching popularity ebb

Just four years ago the ruling Liberal Democratic Party was flying high with strong public support under then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 21, 2009

Jeff Mills

As a critic, it's easy to bemoan a festival that invites a similar lineup of acts year on year, as does Yokohama's annual leftfield electronica romp Wire. But critics don't usually buy tickets to festivals (free passes are one of the perks of the job), so frankly, who cares what we think? If the punters...
BASKETBALL
Aug 21, 2009

Miyazaki, Shimane to join bj-league

The fast-growing, upstart bj-league will feature 16 teams for the 2010-11 season, the league announced on Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 21, 2009

Traveling through a symphony of art

Several weeks ago at the Fuji Rock music festival, I realized that I might be in the wrong game. The art world is about the object: You look at a work, often something inert, and attempt to discern from it an emotion, a meaning or a truth. But music irresistibly moves you, it mysteriously reaches through...
BUSINESS
Aug 21, 2009

BOJ may set preconditions for raising rates

The Bank of Japan may consider setting preconditions for ending its policy of keeping interest rates near zero should the economy deteriorate and deflation take hold, BOJ Policy Board member Atsushi Mizuno said Thursday. "It is an option to show our commitment to keep interest rates at extremely low...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 21, 2009

Aimee Mann clicks into a disturbed world

The title of Aimee Mann's latest album, "@#%&*! Smilers," does a good job of conveying the tone of the singer-songwriter's output, not to mention her wry sense of humor; which isn't to say Mann has nothing to smile about. After years of hassling with major record labels about the direction of her music,...

Longform

It's back to the classroom for some residents as municipal governments across the country conduct lessons to learn how to use new technologies.
Can aging Japan go digital without leaving anyone behind?