Search - 2005

 
 
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 16, 2008

Jackie-O Motherfu**er

With a name like that, Jackie-O Motherf**ker is never going to be the kind of band you could take home to meet your parents.
Japan Times
JAPAN / ALSO OUT THERE
May 14, 2008

Nothing beats a good mascot for promotion

Last year, Hikone Castle in Shiga Prefecture drew more than 849,000 visitors, a 61 percent jump from 2006 and the largest number of tourists to visit the castle in a decade.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
May 14, 2008

Space defense no reason to ax gentler projects

For a country with a constitution "forever renouncing war" (Article 9), Japan spends an awful lot of money on its military. In 2005 it was the fifth largest military spender in the world. And now there is the unsettling news that Japan is expanding its powerful self-defense capability into space.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
May 13, 2008

Brex upgrade roster in busy offseason

Just as the team name reveals, the Link Tochigi Brex are trying to do everything to make themselves successful in their first season in the JBL's top league.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
May 13, 2008

Yohji Yamamoto, Tsumori Chisato and Soichiro Ito's latest moves

Summer under the sea A deep-sea dive in a coral reef may not be in the cards for your vacation this year, but you can always bring the ocean to you with clothing from Tsumori Chisato.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE YEAR
May 12, 2008

Newton's steady play makes him most valuable player in bj-league

With a superbly consistent anchor in the middle, the Osaka Evessa captured their third title in as many bj-league seasons on May 4.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
May 11, 2008

Veteran Nakamura says move to bj-league the right decision for ex-JBL club

Kazuo Nakamura never minces his words. And this characteristic doesn't change, even on a formal, introductory occasion.
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
May 11, 2008

JEF United shows commitment with hiring of Miller

Given the state JEF United Chiba finds itself in, the club has pulled off a real coup in snaring Alex Miller for its vacant manager's job.
EDITORIALS
May 10, 2008

Mr. Brown gets battered

Even though he was not on the ballot, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown took a beating in local elections last week. His Labour Party suffered its worst election loss in 40 years, animating Conservatives who now smell blood and prompting calls for Mr. Brown to hand over the reins of power to a more...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
May 10, 2008

Washington helped Evessa down stretch, but did not deserve MVP

The bj-league is working tirelessly around the clock to make itself a recognizable product — a collection of teams, coaches and players that is identifiable and popular — in a nation where basketball plays second fiddle to almost every other sport. And it deserves credit for elevating the profile...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 9, 2008

'Kakushi Toride no San Akunin'

Just as Hollywood loves to remake J-Horror and, now, anime ("Speed Racer" being the latest, but unlikely to be the last), the Japanese film industry has taken to remaking classics by Akira Kurosawa. Last year's "Tsubaki Sanjuro" was Yoshimitsu Morita's shot-by-shot recreation of the 1962 original, though...
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 9, 2008

On death row and a cause celebre

Iwao Hakamada, the longest serving death-row inmate, has insisted for 40 years he is innocent of the four murders he was convicted of. The evidence was suspect, he says, and his confession was coerced.
BUSINESS
May 9, 2008

Forbes: Nintendo's Yamauchi richest in Japan

Hiroshi Yamauchi, former chairman of Nintendo Co., the world's biggest maker of hand-held game machines, overtook property developer Akira Mori to become the richest person in Japan, according to Forbes Asia's May 19 issue.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
May 8, 2008

Super Aguri announces its departure from Formula One

Super Aguri's brief stint in Formula One ended Tuesday when the Japanese team withdrew from the F1 World Championship due to financial difficulties.
BUSINESS
May 7, 2008

Japan to propose copyright fees on iPods, digital recorders

The Japanese government will propose this week a plan to charge copyright royalties on sales of iPods and other portable digital music players, as well as on digital hard disk recorders, a major daily newspaper reported Tuesday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 6, 2008

A Finnish way for the Japanese educational system?

Ever since students in Finland emerged as top performers in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), many teachers and policymakers in Japan have turned to this Scandinavian country of 5.2 million for insights on how to educate...
BUSINESS / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
May 5, 2008

Japan lags European peers on female empowerment

The latest EU-Japan summit wrapped up on April 23, with Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda holding talks with European Council President Janez Jansa (the Slovenian prime minister) and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. The meeting came at a time when both Europe and Japan are facing an enormous...
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 4, 2008

Article 9 hailed on Constitution's birthday

Marking the 61st anniversary of the enforcement of the postwar Constitution, hundreds of people gathered Saturday in Tokyo's Hibiya Park to call for keeping Article 9, which renounces war.
BASKETBALL
May 4, 2008

Apache join Osaka in bj-league's title game

The Tokyo Apache's remarkable 2007-08 turnaround catapulted the team into the bj-league playoff semifinals. And a gritty, mettle-revealing performance on Saturday night pushed the team into the championship game against the Osaka Evessa.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
May 3, 2008

Fukuoka aims to end Osaka's bid for 3rd title

Saturday's first bj-league semifinal contest provides a classic storybook plot: the two-time reigning champions vs. the hot upstart team.

Longform

A man offers prayers at Hebikubo Shrine in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. The shrine is one of several across the country dedicated to the snake.
Shed your skin and reinvent yourself in the Year of the Snake