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Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 10, 2009

Ishikawa, Swallows clinch playoff berth

All the Tokyo Yakult Swallows had to do was beat the Hanshin Tigers to wrap up a spot in the Central League Climax Series.
EDITORIALS
Oct 10, 2009

Pyongyang should return to talks

In a meeting Oct. 5 with visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in Pyongyang, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il expressed his country's "readiness" to hold multilateral talks, including the six-party talks on ending the North's nuclear ambitions, "depending on the outcome" of bilateral talks with the United...
SPORTS / BOOS AND BRAVOS
Oct 9, 2009

Kameda clan stoops to a new low

BOO — Good sportsmanship isn't something the Kameda family comprehends. Review the facts from October 2007 to see the stunts the Kameda brothers pulled in the ring.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 9, 2009

'My Sister's Keeper'

"My Sister's Keeper" unfolds around Kate Fitzgerald, a 14-year-old girl with leukemia, but it is fundamentally about the dynamics of a family defined by her illness. Based on the best-selling 2007 novel by Jodi Picoult, it's difficult to keep the floodgates from swinging open and drenching the eyes even...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 9, 2009

Kengo Kuma's Nezu Museum: an urban haven

"This is the maximum number of people that should ever come in here," says Kengo Kuma, glancing toward a small group of people murmuring quietly in front of a nearby Buddha statue. "It's much nicer when it's empty."
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / STYLE WISE
Oct 8, 2009

Fashion rethinks, rebrands and reasserts itself in the recession

Uniqlo gets an A+ for +J There may be a recession, but that doesn't mean that we can't afford style, thanks to the new maestro of cool, Mr. Tadashi Yanai.
EDITORIALS
Oct 7, 2009

Olympics heading for Rio

The International Olympic Committee has decided to hold the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. The Brazilian city beat Madrid with a 66-32 vote in the third and final round of IOC voting in Copenhagen. Tokyo, which sought to host the Summer Olympics for the second time — the first being in...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Oct 4, 2009

A pig of a weed — I kudzu you not

Looking out through the large picture window at the back of my house, I had a view through a little wood of Japanese oaks, mountain cherries and chestnuts of our small vegetable plot, a lovely wide hay meadow and more woods clothing the foothills of Iizuna mountain that rises on the horizon.
COMMENTARY
Oct 3, 2009

Hopes and tasks for the DPJ

In a Yomiuri Shimbun opinion survey conducted just after the election, 72 percent of those polled had an optimistic view of the Democratic Party of Japan, reflecting a favorable popular response to the outcome of the Aug. 30 general election.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Oct 3, 2009

Wenger has had profound impact on game

LONDON — When Arsene Wenger was introduced as manager of Arsenal in October of 1996 none of the assembled media knew who he was. Some French guy who had been working in Japan was the limit of our knowledge.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Oct 3, 2009

Snap, crackle, Pocky! The stick that stirs the drink

Some people like to slam Japan as being non-innovative. The Japanese, these people say, can take anyone else's idea and make it better. Better cars, better cameras, better reality TV. And so on.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 3, 2009

The first Western diplomat in Japan

Pop quiz: The first Western diplomat to set foot in Japan came from what country? Portugal? Holland? England? Actually, the correct answer is Mexico.
OLYMPICS
Oct 2, 2009

Mills: IOC voters face difficult choice for 2016 Olympic bid

Running legend Billy Mills, a tireless ambassador for the Olympic movement and one of the world's greatest motivational speakers, took time out of his busy schedule to offer his thoughts on the 2016 Summer Olympics bid.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 2, 2009

Little Boots serves pop a remedy

"I don't know what it is about my music that appeals to the Japanese," says Victoria Hesketh, the British pop sensation better known as Little Boots. "A lot of people in England miss the point, and they're like, 'Oh, it's just pop music.' And the whole point is that I was trying to do something simple...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 2, 2009

The dogu have something to tell us

LONDON — They are, according to their kanji, part earth and part spirit, somewhere between animal and human. They are dogu, the most remarkable products of Japan's Jomon Period, a Neolithic era before the advent of rice cultivation, when the Japanese archipelago supported higher population densities...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Oct 2, 2009

Norabo: Perfectly simple seasonal cuisine

Returning from any trip out of the country, it's always Japanese food that we crave. No need for anything fancy: hand-chopped soba at the neighborhood noodle shop will do us fine, or perhaps a few charcoal-grilled skewers of chicken at our local yakitori counter. This time, though, having been away for...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Sep 30, 2009

What's in the cards for the future of sumo?

Relying on the tried-and-test cute formula, the beleaguered sumo association rolls out 'sekitori-kun,' a series of chicken little mascots.
BUSINESS
Sep 30, 2009

Action in currency market possible: Fujii

Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii said Tuesday the government may act to stabilize the foreign exchange market should currency movements become irregular.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 29, 2009

Gaijin health coverage: an appeal for choice

Unless you've just made it to this corner of the world in the last couple of weeks, you're probably well aware of the new visa guideline that's scheduled to go into effect in April 2010. Because of this guideline, foreigners who wish to renew their visa and who are required to be enrolled in social health...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CABINET INTERVIEW
Sep 28, 2009

Fukushima faces major consumer affairs challenge

Mizuho Fukushima, the new state minister in charge of consumer affairs and reversing the low birthrate, said her job is to prioritize policies that directly affect the public's livelihood and to make sure the new Consumer Affairs Agency is effective.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 27, 2009

Now or never to settle the Cyprus conflict

ANKARA — Cyprus is back on the international agenda, with leaders of the island's rival Greek and Turkish communities engaged in intense negotiations to resolve the divided country's status. But, although new talks are under way, the international community is, not surprisingly, tired of dealing with...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Sep 27, 2009

Yuri Geller tells all about M.J., adventures with Tamori and kyabakura drama

If you can't wait for the Michael Jackson concert-rehearsal movie that opens next month, maybe the three-hour special, "Sekai no Chokettei-teki Shukan! Ai to Yuki no Maruhi Eizo" (World Super Decisive Moments! Secret Images of Love and Courage; Nihon TV, Tues., 7:58 p.m.), will hold you over a bit.
Japan Times
LIFE
Sep 27, 2009

Let's Bike!

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama could have made a stronger impact at the United Nations Summit on Climate Change in New York last week had he trumpeted another environmentally laudable proposal in addition to his declared goal of Japan cutting its greenhouse-gas emissions by 25 percent from 1990 levels...
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Sep 27, 2009

Wilkie says J. League refs need to slow pace of game

Referees are rarely out of the spotlight in the J. League, but the recent rain-abandoned game between Kashima Antlers and Kawasaki Frontale has turned up the glare.

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