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EDITORIALS
Sep 23, 2007

Beautifying Kyoto, at last

In early September, the Kyoto city government began enforcing regulations against ugliness in the city. Yes, ugliness. The mayor of Kyoto, Yorikane Masumoto, and his municipal government found the political will to think beyond the immediate concerns of day-to-day business demands, and to consider how...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language
Sep 23, 2007

Japanese: A language in a state of flux

Languages are never static. They change and evolve with people over time. They also interact with other languages, and through an endless cycle of loaning and borrowing of words, ideas and concepts are shared, exchanged and nurtured across national and cultural boundaries.
Japan Times
Reference / Special Presentations / WITNESS TO WAR
Sep 22, 2007

Nemuro raid survivor longs for homeland

Shohei Yamamoto still has to choke back tears when he talks about the day he was expelled from his village of Shibetoro on Etorofu Island off northern Hokkaido, two years after Japan was defeated in World War II.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 21, 2007

Ozawa dances around the U.S. alliance

Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) president Ichiro Ozawa's success in orchestrating the downfall of Prime Minister Abe Shinzo is a major victory for his party. It is also arguably the first time since the resignation of Abe's grandfather, Prime Minister Kishi Nobusuke in 1960, that a prime minister has...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Sep 21, 2007

A slow drink coming

At Takahata Wine Harvest Festival next month the quality of booze will not be a problem — and neither will your conscience as you nurse a hangover the next day.
COMMENTARY
Sep 20, 2007

Defense debate bordering on bizarre

The trigger for Shinzo Abe's resignation was the refusal by opposition leader Ichiro Ozawa to agree to further deployments of Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force to the Indian Ocean after authorizing legislation runs out on Nov. 1.
COMMENTARY
Sep 20, 2007

Another Japanese prime minister falls

LOS ANGELES — Japan is of gigantic importance to the United States and to the world. This nation — of 127 million people squeezed into one relatively small island — developed into the second-largest economy in the world.
COMMENTARY
Sep 20, 2007

Decline of the Liberal Democratic Party?

LONDON — Sixty-two years after Japan surrendered to the United States at the end of World War II, many things have changed, but not Japan's subordination to the U.S. Despite having the world's second-biggest economy, Japan is still a pygmy on the international stage, and its foreign policy is still...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 18, 2007

Typhoons more predictable but still deadly

Most years, the typhoon season peaks in September, as illustrated by the recent Typhoon No. 9, called Fitow, which killed two, and Typhoon No. 11, also known as Nari, which approached Okinawa last week.
EDITORIALS
Sep 18, 2007

Self-sufficiency amid diversity

Japan's food self-sufficiency rate for fiscal 2006 declined to 39 percent in terms of calories supplied. This is the first time the rate has dipped below 40 percent since fiscal 1993 when the rate fell to 37 percent due to a poor rice crop. Japan's food self-sufficiency rate is clearly low when compared...
BASKETBALL
Sep 17, 2007

'Samurai' spirit drives AND1's Morishita

Determined and fearless on the court, Yuichiro Morishita exhibits a work ethic that basketball coaches want every player to possess. And yet it's his nickname, "Samurai," that's made him a household name far, far away from his hometown of Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture.
Japan Times
SOCCER
Sep 15, 2007

Takahara finding his feet at Frankfurt

FRANKFURT — Naohiro Takahara puts almost all of his Japanese striking contemporaries to shame by possessing that rare something that is hard to come by on the national team: a killer instinct.
COMMUNITY
Sep 11, 2007

Have your say

The scapegoating of Asa Two thumbs up for James Eriksson and Debito Arudou on their article (Zeit Gist, Sept. 4), the first and only in Japan that actually looks at the facts of the whole (Asashoryu) situation and doesn't just follow the bandwagon of "Asa-bashing."
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Sep 9, 2007

Wild card quotes and oddities from Japanese baseball

Hanshin Tigers relief pitcher Jeff Williams remarked back in June, "This is a great year for the Central League to start a playoff system."
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 9, 2007

Cardboard-bun incident serves up more distaste for China

Though it wasn't the most significant news story of the summer, the video that circulated worldwide in early July about the Dalian street vendor who sold pork buns stuffed with cardboard was certainly the most fun for local news outlets since it involved two subjects Japanese media can't get enough of:...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Sep 8, 2007

Lilian Mendes Kano

"Despite our big, multilayered, newcomer community in Japan, the truth is that not much is known here about the variety and richness of Brazilian culture and society. It is really rewarding for me to show aspects of my home country, beyond carnival, soccer and the Amazon, that people have never imagined."...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 8, 2007

Flying high from where the airlines left off

For all his carefully considered — if not weightily measured — words, Geoffrey Tudor's inner child is never far away. It twinkles at the corners of his eyes, twitches the corners of his mouth, and often convulses his body in mischievous laughter.
COMMENTARY
Sep 7, 2007

APEC's purpose is missing

Each year we have to ask the same question as world leaders drag themselves across the globe, taking days from their crowded schedules, simply to hand out platitudes on the importance of free trade, the environment or some other trendy topic of the day.
BUSINESS
Sep 7, 2007

HSBC to open branches in large cities as private assets swell

HSBC Holdings PLC, Europe's biggest bank by market value, said Thursday it plans to open branches in Tokyo, Osaka and other large cities in Japan to grab a greater share of private assets.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 6, 2007

Japanese tattoo art carves its mark in the mainstream

"It seems like every two or three days we are doing a koi (carp) half-sleeve or a dragon tattoo. People in the States are going nuts for Japanese. It's really blown up over the last two years," says American tattoo artist Lewis Hess of Atlas Tattoo in Portland, Oregon.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CABINET INTERVIEW
Sep 5, 2007

MSDF Indian Ocean exit not an option: Komura

The government will do whatever it takes to ensure that Maritime Self-Defense Force warships continue their mission in the Indian Ocean in support of the NATO-led antiterrorism campaign in Afghanistan, new Defense Minister Masahiko Komura said.
Japan Times
JAPAN / ATOMIC POWER AT ANY COST
Sep 5, 2007

All cost bets off if Big One hits nuke plant

Last of three parts
BUSINESS
Sep 4, 2007

Impact of subprime on property market 'limited'

The U.S. subprime crisis will have a limited impact on Japan's property market rally, which is likely to shrug off the increased borrowing costs stemming from a global drying up of credit, according to investors and analysts.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Sep 2, 2007

Cultural affinity bodes well for growing ties with India

Legend has it that in ancient times a mask made its way from India to Japan. One look at today's Noh mask called Beshimi would confirm this legend: Its tea-colored complexion, large eyes and ample nostrils certainly make it look nothing like a Japanese, but like a native of India.

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