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Reader Mail
Nov 22, 2007

Rocking the fingerprint boat

Grant Mahood is entirely right in his Nov. 18 letter, "Magic feeling of being exempt," to want "no more exemptions, no more discrimination, no more unequal application of the law -- just (the) repeal" (of the Justice Ministry's biometric data collection program for foreign arrivals at Japanese ports...
JAPAN
Nov 22, 2007

Taiwan opposition candidate Ma pushes stronger Japan ties

Taiwan should establish a free-trade pact with Japan to boost bilateral economic and cultural ties, a Taiwanese presidential candidate said Wednesday during a trip aimed at bolstering his relations with Tokyo.
EDITORIALS
Nov 22, 2007

ASEAN's broken heart

It was supposed to be a landmark event. To celebrate its 40th anniversary this week, heads of state from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) signed a charter that was intended to push the region toward more complete integration and more coherence. The final product — ASEAN's new charter...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 22, 2007

A taste for blood, arts and culture

One haunting image that lingers in the mind after seeing the exhibition "Legacy of the Tokugawa — The Glories and Treasures of the Last Samurai Dynasty" at the Tokyo National Museum is a carved-wood statue of Ieyasu (1543-1616), the first of the Tokugawa shoguns, now the deity of the Shiba Tosho-gu...
BUSINESS
Nov 22, 2007

LDP body pushes for sales tax hike next decade

To finance swelling social security costs, the 5 percent consumption tax needs to be raised to around 10 percent in the middle of the next decade as more baby boomers become pensioners, according to an interim proposal by the Liberal Democratic Party's financial reform study group.
Reader Mail
Nov 22, 2007

The sadness in knowing their fate

Regarding the Nov. 18 article "Japan prepares to hunt humpbacks for first time since '63": I live in Hervey Bay, Queensland, which calls itself the "Whale Watching Capital." I am 71 years old and, with my older husband, recently assisted local artist Jorge Pujol and a great many others in arduously...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 22, 2007

Tea and swords for the Shogun

As with all military leaders of the preceding Momoyama Period (1573-1615), the Tokugawa were celebrated patrons of the arts. The sheer output of the craftsmen they employed reveals an indefatigable support of the arts that extended to the amassing of beautifully crafted swords, armor, art and tea-ceremony...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 22, 2007

Festival swaps mobsters for something 'safe'

In days past, a film festival held within rough-and-tumble Kabukicho might be assumed to feature a sampling of the work from gangster-flick director Seijun Suzuki ("Tokyo Drifter," "Branded to Kill"), or perhaps "Yojimbo," the Akira Kurosawa classic where a samurai arrives in a village run by two groups...
Reader Mail
Nov 22, 2007

Half-baked antiterror measure

Regarding Hideo Kaito's Nov. 20 letter, "Common protection and control": While Kaito's comment seems sensible, it is in fact completely mistaken and filled with false truths.
BUSINESS
Nov 22, 2007

Top bank groups' subprime hit limited

Profits at Japan's three major banking groups fell in the six months to September as they suffered losses linked to U.S. subprime mortgage loan woes, according to their business results, the last of which was announced Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 22, 2007

Asian collectors overtake Japanese market

China casts a long shadow over the Japanese art market. However lively, large and long-suffering the art world in Japan may be, it has not garnered the kind of excited interest that the relatively young Chinese scene has in the last five years.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 22, 2007

Cartier sporting a new gold sheen

Taking its place among other luxury retail landmarks in Tokyo's Ginza district, the renovated facade of the building housing Cartier's flagship boutique was unveiled Wednesday without extravagant fanfare.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 22, 2007

Thanksgiving Day's economic lessons

BALI, Indonesia — One aspect of globalization is that some holidays have become internationalized. That is certainly the case with Thanksgiving Day, a distinctly American feast day now celebrated throughout the world on the fourth Thursday of each November.
JAPAN
Nov 22, 2007

Elderly play key role in society's safety net: study

pension. If they have money enough to spare, they give the spillover to their children's families," Ogawa said. "So the elderly have played a key role as a safety net in Japanese society." Ogawa's study took into account the national transfer accounts system, which was devised two years ago by a group...
SOCCER / World cup
Nov 21, 2007

Okada now frontrunner to replace stricken Osim

Takeshi Okada has emerged as the frontrunner to take over from the stricken Ivica Osim as Japan national team coach and is expected to be named the Bosnian's successor, The Japan Times learned late Tuesday evening.

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo