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BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE MONTH
Jan 1, 2010

Golden King star Newton recognized for superior defensive skills

Quietly and confidently, Jeff Newton remains the anchor of the defending bj-league champion Ryukyu Golden Kings.
COMMENTARY
Dec 30, 2009

A decade of Western losses and Asian gains

Decades don't usually have the courtesy to begin and end on the right year. The social and cultural revolution that Western countries think of when they talk of the " '60s" only got under way in 1962-63, and didn't end until the Middle East war and oil embargo of 1973-74.
EDITORIALS
Dec 29, 2009

The past year of newness

The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation's annual kanji of the year for 2009 is, appropriately, " " (shin), meaning "new." This kanji, chosen by national ballot and announced in December at Kyoto's Kiyomizu temple, reflects the win of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), which ended a half-century...
Japan Times
JAPAN / MIXED MATCHES
Dec 29, 2009

From two worlds apart they found one

American Leza Lowitz was ready to leave Japan when she met her future husband, Shogo Oketani, at a Yokohama jazz club.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 29, 2009

New Year's: Communing with family, the gods

In the West, people count down the seconds to midnight Dec. 31 and in many cases keep partying into the wee hours, then sleep in. Once the clock strikes 12 in Japan, many people head to temples and shrines, then proceed to make New Year's Day a family occasion.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 27, 2009

Wendy's decision triggers memories of a unique pre-game tradition

A brief news article on Page 1 of the Dec. 12 edition of The Japan Times reminded me of former Yakult Swallows and Rakuten Eagles pitcher Kevin Hodges. "Wendy's pulling out of Japan by end of month," read the headline above the story about the U.S. hamburger chain ending its operations in this country....
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Dec 27, 2009

Usual conformist cliches about the Japanese

NEW YORK — So Roger Cohen, a relatively new columnist with The New York Times, concluded after a brief stay in Tokyo earlier this month that Japan is a society laid low by "a tremendous conformity" and trivialized by "otaku" ("Japanese Obsessions," Dec. 14).
Japan Times
LIFE
Dec 27, 2009

Thank God the year's over

History has seen worse years than 2009. All the same, this Year of the Ox has been more than most of us born after World War II in the relatively privileged regions of the Earth were conditioned to cope with.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Dec 25, 2009

Legendary, dirty samurai gets makeover

Singer and actor Masaharu Fukuyama hit the nail on the head when he said that Sakamoto Ryoma is the kind of person onto whom anyone can project themselves.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 23, 2009

Yappa! Abbreviated Japanese ain't all that bad

"Ain't" ain't a word. My high school English teachers pounded that into my head. And they were right — "ain't" is not proper English. On the other hand, it is used colloquially by people all over the English-speaking world. Language is not just limited to those words found in reference books and textbooks....
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Dec 22, 2009

No surprise to see Apache in sorry state after offseason upheaval

Losing can breed disgust or apathy, and the Tokyo Apache have fallen on hard times in the bj-league's fifth season.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Dec 21, 2009

Trends in Japan 2009: drinks

Let us raise a glass to the tippling trends of 2009: to cheap booze, less calories, more nostalgia and supposedly responsible drinking.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Dec 16, 2009

Hot on grandma's trail in Hokkaido

If you're looking for your grandmother in the farming suburb of Iwamizawa, an hour northeast of Sapporo, your best bet may be to phone the municipal call center.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 13, 2009

The colorful lure of carp in Japan

Two milestones were achieved at this year's All-Japan Show for Nishikigoi, or ornamental carp, which was held last month in Izumo, Shimane Prefecture.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 13, 2009

Wresting the press from pampered hacks

HONG KONG — Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, was adamant that a free press is the most precious of all freedoms because it opens up or expands other freedoms. He famously wrote that given the choice of a government without a free press or a free press without a government,...
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 8, 2009

In Osaka, a place the homeless call home

It was no surprise to many who know the area that Tatsuya Ichihashi, facing charges of murdering British teacher Lindsay Ann Hawker, has a connection with Osaka's Nishinari Ward.
COMMENTARY
Dec 6, 2009

Disgusting surfeit of anti-Obama remarks

LOS ANGELES — Some necessary context for President Barack Obama's long-awaited Afghanistan policy speech: Foreign policy performance is anything but the total measure of a president's worth. America's domestic politics, not to mention its elections, are more often than not driven by the forces, and...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 6, 2009

Politically incorrect maybe, but also some trenchant home truths

The world used to be one hell of a racist place. All you need do is go back a few decades to find public pronouncements that today would land you a punch on the schnozz, if not a stint in the slammer.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / SPORTS SCOPE
Dec 6, 2009

Naito, Jones can learn lessons from disgraceful last bouts of legends

For something so often referred to as the "sweet science," few sports routinely dole out as sour an ending as boxing.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Dec 6, 2009

Clubhouse rooms with a view

Over the last 22 years we have had many guests visiting our woods up here in the Kurohime hills of Nagano Prefecture. However, their numbers have shot up since we converted our holdings into being The C.W. Nicol Afan Woodland Trust in 2002.
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE MONTH
Dec 5, 2009

Parker earns November accolades

Do-it-all forward Michael Parker plays a starring role for the Rizing Fukuoka.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Dec 5, 2009

Frontale need help to capture first J. League title

KURIHIRA, Kanagawa Pref. — For Kawasaki Frontale goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima, Saturday will either mark the greatest day of his club career or the latest in a long line of painful failures.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 3, 2009

Platter of the day: Flash Sushi

LONDON — Nyotaimori — aka "female body arrangement" aka "naked sushi," in which the food is eaten from the nude body of a beautiful woman — is as much legend as fact in Japan (see accompanying article). But that hasn't stopped the Western imagination from seizing upon it as supposed shorthand for...

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat