search

 
 
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
May 27, 2007

Marines duo sparks club against BayStars

CHIBA — There's something about Shunsuke Watanabe that just brings out the best in Daisuke Hayakawa. Neither can really explain it, but for some reason they just click.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
May 27, 2007

Eerie family drama, comedian interview special and conversations with Mr. Fish

The title of this week's two-part "NHK Special" is "Nippon Kazoku no Shozo (Portraits of Japanese Families)" (NHK-G), though the families that are portrayed are quite out of the ordinary.
LIFE / QUEUING
May 27, 2007

Patience pays off for firms on standby to queue for you

With queuing playing such an important role in Japanese life — just watch any breathlessly excitable TV magazine program fearlessly reporting any day of the week on long lines outside noodle shops or dog groomers — there are even those who cash in on the phenomenon directly.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
May 27, 2007

Japan's first cosmopolitan in the face of nationalism

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF YUKICHI FUKUZAWA, revised translation by Eiichi Kiyooka, preface by Kammei Ishikawa, with a foreword and afterword by Albert M. Craig. New York: Columbia University Press, 2007, (1966), 480 pp., with frontispiece photo, $30 (paper) The political scientist Masao Maruyama wrote in...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 27, 2007

Baby hatch gives rise to empty moralizing

Every year the national Parent-Teacher Association conducts a survey to find out which television shows people either want or don't want their children to watch. Two programs always make it to the top of the disapproval list: "London Hearts," a variety show hosted by the coarse comedy duo London Boots,...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 27, 2007

'Containment' time warp sours hopes that Yeltsin spawned

Nearly 60 years ago, in July 1947, American diplomat George Kennan published what was to become the single most influential article in modern American diplomatic history.
LIFE / QUEUING
May 27, 2007

All together now: Let's form a line

It is 11:15 on a sunny Sunday morning across the road from Shinjuku Station in central Tokyo. The Southern Terrace there is already thronged with shoppers like all the city's other retail districts. And then, as you walk past fashion stores and coffee shops, a long line of men and women of all ages materializes...
EDITORIALS
May 27, 2007

Health care in the countryside

Prefectural governments will start working out new health-care plans this summer as a preparatory step for reform of the nation's health-care system that starts in fiscal 2008. Their work will not be easy because they have to pursue two seemingly contradictory goals — improving the quality of medical...
Japan Times
LIFE / QUEUING
May 27, 2007

Disney bids to make the waiting fun

If you are looking for some long, hot lines, Tokyo Disney Resort, comprising the Disneyland and DisneySea theme parks, surely beats all others as your destination of choice.
CULTURE / Books
May 27, 2007

Ethnic cop caught between cultures

CHINATOWN BEAT by Henry Chang. New York: SOHO Press, 2006, 214 pages, $22 (cloth) Well before Sax Rohmer created his sinister villain Dr. Fu-Manchu in 1911, Chinatowns figured prominently in British and American popular fiction. These are chronicled by such scholarly works as William Wu's "The Yellow...
SUMO / Basho reports
May 26, 2007

Hakuho poised for Summer title

Mongolian Hakuho inched closer to promotion to yokozuna on Friday with a solid win over Kotomitsuki at the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament.
BASKETBALL
May 26, 2007

Orimo joins new team

Takehiko Orimo and Ryota Sakurai will move to the Rera Kamuy Hokkaido of the Japan Basketball Association-led new league, the club announced Friday.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
May 26, 2007

Treatment of Liverpool fans result of actions back home

LONDON — The police baton-charged "blameless" fans who could not gain entry to the stadium despite having valid tickets, while many inside the ground were allowed in with forgeries.
JAPAN
May 26, 2007

Abe says help on way in pension fiasco

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe assured the public Friday that steps will be taken to ensure that data on pension premium payments get straightened out following the discovery of widespread mistakes in the Social Insurance Agency's pension records.
JAPAN
May 26, 2007

Postcards warn Asahi Shimbun 'staff will be killed'

The Asahi Shimbun said Friday it had received death threats against its staff, the latest in a string of threats against journalists.
BUSINESS
May 26, 2007

SLR pioneer missed jump to digital

As the first Japanese company to commercialize a single-lens reflex camera for 35mm film, Pentax Corp. has a storied history. But that history may have prevented it from advancing into the digital age and delayed a crucial decision to be absorbed by Hoya Corp. for its own survival.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 26, 2007

Sony unveils flexible 0.3-mm video display

In the race to create ever thinner displays for TVs, cell phones and other gadgets, Sony may have developed one to beat them all — a razor-thin display that bends like paper while showing full-color video.
EDITORIALS
May 26, 2007

Stepping up realignment of forces

The Diet has enacted a law to facilitate the largest-ever realignment of U.S. forces stationed in Japan. The law, supported by the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito and opposed by the Democratic Party of Japan and three other opposition parties, reflects Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's determination to...

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji