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COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jul 10, 2005

New horizons beckon as Train Man heads nowhere fast

The Japanese nation seems to be firmly in the grip of the otaku.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 10, 2005

Existential dilemma from the Japanese wasteland

TOWARD MEANING: Poems of Kikuo Takano, translated by Hiroaki Sato. Middletown Springs, Vermont: P.S., A Press, 2004, 116 pp., $12 (paper). Kikuo Takano (born 1927) first wrote poetry in the bleak postwar years and is said to have burned his initial output. Aligning himself in 1953 with Ayukawa Nobuo's...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2005

Detention, deportation of asylum seekers protested in Tokyo

Around 150 people including asylum applicants, lawyers and supporters gathered Saturday in a park in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, to protest the forced detention and deportation of people seeking asylum.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 10, 2005

Where Zen is perfectly at home

ZEN AND KYOTO, by John Einarsen. Uniplan Co., Inc, 2004, 135 pp., 2,381 yen (paper). Like heaven and hell, or the elements of earth and rock, Zen and the city of Kyoto are joined at the hip.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 10, 2005

"Old Kyoto" revived

OLD KYOTO, by Diane Durston. Kodansha International, 248 pp., 120 color photos, 150 illustrations, 2004 (revised edition), 2,200 yen (paper). Diane Durston, a writer, lecturer and consultant on Japan and Asian studies, describes Kyoto with the loving care of a preservationist. She begins "Old Kyoto,"...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 10, 2005

Coming out of the linguistic closet

QUEER JAPAN FROM THE PACIFIC WAR TO THE INTERNET AGE, by Mark McLelland. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005, 248 pp., 15 b/w photos, $34.95 (paper). Japanese homosexuals face a peculiar problem. There is a true confusion among terms for sex, gender, sexual orientation, and gender expression. As one scholar...
CULTURE / Music
Jul 10, 2005

Afrika Bambaataa

If any one person could be said to have invented hip-hop it's the man born Kevin Donovan in the Bronx in 1960 who, during the mid-'70s, organized block parties where he acted as DJ and his friends acted as emcees, rapping to the beats he selected so carefully. The wider world didn't turn to Donovan,...
Japan Times
Features
Jul 10, 2005

DEPRESSION

'Istarted to get to work late -- sometimes at 11, then at 12 and then at 2; and then I had to quit my job."
Japan Times
Features
Jul 10, 2005

Support groups to aid of all affected

When people become clinically depressed, it's not just they who suffer. Families of the depressed are deeply affected -- riding an emotional roller coaster -- and when a breadwinner is afflicted, as is often the case, financial struggles inevitably ensue. Worst of all, many families must live with the...
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2005

University presidents take voluntary salary cuts

The heads of 10 national universities that acquired corporate status in spring 2004 have voluntarily cut their pay in an effort to promote business efficiency, it was learned Saturday.
EDITORIALS
Jul 9, 2005

'Hello, fingerprint, please'

In an effort to check an increase in crimes committed by foreigners, the government is moving toward introducing compulsory fingerprinting for foreigners entering and leaving Japan -- a move that is expected to draw fire from foreign residents in Japan and possibly lead to conflicts with some foreign...
BUSINESS
Jul 9, 2005

Key money supply gauge up in June

Japan's most closely watched gauge of money supply grew 1.7 percent in June on a year-on-year basis, following a 1.5 percent rise in May, the Bank of Japan said in a preliminary report Friday.
JAPAN
Jul 9, 2005

'Cool Biz' dress code spreads through halls of promotion

The "Cool Biz" casual dress code campaign launched by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on June 1 has spread to the bureaucracy, Diet and Supreme Court, but whether the intended effect -- of setting air conditioners at higher levels in cities to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and thus help curb global...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 9, 2005

U.K. attacks trigger official fears that Japan is next

Thursday's deadly terrorist bombings in London raised fresh concerns among Tokyo officials Friday that Japan might be the next target due to its support for the U.S.-led war on Iraq.
BUSINESS
Jul 9, 2005

FSA ups protection for insurance policyholders

The Financial Services Agency released a new set of rules Friday to upgrade protection of customers by requiring insurance firms to become more accountable for policies they sell.
BUSINESS
Jul 9, 2005

Japan firms' U.K. workers OK

Japanese firms breathed a collective sigh of relief Friday after determining that all their employees in London appear not to have been injured in the series of deadly explosions that rocked the transportation system in the British capital.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jul 9, 2005

Japan -- where the oldies are always golden

That pitter-patter you hear right now is probably only the remains of the rainy season slipping drop by drop from your eave spouts. Yet there is another melancholy drizzle in this land that falls all year round. It is that misty-eyed drool for all things past. Yes, this country is literally dripping...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jul 9, 2005

Umibiraki -- drunk fish, a certain charm

On the first Sunday of July for hundreds of years now, a priest has performed a Shinto ceremony called umibiraki on Shiraishi Island. At this "opening-of-the-sea" ceremony, the priest blesses the sea making it safe for swimming.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 9, 2005

Airlines grapple to root out human error

The airline industry and the transport ministry are trying to overhaul safety standards following a series of blunders involving commercial aircraft, but finding a quick solution will not be easy.
BUSINESS
Jul 9, 2005

Core machinery orders plummet 6.7%

Japan's core private-sector machinery orders fell in May by a larger-than-expected 6.7 percent from the previous month to 952.5 billion, yen the government said Friday.
JAPAN
Jul 9, 2005

Hyogo labor slush fund dooms seven

The labor ministry dismissed seven Hyogo Labor Bureau employees on disciplinary grounds in connection with a slush funds scam, the ministry said Friday.
BUSINESS
Jul 9, 2005

Balance of bank lending down for 90th straight month

The average daily balance of Japanese bank lending decreased 2.6 percent in June from a year earlier, marking a 90th straight month of year-on-year decline, the Bank of Japan said Friday.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Jul 9, 2005

Thierry Voisin

Each day, Thierry Voisin cycles both ways between his Hanzomon apartment and the Imperial Hotel, Tokyo. "I have new eyes here," he said. "For me, this is like another planet."

Longform

A store clerk tries to cool things down in front of their shop by spraying a hose.
Is extreme weather changing the way Japan shops?