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Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Feb 18, 2007

Close your eyes, count to 10 . . . and play to your heart's content

It seems only natural that everyone should have a wild time, at least once in their life, because for the most part our mortal span is occupied with studying, making a living or raising a family. All that, of course, can be fun -- but it tends to be rather serious stuff as well.
EDITORIALS
Feb 18, 2007

Face of the lay judge system

By May 2009, Japan will introduce a lay judge system in which ordinary citizens will take part in criminal proceedings as judges to help decide the outcomes of trials. The system is gradually taking shape as the Supreme Court has made public a simulation for the process of choosing candidates for lay...
EDITORIALS
Feb 17, 2007

Qualified GDP growth

The government has announced that Japan's economy continued to grow for the eighth consecutive quarter in the October-December period. Gross domestic product in the quarter registered 1.2 percent growth in real terms from the previous quarter, translating to an annualized 4.8 percent. This growth rate...
JAPAN
Feb 16, 2007

Bar not going to punish Asahara's lawyers for tardy court documents

The counsel for Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara will not be penalized for missing the deadline for filing a document with the Tokyo High Court needed to appeal his death sentence, the Japan Federation of Bar Associations said Thursday.
EDITORIALS
Feb 16, 2007

JAL's last chance at revival

The medium-term restructuring plan announced last week by Japan Airlines Corp. is a plan for the survival of the nation's flag carrier. The group is saddled with 1.7 trillion yen in debt. JAL President and CEO Haruka Nishimatsu summarized the importance of achieving the goals when he said, "We must keep...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Feb 16, 2007

Enough to make a vampire drool

Belgian choreographer Jan Fabre's most controversial work, "Je Suis Sang (I am Blood)," will be performed for three stagings only in Japan at the Saitama Arts Center this weekend.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 16, 2007

The Format, Yo La Tengo

The Format, an Arizona-based pop collective centered around vocalist Nate Ruess and multi-instrumentalist Sam Means is a misunderstood band, even by people who seek to profit from them. In 2005, Atlantic dropped the duo after they delivered their sophomore album, "Dog Problems," saying it wasn't the...
BUSINESS
Feb 15, 2007

Schieffer rues lack of progress on M&A rules

Tokyo's lack of progress in making it easier for foreign companies to acquire Japanese firms is "disappointing," U.S. Ambassador Thomas Schieffer said Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Feb 15, 2007

Breakthrough with North Korea

After tumultuous negotiations, the six-party talks reached agreement on a deal that would end North Korea's nuclear-weapons program and end the country's international isolation. The agreement took three and a half years to conclude, during which the North exploded a nuclear weapon. There is no guarantee...
BASKETBALL
Feb 15, 2007

HeatDevils, Apache agree trades

The Oita HeatDevils and Tokyo Apache agreed Tuesday on a trade between former draft No. 1 overall pick Joe Kurino and Taketo Aoki, both of whom are considered precious bench players for their respective teams, the bj-league announced on Wednesday.
MORE SPORTS
Feb 11, 2007

Remarkable return: Hingis happy with comeback

Former world No. 1 Martina Hingis won a record-breaking fifth Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo last Sunday, adding the title to the ones she won in 1997, 1999, 2000 and 2002. It was her third Tier 1 title since returning to the WTA Tour in January 2006 after coming out of a three-year retirement because...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 11, 2007

Women find voice over sexist gaffe

In harmony-loving Japan, women rarely take to the streets to protest the sexist remarks that routinely spill from the mouths of ruling politicians, and even the most outrageous comments go largely unpunished at the ballot box.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Feb 11, 2007

The price of stalemate

One of the most controversial elements of Japan's campaign to overturn the International Whaling Commission's 1986 commercial whaling ban is the alleged use of official Overseas Development Aid to "buy" the votes of poorer IWC member-countries. That is an allegation vehemently denied by fisheries bureaucrats....
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Feb 11, 2007

Ft. Myers getting ready for 'Dice-K' and Japanese media

Sportswriter David Dorsey of the Ft. Myers News-Press in Florida is getting ready to work the Boston Red Sox spring training camp in that town. He will be joined by a bevy of reporters and photographers from the various Japanese media there to cover the Daisuke Matsuzaka circus and lefty reliever Hideki...
EDITORIALS
Feb 10, 2007

Mr. Yanagisawa does it again

Language sometimes masks what one really thinks or feels. It also sometimes exposes what is really on one's mind, consciously or unconsciously. The second case appears to apply to the two statements health minister Hakuo Yanagisawa has made in relation to the nation's falling birth rate. In a Lower House...

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