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Reader Mail
Mar 20, 2008

Media's tendency to sensationalize

Regarding Yoshio Shimoji's March 16 letter, "Wrong answers to angry questions," which was a response to Billy Fanska's March 9 letter, "Negative rhetoric defeats everyone": I don't think Fanska was minimizing the crimes committed by the U.S. military against Japanese citizens. Crime rates are meaningless...
BUSINESS
Mar 20, 2008

Denso plans new Fukushima factory

Denso Corp., the world's largest publicly traded auto-parts maker, will spend ¥16 billon to build a new air conditioning systems factory to meet growing demand in Japan.
BUSINESS
Mar 20, 2008

'08 domestic car sales to rise a bit

Domestic car sales may rise for the first time in two years in the next business year as new models by Nissan Motor Co. and Daihatsu Motor Co. spur demand in the world's third-largest auto market.
EDITORIALS
Mar 19, 2008

Litmus test for Mr. Hu

Around the time when anti-Chinese protests took place in Tibet's regional capital Lhasa last week, Mr. Hu Jintao, who calls for establishment of a harmonious society in China, was re-elected president of the country at a session of the National People's Congress in Beijing. How he will handle Tibetan...
JAPAN
Mar 19, 2008

DPJ set to snub latest pick for BOJ chief

The Democratic Party of Japan said Tuesday evening that it will reject the government's latest nominee to replace Bank of Japan Gov. Toshihiko Fukui, virtually ensuring the post of central bank chief will go unfilled when Fukui's five-year term ends Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Mar 19, 2008

Japan eyes 92,000-ton wheat buy

Japan, Asia's largest wheat importer, is seeking to buy 92,000 metric tons of milling wheat at a tender to be held March 19, the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry said Tuesday.
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Mar 18, 2008

Pocket bells

Dear Alice,
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 18, 2008

Police in dock over rape

Crimes by women and crimes against women in Japan receive uneven coverage in the press. Female suspects, particularly those charged with serious offenses, are so thoroughly skewered in the media that defense attorneys often complain that a fair trial is near impossible. Crimes against women receive...
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Mar 17, 2008

Onfield results, off-field strife behind Osieck's sudden firing

Two defeats from their opening two J. League games hinted that something was seriously wrong at Urawa Reds. Now the crisis has been made official.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 16, 2008

Dancing with bears in Putin's shadow

Perhaps more than any other capital in the world, Beijing has closely observed the changing of the guard in the Kremlin. There are many reasons for Beijing's concerns: Russia's revival as a major power, its petro-politics approach to foreign relations, its management of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization...
CULTURE / Books
Mar 16, 2008

Hope for Burmese reconciliation

PERFECT HOSTAGE: Aung San Suu Kyi and the Generals, by Justin Wintle. London: Arrow Books, 2007, 464 pp., £8.95 (paper) In January, Aung San Suu Kyi, 62, voiced her growing frustration with the lack of progress in "national reconciliation" talks with the ruling military junta, the State Peace and Development...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Mar 16, 2008

Ireland wrestles with a plethora of polemics

First of two parts
Reader Mail
Mar 16, 2008

Living with Japanese controls

Regularly reading letters from foreigners who feel alienated and frustrated might convince one that our host country is doing all to alienate its "so desperately needed" guests. A serious look at the facts, though, shows that the usual examples cited on how bad Japan is fall short.
EDITORIALS
Mar 16, 2008

Renewable energy surges forward

Renewable energy is developing rapidly in terms of investment and energy production. The Renewable Energy 2007 Global Status Report made public in late February is food for thought for energy policymakers, citizens, and power and other companies. Renewable electricity generation capacity reached an estimated...
Reader Mail
Mar 16, 2008

Leave immigration to Darwin

Roger Pulvers, in his March 9 Counterpoint column, "Surely it's time for Japanese to stop being so parochial," continues to distort facts while racializing people in stereotypical "ethnic" categories. Taiwanese and Koreans did not become "citizens" of the Empire of Japan. Japanese law did not then, and...
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Mar 16, 2008

Time for Takahashi to read the handwriting on the wall

There is nothing sadder in sports than seeing a once-great athlete who has hung around too long.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 16, 2008

Poetic reasons to take a card game seriously

ONE HUNDRED POETS, ONE POEM EACH: A Translation of the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu, by Peter McMillan with a foreword by Donald Keene and an afterword by Eileen Kato. New York: Columbia University Press, 2007, 280 pp., with line drawings, $39.50 (cloth) This is a new translation of one of Japan's most famous...
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2008

Absentee ballots easy to use: U.S. voting promoter

With the primaries continuing, it is important that Americans living abroad learn how to cast absentee ballots if they want to play a role in electing the next U.S. president in November, Polli Brunelli, director of the Federal Voting Assistance Program, said Friday.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Mar 15, 2008

Thoughts on the ritual of spring — and summer

Spring — in certain countries in the world — means more than just flowers, butterflies and taxes. It means the crack of bat on ball, the pounding of fist on glove, and a season of hope for something beyond just peanuts and Cracker Jack — yes, hope for a championship pennant. Spring means baseball....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 15, 2008

Clinic on the bluff reaches out

Someone who knows Hans Pauli well describes him as the archetypal Dutchman who is forever running around sticking his finger in dikes to prevent catastrophe.
CULTURE / Music
Mar 14, 2008

Perfume "Fan Service ~ Prima Box"

Formed in Hiroshima in 2001, moving to Tokyo in 2003 and hitting the big time in 2006, Perfume are an idol-pop phenomenon, notable for how their music combines elements of house and electro with a futuristic, Akihabara-friendly image.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 14, 2008

Lions from the West, dragons from the East

K een to push forward their plan to legalize casinos in Japan, the Liberal Democratic Party is now busy winning over skeptics with predictions of tourism and tax revenue bonanzas. Perhaps a ticket to "Dralion," Cirque du Soleil's current performance in Tokyo, might help win over dissenters.
SOCCER
Mar 14, 2008

Lampard blasts home four goals as Chelsea rips Derby

LONDON (AP) Frank Lampard scored four goals Wednesday to lead Chelsea to a 6-1 English Premier League win over Derby that closed the gap on second-place Manchester United to three points.
BUSINESS
Mar 14, 2008

Dollar dive against yen dents exporters' profits

The dollar's sharp dive to a 12-year low against the yen Thursday raises the specter of reduced profits among major export-driven manufacturers in Japan, including Toyota Motor Corp. and Sony Corp., analysts say.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 14, 2008

'The Darjeeling Limited'

As an American filmmaker with no particular pedigree (like the Coppolas or Hustons), Wes Anderson's penchant for exclusiveness could have put him in a precarious position in the aggressively democratized world of Hollywood cinema. As it turns out, he occupies a not unenviable niche, probably because...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 14, 2008

'Yurei vs. Uchujin'

Even film directors need a break from the routine, don't they? Especially Takashi Shimizu, who has spent much of this decade making seven installments of his hit "Grudge (Ju-on)" J-Horror franchise, including two films for Hollywood, about vengeful ghosts who move from victim to victim like viruses....
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 13, 2008

Taking the next step on Iran

LOS ANGELES — The approval of fresh sanctions on Iran marks the third time that the United Nations Security Council has been galvanized to stem the Islamic Republic's feared uranium enrichment efforts. Unfortunately, the new sanctions are unlikely to be any more effective than the first two rounds....

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