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EDITORIALS
Apr 16, 2008

Halting ODA's downward trend

Japan was the world's top foreign aid donor from 1991 to 2000, topping the United States. But faced with budget shortages, Japan has been reducing its official development assistance in recent years. A report of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development says that in 2007 Japan slipped...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Apr 16, 2008

Omissions and risky commissions

For several years now I have been at work on a new book — to be titled "Field Guide to the Birds of East Asia" — that is due to be published later this year. You may think it would be an easy matter to put together such a tome; after all, ornithologists and birdwatchers have been studying birds for...
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Apr 15, 2008

How hard should it be to get a ticket to see sumo?

Earlier this year, Kokonoe Oyakata, former yokozuna Chiyonofuji, was appointed head of the Nihon Sumo Kyokai's (NSK) Public Relations Department.
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.
Reader Mail
Apr 13, 2008

Left unaddressed, issue will fester

Regarding the April 8 article "Official defends 'Yasukuni' screening for lawmakers": Japan is already so notorious for its obsession with censoring anything that might sully the illusion that it has created about itself in its own eyes that its previous prime minister made the activity a central pillar...
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....
CULTURE / Books
Apr 13, 2008

Hailing the sensual night crawler

EAST WIND MELTS THE ICE: A Memoir through the Seasons, by Liza Dalby. University of California Press, 2007, 346 pp., $24.95 (cloth) "Earthworms twist" — "Prunella flourishes" — "Load up fertilizers" — "Moss glows green." What are these?
Reader Mail
Apr 13, 2008

Critical issue is free speech

The author of the letter "Better to stay home than dis the flag" obviously does not understand the foremost point of the protest by teachers in Tokyo and the rest of Japan.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 12, 2008

Gambari's battle in Burma

SINGAPORE — The United Nations special envoy to Burma is coming under fire for failing to nudge the country's military rulers in the direction of real political reform. But it is wrong to blame the envoy, Ibrahim Gambari. After all, his mandate is from the United Nations and he reports to the U.N....
BUSINESS
Apr 12, 2008

Developers seek to keep Tokyo ahead of rivals

The government picked two areas Friday in central Tokyo for development, seeking to revive the capital's attractiveness as a financial hub and fight off competition from Asian rivals Hong Kong and Singapore.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 11, 2008

Regional role for China's yuan

It is likely that a renminbi (RMB) area emerges in East Asia.
BUSINESS
Apr 11, 2008

Toyota to raise Fuji Heavy stake to 16.5%

Toyota Motor Corp., Japan's top carmaker, said Thursday it will raise its stake in Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. to 16.5 percent from 8.7 percent to improve joint product development amid fierce global competition.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 11, 2008

'Michael Clayton'/'Lions for Lambs'

America's rightwing bloviators like to go on about "liberal Hollywood." They have half a point, but they neglect to notice that for every "Erin Brockovich" or "JFK," there's a "300" or "Top Gun." It's just that the rightwing viewpoint tends to be subsumed as flag-waving patriotism or military superiority...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 11, 2008

'Atonement'

The hype on "Atonement" is that it's a story about guilt, passion and sex: a crowd-pleasing triumvirate. Though the story does bank on these factors, it's really an emotional experiment and a literary conceit designed to intrigue the intellect rather than titillate the senses. You shouldn't really expect...
CULTURE / Music
Apr 11, 2008

Bahashishi "Kaleidoscope"

"Putting the heart of the world into music" is the theme of Osaka-based quintet Bahashishi, who graduate to a major label with this, their second album. Taking their name from the Swahili for "heart," the band, led by effervescent vocalist Yurari, have a clear J-pop-with-a-conscience mission, which...
JAPAN
Apr 11, 2008

Dalai Lama reiterates support for games, urges nonviolence

NARITA, Chiba Pref. — The Dalai Lama on Thursday again voiced support for China's hosting of the Olympic Games and called on protesters to stick to nonviolent activities during the chaotic round-the-world torch relay.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Apr 11, 2008

DJ Tiësto to entrance ageHa

For those still in the mood for dancing after the Nagisa Music Festival closes its gates Saturday in Odaiba, the massive nightclub ageHa in Shinkiba, Koto Ward, will sport the biggest ticket in Tokyo clubland just a short train ride away.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 10, 2008

Is Tibetan culture slated for extinction?

NEW YORK — Are the Tibetans doomed to go the way of the American Indians? Will they be reduced to nothing more than a tourist attraction, peddling cheap mementos of what was a once-great culture? That sad fate is looking more and more likely, and the Olympic year already has been soured by the Chinese...

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan