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EDITORIALS
Nov 25, 2007

What's pushing up the oil?

Prevailing high prices for crude oil show that efforts to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, which drive most production activities and power our daily lives, are imperative. West Texas Intermediate, a benchmark in oil pricing, went above $98 per barrel on New York's oil futures market Nov. 7 and hit an...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 24, 2007

Inside and out

On the day of my operation, a nurse who had previously introduced herself to me as "Miyuki of the Nurse" helped me put on a hospital gown and I was then put under anesthesia.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / ASIA-JAPAN-U.S. SYMPOSIUM
Nov 24, 2007

China needs to clean up its act to stay on economic growth track

Despite its continuing rapid growth, China faces a host of domestic and international challenges that — without adequate reforms — might derail it from the widely forecast path to global economic pre-eminence, said Elizabeth Economy, senior fellow and director for Asian studies at the Council on...
COMMENTARY
Nov 24, 2007

Evidence on Iran doesn't seem to matter

LONDON — Shaul Mofaz, the Israeli defense minister, is not a fan of Mohammed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. In fact, he wants him fired. "The policies followed by ElBaradei endanger world peace. His irresponsible attitude of sticking his head in the sand over Iran's...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 23, 2007

'Midnight Eagle'

Why do national cinemas excel in some genres but not in others? Whatever its many sins, Hollywood makes thrillers that for sheer visceral kicks — car chases! explosions! Matt Damon leaping across a chasm through a tiny open window! — are the global standard.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 23, 2007

Tequila to be sipped, not slammed

I won ¥1 million last week, betting on the botanical classification of the blue agave — the key ingredient of tequila. Early on Thursday morning in a Roppongi bar, an overconfident drinker called the plant a cactus; my money said lily.
EDITORIALS
Nov 23, 2007

Mr. Fukuda makes progress in Asia

This week Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda stepped up efforts to recalibrate Japan's foreign policy. His visit to the ASEAN summit and its associated meetings were designed to focus attention on the Asia component of Japan's foreign relations. Key to that effort are his meetings with Chinese Prime Minister...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 23, 2007

Daft Punk

The last time Daft Punk were in Japan, the venue was so packed that security closed the entrance. That was in 2006 at the Summer Sonic music festival, but for the Parisian dance duo's own forthcoming Gallic rave-up, "dafunkfest," anyone with a ticket will at least be guaranteed that they'll see Thomas...
CULTURE / Music
Nov 23, 2007

Kylie Minogue — "X"
Britney Spears — "Blackout"

As 2007 dribbles to a close, we are treated to long-awaited comeback albums by two renowned lady stars.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Nov 23, 2007

Guided through Japan's deep north by the holy spirit of Basho

Tohoku is Japan's "deep north," through which the famous Zen monk and haiku poet Matsuo Basho walked in 1689, writing one of the most famous travelogues in world literature, "Oku no Hosomichi (The Narrow Road to the Deep North)."
EDITORIALS
Nov 22, 2007

ASEAN's broken heart

It was supposed to be a landmark event. To celebrate its 40th anniversary this week, heads of state from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) signed a charter that was intended to push the region toward more complete integration and more coherence. The final product — ASEAN's new charter...
Reader Mail
Nov 22, 2007

Half-baked antiterror measure

Regarding Hideo Kaito's Nov. 20 letter, "Common protection and control": While Kaito's comment seems sensible, it is in fact completely mistaken and filled with false truths.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 22, 2007

Thanksgiving Day's economic lessons

BALI, Indonesia — One aspect of globalization is that some holidays have become internationalized. That is certainly the case with Thanksgiving Day, a distinctly American feast day now celebrated throughout the world on the fourth Thursday of each November.
MORE SPORTS
Nov 21, 2007

Aussies rout Team Japan

Australia defeated Japan 25-19, 25-21, 25-21 in a FIVB Men's World Cup first-round match on Tuesday at Saitama Super Arena. Kunihiro Shimizu lead Japan with 14 points and Paul Carroll was No. 1 for Australia with 23. "Today we lost the game completely," Japan captain Masaji Ogino said. 'Australia played...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 21, 2007

Crime and punishment, refugee style

PRAGUE — The horrible murder of Giovanna Reggianni that took place near a Romanian refugee camp in the suburb of Tor di Quinto in Rome shocked both Italy and Romania. The case gained significance by adding fuel to the fiery public debates now under way not only in Italy but across Europe on the status...
LIFE / Digital
Nov 21, 2007

Product placement seeks online consumers' wallets

Product placement within the entertainment industry has become widely accepted as commonplace. You only have to watch "Casino Royale" — the most recent movie in the James Bond series — to see that in-film advertising is big business. From cars and laptop computers to entire airlines, if it can be...
JAPAN
Nov 20, 2007

Dalai Lama hits East's consumer craze

The Dalai Lama indicated Monday in an interview that he had set a budding democratic process in motion in Tibet that was effectively doomed by China's invasion in the early 1950s.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 20, 2007

Watching them watching us

A s many non-Japanese are well aware, today is "G Day," or "F Day," or whatever cute name you'd like to assign to it: The day that the government begins fingerprinting virtually all foreigners — or "gaijin," or more appropriately "gaikokujin" — entering Japan. And those of us who will be subjected...

Longform

Passengers that were on a morning train attacked by members of the Aum Shinrikyo group wait for medical assistance outside Kasumigaseki Station on March 20,1995.
The day a religious cult brought terror to Tokyo