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COMMENTARY / World
Mar 10, 2008

The global economic party has ended

MUNICH — With the United States teetering into recession, the global economic boom has ended. The boom was unusually long and persistent, with four years of roughly 5 percent growth — a period of sustained economic dynamism not seen since around 1970.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 10, 2008

Foreign workers rally in Shibuya for equal rights

Foreign workers staged a rally in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, on Sunday as part of their annual spring labor offensive, calling for proper and equal treatment on par with Japanese working conditions.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 9, 2008

Opposite poles of protest 40 years ago

WARSAW — In Paris, West Berlin, London and Rome, the spring of 1968 was marked by student protests against the Vietnam War.
Reader Mail
Mar 9, 2008

An activist's means to an end

Regarding Debito Arudou's March 4 article, "Dusting off the A-word": In reading through this latest bit of self-promoting preaching, I tried hard to keep from laughing out loud at some of the lofty claims. Arudou claims to be "doing what other fellow Japanese (however few), working within the law and...
CULTURE / Books
Mar 9, 2008

Picture-perfect sending off of a wartime Shanghai

FAREWELL, SHANGHAI, by Angel Wagenstein, translated by Elizabeth Frank and Deliana Simeonova. New York: Handsel Books, 384 pp., 2007, $24.95 (cloth) The adjective "cinematic," when applied to a novel, is usually meant to suggest that the book describes bounces from one action-crammed scene to the next...
Reader Mail
Mar 9, 2008

Negative rhetoric defeats everyone

Local and central government officials such as Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima and Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda have made blanket statements about the discipline of members of the U.S. military. If they would just take the time to research the statistics available through the Japanese Justice Department,...
Reader Mail
Mar 9, 2008

No need for 'ethnic groups'

In his March 2 Counterpoint column, "Will Japan's insular mind-set ever be inclusive of others," Roger Pulvers claims that "gaikokujin . . . includes an enormous number of resident, nonethnic Japanese, primarily Koreans and Chinese."
LIFE / COSPLAY CULTURE
Mar 9, 2008

All aboard for 'world of manga'

With everyone pulling roller suitcases, it seemed appropriate that we were heading for the Harumi Passenger Terminal built on land reclaimed from Tokyo Bay in the city's central Chuo Ward.
Japan Times
LIFE / COSPLAY CULTURE
Mar 9, 2008

Fashion fantasies come to life in cosplay

Silver wig, blue contact lenses, a mock sword and a (kind of) knight's costume.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Mar 9, 2008

Tokyo air-raid photography, convenience stores, LDP versus the DPJ on TV

This Monday marks the 63rd anniversary of the Tokyo air raid. In the very early morning hours of March 10, 1945, U.S. bombers dropped incendiary devices on the capital. No one knows exactly how many people perished in the attack, but estimates range from 100,000 to 200,000.
BASKETBALL
Mar 8, 2008

Oga determined to play for WNBA's Mercury

Asked if she has confidence in her command of the English language, Yuko Oga replied in her signature fashion. She laughed, and then she answered the question.
BUSINESS
Mar 8, 2008

Muto nominated as BOJ chief; DPJ unsure

With Bank of Japan Gov. Toshihiko Fukui's term expiring in 11 days, the government and ruling bloc on Friday finally nominated one of his deputies, Toshiro Muto, to replace him at the central bank.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 8, 2008

'Midori by Moonlight' sure to raise smile

Wendy Tokunaga is a role model for writers struggling to get into print. Her debut novel, "Midori by Moonlight," is the fifth she has written, having survived "hundreds and hundreds" of rejections from agents over a 12-year period.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 8, 2008

Devolution: hangin' around

Even after 15 years in Japan, I cannot avoid looking like the struggling, bumbling "gaijin." You know what I mean: the gaijin who has just gotten off the plane in Japan and is struggling with several huge bags of luggage, all of it too big, none with wheels, making you look like a small elephant in a...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 7, 2008

'Jumper'

"Jumper" is one of those films that feels like it was a marketing strategy before it was a script. Or maybe it was one of those films where they had a cool new special effect and just needed to throw together something resembling a story to showcase it in. Or maybe it was both: create one shot of star...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 7, 2008

Spain Iberico Bar Mon-Naka: Iberico comes to Monzen-Nakacho

It took a puzzlingly long time for Japan to catch on to the pleasures of the taperia. It should be a perfect fit since, after all, the exquisite Iberian custom of slowly whiling away the evening with tapas and drinks, one dish and one glass at a time, is so close in spirit to the izakaya tradition.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / SOUTH KOREAN JOURNALIST SYMPOSIUM
Mar 6, 2008

Lee promises to look to future in his relationship with Japan

President Lee Myung Bak will seek a "mature" relationship with Japan that prioritizes economic ties and diplomatic cooperation, rather than focus on emotional issues linked to the past Japanese colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, the South Korean journalists told the Feb. 22 symposium.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / SOUTH KOREAN JOURNALIST SYMPOSIUM
Mar 6, 2008

High-growth targets may widen divisions in S. Korean society

The South Korean economy faces a host of structural challenges that were left unattended as the nation managed an export-led recovery from the Asian financial crisis a decade ago, the journalists told the Feb. 22 symposium.

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