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JAPAN
Oct 12, 2007

Alleged suicide helper for hire held in slaying

The operator of an Internet suicide site has been arrested for allegedly killing a woman who paid him to kill her, an official said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Oct 12, 2007

Sony Financial rises 3.8% in biggest Japan IPO of year

Sony Financial Holdings Inc. gained 3.8 percent Thursday on its first day of trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange after raising ¥320 billion in Japan's largest initial public offering this year.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 12, 2007

Dedicated followers of suburbia

Think of New York and rock musicians and you might well think of Lou Reed, whose identification with his home town is so secure that he remains the only rock star with the guts to actually title an album "New York." Even Billy Joel restricted himself to "52nd Street."
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Oct 12, 2007

Be baffled and awed

The New National Theatre, under the aegis of recently appointed director Hiroshi Wakasugi, opens its 2007/8 season with Richard Wagner's 1845 grand Romantic opera "Tannhauser."
BUSINESS
Oct 12, 2007

Moody's raises Japan's rating

Japan's local currency debt rating was raised one level to A1 from A2 by Moody's Investors Service, Moody's said Thursday, citing confidence that the government will pursue debt-cutting measures.
Reader Mail
Oct 11, 2007

Staggering blow to sumo

Regarding the Oct. 6 article "Sumo stable boss axed for death": The unanimous decision by the Japan Sumo Association executive committee to sack stable master Tokitsukaze (following the death of a teenage wrestler) has somewhat assuaged the heavy damage to the reputation of this traditional Japanese...
COMMENTARY
Oct 11, 2007

'Silly summit' produced serious results

LOS ANGELES — It sure opened up as one big oddball of a summit.
JAPAN
Oct 11, 2007

Death penalty foes hit Hatoyama over accountability snub

Opponents to capital punishment took issue Wednesday with Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama's recent remarks suggesting a system should be established whereby he did not personally have to sign execution orders, saying he was trying to dodge accountability and also lacked regard for human rights.
BUSINESS
Oct 11, 2007

Ford, Mazda to spend $500 million on new plant in Thailand

Ford Motor Co. and its affiliate, Mazda Motor Corp., will spend more than $500 million to set up a plant in Thailand to expand in Southeast Asia.
BUSINESS
Oct 10, 2007

Pratt & Whitney picked by MHI for new jetliner

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. said Tuesday it has chosen Pratt & Whitney of the U.S. to supply the engines for its planned regional jets, taking Japan a step closer to building its first domestic commercial aircraft in about four decades.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 9, 2007

Saito still struggling when it comes to playoffs

CHIBA — Softbank pitcher Kazumi Saito will have to wait for redemption a little while longer.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Oct 9, 2007

Actress Devon Aoki in Tokyo with Levi's, Toga in the parking lot and more

Denim diva
TENNIS
Oct 8, 2007

Ferrer downs Gasquet to win Japan Open final

Top-seeded David Ferrer of Spain coasted to a 6-1, 6-2 win over third-seeded Richard Gasquet of France on Sunday to win the Japan Open.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 8, 2007

Chinese suffering from poverty, uneven development, experts say

The widening economic divide between rural and urban China — and between its coastal and western regions as well — will only get worse as its spectacular economic growth continues, a Chinese scholar warned at a recent symposium in Tokyo.
Reader Mail
Oct 7, 2007

The death of one's own

Before I go to bed tonight, I will pray hard to Lord Buddha that I wake up as a Japanese in the morning. All my life, I have been Burmese and have thought that human life has equal value worldwide. Recent days have been a rude awakening for me.
EDITORIALS
Oct 7, 2007

A gamble in Pyongyang

It is too early to tell whether South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun can call his trip to North Korea last week a success, but North Korean leader Kim Jong Il must be happy with the visit. The summit choreography appeared to confirm his status as the senior leader on the Korean Peninsula, and the summit...
Reader Mail
Oct 7, 2007

Domestic stand doomed Abe

In his Sept. 20 article, "Decline of the Liberal Democratic Party," Gwynne Dyer blames the downfall of Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration on its continuation of Japan's post-World War II subservience to the United States in matters of foreign policy. He boldly proclaims that the "deeply...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 7, 2007

Clueless policy persists as Japan burns the unburnables

Last month, Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara traveled to Fiji and Tuvalu on a fact-finding mission. Since the trip cost Tokyo taxpayers more than ¥15 million, the press was interested in just what sort of facts the governor would find in the South Seas and how they could be applied to one of the world's...
Reader Mail
Oct 7, 2007

Thank-you remark cuts deep

At an inaugural news conference, new Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba said, "Japan's independence and world peace are guaranteed because of, and thanks to, Okinawa's hosting of the U.S. bases." His way of saying it sounded as if Okinawa were not part of Japan. U.S. Defense Secretary Bob Gates has said...
JAPAN
Oct 6, 2007

Ministry snubs meeting with foes of dolphin kill

U.S. activists waging a high-profile campaign against Japan's annual dolphin slaughter and sale of mercury-tainted dolphin meat were snubbed by government officials Friday in Tokyo when they tried to hand over a petition of protest they claim bears 50,000 signatures.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 6, 2007

Fans fuel Fighters' bid for another Japan Series

SAPPORO — Forty-two thousand, two hundred and twenty two. That's the listed maximum capacity of Sapporo Dome. Apparently somebody forgot to tell the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters fans.
JAPAN
Oct 6, 2007

Sumo stable boss axed for death

, make a show of apology afterward at a press conference in Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan. KYODO PHOTOS
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 6, 2007

Jumping mullets, it's the season for fire prevention!

Ahh, autumn on Shiraishi Island when I wake up to quacking ducks paddling around in the port in front of my house waiting for me to open the Duck Cafe.
BUSINESS
Oct 6, 2007

Fukuda may up spending to win rural, elderly votes

By KYOKO SHIMODOI and JASON CLENFIELD Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, under pressure to increase government spending before the next election, may scuttle plans to balance the budget and cut the world's largest public debt.
COMMENTARY
Oct 5, 2007

Myanmar's crimes against public health

NEW YORK — During four decades of rule, the Myanmar military has neglected people's health needs to such an extent that it amounts to an attack against the people, whose health status remains one of the most precarious in the region. This is more proof that the military leadership has been more interested...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Oct 5, 2007

Autumn buffets at Hyatt Regency, beer and wine summit in Osaka and Yamagata specialties

Harvest season buffets The Boulogne coffee house at the Hyatt Regency Tokyo in Shinjuku is now serving an Autumn Harvest buffet on weekends and a Sweet Harvest buffet during the week.

Longform

Juzo Itami’s “Tampopo” was released Nov. 23, 1985, and though it wasn’t a hit at the time, it has gained a cult following in the years since.
Eat, slurp, love: 'Tampopo' turns 40