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Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 19, 2007

Music busts myth of monocultural Japan

On the 30-odd subtropical isles of the Ogasawara Island chain that lie sparkling in the South Pacific, some 1,000 km south of Tokyo, there exists a unique music and dance form classified as an Intangible Cultural Property of the capital. Historians have traced the evolution of this performing art to...
BUSINESS
Jul 19, 2007

JT bonds help repay debt for Gallaher

Japan Tobacco Inc., the world's third-largest publicly traded cigarette maker, raised 150 billion yen Wednesday selling bonds to repay debt from its purchase of Gallaher Group PLC.
BUSINESS
Jul 19, 2007

Global-minded Honda to boost overseas output

Honda Motor Co. said Wednesday it will boost overseas production to meet growing demand for its energy-efficient cars and other vehicles, concentrating on global growth amid declining domestic sales.
SOCCER
Jul 18, 2007

Osim says stamina key factor for Japan

HANOI — Japan coach Ivica Osim praised his players' powers of recovery after their come-from-behind 4-1 victory over cohost Vietnam on Monday sent the defending champions into the quarterfinals as winners of Group B with seven points.
SOCCER
Jul 18, 2007

Ankle bothering Becks

CARSON, Calif. (AP) David Beckham was limited to some stretching and kicking drills because of a lingering ankle injury in his first practice Monday since joining the Los Angeles Galaxy.
Reader Mail
Jul 18, 2007

Farcical vision of Olympics

Regarding the July 7 Associated Press article "Youth Olympics set for 2010 debut": I can't imagine a greater travesty than an Olympics "meant to drag kids from computer screens and onto the playing fields." What a crying shame that the minds of men would hold this farcical vision of an Olympics -- some...
EDITORIALS
Jul 18, 2007

Pulling the plug on Yongbyon

North Korea has shut down its plutonium-producing reactor at Yongbyon and other facilities and accepted inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency. Although this is a welcome development, little optimism is warranted. The shutdown means only that North Korea has stopped producing any more...
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2007

Ban on online campaigns further besieged

of the Democratic Party of Japan takes part in an event to promote Internet election campaigning in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, on June 15. HIROKO NAKATA PHOTO
COMMENTARY
Jul 18, 2007

The terrorists in our midst

LONDON — The terrorists who committed the atrocities in London on July 7, 2005, seemed to have been of limited education and from relatively poor backgrounds. The four terrorists who were convicted recently of plotting mass murder on the London transport system on July 21, 2005, were refugees from...
Reader Mail
Jul 18, 2007

Welcome back 'Iwoto'

I share Philip J. Cunningham's concern in his July 2 article, "Goodbye Iwojima, Hello Iwoto," that stirrings of language police are a harbinger of oppressive nationalism. But there is more behind the move to call Hollywood's "Iwo Jima" Japan's "Iwoto" than meets the eye or ear.
Reader Mail
Jul 18, 2007

Flair can't pass for substance

One of the few perks I enjoy living so far from Hollywood, and everything else associated with "La-La Land," is that I no longer have to endure the sycophantic ramblings of movie critics and the opinions of self-righteous actors. Or so I thought.
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2007

Comics defying taboos, ditching slapstick for political satire

listens to ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Yasuhide Nakayama during a taping of Ota's weekly "news" show at NTV in Tokyo in May. AP PHOTO
Reader Mail
Jul 18, 2007

U.S. also shortchanges students

Regarding the July 4 article " 'Some' civilian Okinawa deaths won't halt textbook rewrite": Textbook censorship of historical events is not limited to Japan. The long tradition of local control of schools in the United States has meant that 50 different versions of supposedly historical facts are possible....
EDITORIALS
Jul 18, 2007

Flagging quake resistance

The fierce earthquake that struck Niigata and Nagano prefectures Monday reminded both the government and the public of the need to make Japan more resilient toward earthquakes. The magnitude-6.8 quake was focused about 60 km southwest of the city of Niigata and some 17 km below the bottom of the Sea...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Jul 18, 2007

Putting 'rarity' into context

Stepping outside this morning, I heard a skylark singing above the open field adjacent to where I live. It's a rare event for me, but perhaps you hear skylarks all the time. Then again, perhaps you have never heard that silvery cascade of notes pouring endlessly from high in the sky.
SOCCER
Jul 18, 2007

Reds pull out draw with mighty United

SAITAMA — Urawa Reds spoiled Manchester United's party by claiming a battling 2-2 draw at Saitama Stadium 2002 on Tuesday night.
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Jul 18, 2007

Mirror, mirror, in the phone and portable photo storage

Videophones might be the future of communication, but there is more than a whiff of narcissism about them. After all, whose self-image is such that they believe the person at the other end actually wants to gaze at their visage? Thanko is appealing to the powers of the ego with its Mirror WebCamera....

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell