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EDITORIALS
Sep 5, 2008

The DPJ's kind of nation

The sudden decision and announcement by Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda to resign must have caused a headache for the Democratic Party of Japan, the No. 1 opposition party. The DPJ had worked out a strategy for future general elections on the assumption that Mr. Fukuda would remain in power. The DPJ thought...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 5, 2008

Cardiff band get Los in translation

Los Campesinos!, a pop septet from Cardiff, Wales, were an inspired choice to open the Marine Stadium stage at Summer Sonic Tokyo last month. Each tune kicks off with a catchy riff and proceeds to burn rocket fuel as lead vocalist Gareth twitches and yelps — nothing the band plays is slow, or even...
Reader Mail
Sep 4, 2008

How 'natural' is the weather?

This summer we have endured a lot of rain, humid weather and weird cloud formations. This may not be unusual for Japan in August, but I asked locals if the weather was unusual and many said "yes." Using the Internet, I was able to learn that the U.S. government has an official policy of "weather modification"...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 4, 2008

German opera director Konwitschny stages 'Eugene Onegin' in Tokyo

With Tokyo Nikikai Opera Theatre, German director Peter Konwitschny will stage "Eugene Onegin" in Tokyo from Sept. 12 to 15.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Sep 3, 2008

Valentine: Marines official asked me to resign in late July

CHIBA — Chiba Lotte Marines manager Bobby Valentine revealed to a small gathering of reporters on Tuesday that in late July he was asked to resign by someone in the Lotte front office.
BUSINESS
Sep 3, 2008

Shirakawa: Inflation stable; slump not over

The economy will probably keep slowing for now but inflation isn't spreading from commodity-related goods because wage growth is subdued, Bank of Japan Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa said Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 2, 2008

Fukuda announces resignation

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda abruptly announced Monday night he will resign.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 2, 2008

Soft power is key to Japan reshaping its identity abroad

In February this year, a Japanese university student scribbled her name and that of her college on the walls of Florence's Duomo. The following month, the university received complaints from Japanese travelers embarrassed to find Japanese graffiti on a World Heritage Site. In June, after another Japanese...
CULTURE / Books
Aug 31, 2008

All you need to know about Japan's politics

GOVERNING JAPAN: Divided Politics in a Resurgent Economy, by J.A.A. Stockwin. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2008, 298 pp., £19.99 (paper) Arthur Stockwin, who was until recently Nissan Professor of Modern Japanese Studies at the University of Oxford, is the leading British expert on Japanese politics....
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 31, 2008

Surrogate path for dads not always as easy as for Ricky

When Puerto Rican pop star Ricky Martin announced on Aug. 21 that he was the father of twin boys born to a surrogate mother, the media reacted cautiously. Martin is single, and for years rumors have circulated that he is gay. Celebrity interviewer Barbara Walters once asked him about this, and he dodged...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Aug 31, 2008

'Backyard naturalist' finds it fun to be green

Tadashi Nemoto's home in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, is proof that you don't need lots of expensive equipment to enjoy an ecological lifestyle.
EDITORIALS
Aug 30, 2008

Mr. Obama takes the ticket

The Democratic Party made history this week when it made Mr. Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, its nominee for the 44th president of the United States. Mr. Obama is the first African-American — his father was Kenyan, his mother a white Kansan — to claim a slot on the ticket of a major...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 30, 2008

Ota discloses office expenditure

Farm minister Seiichi Ota disclosed details of his political support group's expenditures Friday in an attempt to clear his name after allegations of irregularities and once again expressed his intention to remain in his post.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2008

Critics dispute Michelin regard for Tokyo

Paris might still be good if you've got a big wad of cash and want the best of the best. But Tokyo is really where it's at foodwise, at least according to the French people who keep track of these things.
EDITORIALS
Aug 29, 2008

India's nuclear access

The Nuclear Suppliers Group ended last week's meeting inconclusively over the question of whether to grant India access to nuclear fuel and technologies for civilian use. The NSG, an international body composed of 45 member nations, including Japan, controls the trade in nuclear technologies and related...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 29, 2008

'Youth Without Youth'

Ever since he first hit it big with "The Godfather" way back in 1972, Francis Ford Coppola has made noises about saying goodbye to Hollywood, taking the money and making small, uncompromising independent films. With the exception of "The Conversation" (1974), that never happened, with Coppola seemingly...
CULTURE / Art / INSIDE ART
Aug 28, 2008

Why curators stay at home

When I interviewed 28-year-old curator Shinya Watanabe a month ago, he surprised me when he said his dream was to curate Documenta, the massive exhibition of international contemporary art held once every five years in Kassel, Germany. He might as well have said all he wanted was to be the most famous...
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2008

Seiko Noda: The time is ripe for consumer agency

Establishment of a consumer protection agency couldn't come at a better time, what with the current deterioration of the consumer environment, consumer affairs minister Seiko Noda said Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2008

Steps eyed for temps' plight

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry may submit a bill to the Diet this fall that will urge, but not require, temp staffing agencies to pursue regular employment for the workers they dispatch in a bid to bring more stability to the lives of the underpaid.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2008

Ota downplays flap over funding

A political support group for agriculture minister Seiichi Ota declared more than ¥23 million in office fees in 2005 and 2006 in its annual political funding reports for an office registered at the Tokyo home of his ministerial secretary, even though no rent money was actually paid.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Aug 25, 2008

The longest day ever for Japan

I recently stumbled upon a YouTube recording — actually, two — of the Showa Emperor telling his subjects over the radio that Japan was accepting defeat. The first one I heard was what appeared to be a cleaned-up version; the second was the one with static, bits of which I had heard before. This was,...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Aug 24, 2008

'Nation of copycats' maligns Japan's fine science and technology

One of the most commonly discussed issues of national character in Japan revolves around the question of personal creativity. Put simply, it is this: Are the Japanese lacking in the DNA of originality?
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Aug 23, 2008

Barwick's departure comes as no surprise

LONDON — England's uninspiring 2-2 draw against the Czech Republic on Wednesday was overshadowed by the news that Brian Barwick is to leave his post as chief executive of the Football Association after four years in it.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 23, 2008

Reaping summer's rewards

In July, a package arrived on my genkan doorstep like all packages arrive at my house — with a thud. I could hear the postman grunt out a greeting before he shut the screen door behind him. I went downstairs to investigate the thud.

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