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Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Jul 16, 2008

Lives and a death

CHUKOTKA, Russia — This month, instead of writing this column as usual at my desk in Hokkaido, I am writing from a desk on board the Clipper Odyssey as we cross the Gulf of Anadyr in Russia's far northeastern Chukotka region. Our voyage began at Otaru, Hokkaido, and we have taken in southern Sakhalin,...
COMMUNITY
Jul 15, 2008

Lawmaker takes 9/11 doubts global: readers' responses

A number of readers wrote to the Community Page in response to John Spiri's June 17 Zeit Gist article on Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Yukihisa Fujita. Following is a selection of the responses.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 15, 2008

Famed electronics hub still sparks the curious, bizarre

Tokyo's Akihabara district draws throngs not only with its hundreds of electronics shops but also because it is the mecca for "otaku" computer geeks, and fans of "manga" and "anime" pop culture.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jul 13, 2008

Self-praise abounds in the pages of wheeler-dealers' own obituaries

Japanese politicians are known for their perseverance and ingenuity, and the Diet may well be the last place in the country still offering lifetime employment.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jul 13, 2008

Tips from Japan that really work

URAWAZA: Secret Everyday Tips and Tricks From Japan, by Lisa Katayama, with illustrations by Joel Holland. Chronicle Books, 2008, $14.95 (paper) Ever want to cure a stuffy nose, but nothing works? Try stuffing scallions up your nostrils. Your bedmate won't stop snoring? Tape a tennis ball to her back....
COMMENTARY
Jul 11, 2008

Life and death of an American editing legend

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — An over-used cliche in the American language is that some man or woman is or was "larger than life." As with most cliches, this one can render a measure of value by capturing the aura of an unusual individual.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 11, 2008

'Gake no Ue no Ponyo'

Hayao Mizayaki is the reigning giant of Japanese animation — and the Japanese box office. Since "Majo no Takkyubin (Kiki's Delivery Service)" in 1989, every Miyazaki film has been a smash hit, drawing the widest possible audience. In 2001, his coming-of-age fantasy "Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (Spirited...
COMMENTARY
Jul 10, 2008

Travails of a nuclear deal

In the twilight of George W. Bush's presidency, there is an unseemly rush in Washington and New Delhi to seal a contentious but far-from-complete civil nuclear deal, even as that issue has landed India in a political crisis.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 10, 2008

Asian stars united by earthquake disaster

'When it has to happen, it will happen," declares a bullish Judy Ongg, a Taiwan-born actress, singer and novelist based in Japan. "When you think it has to be done, you have to do it yourself."
JAPAN / G8 SUMMIT 2008
Jul 8, 2008

Ainu artist, activist has spent a lifetime fighting prejudice

Shizue Ukaji was born in March 1933 in a small southern coastal area of Hokkaido known as Urakawa.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 5, 2008

Exorcising Musharraf's ghost

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Following its recent free elections, Pakistan is rebounding politically. But the euphoria that came with the end of the Musharraf era is wearing off, as the new government faces stark choices.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Jul 1, 2008

"The Roar," "Waves"

"The Roar," Emma Clayton, Chickenhouse; 2008; 473 pp. 'The sun was setting over the Atlantic and as it ran like molten gold into the waves, a girl in a Pod Fighter ripped through the scene, like graffiti sprayed across a landscape painting, and for a few startled moments, the sun and the sea trembled."...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 30, 2008

Best way to beat the oil barons

Over the past 18 months, oil prices have more than doubled, inflicting huge costs on the global economy. Strong global demand, owing to emerging economies like China, has undoubtedly fueled some of the price increase. But the scale of the price spike exceeds normal demand and supply factors, pointing...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jun 29, 2008

286 reasons to reflect on a Japan long gone, but worthy of reflection

I recently gave a talk on Japanese culture to a group of foreign students at Tokyo Institute of Technology. They hailed from a variety of places, including Scandinavia, the United States and Asian countries. I began by asking them to give me a keyword or two that they thought characterized Japanese life...
Reader Mail
Jun 29, 2008

Theory full of logical fallacies

I was quite surprised to see John Spiri's June 17 Zeit Gist article, "Lawmaker takes 9/11 doubts global," because, despite Yukihisa Fujita's credentials as a Diet member, he is simply repeating the tired intonations of completely discredited theories regarding the events of 9/11.
OLYMPICS
Jun 28, 2008

Diver Ishimatsu has good shot at U.S. team for Beijing

For Olympic fans, there's a new Japanese-American athlete to keep an eye on. And she has the potential to be a household name for years to come.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Jun 28, 2008

The truth behind the 'Origin of the Species'

COMMENTARY / World
Jun 26, 2008

Why should Barack Obama's religion matter?

Whether Barack Obama is or, at one point, was a Muslim should be a trivial matter in any society governed by secular, democratic dictates that apply to all, on equal footage, regardless of race, gender or religion. But in a society that is taking a turn toward the right, the matter is anything but inconsequential....
Reader Mail
Jun 26, 2008

Military ships 'safer' than tankers

Kiroku Hanai's June 23 article, "Flattop can forget about a haven from controversy," is another example of selective journalism attempting to discredit the U.S. military or unreasonably worry citizens here.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jun 25, 2008

All hail capitalism, mendacious destroyer of life on Earth

If you're hoping that the representatives of the world's richest nations meeting in Hokkaido for the G8 Summit next month will take action on climate change, you're in for a disappointment.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Jun 25, 2008

Japanese Facebook takes Model T approach

Late last month, as part of a rare work-vacation trip to Asia, Mark Zuckerberg made a quick stop in Tokyo to announce the launch of Facebook Japan.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 22, 2008

Adding too much fiction to the history

PEARL HARBOR: A Novel of December 8th, by Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen. New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2007, 366 pp., $25.95 (cloth) Last week, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich said on CBS-TV that the U.S. Supreme Court decision to allow enemy combatants to challenge...
COMMENTARY
Jun 20, 2008

Tribute to the good sense of a brighter Bush

LOS ANGELES — We in the West are always grateful and utterly relieved when East Asians manage to take significant steps away from the risk of serious conflict.
JAPAN
Jun 19, 2008

Radical immigration plan under discussion

Foreigners will have a much better opportunity to move to, or continue to live in, Japan under a new immigration plan drafted by Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers to accept 10 million immigrants in the next 50 years.
COMMENTARY
Jun 18, 2008

Is the India and China hype true?

Today it has become commonplace to speak of India and China in the same breadth as two emerging great powers challenging the two-century-old Western domination of the world.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Jun 18, 2008

Aloft with ospreys, ultimate Fisher Kings

There is a moment of commitment; a glint of scales just beneath the water's surface is perhaps the trigger. As the bright-yellow eyes register the rippled light patterns, the brain is already identifying them as potential food, computing distance, assessing direction, considering depth.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 18, 2008

Neither blatant benevolence nor silent giving

PRINCETON, New Jersey — Jesus said that we should give alms in private rather than when others are watching. That fits with the common-sense idea that if people only do good in public, they may be motivated by a desire to gain a reputation for generosity. Perhaps when no one is looking, they are not...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2008

The right options for Iran

BERLIN — With U.S. President George W. Bush in Europe getting EU leaders to agree to toughen U.N. sanctions against Iran, and with the ongoing debate between John McCain and Barack Obama about whether the United States needs to talk with Iran's rulers, the issue of Iran's nuclear program is heating...

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