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COMMENTARY
Aug 28, 2007

Thai character trumps flaws of politics

LOS ANGELES — When social scientists or journalists are in doubt, sometimes it's best to consult the artist.
Reader Mail
Aug 28, 2007

Korean roots of 'Genji'

Regarding the Aug. 12 article "Has another society of such superlatives ever existed at all?": Michael Hoffman claims that the Nara Period (710-784) "saw Japan's emergence from semi-barbarism into the full light of Chinese-style civilization." He talks at length about "feverish importation" and "how...
Reader Mail
Aug 28, 2007

Iran predates the Ayatollah

The photo caption for the Aug. 22 article "Khomeini wanted anti-U.S. mantra dropped" identifies Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini as "Iran's founder." Now I know the current Iranian government would like everyone to believe that Iran began in 1979. But most of us know that it has a rich history dating back...
MORE SPORTS
Aug 28, 2007

Pressure too much for Ikeda to handle

OSAKA — Athletes know all too well about the P-word.
COMMENTARY
Aug 28, 2007

America's dirty little victory

NEW YORK — "Just about everyone agrees that the recent conviction of Abdullah al-Muhajir, aka Jose Padilla, is a good thing," wrote rightwing pundit Neil Kressel in The New York Post.
COMMUNITY / HAVE YOUR SAY
Aug 28, 2007

Counting the cost

Although I appreciate the point that Michael Hassett is trying to make in his article "Losing custody: the odds" (Zeit Gist, Aug. 7), he asks the wrong question to try to determine a man's probability of heartbreak and turmoil and uses statistics in a way that is misleading.
Reader Mail
Aug 28, 2007

Japan's A-bomb programs

With the annual groaning over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a widely ignored fact is that Japan had started its own atomic programs before the United States: the Imperial Army's and the Navy's, both in close collaboration with Nazi Germany.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 28, 2007

Indian women who never had a chance

MADRAS, India — India may be the land where the Buddha preached nonviolence, and Mahatma Gandhi practiced it to perfection, but the country's "womb murders" are a horrible reality.
LIFE / Language
Aug 28, 2007

To maintain your honor, keep your pecking up

First of two parts
BUSINESS
Aug 28, 2007

Goodwill set to hold talks with Nichii on Comsn sale

Goodwill Group Inc., the temporary staffing company that lost 75 percent of its market value this year, said Monday it will hold talks aimed at selling subsidiary Comsn Inc.'s nursing-home segment to Nichii Gakkan Co.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Aug 28, 2007

Shori and Kazumi Tanaka

Shori and Kazumi Tanaka might be the most well-known couple on the nightclub scene in Tokyo's famed Ginza district. Each night for the last 51 years, 73-year-old Shori rushed from club to club to entertain as a bilingual singer while Kazumi, 54, was sitting pretty as one of Ginza's top hostesses. Since...
BUSINESS
Aug 28, 2007

Sekisui House punished with 15-day suspension

Home builder Sekisui House Ltd. said Monday it was ordered to suspend business for 15 days in some areas for violating construction laws.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2007

Aso moves over to take LDP's No. 2 post

Seeking a fresh start following his party's disastrous defeat in last month's Upper House election, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who also serves as Liberal Democratic Party president, reshuffled the party's top posts Monday.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Aug 28, 2007

Picking faction bosses Abe's bid to show tactful maturity?

In a desperate effort to mend his and his Cabinet's damaged credibility, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took the safe course Monday by picking a new team of mainly veteran lawmakers, including Liberal Democratic Party faction leaders.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Aug 28, 2007

What's the weirdest thing you've seen in Japan?

Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Aug 28, 2007

Kyosho's MANOI PF0, IDEA International's MACINARI-TAKUMI collection, etc.

Your new best friend
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 28, 2007

The blame game

We live in interesting times. With the shortage and high cost of domestic labor, the Japanese government has brought over record numbers of cheap foreign workers. Even though whole industrial sectors now depend on foreign labor, few publicly accept the symbiosis as permanent. Instead, foreigners are...
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2007

'Genji' translator Seidensticker dies

Edward G. Seidensticker, renowned American translator of Japanese literature, including a 1975 rendering of "The Tale of Genji," died Sunday in a Tokyo hospital, sources close to Seidensticker said. He was 86.
BUSINESS
Aug 28, 2007

Muto's prospects for taking BOJ helm seen fading

Bank of Japan deputy chief Toshiro Muto is less likely to become the next governor since the opposition won last month's election, casting doubt on the central bank's plan to gradually raise interest rates.
BUSINESS
Aug 28, 2007

Ito-Yokado clothing chief resigns

Seven & I Holdings Co., Japan's biggest retailer, said Yukio Fujimaki, head of the clothing division at its Ito-Yokado chain, resigned Monday because of poor health.
BUSINESS
Aug 28, 2007

Japan to relax restrictions on U.S. beef imports

Japan, once the largest buyer of U.S. beef, will take further steps to relax curbs on American beef imports first imposed in 2003 after the discovery of mad cow disease in Washington state, a Japanese official said.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 28, 2007

Nukaga replaces Omi; Ota to stay on board

Fukushiro Nukaga, a lawmaker who has twice resigned from political posts, was named finance minister in a government that has pledged to reduce the world's largest public debt.
BUSINESS
Aug 28, 2007

Kepco enters carbon-credit deal

Kansai Electric Power Co. has agreed to buy carbon credits from a Malaysian fertilizer maker to help Japan meet its emissions targets under the Kyoto Protocol.

Longform

The byzantine process for converting a foreign driver’s license into a Japanese one entails mountains of paperwork and significant stamina — unless you're a lucky license holder from a country or region where these requirements are waived.
Driving in Japan isn’t hard. Getting the license is.