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COMMUNITY
Nov 20, 2007

Starting today, 'gaijin' formally known as prints

Today sees the introduction of a law requiring the majority of foreigners entering Japan to be fingerprinted and photographed. This change has been met with howls of protest from foreign residents and the foreign media, who have pointed to the fact that the only terrorist attacks on Japanese soil have...
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Nov 20, 2007

World's suicide capital — tough image to shake

Japan has attained a reputation as the suicide capital of the world. A 2007 international comparison of suicide rates (per 100,000 people) by the World Health Organization ranked Japan sixth for females, at 12.8, behind Sri Lanka, South Korea and Lithuania, and 11th for males, at 35.6, well below Lithuania,...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 19, 2007

Containing the Mideast fires of reform

LONDON — The recent meeting in the Vatican between "Custodian of the Holy Places" King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and Pope Benedict XVI was a seminal event, particularly as it comes at a time when radical Muslims are decrying the role of "Crusaders" in Middle East politics. It was also the clearest sign...
LIFE / Lifestyle / WEEK 3
Nov 18, 2007

Cup-and-ball master turns his 'toy' into an art form

Do you play kendama? Probably not, on an everyday basis at least, though you may well have tried it a few times if you live in Japan.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 18, 2007

Losing the plot and ratings when jumping on the Showa bandwagon

In order to keep people watching a TV drama series every week, it helps to have a loose plot thread — an overarching mystery that remains unexplained while the various story lines develop over time. The protagonist of the Friday night TBS serial, "Uta-Hime (Song Princess)" (10 p.m.), is Taro Shimanto...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Nov 18, 2007

Changing lives with castoffs

Michiyo Yoshida is a prime example of that green mantra, "Think globally, act locally." But the nonprofit organization she cofounded to send used wheelchairs to developing countries has also enabled members to "think globally and act globally."
BASKETBALL
Nov 15, 2007

Hokkaido residents embrace new pro basketball team

SAPPORO — It wasn't until recent years that Hokkaido was believed to be a place that wouldn't come into being, mainly because of the far, isolated location from the mainland of Japan — Tokyo particularly — and its chillier climate.
EDITORIALS
Nov 15, 2007

The will to find common ground

The Diet has unanimously enacted a law that will financially help victims of natural disasters such as typhoons and earthquakes. This revision of a former similar law resulted from consultations between the Liberal Democratic Party-Komeito ruling coalition and the Democratic Party of Japan. As the first...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 15, 2007

Out of exile, into a Tokyo art space

For artist Morio Matsui, life has almost turned full circle. After four decades in "exile" in France, this currently Corsica-based Japanese artist's ties with his homeland have strengthened with the opening earlier this year of an art space, Espace Morio Matsui, in Shimo-Meguro, Tokyo.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Nov 14, 2007

In vino veritas — or not

I was drinking a beer and eating sashimi in a tiny bar in Tokyo's trendy Shibuya district last week when one of the office workers there wondered aloud, "Is evolution the same as progress?"
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Nov 14, 2007

Online music store helps Japanese music go global

You've heard the stories: The music industry is in crisis, CD sales are dropping year on year, iTunes is taking over the world, the future is digital, the revolution is here. While a lot of this may be true, music fans could be forgiven for some cynicism when all about them the music industry seeks to...
Reader Mail
Nov 13, 2007

Remembering five innocent souls

On Oct. 2, 2006, a tragedy occurred at an Amish school in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Five Amish girls were shot to death by Charles Roberts IV. Surprisingly, the family of one of the victims expressed forgiveness toward the killer's family on the same day. And it was learned that one of the slain...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 13, 2007

'Gaijin card' checks spread as police deputize the nation

In the good old days, very few Japanese knew about Alien Registration Cards — you know, those wallet-size documents all non-Japanese residents must carry 24/7 or face arrest and incarceration.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Nov 13, 2007

Agosta anniversary, Swedish cool, disc hats and more

Well-preened
MORE SPORTS
Nov 11, 2007

Suguri perseveres as rivals grow younger

Sometimes in life we tend to take things that endure for granted.
CULTURE / Books
Nov 11, 2007

Trapped between borders

Frontier Mosaic: Voices of Burma from the Lands In Between, by Richard Humphries. Orchid Press, 2007, 180 pp., $29.95 (paper) "A man on a motorbike comes by and we then follow him through the streets of Mae Sot." So begins one of the narrative vignettes from "Frontier Mosaic." Based on extensive travel...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Nov 11, 2007

Japan's savior of Khmer silk

Kikuo Morimoto, 59, is a passionate man who radiates an aura of serenity. He has almost single-handedly saved the silk-weaving industry of Cambodia, a tradition that was nearly lost during three decades of war and neglect.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 9, 2007

East Timor need not follow Myanmar

MANILA — East Timor, now known as Timor-Leste, is the world's newest democracy. It may have a population of less than 1 million, but it has a proud, heroic history and a rich culture built up over centuries of diverse ethnic and colonial influences.
JAPAN
Nov 9, 2007

Gates hears Komura vow to get MSDF bill passed

Japan will make "utmost efforts" to resume its logistic support for the U.S.-led antiterrorism operations in and around Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura told visiting U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 9, 2007

EU's moment of decision

BRUSSELS — Is amnesia an integral part of politics? When it comes to the treaty to reform the European Union's institutions, which will be finalized this month, recent events suggest that amnesia does play a central role.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 8, 2007

Gen. Musharraf's last act?

PRAGUE — Desperate to hold onto power, President Gen. Pervez Musharraf has discarded Pakistan's constitutional framework and declared a state of emergency. His goal? To stifle the independent judiciary and free media. Artfully, though shamelessly, he has tried to sell this action as an effort to bring...
JAPAN
Nov 8, 2007

Arriving outside Narita will be worse

OSAKA — As annoying as the new fingerprinting procedure will be for non-Japanese going through immigration at Narita International Airport, it is going to be much worse for foreign residents who don't live in the Tokyo area.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 6, 2007

Nova's crash: readers respond

Following are responses from readers on the collapse of language school chain Nova Corp. and last week's Zeit Gist article, "Nova crash adds to 'eikaiwa' wage woes":
Japan Times
LIFE / CLOSE-UP
Nov 4, 2007

Sue Palmer: The kids are not OK, top educator warns

To a growing legion of educated, enlightened and empowered mothers in Japan and abroad, Sue Palmer's advice on how to bring up children might sound — if not heard in context — too old-fashioned, too alarmist or even maybe too naive to prepare their loved ones for the rapidly changing, fiercely competitive...
COMMENTARY
Nov 3, 2007

A blow to the budding India-U.S. alliance

LONDON — Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's response made perfectly good sense. If his allies in Parliament were willing to bring the government down to block the nuclear deal with the United States that he had spent two years negotiating, he would drop the deal. "One has to live with certain disappointments,"...
EDITORIALS
Nov 3, 2007

In search of a mission

As the special law for antiterrorism measures expired Nov. 1, the government halted the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Indian Ocean mission of refueling naval ships of the United States and other countries engaged in antiterrorism operations. The MSDF mission continued for almost six years. As the mission...

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?