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Reader Mail
Jul 26, 2012

Resentment of the Celtic people

In his July 19 letter, "BBC's Olympics commentary," Barry Andrew Ward claims that "a word of explanation is owed to foreign observers" of this year's London Olympics vis-a-vis the commentary style of the U.K. broadcaster, BBC. Far from being "owed," such an explanation is not even really necessary.
EDITORIALS
Jul 10, 2012

The health of America

Health care reforms put forward by U.S. President Barack Obama have passed constitutional scrutiny. In an anxiously awaited, bitterly divided 5-4 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the week before last that the bulk of the bill, put into law in 2010, can go into effect.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Jun 15, 2012

Sendai 89ers to begin play in Xebio Arena next season

Symbolic of Tohoku's revitalization after the Great East Japan Earthquake, the Sendai 89ers will begin play in a new basketball gymnasium, Xebio Arena, in Taiha Ward, in October.
EDITORIALS
Apr 24, 2012

A sad Summit of the Americas

It is a sad commentary on the Sixth Summit of the Americas, the triennial gathering of 34 heads of state from North, South and Central America, when the outcomes of the summit are overshadowed by the misbehavior of U.S. President Barack Obama's advance team and security detail.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 5, 2012

'Turning Around'

Chim↑Pom, a collective of six intrepid young artists, is known for its guerrilla-art tactics and commentary on social taboos.
CULTURE / Art
Apr 5, 2012

'Turning Around'

Chim↑Pom, a collective of six intrepid young artists, is known for its guerrilla-art tactics and commentary on social taboos.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Aug 14, 2011

Well-traveled Stairs enjoyed lengthy career after season in Japan

For many American players, Japan is the last stop in their professional baseball careers.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Jul 8, 2011

Live from Tokyo, it's Saturday Night!

Ladies and gentlemen, it's Saturday Night Live Japan!
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 17, 2010

Fixing the U.S. economy

NEW YORK — For many, if not most, Americans, the crisis that befell them in 2008 — leading to slow growth, rising unemployment and high anxiety among voters — appeared to spring from nowhere. Certainly, the vast majority of economists, investment analysts, financial firms and regulators failed...
COMMENTARY
Aug 19, 2010

Mixed views in rising China

While voices in China continue to be raised against American naval exercises near the China coast and asserting Beijing's increased influence in global affairs, other voices are now being heard questioning the wisdom of China's increasing assertiveness.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jul 25, 2010

Wherefore art thou, corporate social responsibility?

As an American lawyer, I know a bit about working in a profession that has had serious image problems.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jun 6, 2010

A guided tour to Akihabara

Maid cafes, cosplay (costume play), gachapon vending machines, canned oden noodles and otaku (geeks) — lots of otaku: I thought I knew Akihabara, or "Akiba" as its fans affectionately call it. I bought my first Apple computer (a secondhand Macintosh Powerbook) there in the early 1990s and had visited...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Apr 25, 2010

Marijuana addiction special; running commentaries of ordinary events; CM of the week: Hakugen

The discussion show "Heart wo Tsunago" (Linking Hearts; NHK-E, Mon., 8 p.m.) always focuses on a social issue involving young people. This week, the program broadcasts part one of a series on marijuana addiction.
COMMENTARY
Jan 24, 2010

Media gang up on Iran for Latam outreach

SEATTLE — Should the United States be concerned about Iran's determined efforts to reach out to Latin America or, as was suggestively described in the Economist, about the ayatollahs' strategy of cozying up to Latin America?
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Japan Pulse
Dec 1, 2009

Nico Nico brings the chattering masses to TV

Until recently, the 'viewing audience' was a silent majority. With Nico Nico Douga and a new off-shoot for TV, the audience is becoming very vocal.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Nov 22, 2009

Beyond Copenhagen there's more than just cutting CO2

Imagine for a minute that global warming is not changing our planet's biosphere and the ecosystems that sustain life on Earth.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Aug 4, 2009

Spontaneous Japanese TV keeps Dave Spector on his toes

Michael Jackson's death meant a lot of different things to a lot of different people. For Japanese television celebrity Dave Spector, it meant being woken on the morning of June 26 at 6 a.m. and spending most of the next two weeks either studying or commenting on the performer for the benefit of Japanese...
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Jul 26, 2009

Blunderbuss followup to the invasion of Iraq

NEW YORK — The New York Times editorial on June 30, "The First Deadline," showed America's egocentrism at its worst. Dealing entirely with a single subject — the withdrawal of American combat troops from Iraqi cities, with 130,000 soldiers still remaining in the country — the lengthy commentary...
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
May 1, 2009

Playoff tiebreaker in bj-league becomes point of contention

Every sports league has a right to create its own set of rules. And it's only natural for a new league to face greater scrutiny for the way it operates than a league with a long established tradition, a way of doing things that won't change very easily.
CULTURE / Books
Oct 12, 2008

Sexy, dirty surrealism in the heart of Tokyo

LALA PIPO by Hideo Okuda, translated by Marc Adler, New York: Vertical, Inc., 2008, 288 pp., $14.95 (paper) Their recent list of contemporary Japanese fiction, nonfiction and graphic novels is making those Japanophiles at the New York publishing house Vertical Inc. Nihon otaku among Western publishing...
CULTURE / Art / INSIDE ART
Mar 20, 2008

Curating shows in a foreign language

"It was like being put in a boxing ring and bashed from all sides," says curator Mami Kataoka with a burst of laughter.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 5, 2007

Exposing our tacky selves

Walking through an exhibition of Martin Parr's photography is an emotional experience. The Englishman's works make you laugh, snicker, cringe; they prompt self- and societal reflection; but most of all they make you marvel at the dry wit and superior eye that Parr has for things simultaneously insipid...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Mar 4, 2007

What is becoming of my grandfather's wisdom?

These days it's tough to be a journalist. This may sound like a whinge, but whinges may sometimes reflect a real situation. Oh, it's fine if you agree with the line of thought acceptable to governments, religious organizations or interest groups. But if you dare hold up a mirror to them, you may run...
EDITORIALS
Jul 23, 2006

Mr. Zidane and other 'demons'

Zinedine Zidane must be thanking the gods for FIFA, which in a welcome move Thursday did much to restore some of the lost glow to his image -- and some sanity to a debate in which sanctimonious nonsense had been gaining the upper hand.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 8, 2006

Resurrection of 47 masterless samurai

KUNIYOSHI: The Faithful Samurai, by David R. Weinberg, translations and essay by Alfred H. Marks, Foreword by B.W. Robinson. Amsterdam: Hotei Publishing, 2005, 192 pp., map, pictures, color plates. 39.50 euro (paper). This is the paperback edition (first published in 2000) of one of the most interesting...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 1, 2005

China juggles growth, stability

SINGAPORE -- As China's annual Central Economic Conference gets under-way in Beijing early this month, Beijing looks set to sustain the new social-economic shift that was laid out by the 5th Plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CCP) in mid-October. The plenum signaled the...

Longform

People in cities across Japan will pop into their local convenience store for any number of products they believe will help them with a night of drinking.
Hangover cures are everywhere in Japan — but do they work?