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JAPAN
Nov 15, 2006

Abe tasks panel to form security body like NSC

of the prime minister's office that will give orders on diplomatic and national security policy," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki said. One of Abe's priorities has been to create a body similar to the U.S. National Security Council. It would act as a central information-gathering body that...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Nov 15, 2006

Lure of money set to empty the oceans

Afriend of mine who lives in the picturesque port city of Otaru, western Hokkaido, is a fish-hunter. He loves to dive, and hunts for fish with a spear gun -- seafood is his manna from heaven.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Nov 14, 2006

Unique team spirit of Hillman's Fighters brought about success

The Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters may not have been beautiful every waking moment on the way to winning the Pacific League, Japan Series and Asia Series championships, but they were oh so pretty in getting it done.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 14, 2006

Beneath the surface

A converted bean storehouse in a Kyoto back-street is the unusual venue for an innovative introduction to traditional Japanese culture. During just one busy day, participants in the Origin Arts Program can try their hand at the ancient martial art of "Waraku," tea ceremony, calligraphy and Noh theater....
CULTURE / Books
Nov 12, 2006

No ordinary guide to China

SHENZHEN: A Travelogue From China, by Guy Delisle, translated by Helge Dascher. Montreal: Drawn & Quarterly, 2006, 152 pp., $19.95 (cloth). Surely those dinosaurs who believed that comics were suitable only for stories of men in tights have all died off. With the popularity of comics growing by leaps...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 12, 2006

Vatican places state of limbo in limbo

HONG KONG -- Theologians of the Roman Catholic Church are recommending the abolition of a special place that has existed for more than 2,000 years and enriched the world of literature and politics, as well as theology. Pope Benedict XVI himself has given his clear opinion, as an eminent theologian, that...
Japan Times
LIFE
Nov 12, 2006

SF hero conjures memories old and new across the generations

A few months ago, Hiromasa Kaneko noticed that his son Hibiki had started pretending he was characters from "Ultraman Mebius" that he said the other children at his nursery in Tokyo's Meguro Ward were all into. But rather than just let his 4-year-old son copy his friends, Kaneko figured it would be better...
Japan Times
LIFE
Nov 12, 2006

Serious toys for serious fans

Ultraman is often cited as an example of just how different the Japanese outlook is from that of Westerners. While the bug-like eyes and clingy bodysuit of the hero himself may strike the uninitiated as ridiculous, it is the outlandish aspect of the monsters from whose wrath Ultraman is perpetually saving...
SUMO
Nov 11, 2006

Komusubi Kisenosato

Kisenosato entered professional sumo in 2002 while still in his mid-teens. A native of Ibaraki Prefecture to the northeast of Tokyo and only age 20, he is perhaps the most promising young Japanese rikishi in sumo today.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 11, 2006

The mysterious red light heeded by few

Big news for our island: They've put in a traffic light! Now, I've always been under the impression that there must be oncoming traffic to justify a traffic light. But hey, this is Japan, maybe they drive differently here.
BUSINESS
Nov 10, 2006

Doyukai chief gets Zaikai Prize

Kakutaro Kitashiro, chairman of the Japan Association of Corporate Executives (Keizai Doyukai), has received the annual Zaikai Prize, awarded by the publisher of business magazine Zaikai.
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Nov 10, 2006

Hats off to expansion Grouses for road win in first game ever

Talk about a great start.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 10, 2006

Miraikan explores science as human survival tool

The depletion of natural resources, ongoing energy crises and the dangers of global warming pose threats to our modern lifestyles.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Nov 8, 2006

Chiton

* Japanese name: Hizara-gai * Scientific name: Acanthopleura japonica * Description: Chitons are mollusks, not bivalves like mussels, but single-shelled animals like limpets. To the casual observer, though, these creatures, which grow to about 4-cm long, might not be noticed, as they blend in extremely...
JAPAN
Nov 7, 2006

Hawks circling as Constitution turns 60

may be unable to participate in some missions due to the provision, even if all U.N. members are taking part. It is time to make a change." Since the first overseas deployment of the SDF on a minesweeping mission to the Persian Gulf in 1991 after the Gulf War, the scope of international military involvement...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 7, 2006

An uneasy introduction to a grandchild

According to an announcement last month by Nagano Prefecture obstetrician Yahiro Nezu, a woman nearly 60 years old has served as a surrogate mother for her daughter. Last spring the woman gave birth to a baby that had been conceived externally using a fertilized egg provided by her daughter and the daughter's...
JAPAN
Nov 7, 2006

Japan talk of nukes 'not desirable': Ban

U.N. secretary general, I'd like to express concern." Ban said he understands the Japanese government will maintain its nonnuclear policy, as affirmed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Nov 6, 2006

Keidanren lauds Abe's first 40 days in office

Forty days have passed since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office Sept. 26, and the administration, judging by the actions of the first new prime minister in 5 1/2 years, appears to be off to a very good start.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 5, 2006

Radio rivals are a turn off by playing it safe

In the United States, media critics bemoan the homogenization of FM radio, which has become dominated by a handful of corporations dictating what music is played. Meanwhile, AM radio is considered the exclusive domain of the right wing, filled with talk shows that badger so-called Middle America into...
EDITORIALS
Nov 5, 2006

Madonna, child and critics

Spare some sympathy for Madonna. Not a lot, mind you. Celebrities are better cushioned against life's slings and arrows than the rest of us, and the flamboyant U.S.-turned-British pop star is a super-mega-celebrity. Still, the pillorying she has suffered in recent weeks is unreasonable.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 4, 2006

Hooked on the concept of sustainable fishing

Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market -- the largest in the world -- is oddly quiet early afternoon. Yet climb a steep flight of steps above a small warehouse and the pace is frenetic.
CULTURE / Music
Nov 3, 2006

Stanton Moore "III"

Not many recordings have been made in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina, but fewer still have been made in that special sanctuary of trad jazz, Preservation Hall, the run-down mecca of old-time jazz. Drummer Stanton Moore, though, took the postdisaster break in the tourist action to drag his very nontraditional...
JAPAN
Nov 3, 2006

Japan won't talk directly with North Korea: Aso

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's special adviser on national security, Yuriko Koike, called Wednesday for a cautious approach toward North Korea's nuclear threat while welcoming Pyongyang's recent announcement that it will return to the stalled six-nation talks on ending that threat. Koike shared the view...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 3, 2006

It's not about porn, it's all about art

Lucile Hadzihalilovic strides into a room and the mood immediately becomes dense with awe. It's not just her striking looks or her height (over 1.85 meters in stockings), but the way she seems to mute these things behind a natural quietness and engaging shyness, as if she's whispering: "Please don't...

Longform

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