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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 22, 2007

Seeing from the Korean side

In February this year over 300 people attended the performing arts festival at a junior high school in Okayama. It was much the same as any other arts festival at any other junior high school in Japan; the students sang, danced, played music and performed skits for an audience made up of family and friends....
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
May 21, 2007

Pondering the futility of the Bank of Japan's inflation comfort zone

Members of the Bank of Japan's Policy Board are said to be at odds about where the rate of inflation ought to be over the medium to longer term.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
May 20, 2007

Citizen journalists aim to serve all

For Kenichiro Masuyama, who lives in Matsumoto City in central Japan's scenic Nagano Prefecture, news that more foreign visitors than ever before are now coming to savor the region's delights is hardly a surprise.
CULTURE / Books
May 20, 2007

Listening to history's creaking bones

ORACLE BONES: A Journey Between China's Past and Present, by Peter Hessler. HarperCollins, 2006, 491 pp., $26.95 (cloth) Beside their obvious antiquity, why should heaps of cattle shoulder-blades and turtle shells dating from the 13th and 14th centuries B.C. be of such immense importance to today's...
JAPAN
May 19, 2007

Abe's panel on examining collective defense kicks off

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called on Friday the first meeting of a government panel tasked with debating how far Japan should be allowed to go in defending allies who come under attack, amid rising tension over security, including North Korea's nuclear programs.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 19, 2007

Farm concession said key to U.S. FTA

Opening up Japan's politically sensitive agriculture market is the key to establishing a free-trade agreement between Japan and the United States, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's vice president for Asia.
EDITORIALS
May 18, 2007

Nurturing forests and workers

The fiscal 2006 annual report on the nation's forestry shows that self-sufficiency in the wood supply has stopped falling due to conditions abroad that make wood imports to Japan difficult. The government can use this opportunity to revitalize Japan's forestry.
CULTURE / Music
May 18, 2007

Lefties Soul Connection "Skimming the Skum"

File it under funk, but the sophomore release from Lefties Soul Connection is not your average revival. It's the sound of European B-Boys with the confidence to mix the punkish attitude of the early hip-hop with the exuberant New Orleans funk of The Meters.
BASKETBALL
May 17, 2007

Japanese shoot for dreams

This was no leisurely way to spend a weekend.
EDITORIALS
May 17, 2007

Toyota on a roll

Toyota Motor Corp. has become the first Japanese company to top the 2 trillion yen mark in operating profits. The leading automaker's operating profit for the 2006 business year to March 2007 surged 19.2 percent from the previous year to 2.24 trillion yen, a new record for the seventh straight year....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 17, 2007

Creating atmospheres

An array of recent exhibitions in Kyoto and Osaka offers an engaging cross section of contemporary art practice in western Japan.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
May 16, 2007

Nets nearly dealt Kidd to Lakers

NEW YORK — President Rod Thorn's "bold" admission last week that he tried to trade Jason Kidd to the Lakers right up until the deadline is a dead giveaway the Nets guard was intimately involved in New Jersey's game plan.
Reader Mail
May 16, 2007

Lupus sufferers need help

On May 10, lupus organizations observed the fourth annual World Lupus Day. Lupus is a potentially life-threatening autoimmune disease where the immune system mistakenly attacks various parts of the body. Over 5 million people worldwide, including an estimated 50,000 people in Japan, suffer from the disease....
COMMENTARY / World
May 16, 2007

The true meaning of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to the United States

WASHINGTON — Most of the reporting and reviews surrounding the visit of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to the United States on April 26-27 focused on the issue of North Korea or the wartime "comfort women," but in truth, the significance of the visit was much broader.
JAPAN
May 15, 2007

Nuclear chief sees possible fuel contract with Russia

Japan would benefit from a proposed nuclear energy deal with Russia by gaining access to Moscow's advanced fast-breeder reactor technology and uranium enrichment services, the atomic energy chief said Monday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
May 15, 2007

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Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
May 15, 2007

Indented circles on roads

Dear Alice,
Reader Mail
May 13, 2007

Lay it to rest

It's time that all this Yasukuni Shrine, Kimigayo and textbook-revision nonsense was laid to rest.
Reader Mail
May 13, 2007

Government's priorities misplaced

Regarding the April 22 article "Japan eyes buying U.S. F-22A, F-15FX fighters," Japan has a budget deficit of 16 percent, a public debt of 176 percent of GDP and an external debt of 150 trillion yen. Despite this, the government -- infatuated with military pomp and kit -- wants to spend a further 1...

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji