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COMMENTARY / World
Apr 30, 2008

A failure to influence Bush

HONG KONG — Five years after the toppling of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, the United States has precious little to show for its $3 trillion war, except for more than 4,000 American military dead (1,000 more than perished in the World Trade Center attacks of 9/11), 150,000 Iraqis killed, 1.5 million...
JAPAN
Apr 29, 2008

Yamaha makes music fun for all

Yamaha Corp. is releasing a next-generation musical instrument, the Tenori-on, which the company claims allows people to intuitively create and play music by pressing 256 colorfully illuminated buttons.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Apr 29, 2008

What are your plans for Golden Week?

BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Apr 28, 2008

Closing of global mind bodes ill for future of globalization

"The Closing of the American Mind" is a book that no doubt many readers will be familiar with. As an indictment of higher education and the corrosion of the intellect in 1980s America, this book caused a sensation and earned well deserved acclaim. I am reminded of this title because we seem to be suffering...
Reader Mail
Apr 27, 2008

Autonomy won't work for Tibet

Is Tom Plate sure Tibet and Hong Kong can be viewed and treated in the same way? While "One country, two systems" works for Hong Kong, I don't see how it could function in Tibet. Hong Kong possesses the expertise to manage and grow its economy. But Tibet has only managed Tibetan Buddhism and the serfdom...
Reader Mail
Apr 27, 2008

Moral 'progress' is debatable

Professor Peter Singer's April 17 article, "Have we finally achieved moral progress?," is insightful and interesting. He is right in that we have made progress in the areas of racial and gender equality. Our Eastern societies need more gender equality. Nevertheless, Singer's views are Eurocentric in...
Reader Mail
Apr 27, 2008

No way to express one's view

Regarding the recent vandalism of Zenkoji Temple following its decision to not host the start of the Olympic torch relay, it is a pity that people, whatever their reason, resort to vandalism instead of expressing their personal opinion in a more respectable and mature manner. Vandalizing a historical...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Apr 27, 2008

Travel information, talk show product review, family melodrama

In 2007, more than 8 million people visited Japan from overseas, double the number that visited 10 years ago.
Japan Times
LIFE
Apr 27, 2008

Deadly weapons forged as art

The slow, rhythmic thrust of a piston covered in tanuki (raccoon dog) skin blasted air from box bellows onto the searing-hot charcoal. A casual glance at his forge was, however, all that Yoshindo Yoshihara needed to know the fire's exact temperature.
Japan Times
LIFE
Apr 27, 2008

Hack, slash and hew — all with Zen in mind

As hobbies go, you might describe mine as, well, quite bloodthirsty.
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2008

Activist offers to halt Games protests for talks

The secretary general of nongovernmental organization Reporters Without Borders said Friday that his group will halt all protests against the Beijing Olympic Games if China agrees to hold talks with Tibetan leaders.
EDITORIALS
Apr 25, 2008

Disturbing death penalty trend

In a retrial ordered by the Supreme Court, the Hiroshima High Court sentenced a 27-year-old man to death Tuesday for strangling and raping a 23-year-old woman, then strangling her 11-month-daughter in Hikari, Yamaguchi Prefecture, in 1999. The Juvenile Law prohibits sentencing to death anyone who was...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 25, 2008

'There Will Be Blood'

It's 1898, somewhere in Southern California. A grit-encrusted silver miner works in his pit, scrabbling for a find. In wordless scenes, in the middle of nowhere — set to a queasy sweep of strings — we see this man fight with nature to get at her resources, sinews bulging as he hacks away with a pick,...
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2008

NGOs rip Japan for lack of G8 leadership

KYOTO — NGO representatives clashed with officials from the Group of Eight countries at a meeting here Thursday, charging that this year's summit could be a major step backward for climate change, development and aid to Africa due to poor leadership on the part of Japan.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Apr 24, 2008

Kitajima eager for challenge

Kosuke Kitajima prepares for this summer's Beijing Olympics as the reigning Olympic champion in the men's 100- and 200-meter breaststroke races. But instead of considering himself the king of the hill, he will stand on the starting block with the mind-set of a challenger.
COMMENTARY
Apr 24, 2008

Now it's food versus fuel

What is the next great global problem we have to fear? The answer is not climate change and global warming, but food shortage and starvation. Suddenly, and in ways largely unforeseen by experts, a serious shortage of food supplies, especially corn and rice, has crept up on the world. The result has been...
EDITORIALS
Apr 24, 2008

Warming up Tokyo-Seoul ties

South Korean President Lee Myung Bak's visit to Japan this week heralds the start of a new relationship between South Korea and Japan. It is the first visit to Japan by a South Korean president since December 2004, when Mr. Roh Moo Hyun met with then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Prime Minister Yasuo...
COMMENTARY
Apr 24, 2008

U.S. candidates' top target: China

Ever since the Tiananmen Square military crackdown of 1989, China has become an issue in domestic American politics, usually with the party in power — either Republican or Democratic — being attacked by the opposition party for not being tough enough toward Beijing.
Reader Mail
Apr 24, 2008

Produce food, not missiles

I applaud the recent decision by the Japanese Cabinet to extend economic sanctions against North Korea. North Korea poses a big threat to Asia due to its hardheaded response to calls for nuclear-arms disarmament. North Korea should feed its hungry people instead of building life-destroying missiles....
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2008

Mainstream embraces street dance

Jumping to a heavy rap music soundtrack, Taisuke Nonaka kicked out his legs and launched into a one-handed helicopterlike body spin that had the crowd and the judges whooping and waving their fists in appreciation.
CULTURE / Art / INSIDE ART
Apr 24, 2008

Hiding in Japan are the world's best attended exhibitions

If you didn't know the best-attended exhibition in the world last year was held in Nara Prefecture, you're not alone.

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?