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Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Jun 20, 2010

Homey husky learns to live a dog's life

Chaine, a friendly husky living in Tokyo, was 5 years old when her owners, Motoko Shiraishi and Yasushi Ishikawa, took her to see a sled-dog race in Gunma Prefecture in the winter of 2003.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jun 20, 2010

Is Japan going loopy in a world so alien

"Loopy," "hapless," "embarrassing" — such is the world's, and Japan's, verdict on the short unhappy prime ministership of Yukio Hatoyama. In retrospect, this 21st-century Japanese Don Quixote seems to have been doomed to failure from the start. What he attempted was honorable, but impossible. What...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Jun 20, 2010

Towering ambition

One sunny Saturday last month, Hitachi Ltd., Japan's largest electronics maker, made headlines when it hosted a rare tour of its spanking new elevator-testing tower — the world's tallest — at its sprawling facility in Hitachinaka, Ibaraki Prefecture.
EDITORIALS
Jun 19, 2010

Sumo group must clean house

The Japan Sumo Association is now being battered about by a gambling scandal following the discovery in May that two sumo stablemasters helped gangsters obtain tickets for special ringside seats at sumo tournaments. The tickets scandal resulted in demotion of stablemasters Kise and Kiyomigata and the...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 19, 2010

U.S. and India must move beyond symbolism

LONDON — The United States held its first ever strategic dialogue with India early June. It covered a whole gamut of issues including high technology trade, science and technology cooperation, civil nuclear cooperation, human resource development and security issues.
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Jun 19, 2010

Cost-conscious exporters wary of China's spreading labor unrest

The ongoing wage disputes at group plants of Honda and Toyota in coastal Chinese cities may signal a turning point for many Japanese exporters that rely heavily on the country's cheap labor, analysts said.
EDITORIALS
Jun 19, 2010

Election comes first for DPJ

As the latest Diet session ended Wednesday without an extension, political parties' campaigns for the July 11 Upper House election has shifted into top gear. The ruling Democratic Party of Japan's approach to the Diet session showed that it was ready to sacrifice important bills to improve its election...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jun 19, 2010

Canadian keeps options open via multitask tack

When Osaka-based entrepreneur Ray Kruger, 60, takes a break from a 70-hour work week to reminisce, his stories command attention. He explains about the haunted Buddhist temple he owns in the mountains near Kameoka, Kyoto Prefecture, a 440-year-old registered national treasure still used for occasional...
JAPAN
Jun 18, 2010

Nico Nico Doga plans to stream 'Cove' for free

An Internet service company will show "The Cove" online free of charge Friday and invite public comment, after theaters canceled screenings due to rightist opposition to the film's depiction of a dolphin hunt.
JAPAN
Jun 18, 2010

Missing journalist no stranger to war, danger

Kosuke Tsuneoka, the 40-year-old Japanese freelance journalist reportedly being held captive by a Taliban group in northern Afghanistan, is known for his reporting in war-ravaged countries around the world, including Chechnya, Iraq, Afghanistan and the Palestinian territory.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 18, 2010

Tokyo ballet is blooming

In its short history, the New National Theatre Ballet (NNT Ballet) has performed a total of 42 productions under the auspices of eight choreographers. It's a prolific output for a relatively young company and the company is understandably proud of this achievement.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Jun 18, 2010

Couples see stars at the Grand Hyatt

The Japanese Tanabata star festival is celebrated on the night of July 7. Based on a Chinese legend, the night is the only time of year when the star Vega, the weaver, and the star Altair, the herdsman (lovers separated by the Milky Way) can see each other.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 18, 2010

Back in Japan, Hotel Mexico rides the wave

Much is often made of the differences between popular music in the East and in the West, either praising the former for its inventive takes on Western styles, or deriding it for making cheap imitations. The truth, however, is that music travels so easily between nations and continents these days, and...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 18, 2010

Various Artists "The Best Soccer Songs"

This eclectic compilation released by the Japan Football Association throws together pop, rock, funk and dancey Brazilian soccer anthems to accompany the emotional rush of the World Cup.
JAPAN
Jun 17, 2010

Ginowan mayor, a base foe, may run for governor

The mayor of Ginowan, the site of Okinawa's contentious U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, hinted Wednesday he may run in the gubernatorial election scheduled for November and threatened to throw a spanner in the process of relocating the base within the prefecture.
JAPAN
Jun 17, 2010

Rocky Diet ends; just 35 bills passed

The first ordinary Diet session under a Democratic Party of Japan-led government wrapped up Wednesday, kicking off a campaign season that will culminate with an Upper House election next month.
EDITORIALS
Jun 17, 2010

Hints to financial reconstruction

Lawmakers representing opposition parties on Monday and Tuesday questioned Prime Minister Naoto Kan in the plenary session of each house of the Diet over his first general policy speech he made June 11. The ruling Democratic Party of Japan has decided not to extend the current Diet session so that it...
EDITORIALS
Jun 17, 2010

Fund irregularities cost a Diet seat

Ms. Chiyomi Kobayashi, a former saleswoman for a bread company who was first elected to the Lower House by proportional representation in 2003, was touted as a symbol of the Democratic Party of Japan's massive win in the Aug. 30 Lower House election. She routed former Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka...
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Jun 17, 2010

DPJ's Diet handling gets low marks

Last Christmas, then Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama led the Democratic Party of Japan into its first ordinary Diet session, telling reporters he wanted to give the public a "sense of hope" as a gift and vowing "tangible results" to improve their livelihoods.
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Jun 17, 2010

Vader ladies

Dear Alice,

Longform

Eme-Ima Kitchen is one of over 10,000 kodomo shokudō in Japan. A term first used in 2012 to describe makeshift eateries offering free or cheap meals to disadvantaged kids, it now refers to a diverse range of individuals, groups and organizations working to provide not only food but a sense of belonging to both children and adults.
Japan’s ‘children’s cafeterias’ are booming — but is that a good thing?