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COMMENTARY / World
Apr 22, 2008

Mixing sports and politics

PARIS — "Do not mix sports and politics!" That defiant cry from China's rulers to the threat of a boycott of this summer's Beijing Olympic Games does not stand the test of reality. Sport and politics have always been closely linked.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 22, 2008

New Delhi's dilemma with the Dalai Lama

PRAGUE — As the world reacts to China's crackdown in Tibet, one country is conspicuous by both its centrality to the drama and its reticence over it. India, the land of asylum for the Dalai Lama and the angry young hotheads of the Tibetan Youth Congress, finds itself on the horns of a dilemma.
OLYMPICS
Apr 22, 2008

Kitajima headlines 31-member Olympic team

Kosuke Kitajima was nearly speechless on the podium. He will give all the answers in Beijing.
BASKETBALL
Apr 21, 2008

Teams relish chance to play in Yoyogi gym

The game between the Tokyo Apache and Niigata Albirex wasn't just special because it was the first wild-card contest ever played. It was spiced up by another ingredient as well.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Apr 21, 2008

Squabbling ruined chance for private-sector BOJ chief

The dispute over replacing the Bank of Japan governor, whose seat was left vacant when Toshihiko Fukui's five-year term ended March 19, was finally settled April 9 when Deputy Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa was officially promoted to chief of the central bank.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 20, 2008

Marunouchi flower show enlivens downtown Tokyo

While the cherry blossoms have already come and gone in Tokyo, another flowery extravaganza is now blooming in Tokyo's Marunouchi district — Marunouchi Flower Weeks 2008.
Reader Mail
Apr 20, 2008

Actions matter more than words

Japan is not alone in wanting to instill patriotism in its young people ("No place for politics in education," April 10). All countries around the globe consider that goal to be important. The debate, therefore, is over the proper means to achieve that justifiable end. Attitudes, however, are caught...
Reader Mail
Apr 20, 2008

Pets deserve better food

Regarding the April 4 article "Be wary: It's a dog-eat-dog food world out there:" This article on pet food indicated that in previous years pets such as dogs and cats were fed on scrap food. As a result of being fed on remnant food, pets live relatively short lives. But scientists have since developed...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Apr 20, 2008

Soccer that's played the wheely way

I like soccer. I like to watch it. I even tried to play it a few times when I was a kid, though I was not good at sports that didn't require me to use my hands, so I switched to tennis and basketball. But I can imagine how skillful you have to be to play football well, and how much fun and how exciting...
Reader Mail
Apr 20, 2008

What's in a name?

The April 9 article "NATO meeting sends dangerous signals" portrays Greece as the aggressor and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) as the victim. The provisional name of FYROM was not selected by Greece, as the author states, but was part of an interim agreement suggested by others...
Reader Mail
Apr 20, 2008

Long wait at immigration

On April 7 I had two business colleagues arrive at KIX Osaka at around 5 p.m. -- they were confronted with an immigration line that was so long it went all the way back to the escalator bringing arriving people to the immigration hall! It took them 1 hour and 27 minutes to be processed by KIX immigration....
BASKETBALL
Apr 18, 2008

Neumann's Rizing try to keep roll going against Takamatsu

John Neumann arrived in Fukuoka last September to coach a team without an identity, a team with a tricky spelling and a team that has quietly and courageously produced an impressive opening chapter.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Apr 18, 2008

The Great Japan Beer Festival, the Grand Hyatt hits 5, and Cantonese cuisine at the Mandarin Oriental.

Grand Hyatt's fifth anniversary The Grand Hyatt Tokyo will serve special dinner courses at all of its restaurants and one of its bars as part of "In celebration of the Five Senses of the Grand Hyatt Tokyo," which marks its fifth anniversary on April 25.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 18, 2008

'Paranoid Park'/'You, the Living'

Spree killer, rock star, average teenage skater. Director Gus Van Sant sees all three in much the same light: emotionless, affectless, blank. Numb characters for a numb generation? Or is Van Sant's penchant for an aesthetic — an aloof, arty minimalism — blinding him to things like personality, expression,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 18, 2008

'Factory Girl'

"In the future, everyone can be famous for 15 minutes" is one of Andy Warhol's choice aphorisms. When he said that in the late 1960s, the point had already been proven with a vengeance by Edie Sedgwick: Warhol's one-time muse, collaborator and platonic lover (with Warhol, such a thing was possible)....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 18, 2008

'Shaolin Girl'

Chihiro Kameyama, Japan's most successful film producer, is not a man to miss an opportunity. When Stephen Chow's comedy "Shaolin Soccer" became a smash in Japan in 2002, Kameyama had the idea of joining with Chow to make a Japanese spinoff. Now, six years later, we have "Shaolin Shojo (Shaolin Girl),"...
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Apr 18, 2008

Kurosawa: Hand-rolled soba — the director's cut

The word tsu (connoisseur) is often bandied around when talking about Japanese cuisine. Originally denoting a general savoir-faire in worldly matters — most especially in the pleasure quarters — it is now widely used for those who know their food and drink.
Reader Mail
Apr 17, 2008

Noble but unrealistic sentiment

In his April 1 column "Public forums, spinning wheels," Debito Arudou states that "Japanese society must stop the common practice of using grace and physical appearance as a paradigm for pigeonholing people." These are noble sentiments. But so are the sentiments that underpin the failed political philosophy...
Reader Mail
Apr 17, 2008

'Smuggler' showed poor judgment

In regard to the April 10 article titled "Swiss woman's drug smuggling acquittal upheld," I am sorry to say I feel very little sympathy for her. If she did in fact bring drugs into this country knowingly or not, then she should be in jail. In addition to asking the question of what type of person,...
Reader Mail
Apr 17, 2008

Cracking down on forced marriages

The March 13 article "U.K. gets tough on arranged marriages" explains the result of Britain's investigation of 400 forced marriages. There are over 1.8 million Muslims in Britain, and a conclusion was reached that most forced marriages take place in Britain's Muslim communities. The article notes that...
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Apr 16, 2008

Change sweeping North Korea

Drastic changes appear to be taking place in North Korea as its Korean Workers' Party (KWP) further strengthens its grip and its strongman Kim Jong Il tackles three major tasks: to pave the way for announcing his successor, to minimize whatever damage may result from the birth of a new conservative government...

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?