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Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 1, 2008

Inside the Japanese pub

Mark Robinson, author of "Izakaya: The Japanese Pub Cookbook" (Kodansha International, May 2008) is recently back in Tokyo from New York, where he spent three weeks "signing books at stores like Barnes & Noble, meeting people and seeking inspiration."
JAPAN
Oct 31, 2008

Naturalist Nicol gives Prince Charles forest tour

SHINANO, Nagano Pref. — Emperor and Empress? Check. Prime Minister Taro Aso? Check. So who else did Britain's Prince Charles catch up with during his five-day visit to Japan? None other than longtime Japan Times columnist, naturalist and author C.W. Nicol.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 30, 2008

Oh's career sparkled with achievements as player, manager

Second in a three-part series
Reader Mail
Oct 26, 2008

Indian vs. Chinese progress

Regarding Brahma Chellaney's Oct. 23 article, "Remember the China lesson": Some questions remain unanswered in the author's comparison of the economic progress made by China and that made by India.
COMMENTARY
Oct 24, 2008

A Republican general's warning to America

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — It was a revealing moment in American politics. In endorsing Barack Obama for president of the United States over fellow Republican John McCain, Colin Powell was not simply giving his blessing to this candidate. That was the easy part.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / LIQUID CULTURE
Oct 24, 2008

Stir up memories in bars of yore

In hard times such as these you can always find solace in a drink; just make it one that reminds you of better days. Here are eight great Tokyo bars that ooze nostalgia. Some serve classic cocktails, some survived the war, and most of them seem to have served author Yukio Mishima.
COMMENTARY
Oct 23, 2008

Remember the China lesson

Each visit to China is a reminder of the power of global liberalizing influences. China has come a long way since the Tiananmen Square massacre of prodemocracy activists nearly two decades ago. It has opened up to the extent that it hosted this month an Asia-Europe conference of nongovernmental organizations...
Reader Mail
Oct 23, 2008

Rules for unsubsidized whaling

Regarding Mark Brazil's Oct. 15 article, "Let them eat whales!": The author over-emphasizes, I think, the contamination dangers of eating whale meat insofar as it comes from Antarctic minke whales, although specific and monitored identification is needed, which evidently is not done at present. This...
Reader Mail
Oct 23, 2008

Changing worldview a good thing

Reading the first lines of the article "Japan in a post-U.S. world," I really wonder if the author seriously means this. What the United States is doing is trying to force everybody into the mind-set that it has. This can be seen in Japan.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 21, 2008

Addiction to the worst of worlds

COPENHAGEN — Have you noticed how environmental campaigners almost inevitably say that not only is global warming happening, but that what we are seeing is even worse than expected?
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Oct 21, 2008

Japan's spies: What cloak, dagger?

How ill is Kim Jong Il?
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 19, 2008

Moving from Christian to Muslim democracy

BUDAPEST — This past summer, Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) narrowly escaped being banned by the country's constitutional court. State prosecutors alleged that the party was trying to "Islamicize" the country and ultimately introduce theocracy. After the decision, not only did...
Reader Mail
Oct 19, 2008

Argument for curtailing liberties

Regarding the Oct. 7 article " 'Gaijin' mind-set is killing rural Japan": The author (Debito Arudou) seems to be forgetting that people in Japan, a democratic country, are free to associate and speak with whomever they wish, even if it is to their detriment. If someone does not like living in a certain...
BUSINESS
Oct 18, 2008

Paulson 'on road to kill all banks'

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's plan to inject capital into U.S. banks won't provide them with the liquidity they need and most will fail, said Kenichi Ohmae, president of Business Breakthrough Inc.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 17, 2008

'Makiguri no Ana'

Japanese horror once struck a lot of fans in the West as fresh because it was less about fantastical creatures — say, flesh-eating zombies — than everyday dread. Instead of popping up out of nowhere, fear crept up like sinister fog from apparently mundane places and things — a moldy apartment,...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 16, 2008

Defining moment in history

Rising geopolitical risks have been underscored by today's multiple global crises — from a severe global credit crunch and financial tumult to serious energy and food challenges.
JAPAN
Oct 16, 2008

Guides help consumers pick 'sustainable sushi'

NEW YORK — Mackerel is in but octopus is out. And bluefin tuna, known as the king of sushi for its fatty belly meat, is a definite no-no.
JAPAN
Oct 16, 2008

Elderly offenders on rise

In August, a 79-year-old woman went on a slashing spree in Tokyo's bustling shopping and entertainment district of Shibuya, wounding two female passersby before being arrested by police.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Oct 15, 2008

Let them eat whales!

Whales once fueled the industrialized world. First there was wood, then coal fired its steam engines alongside seal oil and whale oil that powered and lit the age of "dark satanic mills."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Oct 12, 2008

Murasaki Shikibu glimpsed behind the screens of time

"Genius" is one of those overused words, but few would argue that it is rightly applied to Murasaki Shikibu, whose book "The Tale of Genji" is not only the world's first novel, but is a work that has delighted and perhaps even guided countless millions of people in the 1,000 years since she wrote it....
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 10, 2008

'Pumping station' or bust

Last week I discussed two key points in dealing with the U.S. financial crisis: The first was that U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson's plan to buy up bad assets is not the priority; a liquidity facility is. The second was that a "wolf-pack" psychology will prevail without a "pumping station" of liquidity...
COMMENTARY
Oct 5, 2008

Election won't remake Mideast

LONDON — U.S. President George W. Bush sounded much less uncertain of his peace "vision" when he received the Palestinian Authority's Mahmoud Abbas in Washington on Sept. 25.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 2, 2008

What is needed to make the U.S. financial bailout plan a success

The refusal of the U.S. House of Representatives to pass the $700 billion bailout plan Monday may turn out to have been appropriate if the Congress correctly understands the priorities at hand. The issue is not whether the situation should be left to the market or whether the government should save those...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 1, 2008

Sarah Palin doesn't deserve women's votes

NEW YORK — The selection of Sarah Palin as John McCain's running mate hit the United States like an electric storm. To her legions of lipstick-waving fans on the right, Palin is a down-to-earth, God-fearing "hockey mom" whose moose hunting, evangelical faith and even chaotic family life are all evidence...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 30, 2008

Berlitz strike grows despite naysayers

As union representative for Berlitz General Union Tokyo (Begunto), let me set the record straight.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Sep 29, 2008

U.S., Japanese crises share factors from Great Depression

The upheaval in the U.S. financial system since Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 two weeks ago has triggered turmoil worldwide.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Sep 28, 2008

Talking of fanatics, careerists, cynics . . . and true believers

"We're doing the worst thing to you: We're depriving you of an enemy."
CULTURE / Books
Sep 28, 2008

Western heroes in Asia: missing and believed dead

A certain thriller novel, whose title shall remain unnamed, was recently plopped into my hands by a friend whose career included an extended stint on a colonial police force. "I had trouble getting through it," he said, sounding glad to be rid of it.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 25, 2008

Misuse of the inaction argument

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — One commonly repeated argument for doing something about climate change sounds compelling, but turns out to be almost fraudulent. It is based on comparing the cost of action with the cost of inaction, and almost every major politician in the world uses it.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Sep 24, 2008

You know IG makes common sense: a re-energized U.S.

What if nations around the world were to adopt intelligent systems that would revolutionize the way we produce and consume energy?

Longform

A man offers prayers at Hebikubo Shrine in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. The shrine is one of several across the country dedicated to the snake.
Shed your skin and reinvent yourself in the Year of the Snake