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Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / WEEK 3
Dec 21, 2008

Tongue-twisting over Beaujolais

On Friday, Nov. 21, the day after the worldwide release of this year's Beaujolais Nouveau in France, I joined a gathering of some 100 wine-lovers in Tokyo's Odaiba waterfront district to welcome the new, jet-lagged plonk to these shores.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 12, 2008

Emerging strategic ties in Asia

LONDON — Before visiting Beijing to attend the Seventh Asia-Europe Meeting summit in Beijing in October, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stopped over in Tokyo. It was his second visit to Japan since assuming office in 2004 and underlined the rapidly evolving strategic realities in Asia.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 4, 2008

Pink thrills: Japanese sex movies go global

As the last wave of vengeful female ghosts inspired by "Ring' "s Sadako fade from cinema screens worldwide, either in their original J-horror manifestations or the obligatory Hollywood remakes, more adventurous foreign-film fans have begun turning their heads Eastward in search of a new frisson. Their...
MORE SPORTS
Nov 29, 2008

Strong competition lined up for 28th running of Japan Cup

Japan Cup weekend is upon us, but this year's is not the double G1 combo of the past eight years. It's the turf version only, Sunday at Tokyo Racecourse.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 27, 2008

Rokkasho plant too dangerous, costly: expert

Japan's plan to reprocess and recycle spent nuclear fuel in a reprocessing plant in the village of Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture, will be a huge waste of electricity users' money and an environmental threat, according to a French atomic power expert.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 22, 2008

A firm grip on life by the handlebars

"Enjoy life and laugh," says cyclist Mio Yamasaki when asked her motto for living. "No, wait," she interrupts, as she ponders the question further. "Make other people laugh. This is the happiest way to live your life."
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / WEEK 3
Nov 16, 2008

Google reveals trends in Japan

The Japanese are more interested in iTunes than in ring-tones, ramen rather than sushi, the economy more than sex, and dogs win out over cats (but only just). That's what Google Trends, the keyword-tracking tool launched in Japan last month, would have us believe.
EDITORIALS
Nov 16, 2008

Deviant thinking on defense

Prime Minister Taro Aso in an Upper House session Thursday said it was "extremely inappropriate" for Mr. Toshio Tamogami, the recently dismissed Air Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff, to write an essay that contradicted the government's official view on Japan's war-making in the 1930s and '40s.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 15, 2008

Taking a structural stance on culture

It was at the groundbreaking ceremony of Osaka's Breeze Tower in the spring of 2006 that architect Yuichiro Edagawa met a German woman by the name of Sybille Fanelsa and happened to tell her about his cherished plan to publish a photo book that would introduce the splendor of Japanese culture and tradition...
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Oct 29, 2008

Q-chan announces retirement

Literally, Naoko Takahashi had bumps in the road in her career as a marathoner. But her days of glory and agony are finally over, and now she can walk in the street as everyone else.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 23, 2008

'X' marks the spot for TV's odd couple

Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 22, 2008

TIFFCOM sets stage for dealing in content

Japanese animation and movie content have strong global pull and inspired several foreign spinoffs, but the bottom-line profits show there is room to expand.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Oct 19, 2008

Sky PerfecTV gives up on broadcasting MLB games

Did you enjoy watching Major League Baseball telecasts throughout the season live on Sky PerfecTV?
JAPAN
Oct 18, 2008

Filipino bar hostess visa scam snags top official

Senior Vice Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Masatoshi Kurata was embroiled in a scandal Friday over his alleged role in arranging visas for Filipino women to enter Japan and perform at "charity concerts," but who in fact ended up working as bar hostesses.
EDITORIALS
Oct 4, 2008

Rekindling trust in pensions

At a time when people's trust in the nation's pension system has practically vanished due to pension records scandals, a panel of the Social Welfare Council, an advisory body to the welfare minister, is discussing problems related to the government's 2004 decision on dealing with pension issues.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 2, 2008

Web society opts to stay anonymous

Like a lot of 20-year-olds, Kae Takahashi has a page on U.S.-based MySpace, and there is no mistaking it for anyone else's.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 30, 2008

Foreign automakers race to set up in Thailand

AYUTTHAYA, Thailand — Empty of machinery, the new high-ceilinged, white-walled Honda assembly plant here is cavernous. By late October, though, the building will be humming with life when production begins. It's all part of the carmaker's plan for Thailand to play a bigger role in its global strategy....
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 24, 2008

USJ turnaround artist has all the moves

If asked to name the foreign business executive who has most dramatically turned around a financially troubled Japanese corporation, Glenn Gumpel might top the list.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / TAKING A CHANCE
Sep 23, 2008

Robot development takes a homeward turn

While Japanese robotics companies have made robots that look and move like human beings, the goal of making a society where human beings and robots interact in everyday life has remained out of reach.
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2008

ASDF Iraq mission could end this year

The Air Self-Defense Force unit flying transport operations between Kuwait and Iraq may be withdrawn by the end of the year, the government said Thursday.
JAPAN
Aug 30, 2008

Kitajima-speak available for those keeping abreast of ring tone times

With two gold medals in his trophy case from the Beijing Olympics and another from the 2004 Athens Games, breaststroke swimmer Kosuke Kitajima is truly now a national superstar.

Longform

An ongoing shortage of rice has resulted in rising prices for Japan's main food staple.
Why Japan is running out of rice — and farmers to grow it