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COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 1, 2006

Age-old 'naked friendships' lay bare new bathhouse concerns

I do it about three times a week, but I tell you I would double that frequency if I could. It is surely one of life's great pleasures, and it takes on average (for me) 45 to 50 minutes. Some people smoke afterward, but I just like to cool down and think about things -- you know, life, the human body,...
CULTURE / Books
Oct 1, 2006

Salarymen: a dying breed of worker?

21ST-CENTURY JAPANESE MANAGEMENT: New Systems, Lasting Values, by James C. Abegglen. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006, 194 pp., $80 (cloth). Japan is back and its companies are leading the charge. The process of reinventing corporate Japan continues apace, but does not mean a repudiation of core values....
Japan Times
BUSINESS / CABINET INTERVIEW
Sep 29, 2006

Omi defends shelving sales tax hike talk

The new finance minister's statement Wednesday that discussion to raise the consumption tax will only begin next fall has sparked speculation that he will not carry out the last administration's long-term plans to cut the debt and that it's a ploy for his party to fare well in next summer's Upper House...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 29, 2006

Street spirits plug in and out

In Japan these days, music and politics don't generally sit well together. On the face of it, a group who seem to have bucked the system is Osaka's Soul Flower Union, who released a new best of album on Sept. 20 and are now on a nationwide tour.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 28, 2006

Seeing Paris through Hokusai's eyes

In the often featureless landscape of Tokyo, a fleeting glimpse of Tokyo Tower in the distance can help to give a sense of direction and position. No matter how unfamiliar a particular street may be, seeing a familiar landmark in the distance often makes us feel strangely at home.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 27, 2006

Abe made prime minister

Newly elected Prime Minister Shinzo Abe named his Cabinet on Tuesday, giving most of the posts to his close aides and the people who actively supported him during the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 26, 2006

Ethnic minorities hope for better life post-Koizumi

Members of ethnic communities have expressed hope that the new administration, slated to be launched Tuesday by Shinzo Abe, will help improve their living conditions.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 24, 2006

The art of making classical music fans

PALO ALTO, Calif. -- September is traditionally the time when opera companies and orchestras return to their home cities from Aix, Salzburg, Tanglewood and countless other summer festivals. This is also marked (on both sides of the Atlantic) by the return of worries about how classical music is financed....
Japan Times
LIFE
Sep 24, 2006

Koizumi's Shake, Rattle & Roll

Elvis impersonator? Japan's Thatcher? Faction buster? Nah, as the curtain falls on the Koizumi show, he will be remembered above all for his missed opportunities and self-indulgent gestures at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo -- that, and steamrollering the Constitution's war-renouncing Article 9 into oblivion....
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2006

Abe must bring both vision, pragmatism to the job

Revision of the Constitution and establishment of a national voting system for that purpose, and revision of the Fundamental Law of Education. (2) Formulation of fiscal reform guidelines that leave the door open to tax increases, including a rise in the consumption tax.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 21, 2006

The world's biggest mystery

LONDON -- In a recent opinion poll in Russia carried out by the Yury Levada Analytical Center, 58 percent of the respondents said they believe that "non-Russian nationalities are to blame for many of Russia's misfortunes"; 52 percent said they thought the government should restrict immigration.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 21, 2006

Only good designs

If there's anything that design has taught us in recent years, it's that without it, the world around us would certainly be a much less interesting place.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 20, 2006

Tokyo cuts North's cash supply

Japan on Tuesday dealt another blow to North Korea, imposing financial sanctions under a U.N. Security Council resolution that urges countries to prevent the transfer of funds for Pyongyang's weapons program.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 19, 2006

End of the Lion

The mythmaker Jim Frederick TIME Magazine The most difficult aspect of reporting on Koizumi was confronting the fixed, immutable and monolithic "Koizumi Myth." What started as a campaign plank -- "Koizumi is a reformer and a rebel who is destroying the LDP and reinvigorating Japan" -- somehow became...
BASKETBALL
Sep 18, 2006

Higashio, Apache eager to build strong fan base

On Sunday afternoon, ex-baseball hurler Osamu Higashio stepped onto an unfamiliar field, a hardwood court, not a soft baseball field.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Sep 17, 2006

Bizarre bouts of self-expression

Nearly 300 spectators cheered wildly as disco music blared. A spotlight picked out two fighters approaching the ring to kick off a puroresu (prowrestling) event held recently in a Tokyo town hall.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 17, 2006

Take a wild ride on the Orient Express

THE OTTOMAN CAGE by Barbara Nadel. New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2005, 312 pp., $23.95 (cloth). DRAGON FIRE by William S. Cohen. New York: Tom Doherty Associates, 2006, 383 pp., $24.95 (cloth). "One of the most frequently asked questions that I get as a British author," Barbara Nadel tells the e-zine...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 16, 2006

Asahara's execution finalized

The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a special appeal by lawyers for Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara, finalizing the death sentence for the man who masterminded the cult's horrific nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system in 1995.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Sep 15, 2006

Fishing around for a piece of history

"Enjoy it while you can," says Professor Theodore Bestor of Harvard University. He's referring partly to Tsukiji's famous fish market and partly to sushi and to the fact that "some species are at risk of becoming commercially extinct."
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 14, 2006

TB and HIV: a combination made in hell

PRAGUE -- Fatima, who lives in western Tanzania near Lake Tanganyika, has been suffering for more than a month from a dry, hacking cough. She trembles to think that it might mean she has tuberculosis. Fatima knows that she can find out and, if necessary, receive treatment at the nearest health clinic,...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 14, 2006

Emerging from the nuclear shadow

"At any given moment in history, precious few voices are heard crying out for justice. But, now more than ever, those voices must rise above the din of violence and hatred."
COMMENTARY
Sep 14, 2006

Let's avoid a U.N. row with South Korea

LOS ANGELES -- I do not much mind being misquoted, especially in a good cause. That cause is the worthy candidacy of South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki Moon, who is fighting for the job of U.N. secretary general. The incumbent, Kofi Annan, is finishing out his second term and must vacate later this...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Sep 12, 2006

How can I get a mortgage in Japan?

F. wants to know if there are any banks that will give home ownership loans to foreigners who do not have permanent residence status.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Sep 12, 2006

Picking a yoga teacher needn't cause a strain

For anyone interested in yoga, the first step is finding the right teacher.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 12, 2006

Permanent residency

As more foreigners choose to remain in Japan long-term, increasing numbers have sought a status change to reflect their commitment to the country and make it easier to build a stable life here.

Longform

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