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Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Jan 16, 2008

Japan toughens up on Internet regulation

In a country with one of the world's most vibrant Internet cultures, rumblings of change in the way that online information is managed, controlled and regulated is causing concern for many.
COMMENTARY
Jan 15, 2008

Recurring dream about Asia's prospects

LOS ANGELES — The Grand Asian Master, no more than a few thousand years old, appeared to me the other night (as he does from time to time) and asked what I wish for these days.
Reader Mail
Jan 15, 2008

Out of time, out of place

Regarding the Jan. 9 article "Clear apology to sex slaves demanded": U.S. Rep. Mike Honda (California Democrat), who was in Tokyo on Jan. 8, once again belabored his favorite subject. Japan has periodically expressed regret over this issue. Their remorse is more than sufficient.
Reader Mail
Jan 15, 2008

Foot-dragging on smoking ban

Regarding the Jan. 8 article "Half of taxis now nonsmoking as 95 percent of Tokyo cabs join ban": If the effort really is "to prevent health damage from secondhand smoke," when will Japan join the rest of the civilized world and make all restaurants and bars 100 percent nonsmoking? How about protecting...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jan 15, 2008

Japan, Brazil mark a century of settlement, family ties

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the beginning of a Japanese migration to Brazil. In 1908, hundreds of farmers moved to the South American country, dreaming of making their fortunes there before returning to their hometowns.
CULTURE / Books
Jan 13, 2008

'The Third Party' is a charm

THE THIRD PARTY by Glenn Patterson, Blackstaff Press, Belfast, 2007, 169 pp., £7.99 (paper) An unnamed businessman and a well-known novelist, both from Belfast, meet while checking into a hotel in Hiroshima. The recognition of a shared home, so far away, is awkward and unwilling, but over the coming...
Japan Times
LIFE
Jan 13, 2008

Wii not?

Nine months pregnant, and a few days past her due date, Keiko went to her grandmother for advice. "When your mother was a few days late, I had a game of table tennis and the next day I went into labor," grandma said.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Jan 12, 2008

Vote of confidence kiss of death for Allardyce with Magpies

LONDON — Sam Allardyce probably knew the end was in sight when Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley and chairman Chris Mort said it wasn't. Ashley's stock reply to speculation about his manager's future was to tell people not to listen to rumors.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 12, 2008

Therapist brings healing through hypnosis

Karen Mattison is counting me down — down into a hypnotic state. It's weird. Feeling as if I could open my eyes if I chose to, but choosing (I think) not to, because for one thing it's so comfortable and reassuring, this slide down into relaxation and being.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 11, 2008

'Le Faute a Fidel!'

Children are often much more conservative than adults give them credit for. Many prefer orderliness over chaos, predictability over confusion, and custom over trends that come and go.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 11, 2008

Vega steals into the spotlight

A city of extremes, New York represents different things to different people. For singer- songwriter Suzanne Vega, its infinite variety is a constant source of inspiration.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 11, 2008

'Giniro no Season'

Japan tries to sell itself as the land of cherry blossoms and Mount Fuji, but some of its best natural highs can be found on its ski slopes, as the world discovered at the 1972 Hokkaido and 1996 Nagano Winter Olympics.
BUSINESS
Jan 11, 2008

Toyota gives GM run for its money, selling 9.37 million cars

Toyota Motor Corp. said Thursday that its global group sales rose 6 percent last year to 9.37 million vehicles, making for a tight race against General Motors, the world's biggest automaker.
BUSINESS
Jan 11, 2008

Matsushita, and its products, to only go by Panasonic name

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. announced Thursday it will rename itself Panasonic Corp. and end the National brand so that its products will be exclusively referred to as Panasonic.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jan 11, 2008

In praise of picture-postcard Japan

As Ana and Roberto, my two good friends from Brazil, and myself gorged ourselves through the multicourse kaiseki dinner at the very pleasant and relaxed Tachibana Shikitei, a Japanese-style inn in Ishikawa Prefecture's Yamashiro Onsen, I convinced myself that food, when served on quality pottery —...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 11, 2008

Passing politics from generation to generation

'La Faute a Fidel!" is, in a sense, a project engineered by daughters. Director Julie Gavras' father is the famed prorevoltionary director Costa Gavras, its lead actress Julie Depardieu is the daughter of Gerard, France's most treasured actor. And Nina Kervel, who was age 9 when the film was made, comes...
JAPAN
Jan 11, 2008

Illness, not policies, ended my time in office: Abe

The abrupt and, at the time, inexplicable resignation of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in September stunned the nation, prompting criticism that he was an irresponsible and immature politician who couldn't even offer a convincing explanation as to why he quit the nation's top post.
BUSINESS
Jan 11, 2008

Economy to slow down for awhile: Muto

The economy will keep slowing "for the time being" as the country's cycle of profits feeding into wages and consumer spending weakens temporarily, Bank of Japan Deputy Gov. Toshiro Muto said Thursday.
Reader Mail
Jan 10, 2008

ALTs never had it so good

I am an ALT and have been teaching in Japan since 2002. What the (Jan. 5) articles states is unfair. ALT work is very, very easy. All those teachers who are complaining know it. You cannot get such an easy job anywhere in the world for the money. Look at the average Japanese salary and working hours. ...
Reader Mail
Jan 10, 2008

Variety of statuses for Koreans

Misao Nakayama's Dec. 30 letter, "Korean workers not used as slaves," and Susan Menadue-Chun's Jan. 6 letter, "Deafness to survivors' stories," represent two extremes. Menadue-Chun is right to point out that most Chosenese (Japanese nationals with registers in Chosen, the name for "Korea" when it became...

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